Letter about R-P Referendum

By News Team
ads@fillmorecountyjournal.com

Fri, Dec 14th, 2012
Posted in Rushford Letter to the Editor

Comment(1)

To the Editor,

I attended the RP referendum meeting, took the tour of the facilities and listened intently to presenters, numerous questions and answers. I learned new facts and gained greater understanding of what assumptions were used in developing the plan. As the meeting progressed, it became clear to me that the plan is simply untenable and unaffordable in its current form.

The proposed K-5 school is a beautiful, state of the art learning facility but costs more than the community can afford. I appreciate all of the hard work the superintendent, board, and the community representatives have spent to develop and present the current proposal they feel is in the best interest of the district and sellable to the community. It is obvious to me that the current staged proposal is untenable. The district will continue to utilize the building that is most troublesome and costly to maintain thus almost guaranteeing that the other phase would have to be approved. That puts the real price tag at $40 plus million assuming $30 million in principle and $10-12 million in interest. That price tag conservatively doubles property tax on average.

I propose the board postpone the Dec 19 vote and develop an alternative proposal that builds all phases at the same time but with a $15 million price tag. That means we give up “luxury” items and build a much smaller facility that will have more shared facilities, larger number of students per classroom and simple but efficient infrastructure. This would be in line with the reality of shrinking student population over the next 20-40 years with a price tag the community is more likely to afford. This plan could be a viable alternative to keeping and repairing current facilities.

Mike Machutt

Rushford, MN

Comments:

481

10:07:22, Dec 17th 2012

visionary says:

I attended the R-P referendum meeting also. I feel I gained a greater knowledge also, but with a total different view. I can see a new K-5 as our only option if you want to look to the future. We need to show the state we have interest for a school in this community if we want any chance at state funding in the future.
There is no way possible to get a school built K-12 for $15 milliion. This school is not "luxurious" in any way, nor is it bare boned. It would be the perfect fit for Rushford/Peterson area. The student per classroom ratio is were it needs to be to keep our test scores up. We don't need any more in a class!!
Your plan is not viable. Stick with what all of the committies/task forces/school boards have said. Vote yes to get the wheel turning.