A couple of weeks ago, we ran the first in our "Suggestion Box" series, providing Times readers the opportunity to submit comments and questions for elected officials serving on the Dorchester Village Board. We received a spectrum of comments, ranging from topics such as rental housing for illegal aliens, to incentives to attract a biodiesel plant, to requests to explore paving the streets. Many other suggestions were made, all of which can be seen by clicking here.Today we re-open the "Suggestion Box" -- this time for the members of the Dorchester School Board. While we suspect that the school construction and bond issue will dominate the discussion, we remind readers that any issue related to the school is germane to this forum.
Again, we ask readers to keep their comments civil and thoughtful -- just as if you were attending a public meeting or speaking to board members face-to-face. Also, please keep in mind that school board members, like other local leaders, are volunteers. They deserve your respect.
Now, fire away...
I'm being completely serious here. As mentioned by another reader, we need cooperation between the school board and the city officials. One of the advantages our small town/school has is athletic opportunities. Why don't we have a track? Let's start planning for the long term. The city should buy land south or east of town and build a new baseball/softball complex. Then the school should build a track and put lights on the east side of the football field. Is that asking too much? Can't that be done for some of the $4 million??
ReplyDeleteMy suggestion is that the school board members hold a street dance as a fundraiser for the school construction. :)
ReplyDeleteActually, the fire dept., DACA, or the Legion could hold the same dance. Think of the thousands of dollars that could be raised.
first of all cj, no you can't say that let's just add a track and put up new lights for the football field and lets just have the same price tag. just think about it, the architects have struggling and doing number crunching and your saying that just becuase its 4 million we should have lights and a new track included in that. come on.
ReplyDeleteTHE TOWN HALL WAS BUILT IN THE 1920'S AND NO ONES HAS SAID THAT IT IS IN BAD SHAPE, IT HOLDS THE CITY OFFICES, AND A BUSINESS. THE SCHOOL IS IN BETTER SHAPE THEN THIS, AND IT IS STILL STANDING .
ReplyDeleteThe Eiffel Tower was built in 1889 and still in good shape. Doesn't mean you can compare it to a school. Stop trying.
ReplyDeleteANONYMOUS,
ReplyDeleteAren't we comparing apples and oranges when we compare the city office and the school. Hasn't the nature of schooling changed more than village business? How many people does city hall accomodate? Do those customers of city hall stay there all day and sometimes into the night to conduct business? How much does it cost to maintain the school building versus the city office ? They are different structures built for different purposes, and their costs and benefits depend upon the business being done in them.
Why don't we improve the town to bring people in. Dorchester is small and we need to look at the town before we look at the school. How many years and classes have graduated from the school. Was there anything wrong then.. NO
ReplyDeleteTake care of the the holes in the parking lot. It looks like someone dropped a bomb. There are ends of culverts sticking out. I have heard that the philosophy is that if the holes are big enough that the kids will drive slower. Lets not punish all for a few.
ReplyDeleteDoes the school own a weed eater??
The last time I was at the school, in the back there was a big hole that was filled with concrete chunks. If this has not already been addressed the school board needs to do something about this before school starts.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone been watching the news, the forclosure rate is up on homes, 900,000 homes are being forclosed on and they say that it will reach 2 million by the end of the year, that means alot of new people that want to buy homes will not be able to buy homes, I would like to have a new school, but I think we really need to think about were things are going, that means they won't be many new homes bought. Putting up a new school my be something for all of us to think about. I know it really is scaring me, and Iam younger.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh. The ignorance is so deep it's up to some people's necks. The person above obviously is working his/her propaganda machine. You can't compare the housing markets of New York City, San Francisco or Phoenix with Dorchester, where the AVERAGE cost of homes is actually DECLINING, thanks to declining demand. The problem is there are some people who only live in Dorchester because its a cheap housing haven. That means it will soon get a reputation as a magnet for illegal immigrants or welfare kings/queens. Is that the direction we want to go. The person above can't see beyond the nose on his/her face.
