What The People Are Saying

These are but a few snippets of comments made from various folks within the community:

"I can't afford to keep paying these taxes; I'm putting my house up for sale and moving to Madison."

"I live on a fixed income and, after many years, I can no longer afford to live in Sun Prairie."

"A 7.8% tax increase? Are you [expletive deleted] kidding me??"

"Raises? Why are we giving anyone raises? I haven't had a raise in three years."

"Why aren't we freezing salaries? Most people have had no raises, their wages cut, or are unemployed."

" If [Administrators] are asking for anything other than zero, they are making a huge mistake. I think the community should push to have that settled before the Oct meeting."

"The district needs to do a better job of cutting money by looking at salaries and benefits, which are a large part of the budget."

"Why is the board 'negotiating' with school district administrators over a desired salary increase? These people are not union. Like any other private sector employee, they need to understand that they TAKE what the school board offers, or decide to go elsewhere. It's that simple."

" Whoever designed the parking lot and roof runoff plan [for the new pool] should probably go back to school. At the entrance, there are downspouts that send the roof water right down the main walkway in."

" Shouldn't we demand a board and administration who can answer the simple question, "How much money do we have, give or take a million dollars?" "

" This is a small town with small infrastructure, and the small businesses are going away. Why wasn't money used for teacher supplies and special education students instead of plays and going swimming? "

[regarding the pool problems] "If you have specifications shouldn't the work be done to spec? Shouldn't someone be following up on that? Especially for what we paid for the specs."

..............................................

Our Take

Pool leaks and problems, a budget that the community does NOT approve, raises in the midst of a 2 year and counting recession that seems poised for a double dip. This is the picture of a school district in complete disarray. And these people think they deserve raises?

A year later and the school board still hasn't taken the school district by the reins. Who exactly are they representing?

Sadly, the school board--at least most of them--does not care if residents decide to leave the community. The cold hard reality is that even if you move, SOMEONE has to pay the property taxes for the home you vacate. They only care about the property tax income. Frankly, it seems to us that they are simply rolling the dice and hoping to lose whiny taxpayers and replace them with upper class folks with tons of disposable income and a "spare no cost for education--even if it drives the penny-pinching old farts out" mentality.

As for raises, we're scratching our heads too. The school district needs to be run like a business, and in tight times, there is no money available for raises. Paying these people--that are already more than adequately compensated-- more is not going to improve test scores, get us a National Merit Scholar, or enhance the education of our kids. It'll just add to their already nicely lined pockets.

The pool is just another fiasco in a long line of fiascoes. The district just can't seem to get out of its own way!

Say...isn't it time for a Dr. Culver blog? There have been a total of 2 posts in the past 3 months after Dr. Culver told us that it had been suggested that he "blog more frequently with 'less length'". Or was that "blog less frequently with NO length"?

Monday, April 26, 2010

A Rumor and 3 Realities

It’s been suggested that I blog more frequently with “less length”. I’m going to give it a try. But I have a lot to share, so I’m going to transition by doing four “short” topics.

Stay InspirEd (and please stay in touch)

Tim Culver
tculver@spasd.k12.wi.us

Uh Oh! Pool Problems?

We've heard a number of reports from community residents indicating the following concerns related to the new high school pool:

1. Not Certified. Although we've had "the keys" now for 5 months, the pool still lacks a Health Department certification. This means no one can swim in it. That means no revenues from community swim. It also means paying for pool use time for our swim teams until this gets resolved. How embarrassing is it for us to be buying pool time when we've shouted fromn the highest mountain top that we have a brand new pool?
2. The roof leaks! It was reported that a large gathering of "pool people" (not to be confused with "pod people") happened to be at the pool this past Thursday night during the rain event and witnessed water flowing in.
3. Vent grillwork is already rusting. Nice...if it's rusting the metal, care to guess what's going on in side lungs?
4. The wrong diving boards. The two diving boards, at a cost of $500 each, are "recreational" type, rather than "competition" grade. Word on the street is that it has been known since the day they were delivered and sitting around in the bottom of the pool during construction, that they were the wrong boards. People have expressed this to administrators Phil Frei and Tim Brooks, whose answer is that we have to eat the cost!
5. The wrong pool lane dividers. The pool lane dividers do not meet WIAA standards, which means that, without replacing them, we cannot hold WIAA sanctioned competitions. There goes all those revenues and spectators fees we banked on . Not to mention the cost of adding the hallways needed to handle these crowds.
6. Wasted chemicals? Everyone knows that a pool needs chemicals to maintain pH balance and chlorine levels. What some may not know is that these chemicals have a very finite shelf life because of their reactivity. We've now heard too many reports to think that there isn't something to a rumor that someone purchased far too large a quantity of chemicals and now a large quantity must be disposed. We've heard figures ranging up to $1,000 worth of chemicals having to be trashed..

A call placed to the district office to confirm these reports and to obtain comment was not returned. Seriously...does anyone think the district will ever come clean with their dirty laundry?

What community members are saying

"If you have a specification, shouldn't the work be done to specification? Shouldn't someone be following up on that? Especially for what we paid for the specifications."

"Someone screwed up, so tell them to fix it."

"I know [the diving boards cost] is only $1,000, but [sic] thats all the more reason someone else should be fixing it."

"Shouldn't [District hired Construction Manager] Hoffman be looking at this and getting it fixed, since he is paid to do this stuff?" SP-EYE: One would think that's why we pay them $7,300 per month.

"I am sure the pool roof leaks might be higher priority, but these guys need to stop looking at the construction dollars as a tub of free money to use."

We don't think we can say it any better than those who let us know. We spent $100M total for our new construction. Nearly $4M alone for the pool. We pay our administrators -- who are currently seeking a salary increase of up to 2.5% we hear--- $80,000-to $120,000 per year. We expect better form them. We'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they would NEVER suggest that the district --and taxpayers-- should simply "eat the cost" of mistakes made by contractors. But, at the same time, to people that make $100K, $1,000 is pocket change. They forget --or are oblivious to the fact -- that $1,000 could feed a small family for several weeks to a month.