What if the same household was in bad shape with borderline savings and the dad went out and paid for some strippers car? What if the household borrowed money from relatives for some good ideas they had, and said that it was all they needed and a month later they were back asking for more money because they really needed it? And even though the relatives were in worse shape than they were, they gave it to them and a month later the houshold claimed it was broke and came back to ask for more? A few rounds of that, and the relatives of the household will not give anymore money until they are sure that there is a legitimate plan that will ensure the household doesn't show up in a month needing more money, and get the door slammed in their face.Until then, the relatives of the household suggest they eat hamburger instead of steak, and tighten things up..maybe buy the stripper a used car, and make the best of what they have like everyone is now.

I should be so lucky,, I have $300.00 a month more bills than I have income, this is the truth. Every single month, I cut something out, or sell some item that I would LIKE to keep, but is not essential to living. Nearly ALL of my Ham radio equipment that I used to volunteer communications during the Flood of 1993, and used on numerous Weather emergencies, has been sold, and I don't even know what a Steak is except for a pork steak. I have had to ask organizations around town to help me keep my utilities on, without electricity my wife's oxygen machine don't work well. Medicare recently stopped paying for one of her breathing drugs that cost $360.00 a month, and when we run out of what is on hand, I guess there will just be no more breathing,I here it's over rated anyway. And who can afford Hamburger unless a friend gives you some deer meat to mix with it. Not to mention, NO cost of living this year on Social Security,,, I wonder if that means that nothing has or will go up in price,,, Hmmm,,,, NOT ! and there is NO savings any more, not even $3.20,,, let alone $32 Mil,, speaking of which, if they only have to use $2.5 Mil per year out of that, it Should last for at Least 10 years.
And GOD Bless those of you out there that CAN afford to pay more, I am truly happy for you, and I mean that, but I would bet you that there are more people out there right now that can NOT afford it that there are that Can.
So PLEASE Do Not call NEED,,,,,, GREED !

im voting no again..the school district is telling us that its the same tax that we have had for 5 years. That they even put the sunset clause back on to make us "no" voters happy and dropped the bond issue. They lie the only reason they dropped the bond is because they have upped the levy from $0.63 to $3.73 per $100 of assessed valuation, that makes it NOT THE SAME TAX..I can not afford to have my school tax raised for the next 5 years. I'm broke with necessary private bills of my own as I'm sure lots of other families are. And eveyone knows after that they will not another 5 years. I said last vote that I voted no because I wasnt going to give them that money forever, so thank you school district for adding the sunset clause but now you are trying to pull the wool over my eyes with the amount. So I am voting no again on Nov 3rd...they have closed school, laid off teachers and other workers, enrollment is down, and the under paid teachers that are still there are having to buy things for their classes with their own money when the district has $30 million in reserves. Now they want millions more?! Give the taxpayers a break, let us have a chance to provide for our families everyday instead of worry about coming up with the money to pay our taxes. We need all the extra money we can get. Steve-O I'm with you..I've sold dear to my heart things and other things I worked hard to enjoy just to put food on the table..Please Vote No on Nov. 3rd and make the school district accountable. Let them know that we will not be fooled anymore. You say its the Same Tax then make it the Same tax!

Wisely? Spending over $100K on CATERING is spending wisely? Oh, sure....I know the reason behind it....but I STILL say that's NOT wise. There are MANY other things the district spends our money on thats illegitimate and unwise.

pops prove to me in writing that they spend over 100K on catering. and i don't mean the junk mail that comes in your mailbox. don't be a drone find it in writing and show us they spent 100k on catering! there is no way in creation 100K was spent on catering lets see the facts in writing from a reliable source

Look it all boils down to the admins and board bad management and it also boils down to they talk out of both side of their mouths.
1 they tell you they can operate for 2 years with no levy and then they tell you they need this levy NOW and then they turn around and tell you this levy even if passed will put them in to finacail distressed condition within 2 years or so.
So how are people suppost to know what the hell the truth is it seems as if they do not even know or want to tell you one thing and then turn around and tell you something else hoping you did not remember what they told you before.

