I'm writing in response to Mary
That question is not likely to get to the voters this fall, thanks to the action of the Board of Supervisors in whittling down the School Board's conclusion of what capital improvements expenditures are needed to less than one-fourth of that amount--with the claim that the School Board can't be trusted.
The Board of Supervisors further claims that the schools' true needs can later be addressed through subsequent referendum requests, the amounts and timing of which the Board of Supervisors will still control, and without knowing whether the public will grow weary of such requests.
The Board of Supervisors knows that while it asked the School Board to make a request--having just this year made a policy that all capital improvements will be subjected to voter scrutiny--there is just no way the voters will approve a referendum for $184 million for schools and its own referendum questions, which total an even more significant amount.
The School Board has asked to be removed from the referendum slate. It does not support the current request, which in its view is going to be used to solicit uncritical supporters of education for its other purposes, while obscuring what the School Board views as its legal purpose: the assessment of the true needs of education.
The public is not being served by this radical departure in approaching capital school needs, because it will delay improvements, which will directly impair existing assets and raise the cost of future construction.
Here is a good taxpayer question to put to your Spotsylvania County supervisor this fall. Why, if the School Board is so easy with money, does it want to be excluded from your referendum?
Charles Cowsert
Spotsylvania
Charles Cowsert is a member of the Spotsylvania School Board.