She also presented new information regarding the issuing of the school bonds.
The following message was found on the school district home page exactly as shown below:
Attention all community members! The safety of our students is our top priority! The district will spend the extra bond issue dollars on buzzers and other security improvments. In light of the recent shootings at Sandy Hook, plans to move the administration office have ceased. Please check out our progress on the website. All projects, as promised, will take place plus many more! Please read more in the Superintendent's Message below.
Here is the Superintendent's Message:
Dear Parents & Community Members,I am writing to provide an update on what has been occurring in our school district with regards to the recent “No Tax Increase Bond Issue” and the safety of our students.In November, 2012, when the first half of our bonds were issued (approximately 9 million dollars), the district earned almost 2.5 million dollars more than anticipated. This was fantastic news for our district. So much so, that we asked the building principals to put together additional lists of wants and needs for their respective schools due to the extra funding. Furthermore, we anticipate when the second half of the bonds are issued in late spring, we will receive another 2 million dollars more than expected. This means that our 18.5 million dollar “NO TAX INCREASE BOND ISSUE” has the potential to become a 23 million dollar “NO TAX INCREASE BOND Issue”, at NO cost to the tax payers.You may ask yourself, how can this occur? As much as we would like to predict the market, we can’t. However, all the stars aligned (and the market) for the school district. The issue was run at the best possible time in today’s market. The important thing to keep in mind is that our students will benefit greatly. Please check the district’s website for the progress of our bond issue.Our last Board of Education meeting was held December 11, 2012. The Sandy Hook tragedy took place on December 14, 2012. This created a heightened sense of security, for not only me, but for our Board of Education. Discussions of moving the central office administration to the Service Center occurred at the December 11th meeting. However, the events of Sandy Hook were a reaffirmation of student safety. With that being our top priority, I believe we are the only district in the area that immediately scheduled a Safety Summit. The summit is scheduled for Jan. 31st. Please sign up on the district’s website to attend. I feel very fortunate that we have the extra monies to spend on our children’s safety. The moving of our central offices is not a priority at this time.The safety of ALL of our students is just important to me, as it is to every parent in the school district. I, too, have children attending our schools. My husband and I have two children in elementary and one child in high school. I feel and understand your concerns. As a mother, and as the superintendent, I am taking every precaution possible to ensure the safety of ALL of our children. Buzzer systems are out to bid and the plan is to install the systems in every single district building as soon as possible. In addition, we plan to seek advice from the members of the safety summit to ensure some proactive measures to keep our loved ones safe.As always, you can contact the district office @ 636-296-8000 and we would be happy to speak to any question or concern you may have. I look forward to seeing you at the next Board of Education meeting.Genuinely,Dr. Dianne Critchlow