Voters will go to the polls to decide $2 million levy


Park Intermediate School teachers Emily McLeod and Grace Sharp are pictured at the main entry, which they hope will receive funding in the upcoming levy vote for new cameras and a buzz-in system for visitors at the school.
By: 
Philip A. Janquart

Public meeting scheduled for March 2 at the Vendome Events Center

Voters will decide the fate of a Weiser School District resolution calling for a $2 million plant and facility levy on March 14.

 A public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 2 at the Vendome in Weiser for those wishing to learn more and ask questions about the levy. The meeting begins at 6 p.m.
 The proposed levy, which asks for $500,000 per year for four years, would replace a current eight-year levy that was approved by voters in 2015 and is set to expire in June 2023.
 “The estimated cost to homeowners is expected to be approximately $59.44 per $100,000 in taxable value,” according to a recent statement submitted to the Signal American. “The expiring levy was set at $310,000 a year and costs approximately $36.85 per $100,000 in taxable value.”
 If approved, the funds would only be used to address plant and facility conditions.
 “Over the last several months a WSD Facilities Committee evaluated each District-owned facility and reviewed feedback from parents, patrons, and staff to develop a list of prioritized needs at each location,” according to the district. “Present condition and potential for increased deterioration, safety concerns, and desire for facility enhancements were considered when establishing priorities. Items were assigned a Priority number 1-3, with Priority 1 being the most pressing.”
 Among the Priority 1 items is the need for camera and buzzer systems at the main and secondary entrances at each school. The district wants enhanced security at the schools, in part, in light of the recent attacks at school facilities across the nation, according to District Superintendent Wade Wilson.
 “It’s a matter of restricting access to people during the school day when kids are there,” he told the Signal American. “We have received quite a bit of feedback, [people] feeling like our front doors should be locked and we should be restricting access to the building.
 “And currently, they are not. Our front doors are unlocked, so anybody could just come in. They are supposed to go to the office and check in but, certainly, anybody can just go in, so it’s something that we have determined we need.”
 If the levy is approved, Wilson said the district would immediately begin working to have the equipment installed.
 Other top priorities include water mitigation measures to address foundations, roofs, and asphalt; measures to address failing door locks that create access and security concerns, upgrades to kitchen floors; updated restrooms, and an evaluation of vehicle and bus access at Pioneer School.
 A list of priorities can be found on the WSD website at www.weiserschools.org.
 As with any levy, some members of the public may question the need for another, but Wilson said it’s a question the districts has as well.
 “That is a great question that I can’t answer, in terms of why we don’t receive enough funding to be able to do everything we need to do in our buildings,” Wilson said. “It just doesn’t happen. We don’t receive enough funds to do everything we deem necessary. Really, it refers to hiring people, to being able to do all of the maintenance things that we need to do. We just don’t receive what I would refer to as adequate funding.”
 The state legislature has yet to determine where it will allow funds earmarked for education from it’s $1.9 billion surplus to be used. 
 “They have not determined that yet,” Wilson said. “It’s $310 million that’s supposed to go to education. This is supposed to be new money; it’s not supposed to be money that is supplanting existing funds, but we have not been given any indication as to exactly how that money will come to us or what it can be spent on.”
 More information about the proposed levy can be found on the district’s website at www.weiserschools.org.
 

 

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