ReplyDeleteiam a a very young person, your not a very nice person, you need to take manner lessons.
ReplyDeletecan we get a suggestion box for the co-op......... I was ripped off again by the car wash ........ put in my three quarters and nothing ......that is the second time in three months....... I hate to go to crete to wash my truck but I guess thats what I'll start doing....
ReplyDeleteCynical Richard...I have also had the same problem with the car wash at the co-op. Moe said it's problems with a breaker that causes the car wash to stop working. He also said that even if the inside stall isn't working, the outside one should still work fine. They may give you your money back if you tell them what happened.
ReplyDeleteFor anonymous #5: Actually the foreclosures just mean that people bought houses that they shouldn't have, because they really couldn't afford them on top of their other bills for fancy new cars, etc. The foreclosures REALLY mean that a lot of new people that want to buy homes WILL be able to buy homes, because the banks will have to reduce the price on the foreclosed homes so they can sell them.
ReplyDeleteIf you are scared, maybe you need to make a budget to be sure you can pay for what you have and what you need before you buy something you want. I personally think Dorchester NEEDS an improved school, and the school board has worked hard to keep the cost down so the school district will be able to pay for it.
You nailed it, Brentski! My friends and I were talking about the school bond issue this weekend. We all agreed that no matter how you slice it, those who bought more home than they can afford will be the one's most vocal in their opposition to the new school. It happened all across the country. Historically low cheap interest rates allow mortgage lenders to give $300,000 loans to couples making $60,000/year. It was even worse elsewhere in this nation. It pains me to think some people will have to take second mortgages. Some may even lose their homes. But don't confuse apples and oranges ----- and do not stop progress because a few people bit off more than they can chew.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the school board should spend less time on new school issues and work on some of the real problems we have in education.
ReplyDeleteFor years teachers have had to scrimp on supplies and materials because there was no money. Can you imagine what DHS could do with 100,000 spent on textbooks and curriculum supplies.
They also had to fight each year to get small raises when the administration got sizable chunks of cash.
Lets start dealing with the real issues. How about a little education on drugs and alcohol abuse, because i will tell you what, its a huge issue at DHS. Anyone who doesnt think its a problem ought to pull their head out of the sand.
A new building isnt going to solve these problems. They are just going to keep getting worse as long as we allow them to be swept under the rug.
Spend $100,000 on textbooks that will be outdated as soon as their off the press? (That's why we have the Internet.) More money on drugs and alcohol education? (What ever happened to parenting?) More money on teacher salary, even though DPS is comparable with all other schools its size (teachers know what kind of pay they get when they enter the profession)?
ReplyDeleteFolks, let's let our elected board members make the decisions. Not the self-proclaimed experts who love to stand in the way of progress. These are the same folks who said the town would go downhill if we paved the streets 30 years ago.
dorchester will still be dorchester and that a fact, know matter what anyone writes, school or no new school, that a fact.
ReplyDeleteDon't know where you got your information anonymous but DPS updates their texts on a revolving schedule...our students have current texts. Who says we at Dorchester Schools have to scrimp on supplies and materials? Our technolgy is very current (especially for a school our size) but to be honest I would say we have an outdated/deficient science lab which really needs serious help. About the teacher salaries..we are competive with schools our size plus teachers are provided health care which is a huge benefit. I'm not saying teacher aren't deserving of more dollars but it is their chosen profession. Comparing apples to oranges when you say an administration gets more than a teacher -- percentages are usually the the same plus administration works 10/12 months a year versus 9.
ReplyDeleteFor the person who lost his quarters why don't use real one's instead of metal slugs. P.S. please don't vote for the school if you can't afford 1.50
ReplyDeleteto c.s.r
ReplyDeletewhat type of training do you have in the field of education ?
Explain NO Child Left Behind, Nebraska State Standards, etc.
go ahead, i will listen, i have 30 seconds.
dsip supporter.
