I hope you are planning to attend the school board meeting tonight. I am planning on being there. It will probably be a very late evening.
The meeting starts at 7pm at the administration offices at 13780 Hope Street. If you are approaching from Capitol Drive, just turn right on 138th Street. Then take the fork to the right, which is 137th. Hope is the first cross street. Turn right and you will see the building set back a bit from that corner.
If you have never been at one of these meetings, you may speak, but only for a very brief time: 2 minutes, I think. I am not sure they require you to sign in ahead of time, but either way, you must state your name and address.
I am sure there will be a whole host of pro 4K people there who will speak--either those with children now in the program or parents of preschoolers who wish their children to attend 4K for "free" in the future. They will probably tell the board how much their little one enjoys the program or how much this program is needed. (It takes a strong soul to withstand these pleas designed to evoke a sympathetic, Its for the children YES vote.)
If you come to the meeting and speak, may I suggest you keep your comments brief, polite, and to the point.
4K shows no longterm academic benefit.
For every student enrolled, the Elmbrook taxpayers must contribute to their educational expenses.
We don't have room for the present 200 students. Where are we going to put the 300 or potential 500 students?
You may wish to cite the quote from the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel's Oct 8th article:
"It [4K] would, however, cost the taxpayers more money, because it would be
funded primarily from increased property taxes. The district would be
allowed to collect more taxes because of its increased enrollment."
Lastly, you might wish to remind the board that if they want to be taken seriously regarding our high school needs, they
should be looking for ways to reduce unnecessary teaching and support staff,
classroom load, costly additions, and needless tax burden to the
Elmbrook taxpayers instead of increasing them by implementing 4K.
IF you have not called Patrick Murphy yet, please do. He is key to the decision tonight.
