Document text
Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad May 18, 2006 LETTERS: at length Community wants buildings to remain By Heidi Parker and Juli Di Chiro Ashland In a recent commentary in this paper, Michael Sanford raised the question, “Should the Lincoln and Briscoe school properties be sold to defray the taxpayer cost of construction bonds?” In 2004, Ashland School District asked this question in a public survey. At that time, 70 percent of respondents said the district should retain ownership and lease the properties. During the Bond and Facilities Planning Committee’s yearlong work, the same question was posed, and at a work session on Feb. 27, attended by approximately 70 community members, the majority of those in attendance said retain the closed facilities. The board has determined that there are several valuable reasons to retain the properties. Should the recommended bond pass, classes and offices currently located in the main gymnasium and music building at Ashland High School will need to be relocated during the renovation period. Portable classroom leases are estimated to exceed $100,000 per year per classroom, including the cost of lease and installation. Utilizing the Lincoln classrooms and gym during this time could save the district upwards of $800,000. In addition, the combined rent receipts for Briscoe and a wing of Lincoln recently leased, bring close to $200,000 annual income to ASD. This critical income, combined with substantial savings, allows ASD the ability to maintain, and possibly grow, education programs for all students. Mr. Sanford also asked if anyone can “cite an instance where a strong demographic trend like (Ashland’s) has been reversed?” Palo Alto, Calif., is a prime example. That affluent city had declining enrollment throughout the 1970s and ’80s. When the trend reversed, the district had to reopen four of its closed schools. Several new Ashland residents have cautioned board members not to sell closed school properties, citing examples from their hometowns, where closed schools were sold and later the school district was forced to buy new land and build new schools, at considerable cost, when the demographics reversed. The board appreciates Mr. Sanford’s thoughtful questions and interest in the schools. To read about the bond proposal that will be presented to the Ashland School Board for approval on June 12, please visit the ASD Web site at: www.ashland.k12.or.us/facilities. If you are interested in more information about the proposal, please attend our upcoming Board Work Session on May 22, at 7 p.m. in the Ashland Middle School Library. Heidi Parker is the chair of the Ashland School Board and Juli DiChiro is the district superintendent. An open letter regarding ASF By R. Berlett Ashland I just received a mailing frm the Ashland Schools Foundation requesting a donation,. I have seen the understated-by-design signs all around the community for the past couple of weeks. I read the appeal to understand just how a community’s schools go begging for funds. As an Ashland resident, it is humiliating. As a candidate for the township school board in suburban Chicago, I familiarized myself with the school system’s funding sources. In most locales, schools are the gold standard when it comes to real-estate values. If the schools are revered, real-estate prices are high; if they are mediocre, real-estate prices lag the market. Because it connotes a community’s commitment to quality education, one of the most direct correlations of quality schools is their share of the property-tax dollar. In the “preferred” communities of the Chicago suburbs, the school’s share is in the 60 percent to 75 percent range. In Ashland, it is a paltry 25 to 30 percent. The foundation’s existence creates a false sense of the public school system’s preservation of standards. Here we are in this cloistered setting, amidst great cultural wonders and residential magnificence, struggling to support a public education system with our inadequate tax dollars. We are inundated with retirees, like me, who no longer hold schools as an intimate and high priority, but who comfortably afford our $500,000-plus homes with their bargain (in big-city terms) tax bills. Though Oregon has a ceiling on property taxes, there are other ways to skin this cat in Ashland. Since we have this base of retirees, and many would like reduce their future immigration, why not take a page out of Florida’s book — if you want to live in Ashland, there’s a school tax and its tied to your net worth — very progressive and it doesn’t’ hurt the “poor.” It is only enlightened self-interest that we do the single thing that will most directly contribute to the preservation of our dearly beloved real-estate values — demand the highest quality schools. Lest I be misconstrued, it is not “all about money.” But, it is all about “tone” — the tone that is defined by the community in setting and enforcing educational standards, reverentially respecting the institution, and kicking out every crutch that the educators proclaim is a reason for substandard performance. That takes money, and it takes discipline from our political and school-board leadership. I would observe, over the past few years, that our cup does not runneth over on any of these accounts in Ashland. Rather than obscuring the problem with private funding sources, let’s work on a real solution — one which permanently raises the bar for our school’s performance, elevates their standing in our priorities, and asks everyone in the community to share, proportionate to the value they derive, in the costs of top-quality educational systems. The Tidings gives priority to letters on local and regional topics of current interest. It seeks to encourage thoughtful, well-reasoned letters and to discourage personal attacks, repetitive messages and personal disputes. Form letters are not published in the Tidings, nor are letters identified as having been published in other publications. Contributions to the Opinion page should be e-mailed in text-only format to [email protected]. Please include your address and a daytime phone number where you can be reached for confirmation. Letters are limited to 250 words. At Length submissions are limited to 400 words. Submissions may be edited for length, content and clarity. See www.dailytidings.com for our expanded letters and opinion section. . Leave a Comment: --> Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.