That is the message declared by the majority of voters from my hometown of Mt. Enterprise. Allow me to elaborate a bit.
When I was in high school, I am fairly certain MEISD had less than 200 students in both high school and junior high. That number may be a bit off, but I'm fairly certain it was somewhere around 200. In the more than four years since I graduated, I doubt the school population has grown by much. With liberal speculation, I'm going to estimate that there may be close to 300 students now.
According to certain family members of mine, the City of Mt. Enterprise (pop. 525) approved a bond election on Tuesday. This bond will allow for the construction of a $3,000,000 stadium for the school.
$3,000,000. Three. Million. Dollars.
From what I've been told, this money will be raised by increasing land taxes by more than 15%. From my observations, most of the land owners are elderly. Not only do they no longer have children in school but most of them don't even have grandchildren still in school. These are the people who will pay for this.
Despite what those in favor of this monstrosity say, a sports stadium will not help "our children's future." Very few students from MEISD receive sports scholarships which are worth anything more than a community college education. Better equipment and facilities won't change that.
Can anyone explain to me the reasoning behind building a sports stadium that is probably worth more than all the other school facilities combined?
Posted by Randy at November 8, 2006 05:38 PM | TrackBackWhere would America be without a shrine built to entertainment. While an education may provide our children with a better future, it's not as fun as sports in a multi-million dollar arena.
Posted by: Codepainter at November 9, 2006 12:09 AMWhy do you hate the children, Randy?
Posted by: Wilson at November 9, 2006 07:06 AMBecause there is just too much love in the world, Wilson. Someone has to balance it out. It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.
Also, I hate America and apple pie.
Posted by: Randy at November 10, 2006 12:10 AMI think that's more than the bond issue Pine Tree got passed with 60% of the vote for a new gymnasium building....although trust me, it's needed here... (The original building they use was built in the 70's...before Title IX)...and our stadium is the suck.
Posted by: anna at November 18, 2006 12:15 PMand a nice contrast...Lake City a few years had to fight to get the bond passed with same type of demographic (lots of old people who have summer homes in Lake City) to get an addition to the school building itself...I'm not sure it was 1 mil even... and that was an addition to the school to add more classrooms... since the current building wasn't built for more than elementary.
Posted by: anna at November 18, 2006 12:16 PM