ReplyDeleteGet out the facts. Administrator salaries are public knowledge information. Post them on here and then compare the raises to the raises the teaching staff received. I bet the public would be amazed. Use your percentages, i would love to see it.
AS for supplies, the day the kids had to start bringing thier own kleeenexs to school was a dark day in the educational world.
its amazing that you make the point that for teachers it is a choosen profession. It is the same for a farmer and they complain. Maybe we need a subsidy program for teaches so that they can make a decent living.
Teachers also only get paid for 9 months of work. Hell, a person at Walmart can make almost 10 dollars and hour. Compare that to a teacher and it looks pretty good to stand at the door and say, Welcome to Walmart.
and to good old cynical richard....
get your truck warshed there when you are buying your groceries at walmart...........we know you do
Have a good day
What a bunch of whiners and complainers we have become...... bringing your own snot rags is now the end of the world? What a Communist! Save your sob stories....
ReplyDeleteI hope the anonymous writer above is not employed in the educational system .......... we dont need more negative persons in the system!!! What a whiner!!! Its quite something to see these folks play the class warfare card...... bawling about not making as much as administrators. Go start your own business!! I've been farming for 40 years.....wish I could take off three months and have a big teachers union up in Lincoln fighting for higher wages.......... please go work at Walmart....... don't brainwash our kids and grandkids if you're teaching!
Also, that person should know I've been getting my groceries in Dorchester longer than he/she has been alive........ whether it was Young's IGA, Orvs, Torsens grocery and the other store owners that have followed............
This shouldn't be a debate on who supports the town the most. The point is these kids need a new school! PERIOD! When you walk to your classes and pieces of ceiling tile fall down on you,there is a problem. When kids' desks are pushed so close together the teacher can't walk down the isles, there is a problem. YOu wouldn't put up with this at your job why should we make our kids put up with it at school? Stop putting bandaides on bullet wounds....it's time for a new school!
ReplyDeletehey cynical richard:
ReplyDeleteseeing all of your posts on this whole website, you seem to be the biggest whiner and complainer on here. Boohoo...you lost a dollar and a half at the car wash...WASH IT AT HOME IF IT'S SUCH A BIG DEAL!
Reread my post, stud........ I put in three quarters ......... by my math, that's 75 cents ........ you just made my case for the need for better education.......
ReplyDeletei love it
ReplyDeletesomeone else who thinks old cynical richard is a jerk.
i went back and reread the post.
HE said he put in three quarters, and that is the second time.
well .75 x 2 is 1.50
i love it
this is the most fun a person can have.
with math like that cynical.......you could work for Ayres and Ayers and help in figuring the cost of the new school.
You could build a new school, and if you don't do regular maintenance on it, the ceiling will fall in on it too!
ReplyDeleteIf you ignore a structure long enough, you can bribe the populace into voting for a new building.
Seen it done three times now! It is all politics.......and it stinks!
I have two questions for the anonymous writers above.......who are probably one in the same person........
ReplyDelete1.) You've seen Dorchesters voters suckered into voting for a new school three times???? That makes you at least 135 years old.......no wonder you're so dang cranky.......
2.) What are you doing up at 3:04 am??? Get a job and then a new school wont be such a worry for you!!!!!
Hey cynical richard,
ReplyDeleteI am an alumnus. Live in York. Seen it three times in less than a decade! Let the structure decay to the point you have no choice! Works every time! Beside, it is all about the children....right???
By the way, have a job, work 12 hour nights, sleep days! Keep same schedule on days off, which is only logical. Want to meet me, come blasting through York some night about 20mph over. We can talk then.......probably get along real well I suspect! Though I suspect your a great deal younger than me!
1974 grad
Na Shledanou
hey cynical richard, with the 40,000 job you have, you should of took some schooling on how not to be a redneck. we all no who you are, totally a trouble maker.
