Measure B: New Schools for Menifee
As most people are aware, Measure B will be on the February 5th ballot. Publisher Steve Johnson has written a previous article and several p...
http://www.menifee247.com/2008/01/measure-b-new-schools-for-menifee.htm
As most people are aware, Measure B will be on the February 5th ballot. Publisher Steve Johnson has written a previous article and several people have posted comments.
Since I have been a teacher in the Menifee District for several years, I hope to add a few observations that may help people decide on this issue. When I first arrived at Menifee Valley Middle School, student enrollment had increased to a level far beyond the planned capacity of the school. Bell Mountain Middle School opened at that time and the students were divided between the two middle schools. Now, both of these schools have grown and are again approaching the capacity limits. If this measure passes, the new middle school and two additional elementary schools will be completed just when crowding at our existing schools is having a serious impact on teacher morale and student discipline.
I have observed that the school district management and the school board are financially conservative and consistently spend the available funds where they will do the most good for the students. The district is not here for the benefit of the administrators or the teachers; it is here to provide the best educational experience possible for the kids. Working in a great district is just a side benefit we enjoy.
It is hard to ask people to approve higher taxes for themselves. My best argument to do so is that we have a great school district that is an asset for our community and has a positive effect on home values. This bond measure will keep us just ahead of the growing student population. If we put this off, the monetary cost will be much greater later.
Why should I be asked to fund schools that I will never see benefit from? I'm already paying a HUGE amount of school district bonds in my property taxes and I don't need any more. I say tack the fee onto new homes being built, like the County TUMF, and let the new families pay for the new schools that they need.
ReplyDeleteMenifee Union School District needs to plan better and secure their funding in a more predictable manner. Their current scheme of constantly coming back to the voters with more and more bond measures is starting to feel like Valley Health System (any of the school board members also VHS board members?).
I'm voting NO on Measure B and I encourage everyone else to do the same. My taxes are high enough already and I don't think the school district is planning accordingly.
We already voted (absentee) and voted against it....we cannot afford any more taxes, period...
ReplyDeletethere has to be a better way...where will it end? more and more bonds as our community grows? I don't think so...
Employee, as well as, parent morale is a bit low right now. This is not the year that the district is going to get a bond passed. Perhaps they should think about damage control from the bungled, proposed boundary issues, settling contracts with teachers, and doing what teachers and parents think is best for kids instead of making surveys, reading reports, sitting behind desks and computers. Putting kids first means getting in the classrooms, talking to the kids, and taking the time to be personal with the public you serve. I this district is not getting too big for that.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, 2/3 of the schools from this bond will not even be in Menifee Valley. From the "Vote Yes" web site in your sample ballot, the following 3 schools are proposed by this measure:
ReplyDelete1. A new elementary school in CANYON HILLS. This is in the City of Lake Elsinore, not the Menifee Valley.
2. A new elementary school in MURRIETA. Again, not in Menifee Valley.
3. A new middle school in Sun City. The only proposed school in Menifee Valley.
I say the people buying new homes should fund their new schools, not everyone else in the area who will see no benefit from these new schools. There is a relatively new middle school in Canyon Hills that is part of the Lake Elsinore school district so why can't they put the elementary school in their district also?
I'm voting NO on Measure B and encourage everyone else to do the same.
I am pretty sure the one in the Canyon Hills Area will actually be in Menifee. It will be adjacent to the Audie Murphy Ranch Project. Canyon Hills goes East into the Hills towards Menifee.
ReplyDeleteI'm working on a story for The California about Measure B. If anyone would like to comment for the record, please give me a call.
ReplyDeleteThank you,
Cathy Redfern
676-4315, ext. 2621