The Grand County School District is at a crossroads today, and the voted leeway election on Nov. 3 will determine the direction public education in our community will take for the foreseeable future.

If you have been reading this newspaper over the last month, you are already informed about the financial circumstances of the school district – its recently discovered deficit and how it came about; that despite independent audits, the school board was not informed until a month ago of the ongoing deficit; the cuts that have been implemented to ensure continuity of this school year; the “financially distressed district” status the State School Board has granted that enables us to move existing fund balances in restricted-use funds to cover the operational deficit for this year only.

An investigation is ongoing and as soon as possible, we will share the results with the public. Now is not the time to point fingers and cast blame. The school board and our new auditing firm are actively taking steps to correct the problems that lead to this crisis, and put additional oversight in place to prevent anything like this from happening again. Detailed information about this situation is found in links at www.grandschools.org in the upper right hand corner of our homepage.

I am truly sorry that this has happened. Many people are impacted by this huge problem – students, parents, teachers and school staff, and the entire community. It is not their fault and they did not cause this problem. Yet the problem is very real and very serious.

The actions taken this year are only a Band-aid compared to decisions we may face next year. Your informed vote for or against the school district voted leeway on Nov. 3 will be our community’s most important statement regarding public education since the early 1980s, when a similar leeway failed at the polls and triggered school closure and class consolidations.

Simply put, a Yes vote will institute a local property tax increase that will raise almost enough revenue for school operations to continue at the current level of educational services and programs. Even with this revenue, some cuts will still be necessary.

A No vote will trigger budget cuts equaling about $1.65 million (a 15 percent reduction in our maintenance and operations budget, the budget that funds teachers and staff) beginning next school year. This will have substantial impacts leading to staff layoffs, program reduction or elimination, much larger class sizes, consolidation of classes and the possible closure of one school.

Good schools build community, enhance business growth, attract new businesses, and strengthen our local economy. Please become fully informed before you vote – learn the facts, not the rumors.

Your vote will give the Grand County Board of Education the direction it needs to make decisions that will impact the education of our children and affect our community for years to come.

—Jim Webster,

member,

Grand County Board of Education