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Voice your opinion on the school building issue

May 10, 2015   Editor: Dave Uphoff
This week the Fieldcrest Board of Education will be holding community meetings at Fieldcrest East in Wenona on May 13 and at Fieldcrest High School in Minonk on May 14 where people can voice their concerns and ask questions about the building issues facing the school district. The Fieldcrest Board states there are necessary repairs and updates needed at schools in all 3 communities, but mostly at Fieldcrest East and Fieldcrest High School.

At issue is whether to build new structures or repair and update the existing structures. The school's engineering consultants, The Farnsworth Group, did a study 2 years ago which indicated it would cost $33 million to either update or rebuild from scratch. From comments made by board members it seems the Fieldcrest Board is leaning towards demolition of both Fieldcrest East and Fieldcrest High School and either rebuilding separate structures in the respective communities or building a brand new school plant at another location that would encompass all schools.

Comments we have heard by local residents seem to favor updating rather than rebuilding. The big questions on everyone's mind is why it should cost so much to repair and update. We have heard reports of other school's doing updates like rewiring, new plumbing and roofing and adding air conditioning for less than $5 million dollars per building. Why should it cost so much more for the Fieldcrest buildings?

The other comments heard by local residents is that each community wants to retain the schools in their community rather than build a central building at one site. Having a school in each town is vital for retaining a sense of community. Having to bus more students to a central location involves more cost and more time and danger on the road. In addition, no one wants to have K-4 housed in the same building with high school students.

There is no doubt that buildings have to be updated and to do it will require the passage of a referendum with a resulting increase in the tax levy and higher property taxes. The big question is how much do we need to spend to bring the buildings up to date?

We question the cost estimates the school board has received and strongly urge the board to solicit another estimate on how much it would cost to bring the school buildings up to date. No one should proceed with a program that is based on one cost estimate. We should question how much we need to update. The cost estimates should be based on what we need and not on a utopian education plant that only rich school districts can afford. Our district does not expect any growth in student population so expansion is not necessary.

Every building needs to be maintained and upgraded as they age. 50% of the houses and buildings in the Fieldcrest school district are older than the Fieldcrest High School. These buildings are periodically updated and repaired. Most people cannot afford to just tear down and rebuild whenever their house needs to be updated. Why should it be any different for a school building? Perhaps the difference is the money used to build a new school comes from the taxpayers, not from any one person who owns the building.

The Fieldcrest Board of Education indicated they want public feedback on this issue. Your opinions will influence their decision. Therefore, we urge everyone who is concerned about the school building issue to attend the community meetings this Wednesday and Thursday and voice your opinion on where you want your schools and do you want to rebuild or repair.

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