In this week's news -- if we were awake (one hopes Oregonians are)-- we learned that the Oregon school district is going after a $33M referendum this week.
[long, low whistling] Wow. $33M! For that price they must be building a new middle school or several elementary schools...right?Nope. In fact for the $33M price tag, they get exactly ZERO new schools. The price is only broken down into the following:
High School Expansion $ 25,300,000
New: "3rd" space, Indoor Fieldhouse style gymnasium reportedly spec'd to slightly "outdo" SPASD's
+ 5 new classrooms and a shop area,
Renovations: Administrative area, cafeteria (inc. expansion), media tech. lab, PAC lobby, science lab
Middle School Renovation $ 2,650,000
New: Secure entry, large Fitness Center
Renovations: Administrative offices, Librart, Computer lab, 6 "3rd Space" areas
Environmental Center (@ Middle school)$ 550,000
Jaycee Park East (School District Property) $ 4,500,000
MORE sports!
Really?
$33M and it buys a total of FIVE new classrooms at the high school? What we see is a $4.5M sports field plan plus a HUGE Fieldhouse.
The EcoCenter at the middle school is a nice touch, but it represents less than 2% of the referendum.
...and what's this "Third Space" happy crappy? Is Third space where one goes to eat Fourth Meal to alleviate the pain of taking Second place in some competition?
It sure looks to us like there's very little educational improvement, and a whole lot of "let's do what Sun Prairie did".
Sorry Oregon taxpayers...we hope you're not asleep at the switch.
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