How to build a new high school: use a millage team

At Fayetteville Forward, the City distilled ideas from 400+ citizens down to 38 potential initiatives. Aldermen were asked to "vote" for the 15 that were the most important in a survey. In this series, I am taking a little extra time to talk about each one and why I picked it.

A millage team

The idea of a millage team is simple: get a millage passed for the high school. If you've been paying any attention to Project 21c, you know that our school district is serious about 21^st century education reform.

A new school is going to cost us more than 10 "mils" in property tax. Update: I used the the 10 mil number from the conversation we had last year about the location of the high school, but since then, the best estimate is that a new high school will cost only 5 mils. Each mil levied brings in around $1M for the school district, based on our population and property values.

That may seem like a pretty hefty price for a school, but it's worth it for what we'll be getting.

It's worth it for what our kids will be getting.

The millage team will be get eight members - two from each of the following:

• the City,
• the Chamber,
• the school district,
• and the University.

The proposal has the goal of assembling the team by May 2009, which is reasonable. However, their goal to pass a millage by September though, is ambitious.

But I still hope it happens.

Up next: a "buy Fayetteville" campaign

One down, 14 to go. The next of the initiatives I'll talk about is a "Buy Fayetteville" campaign to sustain local businesses.

PS - I uploaded the complete slideshow, which shows questions from the summit and all 38 initiatives.