$6M Question: Students Or Admin Offices

REV. TODD SALMI
SAN MARCOS RESIDENT
@ToddSalmi

I am deeply disappointed with the push by district administrators to convince our school board to build a new $6 million dollar central administration building. Momentum in the school district appeared to be moving in the right direction, with an active focus on excellence in education. But recently, district administrators have dropped the ball on voter-approved school construction to focus on administration projects that have hurt our educational goals.

Two years ago, district leaders presented a strategic vision in a $77 million dollar school bond package. The citizens of San Marcos demonstrated support for this vision by passing the bond. However, once the bond was passed, there were serious construction delays.

Teachers had to prepare classrooms last summer with no air conditioning, family back-to-school nights were canceled, the PreK school and the Student Activity Center only recently opened many months past schedule, bond work still continues at Miller Middle School, and the new Phoenix School building is still in basic site preparation. Specific delays are understandable, but such widespread problems point to a more fundamental problem. The same excuses for these delays are starting to sound tired. The school district bond website (www. smcisdbond.com) is woefully out of date and none of these construction issues were meaningfully discussed at the recent March school board meeting. Completing the $77 million dollar voter approved construction is a clear priority that is missing in current leadership conversations. Even more frustrating, the wrong conversations and actions are taking place at the school board.

An illustrative example is the approval at last month’s school board meeting of a new $2.9 million dollar technology and nutrition administration building. This new administration building, separate from the proposed new $6 million central administration office, was funded by selling the Lamar School in central San Marcos. This Lamar land has been used for education since San Marcos was founded, but last year the land and classrooms were sold to a developer for $2.9 million dollars – the price needed to cover a new administration building. Yet since the voter-approved Phoenix Building is not complete, the school district currently is paying to rent back the Lamar School so the Phoenix program can continue meeting there. This means the recent land sale will not fully cover the cost of the new technology and nutrition administration building.

It is appalling that district administrators are doubling down on this failed approach by pushing a new $6 million dollar central administration office. More new administrative offices are not the immediate priority of our schools or our community. Most parents, through local PTOs, work hard to raise money to benefit their local schools. We sell frozen cookie dough, tumbler cups, and discount cards to our friends, family and coworkers. We don’t enjoy these fundraisers,
but we do it to help our students get important things like extra computers, playground equipment, and new stage curtains.

Spending available school money on more administration offices is an insult to the students and families of San Marcos. I propose we create a designated “Fund For Educational Excellence” with the surplus taxpayer money currently available in the school budget. Repairing the existing central administration building, which is newer than Mendez Elementary and Goodnight Middle School, will allow us to dedicate $3 million dollars into a new excellence fund without any new taxes. This excellence fund would provide an additional $270,000 for each one of the 11 local schools in San Marcos. That is real money to make a real impact in the educational excellence for our kids.

If we have the leadership vision to move in this direction, I am confident we can resolve any technical details – such as applying existing fund balance to cover traditional maintenance and operations (M&O) to free up classrooms funds for excellence. THIS is the conversation we should be having as a school district.

On Monday night, I encourage our school board trustees to return to the positive momentum. I ask the board for their leadership to reemphasize our efforts on classroom excellence, which is the real priority of families, business owners, and engaged citizens in San Marcos. Let’s complete the bond projects, stop the distractions with new administration buildings, and renew our focus on the education of our kids.