Letter to the Editor:
We are being asked again to vote on an extension to our present bond of approximately fourteen million dollars. This has caused me to research out the current financial condition and the rating of the GCR2 compared to all schools in the State of Missouri. The two things that stood out to me were the following facts based on information that is being submitted to DESE ( Department of Elementary and Secondary Education).
First the finical information of GCR2 which was submitted to DESE for the year 2024-25 shows all the income and expenses for this time span. In the Capital Project line, it had a beginning balance of $11,265,851.23. After money added in for the Debt Service and Capital Projects, they had an ending balance of $17,043,705.88.
My question is — why we are asking for an additional fourteen million dollars when they could prioritize their wants and needs and pay off debts and do all these bricks and mortar projects that are getting more attention than the education of our children. At the end of this year, after all the taxes are in, they will have enough money to pay off all the existing bonds, and have money left over. In my business world mind this is where we should want to be.
Second when I looked at the rating of all school districts in the State of Missouri that is managed by the Show-Me-Institute, it shows out of 551 schools in Missouri, GCR2 ranks 336. For a school district that once was the envy of all districts around us, something is going in the wrong direction. GCR2, out of a grade point average of 4.0, scored 1.70.
Not even an average grade. What is going wrong when our kids cannot do general math, read, and perform basic 3-R requirements?
Out of all scoring criteria, GCR2 scored all D’s and C’s, except for 4-year graduation rate, where we got an A.
Are we passing along to get along? I know COVID gets the blame for everything, but this is beyond that. We must ask the question of who is responsible for this trend. We do not need more money, we have that, we need to take our school district back from DESE. They are the largest lobbying group in Missouri.
Michael E. Stockton, a concerned taxpayer, and supporter of good education.