We know they still will be getting 3.09 on the levy and heres a question how much do the get from the state and federal goveremnt each year?
The district does not help their own cause.There are people out there telling you one thing and then another.
When are they going to tell the public what their plan is to get our classes back down to the sizes they were last year some schools went from 350 to almost 500 students and who is suffering for this,children,teacher abnd school staffs are.CLean up the mess you created acting to harshly and quickly and maybe people will support you.

how many family's in st joseph has a 4 to 6 month reserve in this economy with people losing their jobs and such they have used it already. Or there are those people who have not been able to have a 4 to 6 month reserve. They are figuring out a way to live and keep their households running.
Apple by the way read the last sentence in this article Mrs Pullen is aay in more about how to not make many more cuts and mopre time to figure out what those cuts will be so you see there is still more cuts to come with this levy or without.So why pass it then?

Maybe if we had less of a beauracracy and more of a focus on teaching the kids.

Streamline the processes, implement FUNcionality.

Anything not related to teaching and our kids education, out the door -

Athletics, that is a part of our kids education.

I'd like to look at the budget, is it on-line somewhere?

I know I was taken back when I saw the salaries of some of the principles of elementary schools - and then the administrative support, look, I know we need to be creating good jobs in the community, but come on folks.

Yes, I would not like to see some chopping of the salaries of anyone, but if adjustments need to be made to keep the priority on the kids education and their future, so be it -

That is where the priority should of always been anyway, right?

thewatcher24,
"Drone"? Really?? C'mon...you can do better than that!!

The district itself admitted to the catering.......

Apple correction this levy tax is on all personal property as well, such as cars,boats, trailers motorcycles ect and oh yes the people who live in mobile homes since you have so much respect for them..Not just your property taxes for you home.

Pops
I wonder if this practice is still going on and if it is they instead need to brown bag it.Some overhead could be cut as well in the administration offices.They have a darn assistant for a assistant.Combine a couple of those positions.No cuts were made in these offices all of the cuts happened in our schools.Mrs Pullen takes about future cuts lets tell the public what those are before next weeks election and lets see if any are in the admin offices.

well either way weather they do or not if we go to a financially distressed district the state will adjust the levy without a vote something to think about folks that's a law you might want to look up.

I am still waiting to see if ken reeder will tell who these businesses are after being called out on here that oppose this levy. i don't think he will have the guts to get his address off those junk mail flyers as his return address is still on them. He needs to tell who the local businesses are so we can run them out of town, i can't believe a business in this town would run down education unless they want a bunch of mindless turds running their business which the case may be. but come on ken reeder tell us who they are lets get them out of town as they are a waste of space in this town.

RK - those are some great examples - and funny too.

That's not to smart run businesses out of town and we need jobs.That will show them and then we really will be able to pay more taxes with less jobs.Maybe these businesses cannot afford anymore taxes in theis economy and they want tot remain in business and provide jobs for the community.Heck it maybe a company you work for nobody knows and that is the way they want it.Ever think of it that way thewatcher24?Look there is support for the levy and I personally think their is a lot of people that do not support it. Only time will tell and it is coming soon.

Hey Alonso, why don't you take a look at an average St. Jo family's savings account? I am guessing these days, you won't find many have any savings at all. I know far too many people where one or both earners have been unemployed for at least a period of time in the last 18 months. Alot of the rest of us live paycheck to paycheck. God forbid something goes wrong and we have to make a household repair, vehicle repair or the like. At that point, most of us have to decide what not to pay. My savings account? My savings is my 401K. It lost about 40% since last year. We have made some of it back since then, but the balance isn't near what it used to be.

Taking all of the other factors out of this election - like accountability, transparency, etc. Perhaps the district could atleast pretend to understand the hardships that face the majority of joetowners these days and try to make due with what they have for now. Come back to the voters when the economy is better AND when you have a solid long range plan in place. Plus some new board members who are more like Dennis Snethen wouldn't hurt either.

