By: stormchaser28 on 11/4/09
Glad the levy passed in Blooming Prairie. Unfortunately other districts like Austin did fare as well.

By: MNBear on 11/4/09
The voters of Blooming Prairie deserve what they get - Ms. Hansen said, “We were really down to bare bones this last time. It would have meant cutting out core educational pieces for the kids.”

Baloney. That's the thing EVERYONE says when they want more taxpayer money. Did any of the teachers or administrators take a REAL paycut? Nope. It's always this - "Give us more, or we'll wreck the 'core' educational mission of this district."

Good luck BP - you'll need it.

By: rmsmkm on 11/4/09
I am so glad to see that this levy was passed. Blooming Prairie has a wonderful school system and this was really needed. We need to invest in our kids future and not have funding for education keep getting cut back.. This is the future of our country. Sorry you are such an old grump MNBear. Have a great day.

By: whatthe on 11/4/09
What do you care, MNBear? You have nothing to gain or lose in Blooming Prairie. You know nothing of this district. Focus your attention and dark cloud on your own district. I guess cutting $500,000 the last two years means nothing to you. The fact that we would have cut another $300,000 this year means nothing. You don't know anything about BP. And yes, the teachers and admin did take a freeze/cut.

What a sad and lonely life it must be to have the dark cloud always over your head, or to think that there is a conspiracy around every corner. Here's to finding the light, my friend.

By: shell on 11/4/09
To whatthe: Do you need to be so disrespectful and condescending? The people of #756 would have been more willing to approve these levies if that huge and ridiculously expensive school hadn't been built. We are all sick of all the taxes. Blame it on who you want. Either Olson or state funding cuts, but don't be such a ****.

By: whatthe on 11/4/09
Shell,

I have no problem with how people want to vote. That's the cool thing about living where we do. We all have a right to our opinion. But MNBear has nothing to do with BP. Yet, he continually comes on here and talks bad about the town, our community. Why? He doesn't know anything about it. He sees the word TAX and attacks.

You can think that the renovated school was not needed. That's fine. You can blame it on whomever too. But the public voted for both levies now, so we need to move on. There will be sunnier days ahead.

By: Cindy on 11/4/09
Simply put, Blooming Prairie Schools get above average results with below average funding. Thankfully after this vote their funding is only $200 per student below the state average.

By: ghostly1 on 11/4/09
Seven years ago when the Blooming Prairie School District asked for a similar levy to be approved, they promised small class sizes through the fourth grade. The levy was approved and the following fall the fourth grade classes had 24-25 students in them. Hopefully they can do a better job of keeping their promises this time.

By: RealityCheck on 11/4/09
Dear ghostly1,

Schools get about 5k per student per school year to operate. The average rural school beginner teacher costs a district between $35-40,000 when you count the insurance and matching retirement contributions,etc. I could launch into some elaborate story problems here, but I'll spare you and say that if you have 18 kids in a classroom and suddenly you get 6 move to town...all the same grade...and then 6 more in the grade above it, and 6 more above that....you can't hire a teacher to teach 3 grade levels in the same room. These kinds of challenges are not unique to any one school. I believe BP already has one split grade teacher, or did awhile ago and they continue to look at every possible option when it comes to staffing according to what I can read in this award winning newspaper.

By: sully on 11/4/09
RC - why can't you hire 1 teacher for those 18 additional kids? Why do we get so caught up on grade levels and leave ability at the door step. I think we need more out of the box thinking and more your kid doesn't get to be in this class because his apptitude for it is not a fit. We will just continue to teach to the median and fall further behind other countries.

