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Voters in Tecumseh School District did not support sports field
To the Editor,
What a windy person Colton Wright must be, considering his long letter to the editor (Tecumseh Herald, June 28, 2009). He tries to sound so smart but apparently graduated from TPS and can’t seem to remember chemistry, French, calculus or health programs. But sports was everything.
I don’t know where he got his info on the residents voting record, but the voters did not vote for a sports field.
The board and Mr. McAran went ahead spending money they did not have. And who is Mr. Wright to tell the teachers to find another job? They are TPS teachers and employees. My advice to Mr. Wright would be, quit your schooling, get a real job like building roads with hot tar on hot day so you can come to Tecumseh and spend your whole paycheck on taxes. When you grow up you’ll see things differently with lots of bruises.
Barb Kelley
Tecumseh
His letter was impressive
His letter was impressive only to him.
no taxes involved
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but there are no local taxes going to funding the new field. The city voted against the bond issue. Bill Wright said the field is being funded by $1 million set aside over the years for projects. So what's the problem? The school is building a field with its own money it has saved up. They're building it so they can attract more (or keep) some students. With more students, the school gets more money. Then they can hire or keep more teachers. Why harass the kid for caring to ask questions? Stop with the personal attacks. Before you answer my question with a snide remark, do your research.
Wow....
Let me get this straight - when the Obama administration said there was going to be change, you actually thought they meant for the better? Are you serious? NO Local Taxes?!? Where do you think ALL of the money comes from for the schools? Taxes on our property, taxes on gasoline, taxes on everything we buy - Oh yeah and the Lottery... wink wink nudge nudge.... The money given by the state on a per pupil basis, do you think the state is printing that? No it is our taxes. So What is the Problem? The Problem is that the public said LOUD and CLEAR - NO! Not just Oh, well, if you have the money already, go ahead, but LOUD and CLEAR - NO! Now is this stadium holding about 3000 jobs in it's hip pocket? Because that is THE ONLY possibility of it attracting more or keeping ANY students, I have a hard time believing that you "notaxes" live in the state of Michigan, but you definitely live deep in the state of denial. They have built a stadium to service 150 students out of the 2100 or so students that are left, and now they have wasted so much money that they have to cut 16 teachers and all kinds of support staff that the rest of those students would have benefitted from. My research has been done how about yours?
Dave Govro
"Mr. Recall"
wow
amen brother!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Petion
Consider advertising (to the mass population of Tecumseh) places and dates that the petitions can be signed. I am thinking if this info is mass publicized (through possibly the news paper), that many people will very willingly sign the petitions. They just need to know where and when to sign the documents.
Petion
Consider advertising (to the mass population of Tecumseh) places and dates that the petitions can be signed. I am thinking if this info is mass publicized (through possibly the news paper), that many people will very willingly sign the petitions. They just need to know where and when to sign the documents.
I believe...
that Ms. Kelley's remarks about taxes were meant generally (b/c other letters of hers have contained the same theme, whether you agree with her or not), not specifically about the stadium. However, notaxes, I question your comment about the district simply using money that it had "saved up". This is a paragraph from the recent Herald article about the board passing the next year's budget:
"The budget includes a reduction of $110 per student, which equates to a
projected loss of $341,232, and the loss of categorical funding for
declining enrollment of $60,959, which reduces the TPS foundation
allowance to $7,206 per student. Wright said the school district also
is projecting a decrease of 120 students for the 2009-2010 fiscal year
for a projected loss of $828,690, with the projected state aid revenue
loss totaling $1,230,881. School districts had expected the state to
use federal stimulus funds to shore up the state’s school aid fund,
keeping per-pupil aid the same this year, but the state used the funds
on the state’s 2008-2009 budget instead.
Wright pointed out that the budget development process began in January
2009 and that a Budget Advisory Committee met several times throughout
the school year as part of this process. He said the projected fund
equity of $933,974, or 3.77 percent of expenditures, was getting low
for what state guidelines like to see."
Regardless of what the reason is for the decrease in funds, whether it's bad luck or bad decisions or the bad economy or a combination, the fact is that the district doesn't have this huge rainy day fund that it's been saving for something big like the stadium.
It comes down to a matter of trust
It comes down to a matter of trust, and in my opnion Mr. McAran and the school board have lost the trust of many of the voters in the Tecumseh district. They have with me.
Unfortunately this is all to common with our elected officials (both at the state and national level). Silly me for thinking that we were exempt from this locally.
It is lot easier spending someone elses (taxpayer's) money !
TPS
People who are supporting the field live in Tecumseh so they are paying the same taxes as everyone else, that CANNOT even be a statement to complain about. For the field, the school district is using other money not just people taxes so don't complain about that! Seriously, people we're getting the football field whether you like it or not so just lve with it. We needed a new football field because the STATE condemed it, there was nothing our school board could do about it. Unless you wanted us to lose our football team and the other sports teams that use the field we needed to make a new complex!
People just need to move on and stop tearing the board apart, everyone is suffering from bad economic times right now. Our school district is doing what we can to still have schools, but before you say anything about the board- do research and look at the rest of the state who are losing jobs. IT"S NOT JUST TECUMSEH!!
Britni Birt
Tecumseh Hgh School Student-Athlete
Response to Britni
Young Britni - Because you are an aspiring High School Student-Athlete I will try not to be too harsh. It is admirable that you want to participate in this discussion and are brave enough to put your name out there without fear of repercussion. However, it is you who needs to do a little research. At your age I sincerely doubt you have had the 'honor' of paying property taxes .. or any major taxes for that matter.
