FTT Forwards Some--Not All-- Projects to School Board "For Consideration"

On Tuesday night, a special meeting of the FTT was held to review and recommend (or not) a list of additional projects associated with the new high school and upper middle school using the estimated $1.1M in "surplus" from the $100 M construction project.
At their last meeting, FTT members tabled this issue, requesting the school board provide the committee with an amount (of the $1.1M) that the board would allocate for additional projects. Subtly missed by many, this was yet another incidence of the board not wishing to touch a political "hot potato", particularly as elections draw near. You see, many in the community feel that the community deserves to receive at least SOME of the "$1.1M surplus". Of course board members will tell you that they are only hearing from community member who tell them to "spend it all".

We don't think that really captures the pulse of the community. And our feckless school board once again abdicated any sense of responsibility. Instead of OWNING their decision (eh, Tim?) the board refused to establish a "cap" on the extent to which the $1.1M could be spent. That's right, folks, they refused to say that even one dime of the $1.1M surplus must be held in reserve and returned to the taxpayers. Instead, they left the FTT Committee to hold the bag, so to speak. Oh the board knew that there would be great pressure on the FTT committee to spend it all as various groups came out in force to rally for their piece of the pie. The board just wanted to put itself in the most favorable light and be able to say from its lofty table, "We have to respect the desires of the FTT Committee...if they say spend it all, then we need to support that."

Welke Seeks Middle Ground
But they didn't. That's right, the FTT did not "spend it all". Perhaps it was FTT Citizen Representative -- and School Board candidate John Welke's words that struck a chord. Welke encouraged the committee to return a portion of the surplus to the committee as an act of good faith and to demonstrate good stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Perhaps leaning on the old adage, "it takes money to make money", Welke further encouraged the committee to place a premium on the consideration of those projects that could serve as revenue generators for the district. The pool hallway was a perfect example. Pool meets are a great source of revenue to offset costs for any school district, but, without the hallway project, it would be very difficult to hold meets at the new pool. Similarly, lighted ball fields allow for continuous play after dark, a setting which works well for tournaments. And tournaments held in Sun Prairie mean not only revenues for the school district, but all for the city itself, as tournament teams and their travelling fanbase will take advantage of food, beverages, and shopping in our city.

Projects making the cut (votes varied from 3-2 to 5-0)
• Pool Hallway $157,000
• Grand Piano for the PAC - $75,000
Note: The FTT committee approved this on a 5-0 vote, but board member Terry Shimek, who was in the audience, voiced strong opposition. It seems Mr. Shimek agrees with Caren Diedrich and Jim McCourt that, because a group is actively raising funds for the piano, the school board doesn't have to commit a dime. That means only a 4th vote is needed to kill it...JohnE Boy Whalen perhaps?
• Wrestling mat $10,000 or less
• Company Switch for Auditorium Stage $27,000
• Lights for sports fields $520,000
--- Lights for baseball fields $195,000
--- Lights for softball fields $85,000
--- Lights for track/soccer field $240,000
• Improve PE fields (irrigation) $45,000

Projects recommended to be placed on hold
• Greenhouse $150,000

Projects about which there seems to be question

• Replace bleachers in upper middle school (existing high school) gym $152,000

Note: The STAR reports that this project was forwarded to the board for approval. Reports to SP-EYE suggest that that is not what the committee decided - that the committee did NOT vote to approve this project.

Projects which did not make the final cut
• Upper middle school (existing high school) gym facelift $46,000
• Entrance canopy for upper middle school (existing high school) $49,000

So...how much was forwarded for consideration to be spent?

If you tally the projects which we're certain were forwarded for consideration, the total is about $834K. If you then factor in the $150K for a greenhouse that the committee voted to hold in reserve for a year, the total forwarded for consideration comes to about $984...leaving about $116K available for the school board to return to taxpayers.

On the other hand, if the board believes that the bleacher project was forwarded for consideration, that brings the total for consideration NOW to $986K, with another 150L in reserve for the greenhouses. That would mean nothing goes back to the taxpayers unless a year from now, the board decides against the greenhouse.

What happens now?
This will be forwarded to the school board for consideration at its next meeting, ostenbsibly the March 22 meeting just prior to the election. Of course, in the interests of keeping their jobs, we may see some school board members scrambling to postpone this vote till AFTER the elections. Can't you just see Tim Culver whispering in John Whalen's ear, "Psst...John...you set the board agenda as President. You might want to hold off on this until after the election. After all, this is a critical decision, and all board members should own it."