Ellettsville taxpayers uneasy about Edgewater Junior High face-lift

In September 2009, the Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation school board approved plans to renovate the Edgewood Junior High and High School buildings because of safety issues with wiring and entryway construction.

The work has already begun and is being paid for with two $10 million bonds.

But Ellettsville taxpayers did not realize how much the project would cost them directly until they opened their tax bills this month — and many were outraged by the surprise increases.

Some residents found that the portion of their twice-a-year property taxes that go to the school corporation had increased by as much as 70 percent.

Ellettsville resident Gordon Dawley said his property taxes increased from $2,285 to $4,286.

Although the project had been recommended in June 2007 and the public had a 30-day remonstrance period to protest the renovations after the project was approved, the issue is not yet settled.

Dozens of angry residents attended Monday’s school board meeting to voice their irritation. The school board chose to move the regularly scheduled meeting to the high school’s auditorium in anticipation of a larger and more heated session.

Many opponents said it was not the tax increase or the renovation plans that upset them, but rather the lack of transparency the board had demonstrated throughout the process.

R-BB Superintendent Steve Kain said the plans were proposed and approved in public sessions and reminded the audience that all sessions are available on the Community Access Television Services website.

But Ellettsville resident Ruth Hayes said she had attended previous meetings regarding the renovations and had spoken against them.

“It was apparent that the bonds would be passed no matter what,” Hayes said. “They made it feel like making any protest meant we were not for the children. But is it for the children when these massive tax increases are going to cause massive decreases to the services in this town?”

Hayes also questioned the justifications for the renovations and why she never saw any figures for how exactly the money was to be spent.

Before Hayes could finish, she was interrupted because she had exceeded the five-minute public comment limit.

But her husband, John Hayes, took the microphone and finished her comment. He also expressed his concern to the school board.

“I went to a public high school. There were 1,250 students in a 50-year-old
building with a dinky little football field,” John Hayes said. “In my graduating class of 268, all but three went to college. It wasn’t the building that made it a great education; it was the quality of the teachers, the quality of the textbooks and the quality of the lesson plans.”

It was not just upset residents that attended the session to address the board. Supporters attended as well.

While Ellettsville resident Micah Mobley reminded the school board members that the atmosphere of education is just as important as the buildings, he commended their work.

Mobley is a former teacher of Edgewood Junior High School and said he remembers the sometimes uncomfortable conditions in his classrooms.

Bob Shanks, an Ellettsville resident of six years, also stood in front of the auditorium to applaud the school board.

“I’m upset too,” he said, interrupted by applause from many of those present.

Before he began to speak again, Shanks turned around and told the audience to hold its applause.

“But I support the board and you can’t have education without the facilities,” he said. “Your priorities are the kids, to serve the public and serve the kids, not to keep taxes low. That’s why you’re elected, not to make the people happy that complain about taxes.”