The New Prague Area School District’s board of directors have asked district taxpayers to support an additional $450 per student levy amounting to about $2 million in annual funding adjusted for inflation over the next 10 years.
It’s an important question, a big ask of taxpayers. We won’t suggest you should vote for it or against it. That’s a decision you get to make. We’ll only ask you make your decision based on facts and the answers to every good, tough and fair question you can think of.
That is your responsibility as one with the privilege of voting.
If you don’t have children attending New Prague schools, either yet or any longer, you should be asking questions as well. Mr. Vollmuth and board members have the answers to these and other good questions. The state of the school district and taxation impacts you and the rest of the community now and into the future. Superintendent Andy Vollmuth has answers to good, fair questions.
This week, Vollmuth is presenting information on the request. Wednesday, Oct. 4, he presented information on the request to members of the chamber of commerce. He has other presentations planned and said he is willing to make time to present information to any group that wants to hear it. We suggest you take the superintendent up on his offer. We suggest you listen carefully and make sure you base your decision on fact, not rumors and suppositions. If you’ve heard something about the request and are not certain if it is fact or fiction, ask. Make sure you have all the correct information. Don’t settle for what you might have heard.
Ask the superintendent or board members why the district is seeking additional funding beyond what the state has provided. Ask how the district arrived at requesting an additional $450 per student. Could the board have asked for more? For less? How does the district’s funding compare to likesized districts in the area or around the state? Ask why the district is holding the election this fall rather than waiting until next fall’s general election. Ask a board member how they settled on a 10-year term and keeping the impact around $20 per month on a house valued for taxation at $350,000.
Ask about unfunded mandates – tasks the state insists the district perform but won’t pay for. Ask why the board renewed the levy voters OK’d in 2017 even after voters declined to replace it with a larger amount in the fall of 2022. If the answer isn’t clear in your mind, ask for clarification.
Ask Mr. Vollmuth or board members why 25 other school districts are seeking voter approval for additional funding. Ask what the district will use the money for. Ask what will happen if voters reject the proposal? Will class sizes increase? How do New Prague’s class sizes compare to other districts or about the impact of students leaving in the past year and the potential of students leaving should the levy request fail.
A Facebook group – Protect Our Daughters, New Prague – is calling for people to oppose the levy request. The group, which opposes transgender students being allowed to utilize restroom and locker rooms of their gender identity and the district’s equity policy, claims the issue is, “not a money problem, it’s a priorities problem.” What are the district’s priorities regarding this additional funding compared to the priorities of Protect Our Daughters New Prague?
Ask about the $3 million the board has already cut after last year’s unsuccessful request? How much of it is permanent and how much is coming back?
If Mr. Vollmuth or board members don’t have an immediate answer, take them up on an offer to have him research the answer and get back to you via email or by phone. If you ask these good questions, and any more you come up with, hopefully you’ll be able to make a good decision based on facts when it comes to voting.