Thanks yougottabekiddingme you have hit the nail right on the head but we have some that do not understand some of the things you are talking about and I can relate to the 401K and losing 40% or more in the last year.Most family's do not have 4 to 6 months of saving to fall back on and are at this point one househod earners because one has lost a job due to the economy.So I f the public can make cuts and still live and make sure the familys are taken care of the district since they have said they could operate for 2 years or more with what they have do it then till the economy show sign of recovery in the job sector.Some will say our rate is below state average but they have not taken into consideration the ones who's benefits have ran out and still have not job and they do not track these numbers.I bet that percentage is high as well.

Our unemployment rate in St Joseph is around 9 percent and that is only counting the people who recieve unemployment benefit.This does not count the ones who have lost their employment and still have not found work and are drawing benefits because they ran out,they do not track these number.So I bet if they tracked the number of unemployed that benefits have expired you would fine we are coming close to 11 percent in our community.So see these are the folks that cannot afford any new taxes plain and simple.

The same flawed argument by Ms. Castanon as the district and a few others have used in the past about the nearly "35" million dollar reserve. They make the claim that it is approximately a 4 month reserve. This claim would be accurate and fine "if" there were ever to be a total loss of "all" revenues, which we all know is not likely to ever happen.

Repeatedly people refuse to acknowledge that one of the primary causes for opposition to additional funding is the lack of a coherent long range plan directed at the improvement of educational excellence. In the simplest of terms; the community is not satisfied with how the district is being managed and using its revenues. To that end there is one solution and the BOE best begin to understand the message.

If we shut the schools down for mm1967's response to the flu, there would be a significant loss of revenue. Additionally, his response would cost many dollars to implement.

The catering includes buying pizzas to get parents to attend meetings for parents as teachers, explorers, etc.

well any business that does not support education obviously isn't important enough to keep around because they probably won't last long for other obvious reasons and no my work place supports this levy fully my work requires higher education. Maybe if it fails we need to get rid of sports or go to a pay to play method sounds good to me.

watcher - you already have to pay a fee if your kid plays sports.

drb, this catering issue was cleared up pretty thoroughly in the last go around. i believe the most frequently used caterer was chaun's ?????

i think the catering and "they eat prime rib" comments are more than a bit nit picky, frankly. again, 100k in the budget is a drop in the bucket. the public's perception regarding this issue is, however, a big driver of No votes.

i did attend some of the first of reeder's press "events"(LOL) until he started up with the prime rib comments. that was classic roe/axiom tactics. i didn't care for them when the barnes campaign was going on, and i don't like them now.

back to the topic of budgetary issues. i believe that ms. pullen does an excellent job of budgetary management for the district. it is a little disingenuous of the paper to be going to a consumer credit counselor and trying to impute the issues of household management on the sjsd. there are mountains of fine print that are involved in assessing school finance, and it is a specialty. when beau musser took on the daunting task of looking at the school budget for the TF he spent untold hours familiarizing himself with these issues. musser gave pullen glowing reviews for her accumen. his argument against the sunset levy at .63 cents was the basis of ACE's opposition to the levy. the district simply cannot function with .63 cents. ms pullen affirms musser's assessment that even with the levy the district only buys itself ONE YEAR before their reserves fall below the acceptable level.

this levy only puts lipstick on a pig. it only buys the district one year extra than they would have with NO levy. it is inadequate and irresponsible. there is so much lack of understanding on this issue there can be no good to come of passage of the levy. even in these comments we read completely misguided suppositions.... to whit, one post believes that the district is asking for a second .63 levy and fails to comprehend that the last levy has expired.

we should take the next year, during which NO income will result from the passage of this levy to be certain that as many folks as possible can be brought up to speed on the FACTS here.

