[Southsider2k12]

Final totals No-3498 Yes-2601 57.4% to 42.6% totals.

[Oscar Gurtgorter]

Final totals No-3498 Yes-2601 57.4% to 42.6% totals.

A guy told me this a long time ago and I guess he was right. Signs don't vote.

[MCRAVEN]

Sad to see people making decisions that will eventually filter down and hurt the kids. Times are rough now with less federal funding. This city is a mess, and everyone just wants to point fingers instead of doing anything about it. The school system needed that money. Its not like they had asked for it before. They are trying to get out of a funding issue. But this people in this city sit back and blame the board and admin for not budgeting correctly..Maybe that is correct, but do you realize that there are only TWO janitors that clean the HS....yea that is right TWO. That means that not all restrooms get cleaned. I know that lockerooms and bathrooms are on a rotation of something like every two weeks they get cleaned. The school system cut all other janitors last year in budget cuts.

[Jesse B]

Sad to see people making decisions that will eventually filter down and hurt the kids. Times are rough now with less federal funding. This city is a mess, and everyone just wants to point fingers instead of doing anything about it. The school system needed that money. Its not like they had asked for it before. They are trying to get out of a funding issue. But this people in this city sit back and blame the board and admin for not budgeting correctly..Maybe that is correct, but do you realize that there are only TWO janitors that clean the HS....yea that is right TWO. That means that not all restrooms get cleaned. I know that lockerooms and bathrooms are on a rotation of something like every two weeks they get cleaned. The school system cut all other janitors last year in budget cuts.

No one is trying to "hurt" the kids. All the "no" votes are holding the adults accountable. Do we really need 3 junior highs and 9 grade schools. If we figure that 500 kids or less MCAS wide are in each grade you cannot tell me that Barker, Elston and Kreuger are full. I don't buy the fact that we are full at each grade school as well. Don't threaten us about closing down athletics or extra curricular activities. The school board should know(I hope) that if this path is followed more kids will leave with their voucher money and the problem will snowball. The Supt. and board have tough decisions to make, that is why they get paid for what they do. Make the tough decisions.

Elston once held students 9-12 not too long ago, Barker and Kreuger had more students in them years ago than they do now. Are Lake Hills and Pine schools being fully utilized? Nobody wants to see the kids suffer but when adults make poor decisions you don't compound the problems by taxing people more. I would venture to say there is still some fat to cut from the budget. The board shouldn't create a budget with "anticipated" revenue from a vote. . .I think that equates to counting your chickens before they hatch.

[Jesse B]

Sad to see people making decisions that will eventually filter down and hurt the kids. Times are rough now with less federal funding. This city is a mess, and everyone just wants to point fingers instead of doing anything about it. The school system needed that money. Its not like they had asked for it before. They are trying to get out of a funding issue. But this people in this city sit back and blame the board and admin for not budgeting correctly..Maybe that is correct, but do you realize that there are only TWO janitors that clean the HS....yea that is right TWO. That means that not all restrooms get cleaned. I know that lockerooms and bathrooms are on a rotation of something like every two weeks they get cleaned. The school system cut all other janitors last year in budget cuts.

Another thing. . .how many toilets are there to clean in the HS? I can't believe the two janitors cannot clean the restrooms in an 8 hour shift? Poor work effort if that is the case. Maybe teachers can throw out their own trash so the janitors can focus on cleaning toilets and locker rooms. Maybe the Manager of the buildings and grounds needs to help instead of driving around in the MCAS pickup truck. Where there is a will there is a way. It sounds like excuses to me. . .work smarter not harder.

[taxthedeer]

Restructure to a four tier system and start putting the classes under one roof beginning at the 5th grade:

IE.

• Grades K-4 Elementary
• Grades 5 & 6 Intermediate
• Grades 7 & 8 Middle School
• Grades 9-12 High School

Merrillville schools operate only five grade K-4 elementary schools, grades 5 & 6 at Harrison Intermediate, grades 7 & 8 at Pierce Middle school and grades 9-12 at Merrillville High School.

http://merrillville.schoolwires.net/site/d...t.aspx?PageID=1