School Board Meeting
All parents and other community residents are invited and strongly encouraged to attend the school board meeting on Monday, February 25 at 7:00pm.
The board will be presenting and discussing ideas on how to implement the $10,000,000 working cash bond. The meeting will be held at the Middle School.
Plan "B" Scenario
In anticipation of the School Board's next meeting, we thought it might be helpful to share some previously disclosed information from the District.
Please download the four Microsoft PowerPoint slides from the Board's presentation on November 19, 2007 that review various financial scenarios with passage of a $10M working cash bond. The projections are provided by independent financial consultants (PMA).
If we arbitrarily look at Scenario B with RTI costs included (the moderate programming option), the District projected a $3.8 million deficit in 2013.
This figure includes no proceeds from the sale of the Rt. 12/134 property. A property sale of $4M by 2013 would put the working cash fund at +$0.2M with this scenario. Since the 2007-8 school year ends with a $2.3M deficit rather than the $3.3M used in the projection, the working cash fund would actually be +$1.2M in 2013.
Finally, if the Board actually secures the current $5M pending contract price for the Rt. 12/134 property, the working cash fund would be +$2.2 M in 2013 under the Scenario B projection. If the Board has reevaluated operating costs or revenues since November, this will need to be explained.
Final adjustments based, for example, on the completion of a new teacher's contract, should not delay actions needed to correct current operational deficiencies. This is the frame of reference that the community should use in setting its expectations for the February 25th meeting.
We are sure that the Board has the same sense of urgency for taking action to allow Big Hollow to compete for the talented teaching resources it needs to fill programming gaps in the '08-'09 school year.
We look forward to their restoration of a quality education to Big Hollow and to the community that has said it is time to invest more in our children's education.
Important Press Release
Please read this special news release from the Referendum Committee.