Here are some questions, in response to your well written letter, that your research should begin with:
1. Where did this "other money" the District is using come from? .. (hint: Taxes (federal, state and local) that we already paid and did not intend or vote to go towards a new football field)
2. Did the 'STATE' actually condem the football field, bleachers, or any part of the former athletic field? ... (hint: no, that was the rumor allowed to be put out by this board in order to justify their actions)
3. Was there really 'nothing' the School Board could do about it? ... (hint: they could have listened to the votes of the people, repaired the bleacher section (the only part of the 'football field' in question), etc, etc.)
4. Could that $2.1 Million they are spending on this complex have been better used towards education or saving the jobs of laid-off teachers and staff in this horrid economy? (hint: possibly yes)
I hope you blossom in your Athletics, because it is quite possible that that will be the only thing you have to fall back on in life. The School Board does not care about your education, only that you can run and kick or throw a ball. Odds are you will complete your so-called education here in Tecumseh, with overcrowded classrooms, inadequate computers and outdated books ... and then you will leave. If you do your research, you will see that most do.
It is sad that you have adopted the "Just live with it" attitude that the board has used all along. Unfortunately that is not the way the adult world works and why we have the right to participate in these discussions and VOTE.
And just how long do you
And just how long do you think that money would last the teachers?
Whether people want to admit it...schools get noticed usually because of sports...not their academics.
Sports are important, i won't be the one to say more so than academics, but if i wasn't involved in the athletic teams in high school there would have been little self motivation to keep my GPA at a respectable level.
Tecumseh still has the best academics in the county without a doubt in my opinion, when I was in the school I knew a girl who transfered away from Blissfield because they didn't have all the different programs that we do at THS. The high school has, the last time I checked, 7 AP programs (from AP Art to AP Chem and Calc) all taught by well-qualified teacher, most of the other schools in the county couldn't even dream of that because they don't have the amount of student or the funding to provide them.
And Im sorry but if people are going to complain so much about the school board I would like to see you run and if you were priveldged with the peoples vote then you would be elected.
A month or go I saw an article in the Herald pertaining to a board member who resigned because it was simply getting too tough to be doing the right job as visualized by all of the residents of Tecumseh.
The only way to make change in the district is to be the change- if you don't like how the board members are running the schools, then run yourself.
Wake up Heather
"Whether people want to admit it...schools get noticed usually because of sports...not their academics."
Has to be one of the most depressing comments I have ever read. It is scary to think people like you think this way.
Tecumseh ... best acedemics in the country ... right ... yet we only get noticed for our sports .... right ...
Another option I have if I don't like the way the School Board is run .... Recall, then Vote in good candidates .... with your suggestion we'd have thousands of candidates for the same job because there are thousands of dissatisfied residents. Duh!
Response to KB
Recheck my statement. I said best academics in the COUNTY, not country!
When you open up the weekly Tecumseh Herald or the Daily Telegram, is their
a special academics section, solely to discuss about how students are doing on
tests and such? No. When I open up my papers I usually see the local, state,
and national news, a few miscellaneous articles here and there. But sports has its own
section updating people on what different schools are doing, what the resulting
outcomes of games or competitions were.
On the Tecumseh city limit signs, there isn't anything related to the
academics of the school, instead on them is a display of the different state
championships that Tecumseh has won (mostly with the class of 2008). Like it or
not, sports are important and they do matter to a decent majority of students,
and parents.
And having another vote??? How much more money would you be wasting, just to
get the exact same result that we already have. As I have said before unless
you are going to do something about it, quit complaining about it. Go to a
board meeting if you are so convinced that you know what is better, express to
them your thoughts, hiding behind a screen name isn't really getting your
opinion out there...your just anonymous.
Again I state it, if you are so dissatisfied with how the board is running
our schools then you need to do something about it, don't just hide behind a
computer screen and whine and complain, because it doesn't do anything.
Point
Okay, I'll concede I misread the county vs. country but it does not have any impact on the main point. The fact that you look at schools for their athletic accomplishments instead of the acedemic is sad. There SHOULD be signs at the edge of town saying "home of J.Doe, spelling champion" or whatever. We might attract minds of future leaders who will make a difference instead of just excelling at sports and leaving.
Now for your hard a** accusations of me sitting behind my computer whining. You are as anonymous as anyone else in these threads and am no better than I. You can be any name you want to be. You also have no idea who I am, what meetings I attend or what I do to try and make things for the better. You are a punk sitting behind your own screen bad mouthing me for my differing opinion instead of attempting an honest debate.
As the original story to this thread states, I voted against the Football field as did the majority of the voting citizens. We were ignored by this board and ARE doing something about it. Get used to it.
Out of Curiosity...
So whats your solution now that the complex is nearly finished? I do agree in the fact that the school board had no right to go ahead with these plans even though the majority of the city voted that they didn't want it. The only reason why I say people need to do something like go public, put their names out there, if they really aren't happy with the way things are is because most clearly aren't doing it.
I don't have a problem with what they are doing because it was going to need to happen eventually. The old stadium hasn't been updated since before I can remember, and although Indian Stadium is where I will always think of when I remember the home football games, they badly needed something new that just wasn't built into a hillside in the 50s.
In the long run, I believe that the new complex will pay for itself with the low maintenance (not being needed to be cut and watered by someone during fall and spring seasons) and all the different sports and athletic events that could take place there.
My other comment is why not now? If you really think about it, its helping the struggling economy by continuing to give people jobs, which are decreasing steadily. I look at the whole picture, not just the fact that they decided a new sports complex should be built, but by the many different people that will benefit from it being built.
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