Thank you for hosting us. My name is Ken Whitney and this evening I come to you as a concerned community member and lifetime business owner.
I am one of about 100 citizens – including parents, non-parents, grandparents, business owners and others – who have been studying the district’s long-term operational needs and financial outlook. Our group is called the Citizens’ Blue Ribbon Panel. Several members of the Panel are here with me tonight. Could they all please stand and be recognized?
Our Panel has spent the last six months studying the district’s finances and operation. We were asked by the district to be critics, to ask tough questions, and to make no assumptions but to base all our decisions on facts. We were asked to give an objective, third-party analysis of the district, and to give the Board of Education an advisory recommendation on the best course of action related to the financial future of our schools and the educational system in Greeley and Evans.
Our Panel researched the student achievement progress of the district, the needs of the district, and the potential solutions to those needs. Many needs were identified. For example, textbooks. Not every child has a textbook to take home to assist with homework. The district often cannot support the technology needs within the school environment. There are students trying to master modern 21st Century skills on 10-year-old computers that cannot operate today’s software. School safety and security is a growing concern everywhere. We have not been given the resources to protect our students. In all, there were dozens of items and issues we identified that would greatly benefit our students and their schools, enhancing the quality of education.
However, our Panel also discovered that addressing these needs requires additional funding that is presently not available.
Funding for District 6 is the 170th lowest out of the state’s 178 school districts. Our district is one of just two large districts in Colorado that does not have a mill levy override that provides its schools with additional money. All of our neighboring districts have an override. As a result, we are a bare bones district that does not provide what is necessary to do even the minimum that is necessary in the current educational environment. We are not competitive with our neighbors in northern Colorado. This has a PROFOUND effect on our economic development efforts. We are in fierce competition to the west for economic quality.
After thorough research and analysis, our Panel has concluded that the Board of Education cannot maintain or enhance the district’ academic and operational programs without additional financial resources. We have determined that a mill levy override for our schools is the only sustainable, viable, efficient option before us. Lack of funds is impairing our children’s performance.
Therefore, to address this serious issue, the Citizens’ Blue Ribbon Panel is recommending that the Board of Education pursue the district’s first-ever mill levy override by placing a ballot item before the voters during this November’s election.
We further recommend that a mill levy override amount be 16 mills, with the funds to be used in the following manner:
• 6 mills for instructional resources for teachers and students. This would be for newer and more textbooks and computers, and other tools that teachers and students require for high-level academic instruction.
• 5 mills for academic programs supporting all students. This would include something for students at every level on the spectrum. It would support advanced programs and magnets, college readiness and career preparation programs, additional individualized special support for students, and all-day kindergarten at every school. Kindergarten is where maximizing a child’s development begins.
• 3 mills for a safe and positive learning environment. This would include safety items such as video cameras and more campus monitors. The number one deterrent for prevention of crime and disorder. Positive behavior support programs for students would be enhanced. To make sure our schools stay in good condition, some of this money would be used for facility repairs, traffic and parking lot upgrades, and general maintenance.
• And lastly, 2 mills for transportation needs. We are using 30 year old buses. Safety is becoming a concern. This would allow the district to purchase more new buses, building up the fleet to better serve the demand, and also reducing the average age of the fleet. Eventually, with the addition of new buses over time, this would position the district to be able to have two start times for schools rather than the current inefficient three start time model.
What about Charter Schools?
We further recommend that Charter Schools participate in this mill levy override in a fair and balanced manner to be determined by an agreement between the Charters and the district. To say it another way, they get their share.
Our Panel does not recommend 16 mills lightly. We initially identified about 32 million dollars in additional annual funding that would be needed to address the top priority areas that were studied. However, we believe that these 16 mills is an amount that will greatly benefit our students and the community while also being economically responsible and affordable for taxpayers. Under our recommended mill levy override, the average Greeley homeowner would pay about 16 dollars per month in additional property taxes based on current average home value in the District. That’s less than 200 dollars per year.
The money collected would stay right here in Greeley and Evans. It would go toward the education of our children and grandchildren.
I would like to close my remarks to you tonight with a statement as to why we, as a Panel, believe so strongly that this is the right course of action.
We, as citizens, believe that we have a communitywide responsibility to provide every child in Greeley and Evans with, at least, a minimum of adequate education. We cannot deprive our children of maximizing their potential and latent academic gifts because we have drifted, yes drifted, into a non funding mode.
We also believe that a proficient educational system is a key factor for having a great community—a community that is thriving, growing, attracting and keeping quality businesses and good-paying jobs. Our economic health is directly related to the strength of our school system.
Given the agonizing reality that our schools are among the very lowest funded in our State, we firmly believe that our school district is in critical need of additional funding to achieve its mission, to maintain and enrich our children’s education, and to make Greeley and Evans more attractive communities.
It is never a good time to raise taxes. Our action is OVERDUE by more than one decade. Waiting for minimum funding is not an option.
Beyond encouraging that the Board of Education takes action on a mill levy override ballot item during the November 2009 election, we further encourage everyone in Greeley and Evans to take a stand for education and support every child’s education in every way possible.
You know, I confess to admiring milestones. They signify something of indelible importance in time. What we are presenting tonight can be a milestone. A positive milestone. In conversations we are having with business leaders we are encouraged. There is an expectation that from tonight good things will happen.
Our present funding levy of pupil financing is unacceptable. The District has gone from the top 20% of funding to the bottom 95% in the State. That is a 75% decline compared to other districts in the last three decades.
Was there a milestone when this erosion happened?
No. It was like the story of the frog placed in a pail of tepid water. The flame was gradually turned up. The frog never noticed he was in trouble and he ultimately perished. There was no negative milestone there. There was NO milestone here. Just a gradual neglect of our financing obligation to our schools and the education of our children. The time for adequate funding “…was not at this time”.
Yes, this is not a good time to raise a tax. It never is. But like a leaky roof, the action can be no longer delayed. We have no option.
We cannot change the past, but we can address our obvious future.
On behalf of the Citizens’ Blue Ribbon Panel, I thank you for your time and consideration of the Panel’s mill levy override ballot recommendation.
At this time, I would be pleased to receive any objections, modifications, questions and suggestions that you may have.
Ken Whitney
