Attention property owners! (Updated and bumped)

UPDATE:  The Union-Bulletin reports that the meeting will be held at 11 a.m. on 21 December, in the District's board room at  364 South Park Street.

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The Walla Walla School Board has an opportunity to give rather than take.  They are considering how to use any "excess" from the proposed WaHi bond, should it pass next February (registration may be required):

The Walla Walla School Board plans to hold a special meeting before Dec. 28 to decide what to do with any excess funds from a Walla Walla High School bond should the measure pass in February.

The board held a brief work session Tuesday to hear feedback from community members and leaders of the Wa-Hi bond committee on the matter of potential excess funds.

Craig Sievertsen and Shannon Bergevin, co-chairs of the bond committee, were at the work session and expressed concerns about the potential for board members to use any excess funds rather than return them to taxpayers or pay down debt.

Sievertsen said the matter continues to come up in the public, with many people saying the board’s previous decision to use excess funds from the Edison Elementary bond for other projects as costing them yes votes on the Wa-Hi initiative.

Sievertsen said the board has an opportunity to make it a nonissue. While he personally sees the value of reinvesting dollars into the district, he said the committee simply doesn’t have enough time before the election to make a case for the benefits of using any excess money.

Their options are:

• Spend any"excess" funds left over from the WaHi on Lincoln High School
• Pay down the debt incurred by the bond

According to the article, the public will have another chance to comment on the matter, at a meeting is "set in the next few days" (the article is dated December 19th, 2012).

Considering that this is the Christmas holiday season, there are only a few days on which they can actually hold the meeting, and expect any sort of respectable public attendance. Assuming that the board won't meet on weekends or holidays, that leaves December 20th, 21st, 26th, 27th, and 28th.  This doesn't leave much notice for a public announcement.  And considering that people can be out of town, or paying more attention to holiday cheer than school board politics, this isn't very good planning on the part of the board.

In fact, the school board calendar has "12:00 PM - Special School Board Meeting - Location: District Office Board Room (364 S. Park St)" set for the 21st of December, but no other information is on their web site.  If this is that meeting, it's poorly written, and not much of advance notice. 

If you can't make the meeting, you can contact the School District by the following methods, and offer your input:

• Mail: Walla Walla Public Schools, 364 South Park Street, Walla Walla, WA 99362
• Voice: (509) 527-3000
• Facsimile: (509) 529-7713
• Email: mhiggins@wwps.org
• District Suggestion Box

If you pay taxes that go into the Walla Walla School District, attend the meeting this Friday, or contact the District as noted above.  Or you could write a letter to the editor of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.

Make your voice heard.  This is a local matter, and your input matters a great deal.