I found out earlier today that the Caledonia Village board is entertaining the idea of having an advisory referendum to create a new Caledonia School District – the Journal Times has too posted a piece on this at http://www.journaltimes.com/.
My question is this – shouldn't a community of Caledonia’s size have their own schools? Even smaller communities such as Burlington, Union Grove and Waterford have their own schools, why shouldn't Caledonia?
Besides the unknown start-up costs, what do you think the biggest challenge will be?
(Hint, I’m looking for positive discussion here - no name calling or derogatory remarks.)
5 comments:
Alright, I'll start this show.
I believe that the biggest challenge will be convincing people that this is an investment in the future. The upfront costs might hurt a little, or a lot, but it will be worth it down the road. People and businesses do not move here, among other reasons, because of Unified. A quality school district would only make us more attractive to relocating people and businesses.
Some of the people on the JT blog are condemning it before we even know anything. This is not a vote to start a new district. It is a vote to STUDY the feasibility. I believe we would be foolish not to at least look at the possibility.
The biggest problem is a catch-22. Caledonia's tax base is almost entirely residential. That is hardly what is needed to run a school district. The village needs for commercial and industrial avenues for tax revenue. The problem businesses won't move here because their employees don't want the garbage associated with RUSD. It a vicious cycle.
I know it sounds lame, Randy and Roomie but I think it might be the case "if we build it, they will come".
We are not going to attract any new business without good schools - look at the industrial and commerce Franklin and Oak Creek have.
Once upon a time these areas were out in the sticks too - but because of the good schools (and relatively low taxes compared to Milwaukee) these communities are thriving.
We need to move forward - but the first step is sometimes the hardest one to take.
Brenda -
What was the outcome? Do you think a referendum is in the offing?
I would love to see a Caledonia school advisory referendum on the same ballot as the school funding referendum
Winger,
I was looking for you at the meeting, I kind of thought we would finally meet in person.
The outcome of the meeting is this the Community Redevelopment Authority (CDA) is recommending an advisory referendum. This will be discussed at the first regular Village board in February.
Don't look for a Unified referendum in April - they are planning another June referendum as they will not have the fiscal information they need in time for an April referendum.
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