The Madison school district expects voters to approve two referendums in November, adding $1,600 to the average property tax bill. They keep providing more reasons for voters to send them back to the drawing board.
Last week when Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes suggested that the district revisit its 2021 decision to pull cops out of high schools in light of the most recent school shooting, this one in Ohio, a school board member casually tossed aside that idea. And for good measure she accused the Chief of taking political advantage of the killings in Ohio. Concern over the safety of students and staff is not political and board member Ali Muldrow’s comment was way out of line.
This week there’s more. It turns out that the district is running a $3 million deficit in its food service program, which is double the $1.5 million gap it had last year. And the district’s response? They’ve got a plan to get back to even — by 2033.
Really? This is an organization that plans to take a decade to solve a $3 million problem? And can anybody realistically expect to solve a problem over ten years? You really think you can make accurate estimates over a period that long?
Even worse is the quote from school board President Nichelle Nichols, who said, “Those are dollars we don’t get to dream with.”
Don’t get to dream with? Wait. You’re asking taxpayers for $507 million in new capital spending plus another $100 million in operating expenses and you’re talking about money you can’t “dream” with?
Both Nichols’ comment and the ten-year plan from staff to fix a relatively minor problem are glaring examples of just how badly managed and out of touch this district is.
This is an organization that can’t figure out how to solve a $3 million problem in under a decade. This is a district led by a board that only laments that they won’t have that taxpayer money to dream with. And it’s a good idea to entrust them with another $607 million because…?
Yellow Stripes & Dead Armadillos 
I was pretty concerned this morning when I heard that the teacher raise is reliant on the referendum question. It wasn’t clear if there were going to be two separate questions. I see people having a hard time saying no to raises for teachers. Much as I’d like to see them get one, I do not feel comfortable voting yes to give this board more money. And that was before I heard about this food service program deficit. It’s giving serious Monona Grove mismanagement vibes.
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Yep. I think they split the teacher raise precisely because they wanted to put voters in a box. I don’t want to vote against a teacher raise either, but voting this down simply means it sends them a message. They’ll have to retool and come back with a more sensible proposal. If the question were as simple as a 4% teacher raise, of course I’d vote for it. But it’s a lot more complicated.
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What do you think the chances are that the electorate will see through this insanity and put a stop to ‘dreaming’ with an obscene amount of tax dollars? Dreaming?
I dream of a school system that teaches kids how to learn, teaches the basics, then how to help them excel in an everchanging world. And of a Board and Superintendent who are fiscally responsible, held to account for their failures and rewarded for their successes. Right now, it’s far more failures.
Gothard gets an F- to date. His absence and silence is extremely disturbing. Especially on this referendum. Frankly, I don’t give a damn what he says now. He needed to be out in front on this one. For me, one more reason to vote against the referendum.
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I haven’t given up on Joe Goddard, but so far I’m unimpressed. He’s got potential.
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This referendum will fail. I can’t believe that the Madison School District is asking for this money with a straight face. Madison voters are not amused and will get to make that abundantly clear in the forthcoming election. While we’re at it, let’s replace the entire current school board with professionals who know how to manage a budget and who will keep our children and teachers safe while on school property. Toward that end, police officers should be returned to the schools.
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i wish I could say I agreed, Richard. I’m going to say both MMSD questions pass with about 60%.
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We:ll see about that. I’m a centrist, but I have several friends who are far left of me, and who are also deeply concerned about the exploding property tax bill. For the first time, they are agreeing with me when I tell them that we can do better.
So, here is MY prediction: The referendum will fail, and the Madison School District will be sent back to the drawing board. We’ll get a better product and THAT may pass.
Then again, Trump may win, or lose but force his way into the Oval Office, and all of our concerns about our useless School Board will be instantly be replaced with bigger concerns.
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I hope you’re right about the referendums. The problems are: 1) there’s no organized opposition while there is organized support; 2) Madisonians just instinctively support public schools — the last set of referendums passed 3 to 1; 3) the presence of the city of Madison question gives voters the chance to push back — more symbolically than anything else — against higher taxes. I’m afraid they’ll vote for the much more expensive and much less justified school referendums while voting down the city question.
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