Editor,
I have been trying to decide how to vote on the referendum issue.
I’ve gone to the meetings and heard the pro-referendum people pitch their story. However, none of the meetings have addressed the most critical question: When will it end?
That is the same question Town Councilwoman Suzanna Suarez asked the school board – they said they could refinance the bonds in 2015. The numbers don’t lie – you would need to erase almost 50 percent of the debt service expense to balance the budget without another referendum, so refinancing the bonds certainly is not a viable option.
What’s the bottom line? ZCS and the community are up against the wall, and it doesn’t look like there is any way out. When I think about voting yes, I picture myself as a helpless person feeding big chunks of flesh to a hungry dragon. I worry about when I will run out of flesh. The facts do not lie – the $4.7-million referendum this year will become a request for $9 million in 2015. If we vote no, class sizes will be smaller than what we want them to be. Will it impact the overall quality of education? No one can say for sure.
Everyone must think about the long term, beyond the next three years. As the expense grows to maintain the “optimal class size” in ZCS, how much flesh does the average resident of this community have to continue to feed this dragon?
I’m still undecided on how to vote.
John Notarianni
46077