Quote from IanMacQuaide:
This Sch. Dist. literally turned off the power and water and locked the doors?!?! How many bldgs ????
Mommies crying on TV news about not wanting to close the little schools, but saying the authorities know best.
Not just my school district, but in numerous nearby counties. It's the thing to do you see, it's the final solution, it's for change, people want change. Something new and exciting to feel good. Hey, how about a new middle school in this faltering economy, with half of the student-parent population moving out of state to find a frickin' job because the taxes are too bleepin' high, and businesses moving out, etc.
Most districts, it's 3 or 4 school buildings shut down and torn down. It cost $1 million to tear down the middle school instead of selling it for ONE BLEEPIN' FRICKIN' DOLLAR. Nothing wrong with that school building, half of that building was only about 25 years old. Wish my drafty, freezing-winter-cold house was only 25 yrs old.
What's really hilarious is that dozens - hundreds? - of parents have to drive so much further to pick up their kids after school etc., where they could walk before. Saving money and resources.
This has been going on for decades of course but now more rapidly and the ruse is to save on fuel and services, usually only saving - supposedly - a couple hundred $K. No money for fuel for buses and heat, but we got a new school costing tens of millions. Eventually with everyone moving out of the district, they could put all the kids in the high school, which is really old at about 35 years, time to tear it down and build a new one.
Mostly rural area with a bunch of small towns. As a kid, my local school 1.5 miles away, decided to join a larger school district which eventually resulted in the bright idea of closing down my local school and busing us to the other school 12 miles away, so I had to ride the bleepin' bus for about 1.25 hours each way, first loser on the bus in the morning and the last loser off the bus in the afternoon. 7 years of that crap. Gravel roads, too damn hard to read or do anything. Just waiting for all the other losers to get loaded or unloaded.
I read in the local paper recently that at one time there were 80 schools in this county, now about a dozen.
There is no such thing as a failed proposed money grab, eventually they keep putting it up for a vote until it passes.
Reports of kids being encouraged by school employees to tell their parents to vote for the new school.
"Mommy, Daddy please vote yes. The school is old and not cool."
"Ok, spoiled brat junior, your parents are morons. We will do what our children tell us."
I would name the school district, but I would fear for my life. My brother told me that someone that he works with was threatened while voting - against- the bond proposal for the new middle school. Two officials - can't remember the details - told him as he was voting that he had better be voting yes for that huge increase in property tax. He said no. Can't remember the threats said, I remember not knowing what to do about it. Sick, disabled, depressed, no big bucks for an attorney to consult, I cowered under the covers.
Happy "Independence" Day everyone.