Dear Editor:
The group I am working with is looking at the value in a recall of at least Brandon School Board members and potentially more depending upon the information we are gathering.
We may look to an outside agency to insure the transparency and legality of the bond expenditures and appropriations as well as the bond campaign that funded it.
As I have expressed to the board, I have great concerns over the ability of the Brandon School District to pay down the debt with the declining State Equalization Value and tax base that support the debt retirement. This will become more and more of a concern statewide.
The Brandon School District is one of the few districts that in the last three years that has supported a bond issue, with the economy headed south from the time of the election request. The dropping enrollment is a clear indicator to me that the operational dollars to fund basic K12 educational initiatives will be a great concern at the same time that the school board and Superintendent Tom Miller have chosen to continue on the path of building a new elementary school. I share the concerns of many others that this building was not needed. The original projections when the bond issue was proposed by Miller and the board members showed marginal need, if that.
The Stanford Association projections showed a decrease in enrollment of 105 sudents over the first five years projected. I believe the figures are already at about 150 student drop in three years, so where is the pressing need. The district has the legal responsibility to reconfigure the bond and take appropraite action if the dollars to support the debt retirement are not going to be available. The community should be very concerned about having the expense of an additional building to staff, heat, operate, supply, provide instructional materials for etc. on an already stripped budget. These expenses cannot by law come out of the bond issue and will effect the operational budget of the entire district.
The main purpose of the bond issue was the activities complex, a much sought-after luxury by a special interest group who failed to understand the effect on the operational budget of the entire District.
While it is nice to have, it is better suited to a district south of us that has over $12,000 per pupil FTE to spend and even they assess their priorities in a different way.
I appreciate the effort Miller and staff have put into the math science integration initiative that he presented at the 3/10 board meeting. I am please that after 10 years of planning an OSM Tech like program housed at Brandon, it may finally come to pass in an expanded version. This, if approved, will put Brandon in a more competitive light for addressing the needs of todays youth and the leaders of Michigans return to prosperity.
I hope the school board will support this and the community will support and encourage the shadowing/co-op element. It’s not too early to plan how your talents and business can provide the workplace relevancy and leadership skill, which will be a vital component for success.
This is just my opinion, and as always I’m sure there are people who do not agree.
That is what makes the right to freedom of speech so important.
Bonnie Kerin
Brandon Township
Former School Board Member, 1992-1996