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05-08-2006, 10:16 AM
School bond divides Breckenridge
Some criticize proposed multipurpose facility
By Sidney Levesque / levesques@reporternews.com
May 8, 2006
Breckenridge voters are faced with an $8.64 million bond election to fund a multipurpose athletic/fine arts facility school officials say is needed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
They say it would cost too much to make the present varsity gym, built in 1970, accessible to the handicapped.
But resident Tommy Wimberley thinks the school district, with an elementary rated academically unacceptable by the state, should be focused on classroom instruction and getting rid of portable buildings.
He shared his opposition by spray painting in big red letters various signs he placed on property he owns around town
One sign reads: ''Vote no: May 13 school bond. Taj Mahal gym, ghetto elementary schools. Less athletics, better academics.''
''I want to get the voters really stirred up and have a large turnout,'' Wimberley said. ''If a majority wants this, then I'm dead in the water. But I don't know what we're going to do about elementary schools.''
Breckenridge American columnist Carla McKeown weighed in on the issue in a recent article that said that by her measurements, less than 3.6 percent of the new facility would actually be used for fine arts classrooms
Connie Martin, Breckenridge schools superintendent, said that figure is incorrect because the gym also would be used for physical education and two classrooms would be used for vocational programs.
According to a bond brochure, the facility includes two competition size gyms; spectator seating for 1,500 and other seating for 400; and a community room for school and outside groups.
''They played this up as everything in the world, but it really is an athletic facility,'' Wimberley said.
Martin said it's ironic some of the same people who oppose the bond election because it doesn't include schools also opposed a previous bond election that did include schools.
The district's last bond election was in 2002. It was prompted by a citizens task force that found campuses in ''deplorable'' condition, according to Reporter-News archives.
But the $11 million bond issue to build two elementary schools and a high school gym and band hall was defeated 906-649.
Wimberley, who said he served on the task force four years ago, said he supported building the new schools. But he opposed the whole bond issue because it included the gym and band hall.
''You kill the good in order to prevent the bad, as far as I'm concerned,'' he said.
He said the different facilities should have been broken out on the ballot into multiple propositions so people could pick and choose what they supported.
Martin said after the 2002 bond election failed, the district did its best with available funds to renovate buildings, landscape and build a classroom addition. But the upgrades needed at the high school gym to make it handicapped accessible would be costly and it needs to be replaced with a modern facility, she said.
The district was reported to the federal Office for Civil Rights by a handicapped person because its facilities were not accessible, according to the district's Web site. The federal agency, which works to ensure equal access to education, has asked the district to make the facilities accessible or they will be shut down.
Wimberley remains unconvinced the bond issue is needed.
''Until we get two new elementary schools, I'm going to keep fighting them tooth and toenail,'' he said.
Martin said the district needs new schools, but must take care of the multipurpose facility now.
''We need both, but with OCR hanging over us, this is our first priority,'' she said.
If the bond issue passes, the tax rate would increase by an estimated 17.21 cents. The taxes on a $32,623 home (the average value for the district) would increase by $30.33 a year.
Early voting will be 8 a.m.-4 p.m. today and Tuesday at the school administration office, 208 N. Miller St., and 6-8 p.m. today at East Elementary, 1310 E. Elm St.
Some criticize proposed multipurpose facility
By Sidney Levesque / levesques@reporternews.com
May 8, 2006
Breckenridge voters are faced with an $8.64 million bond election to fund a multipurpose athletic/fine arts facility school officials say is needed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
They say it would cost too much to make the present varsity gym, built in 1970, accessible to the handicapped.
But resident Tommy Wimberley thinks the school district, with an elementary rated academically unacceptable by the state, should be focused on classroom instruction and getting rid of portable buildings.
He shared his opposition by spray painting in big red letters various signs he placed on property he owns around town
One sign reads: ''Vote no: May 13 school bond. Taj Mahal gym, ghetto elementary schools. Less athletics, better academics.''
''I want to get the voters really stirred up and have a large turnout,'' Wimberley said. ''If a majority wants this, then I'm dead in the water. But I don't know what we're going to do about elementary schools.''
Breckenridge American columnist Carla McKeown weighed in on the issue in a recent article that said that by her measurements, less than 3.6 percent of the new facility would actually be used for fine arts classrooms
Connie Martin, Breckenridge schools superintendent, said that figure is incorrect because the gym also would be used for physical education and two classrooms would be used for vocational programs.
According to a bond brochure, the facility includes two competition size gyms; spectator seating for 1,500 and other seating for 400; and a community room for school and outside groups.
''They played this up as everything in the world, but it really is an athletic facility,'' Wimberley said.
Martin said it's ironic some of the same people who oppose the bond election because it doesn't include schools also opposed a previous bond election that did include schools.
The district's last bond election was in 2002. It was prompted by a citizens task force that found campuses in ''deplorable'' condition, according to Reporter-News archives.
But the $11 million bond issue to build two elementary schools and a high school gym and band hall was defeated 906-649.
Wimberley, who said he served on the task force four years ago, said he supported building the new schools. But he opposed the whole bond issue because it included the gym and band hall.
''You kill the good in order to prevent the bad, as far as I'm concerned,'' he said.
He said the different facilities should have been broken out on the ballot into multiple propositions so people could pick and choose what they supported.
Martin said after the 2002 bond election failed, the district did its best with available funds to renovate buildings, landscape and build a classroom addition. But the upgrades needed at the high school gym to make it handicapped accessible would be costly and it needs to be replaced with a modern facility, she said.
The district was reported to the federal Office for Civil Rights by a handicapped person because its facilities were not accessible, according to the district's Web site. The federal agency, which works to ensure equal access to education, has asked the district to make the facilities accessible or they will be shut down.
Wimberley remains unconvinced the bond issue is needed.
''Until we get two new elementary schools, I'm going to keep fighting them tooth and toenail,'' he said.
Martin said the district needs new schools, but must take care of the multipurpose facility now.
''We need both, but with OCR hanging over us, this is our first priority,'' she said.
If the bond issue passes, the tax rate would increase by an estimated 17.21 cents. The taxes on a $32,623 home (the average value for the district) would increase by $30.33 a year.
Early voting will be 8 a.m.-4 p.m. today and Tuesday at the school administration office, 208 N. Miller St., and 6-8 p.m. today at East Elementary, 1310 E. Elm St.