Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Editor, Times-Union:
I once taught in a school district run by three board members who ran on the platform of the cheapest possible operation. It made it cheap for taxpayers; not so much for excellence of education.
A recent letter urged the same approach as to current Warsaw Community School Corporation pending decisions. It is no doubt a typical thing for politicians to preach "low taxes" but in this case there are some discrepancies. It was being urged by an elected office of a different governmental entity. Likely someone on the School Board telling the city or county how to do things would be resented by those elected to do those jobs. In this case, the School Board is elected, has experience and expertise, as well as expert advisers, and should be allowed to do its job.
The same letter used an incorrect analysis to urge a particular option. As to savings from operational efficiencies, the writer posed a question as to how many years would be needed to break even, but used the total of all proposed expenses instead of the expenditures directly related to adding space for the Edgewood students a the Lakeview facility. This was after actually conceding that the 60-year-old Lakeview building is, regardless, in need of "significant renovation." It was a typical misuse of data for political gain.
WCSC is charged with the duty of providing, and maintaining, physical plant for the purpose of education. The legislature dictates the funding method. The author stated that the needed space is projected at $25M. The savings in transport, etc. is, per the author, $1-2M per year. So the true answer is a break even at roughly 12-20 years.
Last, as the letter writer knows by virtue of his profession, there are laws that limit and place caps on bonding by school systems. WCSC has done an excellent job in the recent past in projecting physical plant needs and balancing budget and bonding against needs. The School Board should be allowed to do its work without inaccurate complaints from politicians.
Richard K. Helm
Warsaw, via email
