Thursday, February 13, 2025

Appropriate spending definitions will vary

Posted

Dear Editor,

I am a mother to three daughters, two of which are currently enrolled at Beloit Elementary School, and one who attends the Mitchell County Early Learning Center. I am also a transplant to Beloit from St. Louis with an exceptional love and appreciation for our entire community. A love that stems from being rural by choice. Any fleeting thought to raise our daughters anywhere but Beloit has always been quickly dismissed because we love this community, the typically unwavering support from neighbors in times of need, and the educational opportunities available to our kids.

Recently, I have found myself questioning if my perspective on our community has been seen through rose-colored glasses or if the negative voices just have a greater platform at this moment in time. Regardless, who wants to live in a community that is unwilling to make sacrifices to ensure a vast majority of our community’s children can thrive? Who wants to live in a community that does not value an exceptional school system? Who wants to send their kids to a school that does not embrace and encourage the lessons learned and character built outside of a traditional classroom setting?

People love a reason to be angry in today’s society. It seems a lot easier to be negative and miserable than to make a conscious effort to be positive and happy. On top of that, it feels like everyone loves a good scapegoat and a good bit of gossip. All of these things combined with social media make the jobs and decisions of public servants nearly impossible. Currently, the USD 273 School Board is getting the brunt of this negativity.

When the USD 273 School Board shares how they have spent their budget, they are called frivolous. If they do not share every detail, they are called liars and accused of hiding something. They were accused of being secretive and not gathering public input, so to prepare for the current bond proposal, they gathered public input. They worked with a 3rd party to complete a random phone survey. Simply put, more people who voted “yes” on the first bond proposal were more willing to participate than those who voted “no”; therefore, most of the responses were given by residents in favor of the bond. They held stakeholder meetings with different demographics, or at least made a good faith effort to do so and made note of those conversations. They built a new bond around that input.

They are still being called out as being intentionally dishonest and irrational in the bond requests.

They removed the heart and soul of the original bond proposal and brought it down to the nuts and bolts because that is what they were told to do by a majority of voters.

Still they are being villainized.

People are so blind with unjustified anger at the school board that they do not have an ounce of empathy for the 1,258 students (20232024 enrollment) who attend Beloit Jr/Sr High and Beloit Elementary School (these numbers do not include dozens of 3- and 4-year-old preschoolers). Where’s the empathy for the 150 people who show up every day to ensure our children are receiving an award-winning, well-rounded education, as well as have a clean, safe environment, food to eat, and more? These are the people who will actually feel the impact of the failing HVAC system. These are the people who show up at the schools every day and deserve to feel supported and appreciated by the community, like they are worth the investment.

When it comes to the proposed Ag Center and track and tennis court improvements, you will find that everyone's definition of 'appropriate spending' is going to vary significantly. Some think building an Ag Center or a greenhouse or fixing the tennis courts and track or even touching up a mural at the elementary school are unnecessary expenses; however, others realize when people are looking for a school community to join, they are not only looking at the education provided but they are also looking closely at the culture and amenities that a school system provides their students. The USD 273 students’ attitude and motivation to be their best selves is directly impacted by their environments. It is far too easy to make blanket statements about frivolous spending without also talking about all the money that has been invested in capital improvements in recent years. I encourage you to look at the list and see for yourself the investments that have been made in the school district. USD 273 literally provides award winning academics on both a state and national level. Their student numbers are increasing annually and their ability to fill vacant teaching positions is unprecedented for rural school districts. Are we really questioning their spending habits and how they’ve prioritized certain projects?

I relate the need for new HVAC, the Ag Center, and the track and tennis courts repairs to the need for the new Beloit Water Treatment Plant. The city has worked incredibly hard to make the existing water treatment plant meet the demands of the city. They have spent substantial money to keep the plant up to date and providing safe drinking water to the community; however, no amount of money invested in the existing water treatment plant will result in a long-term, sustainable solution that meets KDHE drinking water standards. As a result, at absolutely no fault to anyone, the city now has to build a new water treatment plant, even though they have done a fantastic job of keeping up with the maintenance and repairs of the existing system.

Comparing school infrastructure to a water treatment plant may seem like comparing apples and oranges, but I would argue that for a community to be successful, a strong school system is as important as quality drinking water.

I understand, times are hard, and people are squeezed financially. The idea of paying an extra $10 monthly in property taxes is a burden for some households, farmers and businesses. But if we as a community cannot come together to make that sacrifice to ensure the continued success of our public school system, property taxes are going to rise a lot more than $10/ month. When USD 273 is unable to invest in those projects some call “frivolous” because they are trying to nickel and dime the budget to afford HVAC in the schools, the overall quality of the school will suffer. People will leave our community to find the education and facilities their kids deserve. If you weren’t aware, less people results in higher taxes because there are less people to share the cost burden.

Other rural school districts will tell you firsthand how failing conditions of school buildings and amenities negatively impacts staff and student recruitment and retention.

So, remember, focusing on the positive does not mean you are hiding the negative. If we all only ever focused on the negative, we would literally never make progress on anything because we would be too scared or angry to embrace change. Let us all do our best to stay positive and remember to love our neighbors!

Emily Benedick, Beloit