It’s interesting to read the various accounts by various officials as to why the vote was so close.
Board member George Wilson said he isn’t sure why. Joan Derry suggests a lack of trust between the voters and the District. Chairman Fred Washington puts it down to people being in “a tough spot finacially”.
They all seem to have missed the fact that almost all the critisisn I saw, was based on the fact that the referendum shopping list was stacked with un-necessary items that if removed, would have saved the taxpayers millions of dollars.
Funny how things can slip by un-noticed isn’t it? Â
While we failed to get the ‘No’ vote we argued for, the margin was so small that I feel it must be seen as significant progress.
The voices against the referendum has grown enourmously this time around, and who knows, with just a small increase in turnout, we may have done it.
In any case, the vote is history now. In truth, I can’t help thinking that if the vote had been ‘NO’ by a small margin, then anything and everything that went wrong in the coming months and years would have been blamed on the ‘No’ voters. As it is, it’s up to us to keep asking questionins in the months to come.
People are far more aware now than ever before. The small margin was a shot across the bows of the Board. With only 12% voting, there’s a whole lot of people we still need to inform.
I urge you to join us. Add your voice to BCV. Every voice counts, and with more voices, comes more influence.
I’ve come across this reaction too many times over the course of the last week or so. “I don’t agree with everything in the referendum, but we need the new schools, so I’ll vote yes”
Let’s imagine for a moment that the majority vote no on the day. What would happen? Would the BCSD just forget about building any new schools in Bluffton? Of course they wouldn’t. They would simply have to try again.
A new referendum would have to be honest, factual, and realistic in order to get a yes vote… imagine that. Of course, in this pretend scenario, let’s say that this honest, factual and realistic referendum ges a YES vote, then one could ask the question, “Why wasn’t the original one honest, factual and realistic?
For my money, the best part of that scenario would be the loud and clear message to the Board… stop playing politics, stop wasting our money, and start doing your jobs.
Rumor has it that Laurel Bay Schools is probably going to expand their grade levels up to, and including, 8th grade. At present military dependent children in grades pre-k through 6th who live aboard a base attend schools at the Department of Defense schools at Laurel Bay.
Upon reaching 7th grade these students then transfer to either Robert Smalls or Beaufort Middle Schools.
Military members would greatly prefer having their children attend the DOD schools and have been pushing for this change for some time. It appears that all that is lacking is for a few more signatures and it will be a done deal.
The impact for Beaufort County is that they will have approximately 140 less middle school students, the vast majority of which will come out of Robert Smalls and a few, possibly 20 or so, from Beaufort Middle. This will only add to BCSD’s inventory of empty class seats north of the Broad which already has hundreds upon hundreds of empty seats now.
The School District is privvy to these discussions which begs even further the question of why they are building more class rooms north of the Broad.
In the March 29 issue of Bluffton Today Mr. George Wilson, our esteemed school board member from the Bluffton/Sun City area, replies to a letter to the editor by Mr. Albert Slechter that was printed on March 21, 2008. Mr. Slechter proposes that the referendum be postponed for a number of reasons and Mr. Wilson predictably attempts to refute the idea of postponement, strongly lobbying for passage of the referendum.
The exchange is good for Beaufort County voters as any discussion that includes both opposing and supporting views will only serve to inform the voting public, and this exchange is a good start to discussing the upcoming referendum.
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According to BCSD, every item on the referendum shopping list is “absolutely necessary for their success in the next five years.” (source http://www.bcsd-heery.com/Referendum.aspx )
The list includes some puzzling items. For example:
Bluffton High, (an almost brand new school) - Renovate entry and new finishes for theater… absolutely necessary?
Hilton Head High - Site drainage improvements.. Repair parking lots.. Renovate kitchen, cafeteria and science labs.. Upgrade electrical service.. Shouldn’t these be mainteneance items?
That’s just a few. Then there are these “abolutely necessary” items:
Beaufort Cluster 650-seat auditorium at Beaufort High (approx. $9.7 million)
Battery Creek High wrestling facility (approx. $888,000) - Just what percentage of students will use this?
 The list is more of a wishlist than an accurate assesment of what is absolutely necessary. It’s like the game of “what if I won the lottery” we all play.
When it comes to moral fortitude more and more of our local officials are opting to declare moral bankruptcy rather than stand up for what they REALLY believe and/or what they say in private conversations.
What do I mean by that you ask? It’s no secret that I have been highly critical of Beaufort County School District expenditures for some years now. I’ve had literally hundreds of both conversations and email exchanges with many people over the last 3 or so years and attended many meetings of the school board and county council.
What I’ve learned is that our local public officials are nothing more than itty-bitty versions of state and federal-level politicians - they say one thing and do another.
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It’s almost March 2008, close to two years after the May 2006 “Emergency” Referendum to provide quick relief to overcrowded schools in Bluffton.
Supporters of this referendum were almost rabid in their calls to build schools and eliminate the “trailers” being used in Bluffton. SOB voters carried the day and the referendum passed.
Unfortunately those who voted yes on the referendum were sold a bill of goods - they were taken to the cleaners. Almost two years after voters approved these two schools not a single shovelful of dirt has been turned.
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What is it about Bluffton Post Office that results in a steady stream of complaints, mistrust and incompetance?
Certainly mistakes happen in any organisation, but when the mistakes become so frequent that they become the norm, something is wrong.
Someone needs to investigate the working practises at the Post Office. Someone with the authority to make whatever changes are necessary to make it function properly.
Until now, we’ve been content to have a moan, shake our head or a roll our eyes. This has long gone beyond that.
Handling mail is a serious buniness. Let’s get serious about finding out what the problems are, and fixing them.
Fred Washington is quoted on the Beaufort County School District web-site as saying that only those things deemed “absolutely necessary” for student achievement in the short term are included in the upcoming referendum on April 26.
Is it really “absolutely necessary” to build a $888,000 wrestling room at Battery Creek High School? What’s next, a million dollar tennis facility? There is no way that a “wrestling room” can be charactrized as “absolutely necessary for ANY high school.
 Then there is the $9+ million dollar auditorium for Beaufort High School. This is intended to be a state-of-the-art performing arts center . . . for what, the STEP and STOMP team? How many “state-of-the-art” productions do they think a high school drama class can put on in a year? In a decade? How many students actually pursue drama either in high school or afterwards? This is simply somebody’s “pet project” that got put on the list in the “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch your back” politics of the school board. One thing for sure - it’s not “absolutely necessary” for student achievement.
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