[Vision2020] School Facilities (was Daily News article)

[Barrett Schroeder]

For those that haven't seen it, the results of an exit
poll from the April 2005 Bond Levy Election is posted
on the Moscow School District Facilities Planning
Committee's web site:

http://www.sd281.k12.id.us/facilities/faccommittee.htm

Or this direct link, which should be all on one line to work
(it is a 26 page PDF file, but only 55K):

http://www.sd281.k12.id.us/facilities/Results%20of%20An%20Exit%20Poll.pdf

I don't know the people who did the exit poll, but my 
understanding is they were volunteers and not associated 
with any "side" in the election. It includes a very thorough 
analysis, and the numbers seem at least reasonable to me.

>From that raw data, the number one reason for "Against"
votes was "I want the high school downtown/Keep HS 
students in-town" (37.4%, page 14). Other major reasons for
"Against" votes were "Cost is too high/Excessive cost"
and "No more taxes/taxes too high now" (page 15) and
"Not efficient use of $$/Enrollment not increasing/No need/
Waste of $$" (page 16).

The closest response to Doug's quote below was
"Against MSD administration - concerns with uses 
of current resources" (page 17) and was low on the
list, with only 4.3% of the "Against" voters.

None of the respones directly referenced salaries, but
"Invest in teachers/programs, not buildings" (13.0%, page 16)
suggests that some of the "Against" voters might be in favor
of higher salaries instead of newer buildings.

"Will encourage sprawl/need Smart Growth" (page 14) was
also featured in a lot of advertising, but was only cited as a
reason by 10.5% of "Against" voters.

There is a lot of information in that report, so a lot of
comparisons are possible.  It's a good insight into 
"what people are thinking" and certainly worth a read
for anyone interested in these issues.

Barrett Schroeder


> ----------
> From: 	heirdoug at netscape.net[SMTP:heirdoug at netscape.net]
> Sent: 	Thursday, October 27, 2005 5:01 PM
>  
> Maybe the School Board needs to listen to the voting community when they
> soundly turned down the last bond issue: "Cut back on the expenditures of
> the blotted salaries and administration and live with in your means and
> then maybe we will chip in for repairs and faculties."
>  
>