I attended the April school board Meeting and posed several questions to the board about the $35 million bond issue.

The Board preferred to answer my questions by letter. The response was from Mr. Fred Butcher, superintendent of Natchez-Adams County School District. Here are his answers and my reponse:

First question: Why not locate the new school on property currently housing a school on Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive?

The Board’s response referred to the Mississippi Department of Education website concerning school buildings and grounds. Mr. Butcher stated in his letter to me that elementary sites start with 10 acres plus one acre for every 100 students and that secondary sites (grades 9-12) start with 25 acres plus one acre for every 100 students. The acreage on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive would not suit the new facility and the board wants to continue use of the athletic stadium.

My response is that these are recommendations of acreage, not requirements. The bean field acreage would be hard pressed to accommodate the recommendations set forth.

Next question: Why not use the $20,000-$30,000 to be spent for the election to clean up the mildew and mold problems existing at the schools?

Mr. Butcher stated that the schools are 50-60 years old and the needs go beyond mildew and mold. They are addressing multiple issues. They also have a safety and security problem with the campuses. Technology is required for all state testing and our electrical and infrastructure will not support that technology. Air conditioning and roofing problems also exist. The roofs need to be replaced and a large portion of the board’s funds are spent to keep air conditioners and heaters repaired or replaced. He also stated that they needed a total system replacement.

My response is that the school board announced they could contribute $10 million toward the $45 million estimate on new buildings. My thought is that $10 million amount would go a long way when added to the $20,000-$30,000 to be spent on the election.

Next question: How are new schools going to improve teachers and grades? We still have an F-rated school system?

Mr. Butcher stated that having grades 5-12 in a central location will help provide students with access to more teachers in critical shortage areas of math, science and technology. He also said that he believes that the new facility will help us attract and retain more teachers in our district. The districts along the coast and northern part of the state are continually building new facilities, making them more competitive when recruiting teachers. Technology infrastructure will increase the access needed for state testing.

My response: In comparing our district to the Coast and northern sections of the State, Mr. Butcher failed to mention that those areas have a much larger tax base than we do and that we are losing tax base daily.

Next question: How will this be paid for? Mr. Butcher stated that he had identified sources of revenue internally ($10 million); therefore, they were asking the taxpayers through a bond referendum to contribute $0.39/day or less keeping our district and community more attractive for business.

My response is that raising taxes has an adverse effect on attracting business.

All the data used in these recommendations also indicates that parent participation is needed to make the system work and there has been no discussion on this important portion of the recommendation. Also troubling is the proposed use of buildings being repaired and not used for education.

State education has reported that only a hand-full of 42 districts spending more than $10,000 per pupil are rated A or B. The amount spent in our district (we are F-rated) is $10,207 per pupil. Of that amount, $4,599 is spent on instruction and the rest  on administration.

I realize that we have a need to upgrade our schools. However, this superintendent and this board have rushed this referendum on the citizens of this district. The recreation commission worked long and hard to get all interested parties to agree on the use of the bean field. Now instead of recreation, it will be used for a new school. My thought is that this valuable property should be used for an income producing project.

Also of interest, Superintendent Fred Butcher, who is recommending this bond issue, does not even live in Natchez, so the increased taxes will not affect him at all.
William Myers

Natchez resident