Hutchinson Leader - McLeod West school bond vote defeated - Comments

Two plans from 1997 on

tobybryan — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 22:49:50 -0500

Two plans from 1997 on remodeling and expanding the elementary site:

Current lay out:

Bigger:
http://x62.xanga.com/bfbd123bd0631101450294/w71506871.jpg

Plan 1:

Bigger:
http://x67.xanga.com/1e3d5b45d0330119320327/w85805069.jpg

Plan 2:

Bigger:
http://x45.xanga.com/760d5a5135230119320387/w85805110.jpg

There is another issue at

tobybryan — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 11:21:07 -0500

There is another issue at McLeod West that deserves our attention. Today I received this flyer in the mail from the McLeod West Educational Support Professionals:
http://x1b.xanga.com/4ffd560509c32104458747/w73803596.jpg

I support them in their fight to save the bus driver's jobs.

*Update*

Here are two previous flyers from the McLeod West Educational Support Professionals:

October 27 2006:
http://xcd.xanga.com/b07d340401d33104463716/w73807546.jpg

January 2007:
http://x80.xanga.com/e2bd041635630104464116/w73807843.jpg

Here is a flyer I received today from McLeod West in response to the February letter from the McLeod West Educational Support Professionals:
http://x06.xanga.com/150d52f7d3732105875352/w74891468.jpg

*Update 2*
Information from the McLeod West Educational Support Professionals presented at the last school board meeting:

Page showing how much the district has spent on lawyer's fees (Over $15,000):
http://x62.xanga.com/06cd453544233118375442/w85036875.jpg

Break down of how much the district would save by owning their buses (about $48,000):
Page 1:
http://x24.xanga.com/c4bd763b50432118375790/w85037169.jpg
Page 2:
http://x3d.xanga.com/226d623552032118375966/w85037321.jpg
Page 3:
http://xb8.xanga.com/a37d573554630118376105/w85037442.jpg

There is another 5,624 feet

tobybryan — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 02:05:04 -0500

There is another 5,624 feet of space that could become unused soon at the Elementary site: http://xef.xanga.com/d62d736539632113762968/w81267323.jpg

Now I support the bus drivers but suppose the buses do get sold or perhaps a new bus garage is built. That would leave this one empty and open for remodeling. Even if they just moved industrial arts over there then the former industrial arts area could become the library/media center (which was the other choice when the science wing was built). That would open up two more classrooms (or three if the computer lab was moved there as well.) Or you could turn the bus shed into an early childhood learning center, kindergarten/preschool, latch key, ect. The city of Brownton turned its old fire station into a Library/city office building:
http://x50.xanga.com/020d776462735113763879/w81268105.jpg

And if I remember right the proposed bus garage at the new site would have been multi use as well.

Thanks for the survey

MW Supporter — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 09:17:19 -0500

Thanks for the survey Tobybryan but what does it prove? Nothing. The survey was taken almost 7 years ago. Time changes alot in families, jobs, homes, etc. Maybe it is time for a new survey? I hope community members come and truely voice their opinion at the upcoming public meeting.We need to get on the same page and save this school district.

2000 School district survey

tobybryan — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:27:18 -0500

2000 School district survey results from question number 8 under Facilities about remodeling one campus:
Brownton
101 (20 percent) strongly support
162 (32 percent) somewhat support
57 (11 percent) somewhat oppose
153 (30 percent) Strongly oppose
41 (8 percent) No Opinion
Stewart
160 (31 percent) strongly support
185 (36 percent) somewhat support
63 (12 percent) somewhat oppose
67 (13 percent) strongly oppose
40 (8 percent) no opinion

Another Question asked had to do with consolidation. "Another option for the McLeod West school district is further consolidation or pairing with another school district. "Consolidation" is the formal merging of two or more school districts into one district. "Pairing" is the sharing of teachers and programs between two districts that remain independent but work together. If this becomes necessary, how much would you support or oppose McLeod West consolidating or pairing with the following school districts? (Respondents were asked to provide an answer to each option).

a. Glencoe/Silver Lake:
58 (12 percent) would strongly support
106 (22 percent) would somewhat support
208 (43 percent) would strongly oppose
45 (9 percent) no opinion

b.Buffalo Lake/Hector:
125 (24 percent) strongly support
141 (28 percent) would somewhat support
60 (12 percent) would somewhat oppose
129 (26 percent) would strongly oppose
50 (10 percent) no opinion

c. Gibbon/Fairfax/Winthrop:
41 (9 percent) would strongly support
69 (15 percent) would somewhat support
82 (18 percent) would somewhat oppose
222 (47 percent) would strongly oppose
55 (12 percent) no opinion

d. Hutchinson
60 (12 percent) strongly support
75 (15 percent) would somewhat support
41 (8 percent) would somewhat oppose
262 (54 percent) would strongly oppose
49 (10 percent) no opinion

If there is to be a school

Duke — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 11:27:37 -0600

If there is to be a school in your district there is business decisions that
need to be made. 1st chose the school that has less problems, in
return will cost less to update. 2nd chose the school that has more to offer the students.
Where the school is should not matter. This was not done.