By: secretsquirrel on 11/5/09
I have shared similar opinions on government spending, levies and other things with MNBear. We have disagreed on some points as well. On this particular one, we disagree.
I have followed this story for many months, watching to see what this community was willing to do to keep their schools intact.
I have seen voluntary pay freezes, voluntary pay CUTS (teachers, administrators, support staff) just to keep things going. They have trimmed their overhead by hundreds of thousands and demonstrated their committment by putting their money where their mouth is.
You don't SEE that in other districts. I sure don't in mine!
The fact that such a small community is willing to work together and share (voluntarily) the cuts in pay and benefits just to keep their schools viable is an amazing thing. Almost altruistic.
Their teachers didn't pull up tent stakes and go running off to larger districts. Their administration did not waffle or make excuses. They took CUTS to their pay.
When you consider that many districts are asking for 3 - 7% pay increases even when the districts they serve are looking at double digit budget shortages, these people are Rock Stars!
This is not a warm and fuzzy. This is a serious community determined to control their own destiny and the destinies of the next generation of community members.
I have no problem with this and praise them for their efforts. Another reason I see this differently is because it was not a small group of weeping willies crying about how they need more, more, more while TAKING more, more, more.
These people collectively bent over and took a kick in the britches several times before they reached this point. When they have given that much and made a statement through their personal sacrifices and actions to PROVE their dedication, it's tough to find something wrong with that.
In other districts, you see groups who ask for more when they have offered NOTHING. THAT is when I get irritated with levies and 'extras.' THAT is when I fight against such things because it is selfish. These people exemplify selflessness.
This is a district that doesn't have the luxuries larger districts have. They are not Edina. So, when they make a cut of $500,000, it would be like a cut of $3 million in a district like 656. THAT is substantial.
NO ONE likes paying more taxes. So the fact that this passed is indicative of BP's commitment to their schools and community.
Congratulations to all of you in the BP school system. Top to bottom you ought to be proud of yourselves.

By: ghostly1 on 11/5/09
Reality Check,

I obviously did not go to school in Blooming Prairie, because I know that if you have two teachers with 18 kids in each class and six additional children enter that grade the average class size should still only be 21. We could talk numbers all day long, but the point will remain the same. They promised and didn't deliver. Don't tell the voters you can guarantee something if you can't.

By: Cindy on 11/5/09
Ghostly1,

I hope that you are not implying that going to Blooming Prairie Schools equates with not being able add. In fact, if you look at the facts, Blooming Prairie consistently ranks in the top 10 in the state in preparing it's students for college. That is out of over 400 school districts.

When you are talking about class sizes and promises kept/broken, you have to understand that the past 7 years the state has done nothing to help public education. In fact, adjusted for inflation, Blooming Prairie's funding has decreased 11.2% in that time frame. No one knew that the state would choose to push education funding to the local level 7 years ago. In addition, no one knew that and economy would crash or that the cost of energy would sky rocket.

So many people are experts on education this time of year when really very few truly understand how schools are actually funded and managed. If you look around at other districts, Blooming Prairie does a very good job at keeping class sizes as low as possible. I am sure that many of the suburban schools would love to have class sizes at 24-25 in 4th grade.

By: whatthe on 11/5/09
Hey ghostly1,

Can I borrow your crystal ball so I can see 7 years into the future. Mine is broken.

Thanks,

whatthe


I know...I'm not being nice again. Maybe even condescending. Sorry.

By: blu2 on 11/5/09
the elites got what they wanted. They rammed the new school through KNOWING they didn't have the money to run it. They planned it that way! They knew it would be hard to get the new school if the passed the operateing levy first. I hope they are happy... this town is split right down the middle....But I'm sure they could care less as they know bette then all us kid haters... I wonder which School board member I can send my grocery bill to.......

By: RealityCheck on 11/5/09
Again, this starts with a Governor who won't hold large corporations responsible for their fair share. Its starts with him, and then flows down to the department of Education, who won't let classes have three grades in them, so your beef Ghostly, is with them. It starts with an uninformed public, and when I was talking math, I meant 18+6 in one grade level and then 18+6 in another grade level, making the classroom total 24 in each. That seems pretty clear when I re-read my post. I should also point out that virtually every time a district has to make cuts, some personnel DO pull up stakes, but not because they want to. They get cut, whether its a custodian, a para-professional, a teacher, a coach, etc. Some are lucky to find work in the area but others have to leave almost every year a school makes drastic cuts, whether the paper reports it or not. Most often they miss these finer points.

By: blu2 on 11/6/09
well we know were your politics are! Tax the rich/corperations so some of get a free ride! Tax them enough and they'll take thier ball and go to China. Then what will you do? And spare us your false pity for poor slave para's etc that had to move because of supposed needed cuts. What happen to all the 1000's of people that were moveing here or sending thier kids here when the new school was built? This is NOT Medford It's to far from anywhere for people to open enroll thier kids....