EDITOR: I take exception to recent comment in the Morgan Hill
Times from School Board President George Panos that community
members who oppose District policy and practices are
“takers” intent of siphoning away funds that our District so
desperately needs.
EDITOR:
I take exception to recent comment in the Morgan Hill Times from School Board President George Panos that community members who oppose District policy and practices are “takers” intent of siphoning away funds that our District so desperately needs.
Although my wife and I disagree with the District on many recent issues, we are givers to the education system. We have unselfishly supported our public schools by volunteering our time in classrooms, and in local Home and School Clubs. We supported school fund raising activities and campaigned for the construction bond issue that promised much needed classroom renovations and new school construction, but now is the source of so much community division.
However, it is the District officials and the “old” board members that have taken $72.5 million from “the parents who work so hard to raise funds for their children,” and failed to deliver as promised. The three construction projects are unfinished, and the funding for their completion is in question.
Our high school graduates are ill prepared to compete in higher education or the job market. Our existing schools are an eyesore and in disrepair, and hundreds of parents have opted out of the public education system. Classroom funding has deteriorated to point where elementary teachers cannot obtain basic classroom supplies without the public donations you so eagerly to ask for.
Mr. Panos described the recall cost of $300,000 as fiscally irresponsible, but where was his sense of fiscal responsibility when the Sobrato/Live Oak/Barrett construction projects ran grievously over-budget? Those cost over-runs were originally estimated to be $30 million, but have now soared to a rumored $50 million.
He speculated about how many teachers, custodians, librarians and groundskeepers the District could employ with $300,000, or how much District sports programs would benefit from that sum. But he must know the exact number, since he voted every year to cut District payroll (last year over 100 teachers received termination notices). How many more employees will be laid off this summer to pay for the opening of Sobrato, whether or not the recall election is held?
To put this issue into perspective, the recall cost relative to the District costs is:
• 0.5% vs. the $70 million operating budget for next year
• 0.6% vs. the $50 million construction cost over-runs
• 20% vs. the $1.45 million the District seeking in settlement from Jacob Facilities
• 25% vs. the $1.1 million harassment settlement
• On par with the $350,000 required upgrades to the Sobrato sports fields, so they can be played on this fall.
• On par with the $255,000 bonuses received by District Officials each year
The real toxic cloud Mr. Panos describes is the up to $50 million cost over-runs incurred for the three construction projects. The real cost to the community will be the years spent paying for the District’s self-serving construction projects, both for the construction bond and any other loans the District must enter into pay for next year’s operational costs.
If the Board’s finances truly are open for community review, perhaps the Board can account for where the $72.5 million bond fund was spent, and how much more is really needed to finish the Sobrato and Live Oak projects. Perhaps the Board will explain why the Barrett School construction projects have not been fully signed off yet? Or perhaps the community should wait until the FCMAT report is issued.
Mark Sparacino,
Morgan Hill