Personally...I don't CARE if $100K seems to be a "drop in the bucket" to some of you. Catering food in to get parents to come to PTA and teacher's conferences is inexcusable. $100K would be better used to buy text books, pay for additional computers, or even help raise salaries for some of the lower-paid personnel. I can't IMAGINE someone would acknowledge the expenditure, and excuse it with a "drop in the bucket" remark!!
Sure...the money's gone....the catering's already been paid for, but it should NOT be allowed to happen again!!
The other difficulty for me is that this is only ONE wasteful expenditure!! Heritage, stop making excuses for the wasteful spending habits by the district, and help change the way things are done. Hold the district accountable for such inane things, and understand that many people in St. Joe don't even come close to making HALF that amount in a year's time!!

DRBJR,
So it boils down to the district losinf a few days of revenue from the state for the health of our children just as I posted before that is the main issue why the district fails to act.It is all about the almighty dollar with them.All the damn money in the world cannot buy you health.Our districtis just a mess and has bad management plain and simple.Some need to go plain and simple.I grew up here went to school here and I have never and repeat never saw our schools in such as mess as the current leaders have them in.
Heritage I love the lip stick on a pig comment.
Might I add that the TF wants you to think that this is not a new tax just a renuwal but it actually is a new tax remember the other levy exopired and we are not currently paying it so the TF has told some little white lies of their own to get voter support.IT IS A NEW TAX.

So thewatcher24,
Since you or I do not know who these businesses are we do not know if their business requires a higher education or not we can only assume.My career requires a higher education as well so what.People have several reasons not to support this levy and some have reason to support the levy.The district has brought the no supporter out themselves for many reason.I have more then one child in school and do not support this levy because it does not address the financial needs of the school and we will still see cuts with it or without it so why not get it right the first time and gain the public trust back and plan with them on something they can support that is right for our schools.Also give the economy a chance to turn around in the job sector.
Heres a concept for all of those that think some people living on a budget can afford new taxes how about you pay the additional tax for them then I am sure you would get their vote for the levy.
We will all know the evening of Nov 3rd and if it does not pass we can expect some more unprofessional acts from our superintendnent.

One, Apple probably knows this better than I, but I believe I have heard parents complaining about the fact that their children have to "pay to play". Secondly, I have also heard teachers talk about the only the way they could get parents to show up was for free food in some of the schools. This is the reality. Once again, you work with what you have. This has absolutely nothing to do with this article, but I often think that not long ago, the paper published, in one of the polls, who did you trust more, the school district or the city? SJSD had more trust then. If I were the district, my question would now be, "Wha' happened?"

Hey Steve-O

I saw a deer "sleeping" on the side of I29 a bit ago, if you hurry, you can probably catch it before someone else does.

On the catering for getting parents to attend certain events, I am sure the district would prefer to not have to do that, but it works and is thus a necessary evil. This does not happen in all schools. I wonder if this is a recommendation for schools like Title I schools to increase parent participation. Wouldn't be an unusual recommendation. Would it change your opinion if the district was following state or federal recommendations in doing this?

froggy that comment was totally uncalled for you must be hanging around APPLE.Some people really are having a hard time of it and for you to make a commnet like this is totally out of line.
I am sure Steve-O would not appreciate your smart A$$ remarks either.I don't and there are people who have been able to take care of themselves all of their lifes and have had saving but since you are blind to the fact that good hard working people have lost their jobs and have used their savings and are stuggling maybe you should do some volunteer work to see how hard it is out there for some people instead of your comments.

And to all the teachers that are telling the children if this don't pass you won't have this or you won't have that. Stop lying to my child. I try to tell her not to lie and you, a teacher at that, are lying to her?? You told her they would be no cooking classes and a few more other classes. Well guess what she knows now that the teachers were liars. So if my child lies to you, remember when you did the same to her.

WhatHapped, I sure hope the teachers aren't doing that kind of stuff. That is rotten.

