Dear Dr. Fornero,

I have gotten several inquiries about joijning the Citizens' Millage Committee to support the bond proposal in June. I wanted to tell you that I can not do this because I do not expect to vote in favor of the bond. I voted two years ago to support the bond on the ballot at that time since it was a fiscally prudent way of maintaining quality education in Ann Arbor iwthout sacrificing the interests of the Elementary and Middle Schools. In order for me to suport the new bond issue, I would ned to be convinced by the Board that the current proposal is fiscally prudent in light of changed circumstances.

The best way to convince me is for all of the board members who two years ago argued that operating a new high school was finanancially irresponsible to publicly declare that, in their judgment, circumstances have changed so that we can now afford what we could not afford previously. I am not convinced that the accounting gimmick of shifting fixed costs from operating millages to a sinking fund makes operating the new high school affordable. (If new funds are available by this gimmick, why spend thme on a new High School lrather than enhancing Elementary or Middle Schools?) Nor am I convinced by the possibility that a new high school will attract sufficient number of students who would not have attended Ann Arbor schools without it -- are there examples of other school districts where this has happened? Governor Granholm's recently stated preference to phase out higher funding for high-spending school districts like ours seems to me to make the issue of fiscal prudence even more important than in the past.

If you can get all the members of the old board that supported the old bond to issue a statement explaining to the community why the new bond proposal is a fiscally prudent, realistic, and affordable solution to the overcrowding problem, I will be willing to join the Citizens' Millage Committee in supporting the bond. Without that backing, I will decline to join in supporting the bond. I hope that the Board considers soberly the consequences of asking a Citizens' Millage Committee to support a bond issue that does not have the full support of the community. We had the unhappy resuilt two years ago of a bond issue put before the public without community consensus, and I am afraid that we will have the same result this June.

Ken Boyer
Treasurer, Northside PTO

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