Posted: March 24, 2009 |(0) Comments

Public Forum:

Maple Dale-Indian Hill School District residents, vote "yes" on two referendum questions Tuesday, April 7, whether you have children attending our schools or not, so we might protect this vital community asset locally while sustaining our property values.

Families with children in the district, private school families and even residents with no children in the home all have a stake in this vote, which is tied to a vision of what kind of communities we want to maintain on the North Shore. In fact, the fiscal stability of Maple Dale-Indian Hill is an issue directly linked to issues of local control.

Given the abundance of quality public and private schools in our area, people might believe they have multiple educational choices if Maple Dale-Indian Hill falters. Actually, according to state law, the Madison-based Department of Public Instruction would appoint a board to "assign the school district's territory, assets and liabilities to one or more other school districts" in the case of a district's dissolution. Potentially, all of Maple Dale-Indian Hills' district operations would be surrendered to a governmental body, which would then review the North Shore's public education needs, and make decisions based on its assessments, not ours.

Hopefully, referendum financing will ultimately help to protect us from such a doomsday scenario as a dissolution. I believe the current referendum proposals are two relatively mild fiscal remedies, and their passage will ensure the decades-long partnership among Maple Dale-Indian Hill and its four border communities continues in mutually beneficial ways.

As a property owner, I am grateful that high-performing Maple Dale-Indian Hill continues to be the feeder school district my real estate agent can point to in a future sale.

 

Michele Merens

Bayside