Board members press district on equity, Southern High renovations and extracurricular funding disparities
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Summary
During the FY27 budget workshop, multiple board members raised equity concerns: Southern High School's condition and funding approach, disparities in transportation funding for athletics versus music and co‑curricular access barriers; members urged prioritizing student needs and preserving behavioral and support positions.
After presentations from county and district finance staff, board members used the public workshop to press administrators on equity and program priorities tied to the FY2027 request.
Dr. Tobin asked whether systemic upgrades at Southern High School were prudent or whether the school warranted wholesale replacement. Bill Heizer replied the administration judged systemic work to be the best use of funds because the building is structurally sound and the systemic option is roughly half the cost of replacement: "It's half the cost of a replacement, which would run the tune of upwards of likely greater than a 125,000,000 as opposed to 65,000,000," Heizer said.
Several board members raised concerns about unequal resource distribution for extracurriculars. Board member Michelle Schallheim noted that high‑school athletics receive free transportation while music programs rely heavily on family payments and said the high‑school athletics transportation budget is multiple times the music transportation budget. She urged the district to reallocate modest sums to reduce access barriers for music and other co‑curricular programs.
Members also argued for protecting classroom and behavioral supports even in a tight budget year. Multiple speakers said cutting behavioral positions or increasing class sizes would be unacceptable and emphasized finding alternative savings in central or departmental budgets. Dr. Tobin and others framed the debate as a choice for the community about priorities and tax policy.
Superintendent Mark Bedell and finance staff said they will pursue mitigation steps that attempt to preserve classroom services first and pledged to continue analyzing options before the board's Feb. 18 vote to transmit the request to the county.