Troy Studebaker   

5:27pm on Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Any word on where the School Board stands on this other option of adding on to Middle School & West or has it been vetoed already?

Matt Mushrush   

8:24am on Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Not supporting a new school until Devin is out. This is not "new" thinking I know of numerous people who have voted no in the last two bond efforts because of this thinking. I disagree. I too have hoped that Devin and some board members might move on but at the same time the reason I support this initiative is for the students and the hope of growing our school. I wish Devin would find employment elsewhere. I think many mistakes have been made most of them because of the way ideas were presented or a huge lack of communication with the public. But I don't want to see an ugly public humiliation of Devin. I think this is wrong. We treat people the way we want to be treated. If Devin has made mistakes let's not repeat them by handling this the wrong way.
Here is where I also think cuts have not been been before...the band program is exceptional but it also comes at a very high price tag. Many others programs over the years have faced cuts but as far as I can tell this is the first time t... read more »

Dianne Hepke   

6:57am on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

I agree with Randy. As a Mentor Coordinator traveling between all buildings including South Elementary, I can see a benefit from consolidating buildings and sharing resources, and staff. Let's get through the current budget cuts and move forward with a workable plan. Glad to see P4P and the board are meeting together. Stay positive!

Randy Crawford   

9:29am on Monday, January 18th, 2010

I agree that the discussion on proposed reductions and those dealing with facilities may be separate issues but I would also argue that you can't deal with one without considering the other. As someone who previously worked in the Independence School district and now currently teaches in another district, I have experienced first-hand how consolidating buildings can improve efficiencies. For 11 years, I was the library media specialist for the 3 elementary buildings (East, West & South). I am now the K-12 media specialist in Tipton and am responsible for 2 facilities - a K-8 center and a 9-12. Even though I now serve the entire K-12 population, I can do so much more efficiently than I could serve the K-5 population in Indee because I only have two facilities. I am able to purchase more materials with my budget because I can avoid duplication. I can provide more direct instructional support because I spend less time traveling between facilities and dealing with management issues. I unde... read more »

Peggy Magner   

4:42pm on Sunday, January 17th, 2010

I am glad to see that something can come out of this. we needed to face this thing head on and it looks like our board has done just that. In the paper, it shows a diagram of what a new facility K-12 could look like. I couldn't see it clearly, but was the fine arts center behind the Ad building? Any chance that the hs portion of the ms building could be build both south and east so that the entire facility can be connected. This might have been in the drawing, but I could not see it. I really like the idea of one campus a lot.

Thanks for all your hard work on this.

Dawnye Sturtz   

1:35pm on Sunday, January 17th, 2010

Just a reminder our school board meeting work session is Monday night from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Board members will be discussing the budget reductions, and I encourage you to come because our questions are often the same as yours! The work session is followed by the public hearing set for 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. This is your time to speak and the board to listen. We then have our regular board meeting at 7:30 p.m. All of this will be at the Brandon Community Center. We will be focusing on budget - not the proposals on facilities. We will have facility meetings in the weeks ahead after the architect has some time getting cost estimates and so on. Hope to see you!

Brian Eddy   

9:42pm on Friday, January 15th, 2010

Some good points are raised on here. We have two issues that directly impact each other. First, we have to deal with the immediate budget cuts necessary for the 2010-2011 school year. Any alternative plans (including the one presented by P4P) are longer term plans to help avoid future budget cut issues. We still have to seek ideas on getting through 2010-2011. The cuts made in 2010-2011 must be part of a long-term plan, and the long-term plan (at least in my opinion) cannot be 100% dependent on passing a bond referendum. We have to account for what we can do with our existing resources (SILO funds, current buildings, etc.). Any new projects should be viewed as taking us to the next level. Right now, we have to find a way for stabilize the budget, our enrollment, teacher moral and community support. The points made on this page help focus us on the issues at hand. Thank you!

James Tegtmeier   

10:19am on Friday, January 15th, 2010

I agree that we have two distinct issues here, the immediate budget woes and the long-term building plan. However they are shirt-tail cousins and must be looked at as one - like an egg - the yoke and the white, 2 uniquely separate, yet so closely connected and necessary. Unfortunately the budget woes require immediate action and while it will be uncomfortable at times, it will teach all our kids real life lessons if we parents position it as such – this is how mature adults make lemonade out of lemons.

I see the latest P4P alternative is a compromised building plan that should be strongly considered and supported. I went to Jesup K-12 and the consolidated building plan works and continues to work today. Sometimes great ideas get lost in the middle of good ideas. I support the P4P alternative. The Independence school system will continue to be great in any case.

Thanks P4P for thinking outside the box and for all you do.

Kathie Scheffert   

8:45am on Friday, January 15th, 2010

Can I make a point everyone seems to be missing? There is a difference between recommendations for dealing with reductions and the plans for facilities! The admin's budget reduction recommendation that suggests the closure of East Elem. and temporary housing of students at the current High School is NOT the long term facility plan. It is totally unfair to say p4p has come up with an "Alternative Plan", when what our school board is now dealing with is NOT facility issues but Budget issues.

Jim Carstens   

8:17am on Friday, January 15th, 2010

Let's support Independence schools.