Last evening, at a presentation given by the Imagine Beloit people, a citizen asked the question, "Where did all of the money go that we were supposed to use on our schools?" The presenter's reply was that it went to teachers. Well, partially true. It has also gone to administrators, secretaries, and every other district employee.
The state limits the amount a school district can increase its taxes each year. So, if we do not keep our budget tight and watch every dollar, we end up dipping into the maintenance fund to cover our employees' salaries and other shortages. That is how we got where we are today. Our high school, built from a referendum 20 years ago, is now in dire need of repairs. All of our other schools are as well. We have a responsibility to maintain the schools, not spend the maintenance money on other things, let our schools deteriorate, and then ask the public for more money to build new. That is simply an operational referendum in disguise. And it is not good for Beloit's image.
It is predicted by the district that we will face at least 2 million a year in budget cuts. It is also predicted that we will save about 2 million a year by closing schools. That leaves us $0 for the problems we face today at Aldrich, McNeel, and BMHS. These schools have about 8 million dollars in needed repairs. Where will that money come from? If it comes from our maintenance fund, which is only 2 million a year, the work will not be done for about 4 or 5 years from now, and we will, once again, be sitting where we are today -- no money for maintenance and buildings deteriorating.
Before we tax our citizens 70 million dollars, we must have a plan for the future. We cannot build new schools and not have the money to maintain them. Otherwise, we may as well start today planning the next referendum.
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