Voting precinct locations for West Central Area district voters

Click to enlarge.

Another video clip from the levy forum at the Oct. 21 Hoffman Commerce and Ag meeting

In a failed levy scenario, Superintendent Pat Westby talks about the budget future at WCA. This was at the Hoffman Commerce and Ag meeting on October 21.

Hey Torrey, thanks for being a weasel back in 2005 on the school funding issue, while not being helpful on excess levy referendum votes

Representative Westrom is
blasted on school funding issue

January 27, 2005

Representative Torrey Westrom of Elbow Lake was blasted at a meeting held in Hoffman when trying to suggest that the state funding proposed by Governor Pawlenty will allow for smaller class sizes.

Superintendent Ness said, “Since 1997 we’re $440 behind per pupil on the formula when adjusted for inflation. WCA is definitely spiraling. Our enrollment is declining. We need a variety of solutions for our budget issues, including increased state funding, budget cuts, plus referendum money - or rather, local taxes.”

Ness added, “We need more revenue. We’re a state that values good roads, good schools, good health care, and we’re willing to pay for it.”

Westrom responded, “If more are willing to pay, then why are school boards and counties reluctant to go to referendums? The public generally doesn’t pass those.”

Ness replied that the cost of government has gone down over the past few years, from 17 percent of gross personal income to 15 percent.

Are most teachers at West Central Area "just average"? ... a shocking comment is made in the video clip below

A very cool yard sign at WCA

Much was discussed at tonight's WCA Levy Referendum meeting at South elementary in Kensington. I thought the turnout was great, considering the meeting butted up against the Vikings-Jets football game kickoff. Roughly 14 members of the public, along with a handful WCA staff members and school board members attended the meeting.

I'm chewing through the information right now.

• Here's a few points from the meeting, at least what I scribbled on my notepad. (More is being uploaded to Youtube as I type this.)

Superintendent Westby told the group at the levy meeting about the school's three main points on why they are asking for a hike in the levy.
1 - They want to continue offering quality programs.
2 - They want to continue to offer effective grade level configurations and efficient facilities.
3 - They want to continue carrying out WCA's Mission Statement.

The West Central Area Mission Statement is as follows, "The mission of the WCA school district, with the support of our families and communities, is to provide opportunities for all learners that will inspire a passion for educational excellence and life long learning."

Below, Superintendent Westby explains possible areas to cut, as well as the tax impact of the levy referendum.

It's official, WCA will ask voters to increase property taxes at the polls this fall - just as I've been saying all year long

Breaking news...at the regular monthly meeting of the West Central Area school board on Monday night, it was decided that the district will ask taxpayers in November to increase the levy from the current $950 per pupil to $1,370 per pupil. The duration of the levy hike is for five years.

The current levy expires in 2012, and it represents approximately $665,000 in funding for the annual school budget.

The board had asked voters to hike the levy to $1,250 per pupil for a period of 10 years last fall. The final tally was 497 yes to 571 no votes, a narrow defeat of just a few percentage points.

A full story on this written by Chris Ray of the Grant County Herald will appear in the July 29 issue of the Herman-Hoffman Tribune.

My 2 cents: voters should have passed last year's levy hike. By not passing it, even greater pressure will be placed on the passage of this year's referendum and the school's budget will be in a very serious situation if it fails.