I sure hope as well this is not going on in the school with teacher telling the kids this.This is a form of using our children for the districts gain.And I for one would be very upset if this is going on.I will be asking my children tonight when they get home from school if this is going on in their school.This if indeed is happening it needs to stop do not involve our children and do not upset them or lie to them.Getting pretty low if the district is letting this happen and I would lose all respect for the teachers doing this if indeed they are.

pops, i am not an accountant and i do not profess to have more than a rudimentary grasp of the accounting of the sjsd. i DO have great faith in musser, and his common sense explanation of the district's finances was both sensible and believable. I am amazed at the fact the ms. pullen was able to come within 3% last year in the estimations which the district makes each year for accounting purposes.

i am completely cognizant of the fact that many people find this sum to be out of line. taken by itself in a snapshot i, too, might agree. however, i look at the big picture see it as acceptable as a "cost of doing business".

i sincerely hope that we are not going back to re-hashing that issue.

whathappend- Prove it!!! Let's see some evidence!!! What was the teachers name? What school, etc?

I think you are making false accusations to stir the pot.

I work for the district, also have 3 children in the district and have heard no one make this claims. We don't know what will be cut if this fails on the 3rd. While this could be a "rogue" teacher, I doubt it. This is just like a few days ago someone posted that all SJSD staff had to donate money and time to the effort. FALSE!!!!!!

Heritage, I think the problem arises when the district screams and yells about being in financial distress but has this kind of catering bill. If cuts were to be made, it seems that it may be logical to cut something like this - considered a luxury by many - instead of cutting services that directly benefit the children. I would imagine that if times were good and the district wasn't attempting to paint a picture of impending financial ruin, then no one would care how many steaks or catered dinners the district had. It's about priorities and the perception is that the districts priorities are skewed.

I would love to pay the tax for the others but i work and pay taxes so others can live! and yes they already pay a fee to play sports but it would be almost 3x as much to play if this fails. Also i bet you didn't know that the district even though they could raise the levy 3% every year without vote they have not in the past 5 years! i feel they have been pretty nice about that but i look for them to raise it every year after this and yes they can do that legally 3% every year.

I am so happy they used the analogy of a household budget because that is what I have been saying for years! The administration must put themselves on a budget just like any household does. If you have a large salary, you might indulge yourself with manicures and frequent hair styling, visits to resorts and such, but if you get cut back at work or have unforeseen expenses, then you TIGHTEN YOUR BELT! You brown bag it, you go a little longer between haircuts etc etc. So school district, if you can't make it on your current money then you TIGHTEN YOUR BELT, CUT BACK AND LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS! You don't use other's money to go to resorts, you go to local events, teleconference or stay at a local motel. You are not royalty! It is not YOUR money you are spending so lavishly it is the money of the children GIVEN by the TAXPAYERS. You know those insignificant bothersome folks who want to know what you are doing with all this money. The salaries I saw (of course other than teachers) was outrageous! Cut these jobs of those high salaries through atrician (retirement, deaths, and people quitting etc) Simply combine and do not refill those spots of the higher level positions. Most of them make 5 times what my husband does and he has a very good job. It is simply time to make them stop and take note that we are tired of it and we AREN'T GOING TO TAKE IT ANY LONGER!!!!

watcher, i believe that the district can only exercise the option to raise the levy If their projected income drops below a certain standard and then only by that amount. the 3% amount is a CAP, not an "allowance". this was discussed at great length here in the last levy effort ..... i may be mistaken but i believe it was researched by one of the participants in order to clear up concerns that pops had in regard to this possibility.

with the economy performing as it is, there is a chance that for the first time this fail safe cap may be activated.

Teeter59 truth is that the district spends less on administration than many others. You may not like the salary paid to a particular person in a particular position but that does not mean the position is not worth the salary or that the position is unneeded. You have not provided a single example of a position that should be eliminated and why. Please inform us.

How about a four day school week?

