Dear Editor,
I’m writing you to express the Daniel Boone Area School Boards dis-satisfaction with the article that appeared in the February 24th Edition of the Reading Eagle. The Reading Eagle inaccurately reported the purpose of this presentation. The public presentation from Mr. James Thompson will focus on the condition, utilization and pending maintenance needs of all our buildings. The presentation will not include discussing building closure, as this was not the intent of the evaluation.
The board recognized that the skill set and time needed to perform the evaluation of our buildings and costs was not available within the district, which led us to contract Mr. Thompson. Mr. Thompson’s presentation and continued work will help the board make critical budget and strategic decisions for the district based on factual information.
As we work on our 2016-2017 budget, and populate our 5 year budget, the board requires factual information from which to plan. It’s clear that we must set aside money each year to be prepared for the millions of dollars our buildings will require in maintenance in the not too distant future. We recognize that we cannot continue to budget in a reactionary way, we must plan for these high dollar renovations and repairs. Presently we’ve set aside $500K in the 2016-2017 for this purpose, but this amount may be insufficient to address our future needs.
Present and future enrollment will be one of the key drivers of any future discussions on a disposition of any buildings. At that time the building capacity, maintenance needs and transportation costs will all factor into a decision the board must make.
In short, Mr. Thompson’s report will provide information from which decisions can be made, the responsibility to make decisions based on the information rests with the nine members of the school board.
Regards,
Michael Wolfe
Daniel Boone Area School District – President