People need to see a projected return on there money.
You don't throw something away when it is needed.( the better school )

There is going to have to be drastic changes in the 10 to 20 year forecast for
all small schools.
We have to except the changing world & move forward in a positive manner.

When a business is well managed it can get through tough times.
The CEO has to make decisions that will hold share holders interest & keep them investing
there money.
Once share holders see there money not managed to the best of its potential,
they pull out & find a new investment.
When there is a variety of investors, all are given a voice in what direction
they want there money to go.

No one will invest in a company with a board of directors
that wont let the share holders have a say.

Education is power

All people involved in the matter need to get involved & let the board know
they want a school in your district. The way it looks they need to act now.
Attend school board meetings and make your presence known.

The common misinformation

tobybryan — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 14:23:45 -0600

The common misinformation about the elementary site is that its only 8 acres. It is actually about 10 acres. Here's a pic of the space I think was left out:
http://xae.xanga.com/822d51f208432107755093/w76379092.jpg

This is looking east towards the parking lot. It's not really used for anything anymore that I know of. I think it would be the perfect spot to add on. I would still like to see the football field moved to Brownton if the Stewart site was chosen. We could keep using their baseball diamond as well. They could be the outdoor sports center of the district.

I keep hearing and reading

TJ — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 12:43:54 -0600

I keep hearing and reading that there is not enough space or acreage at the stewart campus to house all the students. Obviously some renovations would need to be done. I'm just wondering if anyone has considered the possibility of building "up" instead of out. Is there a reason the second level couldnt be expanded and possibly a third added ?

The McLeod West Night

tobybryan — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 02:38:32 -0600

The McLeod West Night Hawks.

(Here’s a piece of McLeod West trivia I thought some of you might find interesting.) We almost were the McLeod West Night Hawks. When paring and sharing first occurred in 1992 the two schools voted on possible school names and mascots. While McLeod West was overwhelming chosen by both schools, “Night Hawks” had 18 more votes than “Falcons”. The school board had a hard time visualizing what a “Night Hawk” looked like so they discussed shortening it to the “Hawks” or going with the second choice of “Falcons” And as we all know they went with Falcons. Source: The Bulletin, May 6 1992

actually, tbone, i was

me2 — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 23:11:31 -0600

actually, tbone, i was talking about the brownton school when i said pony up & get it done. i dont care if the brownton school stays open. just not as is. that old section has got to go. in my blog, i just wished the stewart school with the science addition were the school in brownton. than i dont think we'd have as much dissent.
as for ideas to save our district, im at a loss. we've tried just about everything. what ideas are left? i would love to say, if we are going to keep our school local and its going to be in brownton, than lets do it right. lets rip out the old section, build it new. just classrooms & cafeteria. re-use all we can. we can add bells & whistles as money permits. but just saying it doesnt make it happen. we've already tried a referendum to fix brownton & stewart and it failed. would a referendum pass for just brownton? i dont know.
no matter which way i look at it, its gonna take lots of money to keep our school. and than how much more after that? look at hutch, it seems as though every other year they are asking for more money for the schools. gsl--they are in a bind with their panther house or whatever that big expensive building is called. the board is getting lots of flak over there to. i think it was arlington that just voted down another referendum for more money. everywhere you look, all the districts are struggling with some kind of money issue.
i agree with the people who say, we need to know we have money to run our schools before we build a new one. but than on the flip side, if we dont have a school, what do we need that money for? can we do a vote to raise extra operating funds, only if a new or rebuilt school referendum would pass? do the operating levy first & if the operating levy fails, case closed. no school vote. but if the operating levy passes, than vote on the school building a few weeks later. if that passes, we get money for operating & building. if it fails, than we get no money for operating or building. how does that sound? do you think it would be worth a try?

ps i think tobybryan is doing a great job, finding & posting a lot of facts that are worth knowing. if we only listened to one viewpoint, we would still be under great britains thumb. keep up the awesome work toby! it is appreciated by some of us!

