Madison City Schools proposed tax increase

[Rick In Madison]

Originally Posted by cooldiver

I moved in 31 years ago. I think I have paid my share, plus I don’t have children so I have not contributed to the school crowding problem.

Sullivan County Tennessee is building a new high school for $60 million for a comparable enrollment as the proposed school in this proposal. When our school system comes to us for the 3rd tax increase since it was formed, they should be using our money carefully.

The special election is an attempt to stack the deck in favor of passage. Turnout will be low, but school parents will vote yes.

How have they (Madison City Schools) not used the money carefully?
They did not build new schools that are sitting empty.
They did not build new schools with mega stadiums.
From what I can tell, they are not paying the teachers exorbitant salaries.
From what I can tell and from my experience they don't appear to be overly staffed with non-educators; at least in the schools themselves.

How do you hold a school system responsible for asking for more money when they do not have the ability to control the growth themselves? Their mission is to educate the population within their district.

As noted earlier, I think your school impact fee has merit and value. I think you are misguided on the accused or implied waste side of your argument.

[MadisonMike]

Y'all hear me out on this one. Question: where are potential landing sites for the new schools when the tax increase is approved? I looked at all property under the ownership of City of Madison Board of Education. Most all of it has a school on top of it...or a stadium...or parcels that are adjacent to property with some kind of current purpose.


Except for one. It's a large swath of vacant land at the NE Corner of Wall Triana and Coefer Blvd. This is next to the Kroger on Wall Triana/Browns Ferry. Could this land be home to a future Middle School? I think it makes sense. I think the Limestone County side needs an Elementary School, and this could be the site of a 3rd middle school. I may be completely wrong...OR...I could be right

[Madmom2000]

Originally Posted by MadisonMike

Y'all hear me out on this one. Question: where are potential landing sites for the new schools when the tax increase is approved? I looked at all property under the ownership of City of Madison Board of Education. Most all of it has a school on top of it...or a stadium...or parcels that are adjacent to property with some kind of current purpose.


Except for one. It's a large swath of vacant land at the NE Corner of Wall Triana and Coefer Blvd. This is next to the Kroger on Wall Triana/Browns Ferry. Could this land be home to a future Middle School? I think it makes sense. I think the Limestone County side needs an Elementary School, and this could be the site of a 3rd middle school. I may be completely wrong...OR...I could be right

How big is that property? It would need to be several acres for a middle school as it would also need ball fields. I think the BOE would be more likely to swap that "prime" land for a larger piece of property.


And personally I would prefer they stay out of Limestone County because even though the snafu is "resolved" it would be so much better if the school was within the Madison County portion of Madison. Problem is there's not much land for that. It would be ideal to have one of the portions that is in the Madison County part of Madison that hasn't annexed in yet. There are a couple of large parcels on Balch and on Gillespie that would be ideal. If those land owners would swap for the property mentioned above and then those folks would have prime real estate to sell to a retail developer. Lots of things have to fall into place for that to happen though.

[Rick In Madison]

I see that Bob Jones High School baseball is getting a new turf infield. I have unconfirmed reports on where the money is coming from for the project. Not sure if its the same source or sources that allowed the baseball team to update/upgrade their indoor hitting facility.

James Clemens baseball & softball are still holding their breathe for the planned indoor hitting facility.

I wonder if Superintendent (former principle and coach at Bob Jones) Robby Parker's favorite quote from high school literature is:

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others", Animal Farm

[RocketDawg]

I don't care for turf infields myself, but indoor stadiums have them so they work. And they are a lot less maintenance than real grass, so in time should pay for themselves.

I don't have a problem with increased property taxes for our schools. I live in Madison, and my son went to school in Huntsville at Randolph for 13 years. But the better the public school system, the better the city. We cannot afford to let our schools get overcrowded or deteriorate.

[Maya Blue]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

I don't care for turf infields myself, but indoor stadiums have them so they work. And they are a lot less maintenance than real grass, so in time should pay for themselves.

I don't have a problem with increased property taxes for our schools. I live in Madison, and my son went to school in Huntsville at Randolph for 13 years. But the better the public school system, the better the city. We cannot afford to let our schools get overcrowded or deteriorate.

Totally agree. It won't surprise me if the football stadium is upgraded to turf soon.

People only see the cost right now, and not the return on investment over many years...

[nalabama]

Explain please; isn’t turf another word for grass?

[MisterEd51]

Originally Posted by nalabama

Explain please; isn’t turf another word for grass?

The word turf is also used to mean artificial turf.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by nalabama

Explain please; isn’t turf another word for grass?

It certainly is, but most people when they are talking about athletic fields these days use "turf" to mean artificial grass. It really should be "artificial turf".

[Rick In Madison]

The point I was trying to make is that all not all things are equal in Madison's treatment of high school facilities with respect to the baseball/softball programs.