The Colfax elementary school’s ballot Measure Q tax should be voted down and the school board should be recalled. We have watched for months the increasing instability of our financial markets and economy yet the district wants to stick their hand in our back pockets and take more. With local and state agencies trimming and laying off why is it our local school trustees feel differently?

There are a number of good sales pitches school officials are using to try to convince you why Measure Q should pass. Claims of increased home values because of “better” schools. The doom and gloom of how vital repairs and modernization can't take place, or that our children can't compete with other 21st century students if it fails. And my all time favorite emotionally manipulative plea "it's for the children". The bottom line is that measure Q is a tax and is definitely not one we need now.

To ensure a more accurate understanding of this measure and its allocation I made an appointment with the school principal/superintendent. To his credit, he graciously gave me 3 hours of his time responding to my inquiries into the measure, the schools current expenditures, and gave me tour of the facilities at my request. He did so with a straight- forward, collected, and non-emotional demeanor. A gentleman I look forward to speaking with again. That aside, I ultimately informed him I would not be supporting the measure and why. The following is what I learned.

Priority project number one is building a new “all weather” track with a snack bar at the cost of 1 million dollars. The school wants to tear up the current track and field to build a new one. I toured this current track and found it to be in excellent condition and more then adequate. The school borrowed money in the form of two loans to build the current track and field. These loans still have 1 and 10 years unpaid balance. Though I asked, the remaining balance amount of these loans was not available. A review of the schools online accountability report card shows approximately 75% of the 5th and 7th graders are failing the states physical performance. Do our officials feel that spending more money will solve this?

Spending more money does not equate to a better education. I have been told that measure Q is needed because enrollment has dropped over the past few years, but during my visit I was shown that enrollment figures are climbing back up. If enrollment drops that significantly then there should be appropriate reductions in the number of classes and faculty that should follow. Such has not been the case. I was not shown where any classes had been consolidated, and I was told that only one teacher was given a lay-off notice but they where bringing them back.

A closer look at the fine print of this measure reveals that it is not in the best interest of we taxpayers. First, there is no maximum interest rate cap written. This is extremely important because in this measures current form the school can sell bonds with a payback of any interest rate. When you purchase a car or a home you sign and receive documents that day showing what the rate and total interest is you will be paying. This is not the case here. . Yes, section 8 says “the maximum rate of interest …shall not exceed the maximum rate allowed by Education Code…” but has anyone taken a look at that lately? Can anyone tell us what the exact interest rate is for today regarding this section? What caps, if any, does this section have? I don’t know about you but I’m not willing to give the school a signed blank check.

Second, section 1 corresponding with section 7 of the measure grants them the ability to sell bonds with a maturity of 40 years and not just the 25 that officials have been telling us. They may assure us that it will just be 25 years, but if they change there minds for whatever reason they can sell 40 year bonds and not need to come back to us for our approval.

Why are these two points important? Because we the taxpayers will have to pay back the principle as well as interest these bonds generate. The longer these bonds are in existence the more interest we will pay. Not to mention the board may sell bonds at an extremely high interest rate. It is possible to pay more in interest then what the actual principle borrowed was for.

A school 13-16 years old should not be in need of any electrical upgrades. I say 13-16 because I’ve seen three different completion dates. Apparently the school cafeteria wasn’t enough because each permanent classroom has a kitchenette in it and we have outgrown the past several decades of using trees for shade because they want to build a “shade structure” at our expense to the tune of $100,000. We can plant a lot of trees for that amount.

One such classroom I toured had the SMART technology, which the administration wishes to put in every classroom. Apparently the days of going to a specific classroom for specialized instruction are gone. The school desires to make every classroom the same regardless of topic taught. I might add this endeavor is a luxury not a necessity, and extremely costly. With this system class participation is reduced to every student remaining in their seat with a remote control and directing it to the video t.v. at the front of the class. No more getting out of your seat and going to the chalkboard to practice your writing skills and answers. And we wonder why childhood obesity and test scores are low in our schools?

