Plains School asks voters for funding

No one from the general public showed up for the Plains School levy forum, but that didn't seem to bother Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Walsh, who held the get together specifically to answer questions from the community.

"I'm not discouraged by the numbers," said Walsh, who held the open forum in the school library last Thursday in an effort to inform the public about the purpose of this year's levy request. There were people from the school at the forum - two teachers, two school board members, three school staffers and one principal - but no one from the targeted audience. Nevertheless, Walsh and Kelly Pfister, the school's business manager, explained what the levy money would be used for and how it would impact taxpayers.

The school is asking for a $100,000 levy to better fund classroom programs and to recruit and retain qualified teachers and staff. Two Plains teachers and three of its para educators are retiring after this school year, three are moving, and the high school principal, Ryon Noland, surprised the administration by resigning last week. All will have to be replaced.

Plains Elementary Principal Kevin Meredith, who was at the meeting, had been told that with people's taxes going up, the school should also be getting more money. "I think it's important that we clarify, we are not getting more funding next year because everybody's taxes have gone up," said Meredith.

"We understand the financial difficulties many members of our community are facing during these challenging times, and as you will hear, our schools are also experiencing financial concerns, which has an impact on the quality and level of instruction," said Walsh. "Of course we will always continue to educate our young people - we are committed to that. The school is committed to that, the teachers, the staff are committed to educating our young people. The passing of the levy will allow us to add to the rigor of our course work, promote enrichment in music and art, and work on recruiting and retaining additional highly qualified teachers," she added.

The public meeting lasted less than an hour, but Walsh and Pfister gave a summary of the levy and answered questions from those present. Pfister explained that they're asking for 10.027 mills, which equals $100,000. She said that it would cost a taxpayer about $13.54 on a $100,000 home and around $40.61 on a market value home of $300,000.

Pfister said the general fund budget is about $3.7 million and increased by only $7,000 this coming year, which she said is nowhere near the rate of inflation for the last couple of years. "It's $10,000 a month just to keep the lights on," said Pfister. "The amount of money that we will receive is not going to go up, but all of our costs are going up," said Meredith. Walsh reiterated that the school budget has not kept pace with inflation and that school funding is not a new problem, but because it's a community school, she believes everyone should participate in the process, which is why she said the school is asking for help with the levy, she said.

The school asked for a $100,000 levy last year. School board member Monica Weedeman said the levy failed by only 209 votes - 499 for the levy and 708 against. "I think the older people need to realize that they, too, were given an education and they need to pay it back to the younger generation and so on," said Weedeman. The last school levy to pass was a $30,000 technology levy in 2007 and the last general fund levy passed was 11 years ago for $85,000.

"We will always give our students a quality education so that they can move on. The levy will assist us in doing this. Their success is our success," said Walsh. "What we want to do with this money is to help strengthen the core of our institution. We want to keep giving the students in Plains all of the opportunities that they have now and have them grow even greater. They deserve that," she added. The superintendent told those present that she wants to have more enrichment for the students, specifically in the art and music programs. She praised the new music teacher, Loren Lauridson, for what he's done with the band and choir. She added that people who attend the school concerts could see and hear the rewards of having a "good, strong music program."

Walsh said that a levy failure doesn't mean they would diminish the services, but it will make it harder to move forward and the school will have limited supplies for the teachers to engage at a higher level. She said the school will continue to thrive, but it'll be a limp instead of run. "We're going to limp along and we're going to put bandaids on things if we have to, but we will succeed. It is just that this will give your children a better chance and our staff a better chance to give stronger, more consistency and be confident on the things they need for their kids and our classes," she said.

The ballots went out Friday. May 7 is Election Day. The school staff is looking into putting additional information about the levy on Facebook, the school website and other social media outlets in an effort to explain more about the needs of a passed levy. "If we are fortunate to receive it," said Walsh, "we'll use it well and we will use it for exactly what we said we will use it for, for the support and the encouragement of teachers coming here, staying here, helping to build a stronger - it's strong now - school community."