ReplyDeleteYou have no idea who I am. Most people don't know I have a computer much less know how to use one......And you say I am great deal younger than you...a 1974 graduate? Not unless you graduated at age 3 or 4....... As for my "job" (a farmer & cow/calf producer) it might net $40,000 in a good year.......but what would you know about real work?.......... Let's let the voters of this school district decide if there school issue passes or fails!..... I know I pay more property taxes than you..... why are you complaining???
ReplyDeleteHere is an innocent question. Why is it OK for a few negative, hate-filled anonyomous writers to cause a stir over an extra $17/mo. for a new school, but not OK for cynical richard to be upset for getting ripped off $1.50 from the car wash? I'll tell you why. Anonymous, whoever she/he is, is a HYPOCRITE.
ReplyDeleteI am an "older" Dorchester grad. I came back to the reunion a few years back and was dismayed by the falling plaster, odor of mold and mildew, lack of space, etc. I could go on and on. When I was going to school at Dorchester we supplied our own kleenex, paper, pencils, pens, ink, rulers, etc. There is nothing wrong with having to supply your own equipment, but there is something seriously wrong with those who are against building a new school for the education of their children, grandchildren, etc. Build the new school and you will see a remarkable improvement in all aspects of education.
ReplyDeleteBUILD THE NEW SCHOOL!!
Those of you that don't want a new school probably don't even have children or grandchildren in school. Here is more to think about. How about health issues from this old building and it's air qualities. I for one have children in this school. One has asthma and allergies. This child has a lot more trouble with this during school days. If you think about it school time is not the high allergy time of the year.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should try sitting at home with someone else's feet on top of yours while you read a book or newspaper and see how well you can concentrate. I also have to wonder how many of you live in a house newer than 1920's. Why couldn't you still be living in that old house?
Look at what the coop has done since the 1920's. They would not be here today if they wouldn't have updated. A farmer trying to farm like they did in 1920 wouldn't be making it either. But I guess all of this is more important than education for the people that will be running this country.
What's wrong with being a red neck??? Any time someone calls me that, I get a surge of pride! A red neck was a farmer, who hoed his own fields, and had a sunburned, or overly tanned neck because he was always looking down at the ground exposing his neck to the sun because his hat did not shadow it! (Back in the day when they realized a sun tan was a bad thing.)From that definition, I come from a long line of rednecks. Mostly of Czech descent!!! Most of whom where men (and women)who first turned the soil in Saline County! 1870-1880
ReplyDeleteOf course, then there is the derisive term "cracker". Which refers to a teamster who cracked his whip over the mule or oxens head to get them to move! Once again, hard working people who helped spread society into the plains. Today they call them truckers!
So when I hear either term used, it is usually by some sophistocate city person who has no idea what it really means. What they are indirectly saying, is they are better than country folks, and farmers! Frankly, I will take a country boy over any city slicker!
Like I said, I bet cynical richard and I would get along fine! As far as the anonymous label, I usually sign my blog! I agree that it is unseemly to "HIDE" behind anonymity! So here you go! Sign your blog!
JR Wolfe
York, Nebraska
74 grad of Dorchester, and proud descendant of a long line of Bohemian.....and one English....REDNECKS!
I am for the school, but why weren't there any other architects, besides ayers and ayers, there are many other ones, did the board contact any others besides them, if they did, could it be made to the public, or at the meetings. Would there bids of been cheaper.
ReplyDeleteI was reading back on some of the comments on the new school. I would like to address the issue one person had about the new gym. Have you been to any of the wresteling practice lately. Try to get 22 kids in the little room that they are in now to practice. It's hard to practice in a room that is cold, and stepping over each other.
ReplyDeleteAlso that gym would be use for other stuff to. It would be nice to go to a play and not have to sit in your neighbors lap to watch the play.
Why can't this town work together to make a better place for the future of our chidren and grandchildren.
I wish you could hear what other players and partents say about our school. I haerd alot of out of town people call it a dump. Is that what you want for a school.
Look at what a new school in Lincoln and how much their taxes went up. Is that what you want the big taxes or little raise in your taxes.