StJoeMoe,
Lets hear more on your 4 day school week.How many hours a day?It would have to be close to the amount of hours they attend now.I think they go somewhere around 6.5 to 7 hours a day now.It would have to be 8 hour school day for them to get the learning time in that they were getting in 5 days but I think it could be done.This would save the district a bunch of money and the children would get the same education time.

drbjr,
Mr Huffs position could be eliminated and Mrs Patterson could assume those responsibilities. Mrs Patterson is the assistant Superintendent and I bleieve Mr Huffs title is the assistant to the Superintendent so it seems as if two job could become one.This would be a salary of 100,000 plus saved.There is fat that could be trimmed in these offices.Also I look at the money spent on the catering as well if this is 100,000 and I said if that would be a 200,000 savings a year just on these 2 issues and surely there is more.So it seems as if there could be some money saved in the district offices.

Question if anybody knows when a teacher is out and a sub is called in does the teacher get paid for the day if he/she had no personal time or vacation time?This would be like paying 2 salaries for the day for one class if the teacher did gat paid plus the sub.
I think these kind of things should be addressed before we make any further cuts to our schools and things for our children.

The troubling thing about the entire issue is it is no longer about education. It is strictly about money.

Many questions need to be asked that haven't been. For instance, why did the students' academic performance decline when the levy was in place? School campuses look better and our athletic fields do as well, but what about the minds of our kids? If money was the only cause for a quality education, shouldn't performance have increased during the 5 years the levy was in effect?

Clearly, if the schools were high performing, support for increased funding would not be an issue. The community would take pride in such an asset, don't you think?

As far as 4 day weeks go, there is now less instructional time for students with teachers than there was a decade ago.

The St. Joseph community has a bigger problem concerning eductation: the "District Improvement Plan" submitted to the state under "No Child Left Behind".

Them that know, know that they know....but them that don't know, don't know they don't know. I wish those people who can't spell and have lousy grammar could see it, since they are logically the very product of the education system that is failing still. Maybe they would wish for better opportunity for their children and the rest of the kids that rely upon this school district for a decent education. All of this talk about 'cinching up' and 'making do' and subsisting with less seems to infer that our children ought to settle for the barely adequate and borderline illiterate education that some of the above 'contributors' exhibit in their anguished diatribes.

c0uchtime
Sorry and I do not mean to offend you in anyway but we are not looking for the grammer police.

crowe, I hope you can find the time to look up the responsibilities of U.S. citizens. It might be a good idea to enlighten your kids on that.

I still think that the big issue with this town is its salary structure. What would happen if every restaurant in town were to close down for a week? This town would look deserted. Put that in with service stations and it would absolutely look closed down. I say this because there is not just a bunch of high paying jobs here. The problem that schools face, besides funding, is if a child does not see some job to aspire to that brings satisfactory monetary gain, the schools will have a problem garnering support. No support from parents sometimes leads to no effort from students. The cycle continues. I sincerely hope that the district has a plan, after this election, to see what it might do to communicate with the public. But the larger problem that the school district has is really a lot more of a town problem.

Damn it froggy, someone was loading him up JUST as I got there !
And Watcher24, if you would run business out of town,,, Maybe you should seek a new residence,,, could I suggest
TENT CITY !!!!!!!!!!!

I like how they dumbed downed the article by using a household budget comparison so the public could understand it better. The problem is that it's still not helping the ignorant people of SJ understand the concept. I bet if I went into most people's personal budget, their expenses would include cigarettes or a car they couldn't afford in the first place, cell phones, deluxe cable TV packages and internet, and eating out all the time. Heck, if most of the free and reduced lunch people would use their brain and pack their kids a pb sandwich and an apple, that would reduce alot of taxes. But, no, we should pay someone else to make it for them. And to the people boo-hooing about not having a job, Triumph is hiring, but you know that would require some work. It doesn't make sense to cut the 3rd largest employer's budget so more people can be laid off! mm1967 you seem to have alot of time on your hands (your always on this blog) yet you profess to not having enough money-get a part-time job! Everyone wants something for free. The problem with SJ is apparent on this blog, the lack of education makes this an unending cycle.

