Community Corner

Letter to the Editor: Invest in the Best. VOTE YES on April 5th!

Thirteen North Shore families write about the need for the referendum to pass at Nicolet.

We must pass the referendum in order to protect Nicolet's flagship status in an era of declining enrollment, decreased state funding for education, and rising operating costs.  We do not want Nicolet to go from a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence to a high school in decline, nor do we want to see area property values fall as a result of a mediocre public high school in our midst.   This is exactly what will happen if this referendum isn't passed.

Should Gov. Walker's budget bill pass as is, Nicolet expects a budget shortfall of $1.3 million for each of the next five years resulting in a cumulative loss of $19.5 million at the end of the same five-year period.  The tools which the governor has offered to offset this budget shortfall -- savings in health plans and pensions -- will still leave Nicolet short about $500,000 next year, referendum or no referendum. 

The administration has informed the Nicolet community that a budget shortfall on the order of $1.3 million next year (should the referendum fail) would be met by across-the-board cuts, including the very real possibility of reductions in programs, teachers, guidance and classroom aides, supplies and materials, technology, and facility expenditures.  Current attempts to contain class sizes to a maximum of 28 students would necessarily be abandoned.  Such a scenario is cause for great concern.

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Ask yourself if the 36 cents a day (if Governor Walker's budget bill fails) or the 18 cents a day (if Governor Walker's budget bill passes) which the owner of a $250,000 property in the Nicolet district would be paying to protect quality education and community property values is a good investment in your future.  We believe the answer is YES.  We hope that you will consider the hard facts and make the decision which must be made in order to keep Nicolet strong.  VOTE YES on April 5th!    

For more detailed information, please go to www.nicoletforward.com and www.nicolet.k12.wi.us.

Find out what's happening in Fox Point-Baysidewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Respectfully,

Barb and Tom Johnson
Ronald and Susan Angel Miller
Bayside

Libby and David Gutterman
Barbara Patterson
Lisa and Craig Zetley
Fox Point

Kai Gardner
Darrell Zall
Glendale

Susan and Steve Schnoll
River Hills


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