Contrary to what we are told I saw our children can and will be able to keep pace with other students just fine. We don’t need every new piece of software, hardware, or tool that is just released to be able to effectively perform. I cannot nor will try to compete with such schools as Granite Bay with there multi million dollar homes and high end lives. Many of us here cant. For those that want these ever changing amenities for their children I suggest you to move to such places as Granite Bay, Los Lagos, Soranno, etc.

My time is limited. I wasn’t able to investigate as much as I desired like salaries, workloads, etc. What I did see, however, I wasn’t happy with. Measure Q during challenging financial times is not the boards first blunder. It’s time for trustees with better common sense.

To Mr. Shuttleworth, a previous Superintendant/principle of Colfax Elementary, wrote earlier in support of Measure Q. To him I ask the following:

1. You oversaw and supervised the construction of the new school did you not?

2. Did construction of the new school go over budget? If so, how much did it go over?

3. Where there any contractors/sub-contractors that were not paid on time during the project?

4. Did any contractor/sub-contractor go out of business during this project?

5. Where there any legal "stop notices" served on the project?

6. How many change orders were request and how much more did this balloon the cost?

7. When was this job projected to be completed during bid versus when was it actually finished?

8. Where there any lawsuits resulting from this project? If so, how much more did this cost the taxpayers?

The county civil records office is a good source of information.

On 10/29/08 at 04:29 PM, rwarren wrote:

The school district takes 61.86 % of my property taxes. And 61.86 % of the property taxes of every homeowner and taxpayer in the district. In addition, the schools get paid daily attendance by the state for every student that attends that school. Now add in Lottery funds. Amazingly, the schools are still crying poor-mouth. This bond issue will be used for largely non-educational improvements including athletic fields, locker rooms and physical improvements to the school buildings.

They have a school whose upkeep is costing a fortune (especially the unnesessary and excessive maintainance costs for the con-heart redwood siding Mr. Shuttleworth bought.) Until very recently the school's attendance was dropping, but not one teacher (and especially no Administrators) were put on permanent leave.

I do not have a problem with the school nor the children. I have a problem with the long-term tradition of fiscal incompetence which Mister Shuttleworth began and which his successors and the school board have continued.

In addition, I was threatened with lawsuit for signing the Argument in Opposition to Measure Q. It astonished me that the Bay Area attorney involved, Sean Absher, represented himself as acting for Colfax Elementary School. What does it tell you when the Board and School Administrators are so arrogant they feel they have a right to sue a voter of the district for exercising their First Amendment right? The attorney quickly realized that the suit was unwinnable and dropped it. (I guess he got tired of me laughing at him and demolishing his legal theories over the telephone.)

Finally, the schools' arrogance doesn't end there. In a follow-up article Mr. Absher is quoted as saying that the legal argument would be better taken up by approaching lobbyists, taking it to the California Legislature and "getting a law passed."

By these actions, the school has revealed they feel they have an absolute right to every bit of your tax money they can lay their hands on. And any time you protest or bring forth questions about spending practices, you'll be branded as being "against the school" or "against the children." You may even be threatened with lawsuit.

Mister Shuttleworth, you began the fiscal incompetence. Of course you want to see more money go to shore up the Taj Mahal you created and foisted off on the taxpayers. It's very obvious that you'd rather spend more money on the buildings and a bare minimum on the students education.

Instead, why don't you buy a cat's paw crow bar at the local hardware store, and carefully tear off the redwood siding you soaked the taxpayers for. Use the proceeds from the sale of that precious-as-gold redwood to buy textbooks. Yes. Textbooks are an old fashioned concept. But textbooks and quality teachers got the job done in the past. Unlike your system where millions of parents across the nation choose to home-school their children for the better eduction and core-value belief system it brings.

Sleep well Mr. Shuttleworth. Your incompetence and fiscal irresponsibility have provided a shining example of what not to do to this current crop of Administrators. Unfortunately, it's obvious they've chosen to listen to you.

But now the taxpayers also know...Defeat Measure Q! The School Adminstrators and Board don't deserve more tax-dollars until they clean up their current fiscal mis-management. Give the funding for supplies to the students in classrooms. Not "pet projects' that do nothing to help children learn.