FAYETTEVILLE — Fayetteville Superintendent Vicki Thomas' plan to send a survey to everyone who voted in the Sept. 15election over a new high school is a good starting place for discussions about the future.
Few have forgotten that - according to certified results released Friday - more than 63 percent of the 10,000-plus residents who turned out at the polls wanted the proposed 4.9-mill increase to die. The money would have been used to finance a $116 million plan to build a new, campus-style high school on the existing high school's property.
School district leaders need a better understanding of the specific motivations of voters. Other than validating whether the populace favors or opposes a measure, elections don't offer any specific insight to understand the attitudes of those voters. The school district is right to begin seeking out further information to learn about why people voted the way they did.
There is an absolute need for all those people who sided against giving young people a new high school to get actively involved in charting a path that will elicit their favor the next time out. One can easily identify a variety of possibilities that informed the votes of opponents - a desire to split the student population into two high schools rather than one bigger facility; a preference for moving the school elsewhere; dissatisfaction with how the district is managed; the addition of ninth-graders to the high school campus; and, of course, the staggering price tag.
The voter response that knocked us out most came from local residents who admitted that they did not pay much attention to the debate, which lasted more than three years, but didn't hesitate to fight the millage proposal in the last weeks any way they could, simply on an anti-tax basis. Today they can cheer victoriously alongside those who had detailed complaints with the plan itself. The reality, however, is that these types will vote against any millage increase of any size. They won't support a tax increase for any reason. This just happened to be among the first proposals on the ballot on which they could demonstrate their TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party mentality.
Obviously, the votes flowing forth from this segment of the population are just as viable as anyone else's. But those folks are also likely to remain the loyal opposition. One can expect them to try to rally the troops the next go round, even if the price tag is significantly reduced.
Nobody can be blamed for rolling their eyes at school board President Susan Heil's recent comment - "I think we need to adjust the costs down" - at a Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce luncheon. It sounded a bit like a "duh" moment. But it's a crucial realization the school board president is offering, and she knows that stating the obvious is just the beginning. She and the rest of the board can't just sit back and say "let's spend less." They have to devise the new high school approach that fits the smaller price tag, and that's going to mean tough decisions about how to change Fayetteville's wish list for the facility.
Tinkering around with some issues may simply be an exercise in exchanging some "for" votes for some "against" votes. The community doesn't need exchanged votes; the community needs a real plan that will keep the segment of voters who supported the Sept. 15 ballot measure while drawing in more of those who opposed it.
Easy? Not at all. That's why the more information the school board can get about voters' attitudes, the better chance its members will have of discerning the public's will.
The real question is whether the public can muster the collective will to advance the cause of educating Fayetteville's children.
Opinion, Pages 4 on 09/29/2009