Couchtime

I wanted to give you a thumbs up, but there's something wrong with the website. Here's my thumbs up!

Brennen,
My time is really none of your concern.I have not ever said I do not have enough money by any accounts.I do not need a part time job I have a fulltime one now.And it really is not any of your concern on how I spend my time.I do not work for you and have no responsibility to explain anything to you.Over the last 10 years in my career growth I have done very well for myself and family.So my NO vote has nothing to do with not being able to pay my fair share of taxes,just the opposite it has to do with the fact this is a levy that does not address the financial needs of our schools our children deserve better.Also I might remind you that the district themselves said this levy will still oput them into financial distress before it expires so why spend 50,000 to put something on the ballot that you know is not right?By the way this levy follows the status quo and that is getting a little old in this community.
Now you say Triumph Foods is hiring sure they are.Do you know the reason they are alway hiring?
Let me tell you I happen to know just a little about this place.And I was never a hourly employeee at this place by the way.
Their turn over is out of this world because they do not know how to treat their employees other then yell and scream at them and degrade them in front of several hundred people at a time.Why do you think they hire outside of our community all of the time?There are plenty of other reason this place is alway hiring but I see no need to go any further.

All the more reason to get a good education, thank you for making my point, mm1967.

I think we should keep this community the trailer park it was meant to be. Let's not do ANYTHING to better it. Sidewalks to schools, heck no! We already got a sidewalk to the Brown Bear, what else do we need. Parks? Let them kids play in the streets like we did-throw dirt clods at each other-now that's good fun. Community centers like those fancy towns of Lee's Summit and such, why those kids can play baseball and get tentenous just like I did down at Noyes. If them there kids of mine get themselves edjamacated, well then they'll leave town, and I won't be able to watch my grandbaby while Suzie's getting her GED.

If you agree with this then vote NO on November 3rd, otherwise...

Brennen,
So far from the truth your post but that's your opinion.Alot of these people you are pointing your finger at got their education in St Joseph Schools over the years. So what does that say for the schools then and you support the schools?
I also fail to see how my post made any of your comments on your post but have a great day Brennen.

From what I can DECIPHER (and I mean decipher) from your post, is this: The SJSD has had some undesireables come out of it's doors, so let's keep that up? Let's not try to fix anything? As the ole' sayin' goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

No Brennen,
That is what you were saying in your comments not mine so do not turn the tables.
Please Read I said the levy is not the right levy and does not provide long term financial needs of our school and our children desereve better.Your post seem to be just like apple post at times.I do care and want tot provide what is right for our children not a levy that will still put the school district in finacial distress before the 5 year levy would expire.

Listen, I think the school district should be asking for more money also, but in this town it's baby steps. I am angry with your negative posts. YOU ARE AFFECTING THE QUALITY OF MY CHILD'S EDUCATION BY YOUR POSTS. And that my friend, requires the gloves to come off.

Sorry I do not agree brennen our childrens education is going to be affected with this levy please go back and read where Mrs Pullen said with this levy the school would still be in financial distress so this levy does nothing any good for our schools.We need to be campaining for what is right for our children not a flawed levy that will still put our schools in finacial distress as admitted by the district and will still end in cuts being made to our schools and school programs for our children so in realaity this levy is hurtful to our students in our schools.Now also what people fail to see is that it makes no difference if we pass a levy in November of this year or August of next year the district will not get any of the revenue coming in off of it till 2011.So there is plenty of time to get the levy the levy right work with the community for community support.So if by me supporting what I feel is right for our communitys children and mine I sorry you feel this way.Question to ask yourself brennen is will this levy actually do what we want for our children and school for the long term?I have to say no.I also feel since we have almost a year to get a levy right whay are we psuing for one that helps in no way.Also by having all of this time it givews the economy in the job sector to tuen around and for those people who will more tehn likely be voting no to have a job and then in return will be more likely to votes yes.