St. Lawrence County has lost population for years, Ogdensburg population continues to drop as does the number of students that graduate. Morristown has resisted merging, but the financial reality may be the deciding factor. Morristown did very well on their standardized testing, most grades were above he national average...Ogdensburg did not fair very well. School pride, and loyalty to the school and staff make it hard to give up your identity when schools merge.
Morristown and other small school districts will be facing the same problem. Morristown's and Heuvelton's proximity to OFA could result in a merger. Every school district has been loosing studens for years!
WDT Article
4 comments:
I for one Ogdesnburg taxpayer am fed up with the way the school board lets the administration dictate our policies and carry on business.. Ogdensburg schools are all about cosmetics and that really all.
We have a superentendant an ass how many principals and their assistants.. Is this necessary? No If we are going to spend spend on the kids... Of course Mr. Vernsey warned us we were going to have to feel the pain.. All but him and his higher up administrations..
Cut? Where? At the top.. For every food service worker or teachers aide laid off one of the adminstrative jobs must go..
To accomplishe this we need a board that not filled with public servants, husband and wives of teachers and retired teachers.
The teachers attend these meeting and intimidate anyone who trys to talk of reform.. We need to start attending and show these people who is running this show...
The Ogdensburg Board is totally out of touch with the average taxpaying citizen .
We have a town that is losing population, rapidly aging , living on fixed incomes and this board INSPITE of a 50 % decline in enrollment over the past quarter century told taxpayers we need to fund a 57 MILLION dollar boondoggle.
There is a surplus of facilities availble . The Physical Plant expansion of the past decades was A FINANCIAL BLACKHOLE which was "marketed" to an uneducated public UNDER THE FALSE PREMISE OF A 95/5 FUNDING FORMULA .
Now that enrollment is only 50 % of the design capacity IT HAS STRAPPED US ALL WITH THIS WHITE ELEPHANT . Yet the Board acts as if the public is stupid enough to buy the so- called need for MORE building-- only the stupid buy that scenario
There is a need for statewide taxpayer protest movement similar to California under proposition 13 and Indiana where property taxes are capped at 1% . It's NOT all for the Kids at all -- its all about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Looking forward to seeing your names on the ballot in the next school board election.
I am looking forward to the day when there are NO local school boards at all . That is an anachronism from the past that is no longer useful. Local boards are stacked with special interest groups like spouse or relatives of teacher or other school employees , especially in small towns like here in NNY . It creates Stale and vested interest thinking which fiercely defends the Status Quo and Maintains a level of mediocrity and cronyism and good ole boy/girl behavior .
Organize by county not locality and reduce cost and overlap and redundant and ineffective programming . Time for serious change in education The system is BROKEN and needs systemic change not cosmetic change .
Do it Now times wasting --- America will be a second tier nation before 2025 if things are not radically changed . There will not be any good jobs in the future for " dumb slugs" OFTEN SOCIALLY PROMOTED THROUGH OUR CURRENT SYSTEM.
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