In response to me2, Your

Tbone6551 — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 18:31:26 -0600

In response to me2,
Your statement about putting money into the Stewart site I must say I agree with it only if they had some land to add onto. When is everyone going to listen to what the state and the board members have been saying over and over again these past few months? The Stewart campus does not have enough rooms or land to house all our kids. End of story. You are right when you said pairing and shairing could be a possibility of consolidation someday. This will all come true if our two towns don't find a way to work this out. Again we have until the 26th of Feb. to come up with some other plan. I know a lot of people that look at this web site, so lets hear from you all. By the way, if anyone has the idea of a K-6 or K-8 and ship out our high school kids to another district think again. It may be cheaper in some ways, but this is not what this district is all about. I hope everyone can put on there thinking caps and lets move forward and build these two communities together.

thank you tobybryan! mw

me2 — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 17:43:51 -0600

thank you tobybryan!

mw supporter, maybe you need to go back & re-read your comments?
i am sorry i associated you with mw mom's comment on the 60 degree room. as i said, i do make mistakes & i obviously did. i stand by the rest of my comment tho.
i wasn't just directing my comment at you, i was also directing it at all the bloggers who have picked at stewart, picked at farmers, basically picked at anyone who doesnt believe the brownton school, as is, should be the school kept open. i can honestly say, if the stewart school, with the science addition, were in brownton & was the school to be kept open, i would be all for it. it does look better. and yes that matters. who buys a house that looks bad when you can get one, for less, that looks better? (i am saying less because it would cost less to fix up the stewart school than the brownton school)
yes, i know, everyone keeps saying the rooms are so small. i dont see it. i have helped at class parties just about every year, with 2-3 other parents also. there was plenty of room for all of us so i have a hard time believing it would be so crammed with an aide, teacher & students in the rooms.
you know though, all this doesnt hardly matter any more. the board is looking at pairing with another school & if that happens, im guessing full consolidation will happen shortly therafter. (isnt that usually how the consolidations start? by testing the water first with pairing?) anyway, if that happens that would be the end of our district. and probably the brownton school. if we cant get our 2 towns to agree that the school needs fixing & we need to pony up & do it, how are we ever going to convince whatever other town/s we go with??? especially when they are all in the same boat?
the end of our district would not lie at the feet of one really good researcher either, as has been suggested. it would be at the feet of our government who keep pulling funds from the schools, yet expect the schools to run as effectivly as ever. it would be at the feet of those who failed to keep the schools up to code. it would also be at our own feet for all this fighting we do over the fear of possibly not being able to keep our school local and not putting our diffences aside long enough to actually come up with a viable option.

Toby, What I am hearing

Tbone6551 — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 15:57:42 -0600

Toby,
What I am hearing from the two towns you don't have too much support in your thoughts and so call findings. Your Worner study report was quite impressive as far as wasting all this web space. I do think in your own silly way you do care about MCW. I give you credit for that. Now if you can channel that energy and come up with some ideas to build something ( remember the vast majority of voters wants a building in both towns ) we may be able to move on and get this done. The big question is if we can not come up with something by the 26th of Feb. the board must move forward. I'll hang up and listen.

MW Supporter is correct on

tobybryan — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 11:50:46 -0600

MW Supporter is correct on the 60 degree comment. That was MWMom that posted that. But MW Supporter did make a comment on mold in Stewart on the "Debate over McLeod West's future heats up" article comment page:

Submitted by MW Supporter on January 23, 2007 - 2:10pm.
Get er done you need to get out your tape measure. Where is the space for the kids??? In the room upstairs with all the mold??? Or maybe the one downstairs in the basement area? You should spend some time up there. Take a deep breath and then try to learn something for a full day of school. Then times that by 5 days a week, and so on. You get the picture. Do you have any kids??? Are they sick from the odors over there?? Stewart is far from perfect as you stated earlier. Why would we want to put money into that building.Just because it looks better doesn't mean much in my book. The campus does not have the overall space to meet the future needs of a K-12. Like you say it does. No room to expand outside either. The vote is over, move on. Start doing some good and quit your complaining. I wouldn't blame Mr. Heibert for leaving (if he decided to) Would you want to listen to all this. These two towns are terrible. As you can tell I am not a local.

I am asking me2 to go back

MW Supporter — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 09:36:51 -0600

I am asking me2 to go back and read the past comments. I didn't say anything about the classrooms over in Stewart getting above 60 degrees. Mold in Stewart? Not me again. I did not blame only the farmers for the vote being defeated. I grew up on a farm and remember freezing pipes alot. Stop trying to read into everyones comments like they are out to get Stewart or farmers. I really don't care where the school would have been built. GASP!! And I am from Brownton. We all have to remember it is for the kids.

McLeod West school bond vote defeated

Jorge Sosa — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 22:17:02 -0600

A proposal to build a new $17-million school to serve the students of the McLeod West School District was defeated Tuesday night.