[We have received the following from Steve Dedow, candidate for the Oshkosh Area School District Board of Education, and are pleased to publish it on his behalf.]
The Board of Education will be voting on Wednesday, February 10th to close Tipler Middle School. The misconceptions given by administration on how this will positively affect our community are that this move will allow: OASD to repurpose the building into an elementary school for consolidation, to provide special education at all remaining middle schools and increase the electives offered.
If the School Board believes all that it is being sold to them by the administration they will once again be forging ahead with the flawed “10 Year Facility Plan”. Currently a minority of board members are strong adherents to the plan as the answer to our community’s educational needs.
One huge question remains unanswered: Where is the new elementary facility that is needed to house these displaced children? The referendum to build a new school failed last year. A referendum to renovate existing facilities which would allow for extra capacity has yet to be placed before our community. Our interim Superintendent Bette Lang has stated that the north side elementary schools are already above capacity, in particular Read Elementary.
Where is the logic in closing schools on the south or west side of Oshkosh when the north side is above capacity?
Closing schools will not solve our budget problems. Let’s use round numbers: 85% of our $100,000,000 budget ($85,000,000) goes to salaries and benefits; the other 15% ($15,000,000) goes to operating costs for the schools (books, heat, fuel, maintenance, etc.). Increases in health costs, which are beyond our control as we are at the mercy of the health insurance industry are approximately 10% per year on $20,000,000 of that $85,000,000. Educator’s salaries, approximately 3% on the remaining $65,000,000 means that our annual budget increase is approximately $3,000,000 per year. This represents an additional $3,000,000 of new money we must find each year.
If we look to that 15% of school operating costs and try to make up for the annual increase in salaries and benefits by cutting from the $15,000,000 of operating costs, simple math tells you that we will run out of schools to close in 5 years. We are once again applying a short term solution to a long term problem.
Of course we can try and conserve energy, we can cut paper usage, we can solicit corporations for athletic sponsorships, we can sell obsolete equipment, we can defer maintenance once again (not a good idea), we can attempt debt restructuring, and we can raise fees on enrollment and programs, etc. And We Should. But the additional savings will not make up the difference that we need to achieve solvency.
Those in our community who scream of equilibrium between taxpayer and student need to stand up now and make it equal. Oshkosh has the LOWEST tax millage rate of any of our neighbors or districts of comparable size. The districts of Sheboygan, Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, Berlin, Winneconne, Ripon, North Fond du Lac and Fond du Lac all have higher millage rates. Wausau, Eau Claire and ROSENDALE all have higher millage rates. An example of our community’s preoccupation with the lowest taxes possible: if we were to close one elementary school (say Lakeside) we would save (according to OASD administration) $100,000 dollars. This represents 3.4% of our current deficit (3 million). If we were to increase taxes to the levy this would represent 20 cents more a month to the taxpayers of Oshkosh to keep this school open. If we were to close 3 schools this year, how much would we save in taxes? Seventy-five cents - a dollar more a month? CLOSING SCHOOLS - CLOSES OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE FUTURE and does NOTHING to prevent the inevitable collapse of this system.
If our community is to survive as something other than a footnote in history as a logging town, then we as a community need to step up to the plate.
The administration of OASD is selling us short.
The reality is somewhat different.
Closing Tipler Middle School will:
• NOT save money. The savings from reducing staffing is $336,000 and the cost for dispersing these children to other schools and instituting five 50 minute periods is $385,000, which will result in a LOSS of $49,000 for the district.
• NOT create a new consolidated elementary school. In addition to the hefty $3 million price tag to convert the closed Tipler building into an elementary school in the future (estimate comes from the “plan”), the classrooms are too small for elementary students as Tipler was architecturally designed to be a middle school housing older students. There are only two bathrooms on the first and second floor, (any of you out there got little kids?), there is a large retention pond very nearby (to be read as litigation), and the current playground is not big enough for an entire population of elementary school aged children.
• NOT affect just Tipler. Instead, it affects over 900 students and their families and will result in overcrowding at the remaining 4 middle schools, specifically Traeger and South Park.
• NOT address the current special education issues. With overcrowding at the remaining 4 middle schools, where are the special education programs to be conducted?
• NOT provide equity. Only two of the remaining four middle schools will be able to offer more electives.
• NOT address any future increase in student population. Since 1997 when Traeger was built to accommodate the middle school population, there has been no significant population change. Why are we closing schools now? I guess I have a question – If Oshkosh Truck actually is able to provide 2,000 jobs (as per the current tax incremental financing negotiations with the city)…do you think that enrollment will be up or down?
The public is invited to attend the meeting. It will be at 6:00pm on Wednesday, February 10th in the OASD central building located at 215 S. Eagle St. Oshkosh.
Respectfully,
Steve Dedow
