Sioux Falls School Board Member Cynthia Mickelson says some interesting things about open enrollment and the school bond issue

The first thing I found interesting was she was out promoting the bond issue before the school board has even voted on the special election (They vote on it July 23). She talks about the problem of re-districting and how it will be done AFTER the schools are built, which is putting the cart in front of the horse. It should be done before the bond vote. She shows how some of the schools are under utilized. She continues to mention that re-districting is hard and will come with some challenges. She talks about how they may use the school for the deaf area for a new Whittier (but says that is off the record). She also talks about losing housing in the ‘Poorer’ neighborhood if they build Whittier in current location. One person in the crowd asks an interesting question, “Where will the money come from to staff the new buildings?” Cynthia really didn’t have an answer except that “They hope not to have another opt-out.” She than goes on to say, “They will have to figure it out.” So basically they are asking for around $300 million to build new schools without a plan to staff them. Speaking of the $300 million number, Cynthia never mentions the principal + interest with the bond. It seems to be the dirty little secret about this bond issue, NO one will talk about the total cost of these bonds. Should this be considered lying by public officials? NO. But it certainly is very dishonest to not give the voters these numbers.