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Wednesday, October 6, 2010

City Council president rallying against Unified office move

Update: City Council President Jeff Coe is calling for a referendum on borrowing money to move Racine Unified's Central Officer to the former Surgitek campus. Here's the language on petitions being circulated by Coe and others:

Pursuant to Ch. 67 and Sec. 67.12(12)(e)2, we the undersigned electors of Racine Unified School District petition for a referendum election on the resolution of the Racine Unified School Board to authorize the borrowing of an amount not to exceed $5,950,000 to provide for the issuance and sale of general obligation promissory notes therefore, for the purpose of buying and renovating property at the Surgitek campus to serve as the District’s Central Office, which was adopted by the Racine Unified school board on September 20, 2010 and published on September 23, 2010.
h/t Beth at Racine Uncovered


City Council President Jeff Coe is building opposition to Racine Unified's plans to spend $10 million to move its central office.

Coe is gathering signatures on a petition and may ask the City Council to consider going on record opposing the move, which he says is a waste of money. Coe isn't saying much about his plans, other than that he wants it known that people oppose Unified's move.

The Racine Unified School Board voted last week to borrow nearly $6 million to move its central office to the former Surgitek campus at 3037 Mount Pleasant St. After voting 4-3 last month to approve the move, the board voted 7-2 in favor of borrowing the money to pay for the move. The move is expected to generate $9 million in savings for the school district over the next 20 years.

Superintendent James Shaw writes on his blog that the move will save $450,000 per year in energy costs, which will free up money for classrooms.

13 comments:

  1. So...am I missing something that they want to spend $10 million to move now, which will save $9 million over 20 years? Is that after the $10 million cost or does this net to $-1 million not including any TVM calculation?

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  2. The offices of Racine Unified constitute a disgraceful rabbit warren, hardly a professional place to work. I'm not suggesting they replace it solely for the care and comfort of the people who work there, but I would suggest you get much better performance out of people who work in appropriate, professional surroundings. Don't complain about subpar performance from people who work every day in a subpar work environment.

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  3. ell said Randolph, but you can say the same exact thing about the children learning in our school buildings. Imagine the better performance out of students who study/work in aappropriate, educatonal surroundings.

    What EXACTLY is the mission of RUSD? Better working conditions for adults working at the ASC or making sure every child gets a quality education?

    Frankly, I don't trust the projections of $450K savings each year. They claimed that cutting the 8th hour out of middle school would save money ... it didn't.

    The savings from the last healthcare concessions didn't pan out the way it was supposed to and most of the savings went back to the teachers anyway, not the classrooms as I understand it.

    The bottom line is this - the central offices are outdated and inefficient, but so are most of the 33 buildings our children learn in each and every day. The children should be put first, for once, in this district.

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  4. That should be "well" said, not "ell".

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  5. These are the same idiots who claim the North Star will kick in any minute now.

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  6. Please see my post on this topic at jtirregulars.com, entitled Response to Madame Zoltar and Other Rantings....

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  7. Where can we sign Mr. Coe's petition?

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  8. bettylou56,

    You make good points. We really should be doing both, giving our school district workers decent conditions and giving our children a better learning environment at the same time. I don't see this as a zero-sum game.

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  9. Randy - tax, and spend, tax and spend, tax and spend - or in this case spend and tax. You are the "King" of "Socialism". You are a disgrace to Americans.

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  10. I am not opposed to moving in order to save money, but is this the best area to save money right now and still provide for our children?

    How much would we save if we rebuilt Walden III or Red Apple? Where are the figures on that? Why does Central Office take priority over our schools? Our schools are filled with lead paint, asbestos and other hazards yet this is RUSD's priority? COME ON! Has anyone looked at the classrooms at Walden III alone... this school should be outraged at Unified's neglect!

    Who pays for this expense once Caledonia leaves RUSD (AND THEY WILL!) Is RUSD rushing into this knowing they will be loosing that revenue stream then sticking it to the City of Racine tax payers later?

    Just asking...

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  11. sir - and I use that term very loosely because of your lack of American values. I certainly do not respect you as I normally would if I used the term "sir".

    This country values every citizen's opinion. But you trash an opinion when you say "You are a disgrace to Americans" to Randy.

    Then you try to make a point concerning the concept of how 'every' government works. So, are you saying taxes are evil? Look, taxes are a necessity. How do you run a school without them?

    Anyone who condemns someone's opinion as a disgrace, is themselves disgraceful, in my humble opinion. After all, we are still Americans here, aren't we?

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  12. Bitty - once again and finally, Randy endorses the socialistic ideology. That is "not" what a true American embraces.

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  13. Randy is not endorsing socialism. Is funding the police department by everyone wrong? If so we are doing it all over this country. Education is the same. Saying it is socialist doesn't make it socialist. If it works, don't fix it.

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