Does Beloit Turner plan make sense?
This era of open enrollment generally serves students and families well. Some students switch because their home district seems insufficient or a neighboring one offers special programming that their district can’t provide. Sometimes parents commute to jobs where some other district is more convenient. Regardless the reasons, students apply and, if space is available, switch.
Many districts openly seek students from other districts because they know each child means thousands more in state aid. For example, today's Gazette details how Janesville might expand a charter school for at-risk students because it has a waiting list and estimates suggest that the extra state aid will more than offset the higher costs.
Yet the competition between districts creates winners and losers. Districts where enrollment is rising usually balance budgets more easily than those districts that are losing students.
Now, here comes Beloit Turner with an especially aggressive plan to draw more students through open enrollment. The high school has 444 students, but the plans call for building a new high school big enough for 600. Officials have said the main purpose of this plan would be to serve more students through open enrollment, though administrators hope an improving economy will grow enrollment within the district, as well.
Not everyone agrees, as a story by Gina Duwe that we printed Dec. 18 details.
Does this plan make sense? In our editorial Friday, we’ll explain why residents of the Turner district must do their homework before three upcoming meetings.
Greg Peck can be reached at (608) 755-8278 or gpeck@gazettextra.com. Or follow him on Twitter or Facebook
Dec 29, 2012 at 11:45 p.m.
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I hope that Mr. McCarthy's empire building scheme fails. I would think that in these times especially, building a school for the primary purpose of attracting children from outside the Turner School boundaries is NOT a good idea for the residents that will be footing the increased tax bill or the school districts that the students would come from. What happens to their schools as less and less students attend and the state revenue decreases? What happens if the school gets built and students decide to go elsewhere? So much for the extra revenue and now the TSD taxpayers will be stuck with forever higher school costs.
As a taxpayer, I would ask "How exactly does this benefit me"? I sure don't see the benefit to the students or the taxpaying parents that live within the TSD boundaries. I am certain that some of the transfers will not be a positive influence and may create additional challenges for the teachers. Personally, I feel children should attend the school district they live in, other than if the parents choose to send them to a private school. The way Dr. McCarthy likes to spend other peoples money, he should run for elected office, he would be a natural.
Dec 28, 2012 at 1:12 a.m.
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Sure.. They can play nice and share with sports.
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But when it comes to education? Not so much.
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Let's see these Educrats put some cooperative effort and resources into The Stateline Career & Technical Education Academy (SCETA).
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49 thousand university grads in the Wis Tech College system but the high schools still won't spend any REAL money on developing technical education.
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Career pathways need linkages vertically from all grades.... All of them..
Dec 27, 2012 at 10:45 p.m.
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I would imagine that a bigger school would allow more kids from the Beloit School District transfer to the Turner School District. However, that will open up a can of worms for those who live in the TSD. I am not sure I would want to be a family that foots the bill for a referendum knowing that the key is to bring in people from outside the district.
I also think actively recruiting students from the SDB to the TSD would cause some friction between the powers that be. Right now the schools share a partnership in girl's soccer and girl's hockey (along with multiple other schools in girl's hockey....though Beloit Memorial is considered the main school). Those might be out the window in such a scenario.
Dec 27, 2012 at 3:20 p.m.
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As a Turner taxpayer, I say that is a poor excuse to spend millions of our money.
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