I attended a party on Saturday and this very topic was discussed out of the 40 people (voters) attending only 2 people supported the bond. Why? Class sizes. Northville has more students per classroom than any other neighboring district. Few parents will vote for technology when 38 students dangerously crowd a chemistry class. Northville has never been very good at getting their message to the voters and this technology bond is no different. Although the NEF made a good case for artificial turf. There are four voters in my household and we will vote no until class sizes change.

I completely agree. Research demonstrates the class size is the most important factor in student achievement, especially struggling students. This is absolutely crazy. At the high school there are not enough chairs in some classes. I cannot believe that this is not a violation of the fire code. I taught in Texas and state fire code mandates 50 square feet per student. Is it going to take a disaster to wake up the board. I too will vote no.

What happened to the funds raised by the sinking fund bond of just a year ago? This distircit needs to address the basics, like class size and class work. How about buses to get our middle schoolers and high schoolers to school? Parents are still forced to drive them in the am. My child would have to walk nearly 2 miles to get a bus in the am. Really! They spend too much money on "turf" and other unnecessary things that DO NOT impact learning. Look at all of the press the Board placed on that issue. I have 5 children that graduated from Norhtville and the stories they tell would open eyes to WASTE. We All will vote NO.

The district cannot ask for more funds for teachers. Those are dictated by the State of Michigan. Computers will need to be replaced and expensive technology patches will need to be made anyway. Without the bond these funds will come from direct operating expense, taking more funds away from teachers. Please become an INFORMED parent about school funding - the district cannot in any way ask for money to fund teachers - only capital improvements - via a bond. On another note, our school board has refinanced existing bonds so that this bond will NOT raise taxes in any way, in fact if the bond does not pass, your taxes may go down by a whopping $50 per year. I

erbrel, I will take the $50 savings and spend it wisely!!! Just like Ben Franklin said, "a penny saved is a penny earned." Throwing more money at waste is not the answer.

Enbrel,

You must work for the District or Government! Always thinking of ways to spend money. Your comments prove that. Just a little $50 more of savings. Every entitiy on property taxes makes that claim. I don't care what it is; DIA, Zoo, police, fire, library etc. Guess what it all adds up.
Is tehcnology a "need" or a "want". Do they have technolgy? Yes. Do they use it wisely? NO!

erbrel,
Do you have any kids in the schools? Obviously NOT! They rarely use the technology they already own. It was replaced not that long ago too. This school district has never learned to SAVE. When money was plentiful they spent and spent foolishly! I fully understand the fund equity and the funding of schools so don't insult me to make your point of being "informed". I am totally informed. They spend 80% of that fund of over 60 million for salaries and benefits. If you take the 20% of 12 million and save some for these expenses the Board would not have to put everything back on the taxpayer. Oh and by the way, that fund equity is not a gift from the state. It is paid by tax dollars from property taxes too. So yes, we do pay for the teachers too. You said this bond is going to address buses. NEWS FLASH! It is to PURCHASE new buses not to RE$STORE BUSING!!!! Big Difference. DO YOU KNOW THE TRUTH???? Why do we need new buses? We are outsourcing the services and under utilizing the buses we own. That is another waste. I would love to drive a porsche, however, that would simply be a waste for my needs. Get the picture?

Oh by the way enbrel, I work in TECHNOLOGY!!!!

Any technology benefits that make their way to the classroom will be unused with class sizes that are unsafe. Yes we know that this money cannot be used for more teachers so what is the point of passing this bond when the typical high school class is simply an exercise in crowd control. I will bet anyone a dinner that test scores will plummet now. A once great school district is soon to be below average.

Patrick, RIGHT ON!!! I would love the dinner but I agree with you. This district needs to go back to basics instead of gaining more technology that they could/would NEVER utilize to its greatest benefit. It is like having a deluxe appliance but only using it for basic functions. They learn the key board in elementary. What does new technology provide there? Middle school not much more and HS not really utilized much at all. Thanks for sharing the FACTS!

I sadly agree with parent and Patrick and here is why. I work afternoons and cannot attend a board meeting. I called the board office to discuss my concern for my son's class size and told them about working afternoons. I was told that I was "out of luck". Why can't the board combine administrative responsibilities like other districts? Save over $100K by making a vice-principal the athletic director. Eliminate the new high school vice-principal and save another $100K. That is 5-6 teachers to reduce class size. If the board office REALLY cared about students they would bend over backwards to do things like that

Why do you need wireless in the buildings as well. Now we have kids with smart phones who can get on at anytime. How will the teachers know they have 38 students in a class. Maybe they should have done this 6 years ago when they went to windows xp just to windows xp.

Everyone please remember this - that our elected officials are the ones that CUT the funding to NPS! We have a chance to vote our representative out of office in November, and I suggest we all send a strong message to Lansing. Personally, I value our schools over their corporate tax giveaways. Remember in November 2012 and 2014.

I would like to vote to give the schools better technology because it would be great to have. But I wont, and this is why. The more money you give the government, the more they will spend. The spending ultimately moves into the waste category. It never fails. NPS has done the same thing. This is why the state knows they can cut cut cut. They want schools to cut the waste. After a few years of this, we are now in a spot with class sizes that are way too big. Until the government is in a position to turn the money faucet back on we have to tighten our belts and suffer the consequences of our waste. If lessons are not taught at times like these, then they will never be learned. It doesn't take a CPA to know that when you have extra money you should save it for when you need it. GM and Crysler did the same thing a few years ago. They didn't make the necessary (yet basic) wise business decisions so crap hit the fan. We all suffered, and many of us are still suffering. As a result, the state made the cuts because they had to. Contrary to some people's beliefs you cannot spend what you don't have. If you do you are wrong in what you are doing and it will eventually catch up to you.

Tamara,

Thank you for such a clear message. That is one word in a snapshot; ACOUNTABILITY! It has been lacking for far too long. Yes, many of the issues we see today are from poor planning and a lack of SAVING! Corporations must do the same. Government seems to think they are exempt from this but not so when the economy demonstrates that Government is only well funded when Business is profitable. You understand that but few do. Washington, Lansing and Northville must all learn to spend WISELY. Far too much WASTE!!!

Tamara and parent - The idea that by giving corporations more money and incentives via tax breaks while in the meantime cutting middle class jobs is a losing proposition. Ask any business person - do they need more money? Or more customers? The honest ones will tell you that they want more customers. We won't have more customers by cutting middle income jobs and adding minimum wage jobs. That is what is happening with all this outsourcing. It is one of many things slowing the economic recovery. If you consider janitors or bus drivers working for the school district a "waste" then I guess we just have to agree to disagree.

I agree that pensions and healthcare needed to be addressed. When large private corporations can't afford this type of program, then certainly the public sector can't afford it. This has been the way it works - the public sector lags behind the private sector, both in receiving these benefits as well as losing them. But taking the money saved and giving it to companies that do not have in turn an increased product demand is WASTE.

Don't kid yourselves about the cuts to education - Betsy DeVos is funding the republicans, and she is in favor of charter and virtual schools. She has been heard to say that public schools are a moral cesspool. Many decisions in Lansing are made based on the desires of Mrs. DeVos. The weakening of public schools will continue until all districts are like Muskegon Heights if the current pattern continues.