T-I Editorial
Don't punish schools with ‘No’ vote
Don't punish schools with ‘No’ vote
10 months ago | 652 views | 4 
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It is tempting, and perhaps human nature, to want to punish members of the Grand County Board of Education for the district’s current financial crisis. After all, the misallocation of funds occurred, apparently over the course of several years, during their watch.
But voters will have that opportunity in coming years as each of those school board members is up for re-election. Then, if voters do not feel the new oversight measures put in place in recent weeks have created satisfactory checks and balances to prevent these financial errors from recurring, they can send a clear message by ousting the school board incumbents and putting new representatives on the board.
And who will really pay the price if the Nov. 3 voted leeway effort fails? The cuts to staff and educational programs that will result will be far more brutal to students and teachers than to members of the school board.
If the leeway fails, classroom sizes will increase to 30 to 35 students at the elementary and middle school levels and could be as high as 40 students in high school classes. Twenty-five to 35 teachers and staff will lose their jobs – a loss that will seriously impact not only those individuals but also the Grand County economy. And many teachers will continue to pay the price for pay cuts already put in place this year because those cuts will lower their retirement compensation for years to come.
District officials have also said they may be forced to close a school next year if the leeway funding fails.
Given the current economic climate across the nation, the district’s budget shortfall and the call for increased taxes couldn’t come at a worse time. And while the idea of increasing taxes is a bitter pill, the alternative is even more repugnant. For less than 50 cents a day, homeowners with properties valued at $200,000 can help keep Grand County Schools healthy.
The character of our community is not measured by the actions we take when times are good, rather it will be measured, by future generations, for the actions we take when times are most difficult.
If voters in this community fail to pass the school district voted leeway this year, the next several generations will most certainly cast a harsh eye upon us. And deservedly so.
Currently, Grand County is one of only eight school districts, among 41 districts in the state, that does not receive financial support from the community in the form of a voted leeway. Voters in neighboring San Juan County approved a voted leeway in 2006, giving a much-needed infusion of cash to one of the poorest school districts in the state. Grand County’s per pupil spending is also already among the lowest in Utah, and the loss of teachers, staff and programs will only exacerbate that problem.
In the 1980s, the majority of Grand County voters turned down a voted leeway initiative for local schools. The result: one school closed, teachers lost their jobs, and the level of educational opportunities for students declined. It has taken the school district almost two decades to rebuild the local educational system. In recent years, the result of those efforts has been obvious, as Grand County students have excelled in academics and sports, the championship GCHS debate team has dominated teams from much larger public and private schools, and new programs have been put in place to help students who likely would have struggled or failed academically two decades ago.
With the Nov. 3 vote, our community truly is at a crossroads. We must ask ourselves: Is it more important to teach the Grand County Board of Education members a lesson, or is it more important to ensure our students are receiving the education they deserve?
A vote against the leeway is a vote to return Grand County’s education system to the grim barebones programs of 20 years ago, or worse.
Vote yes on Nov. 3 – for the health and well-being of the community, and for the future of Grand County’s children.
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I can't speak for all GCHS 80's graduates, of which I am one, but I can say things were not as dire at that time as you portray. I graduated in 1983 and while it is true that there are more opportunities today there is also much more fluff. I went on to graduate from a state university at the top of my class and attended grad school for both MS and PhD work. I was always at the top of my class throughout my education. Why, considering I had such a poor education from GCHS during the 80's? Because I was committed to doing what it took to do well. If families will take more responsibility for education we can, and will, get by with much less than what you deem as appropriate. The other side of the coin is that people are frustrated with the taxes they pay and the irresponsibility of leaders to safeguard and spend this money wisely. People hear leaders cry wolf so often that eventually things will reach a breaking point. It would appear that Grand County School District has reached this point and now must get by with less.
Which is worse? A spelling error by a hard working taxpayer? Or... A $2.2 million math error by a university educated school administrator bringing home a salary of $91.031 a year?
I'd really like to know.
I received a community flyer today outlining reasons to vote "No" for the tax leeway. Honestly, what an inaccurate, over-exaggerated view! This tax leeway is not going to cause nearly the devastation to our local economy that the National economy already has! Also, how do you think Moab's economy will be affected when 25-35 school district employees lose their jobs (maybe their homes), and our children receive an inadequate, substandard education!
We hope that Moab's future leaders will be individuals that are educated, understanding of Moab itself both historically and currently, and responsible both individually and fiscally. Some of the strongest leaders then, would naturally be those who have lived in Moab for a significant time period, perhaps even grown up here, and are invested in this community. If we cannot provide a proper education for these leaders then we have not been responsible in providing for our own future or for that of our children!
Why worry about it? Why not refuse money toward the education of our children and grandchildren? After all we went to school here and we made it? Well, times are changing! College tuition rates are soaring, and competition for scholarships is forever mounting!
It was in fact, a long-time, Moab-educated local that delivered the afore mentioned flyer encouraging a "No" vote today. This flyer, in bold lettering, had an enormous spelling error which indicates to me exactly WHY we DO NEED to keep our education system healthy! Honestly, if we aim for nothing better, we will hit nothing better than the manure pile that this education system experienced in the 1980's. I personally hope that my children will have achieved at least reasonable math, science, reading and writing skills by the time they graduate! This will be extremely difficult for our schools to provide should they experience even larger classrooms lending to a gross lack of teacher-student interaction, thus allowing kids to "fall through the cracks" in regards to educational issues that could have been caught early enough to have been constructively corrected.
Certainly if one (or a group of individuals) cannot spell basic words correctly (and do not bother to run spell check), I would hope they would not publically present such information to a community in an attempt to cut funding obviously, (through their own example), needed within that community...how "tacky!" If they were purposely, yet ineffectively spelling incorrectly in an attempt to insinuate that the female Superintendant was solely responsible for this shortfall, let us understand that this misallocation most likely started taking place before she took her position! Also, she doesn't sit in front of the books or the budget adjusting columns all day...someone else was paid to do that! We as the taxpayers have the right to know what happened here, and investigations are in progress. Now is the time however to respond appropriately by implementing immediate solutions, followed by the use of our voting power to ensure that the Grand County School District doesn't allow this again! It is NOT the time to deprive our children of the education and tools they desperately need!