Here are some of my quick thoughts on Mentor Schools and their use of our tax dollars.  You are free to use it/publish it/edit it however you want.  Just wanted to let you know that Concord is not the only area that does not mind fleecing taxpayers.

Mentor Schools Swimming has a multi-million-dollar budget surplus, yet begging for additional funding help.  As taxpayers, we are constantly told our schools are not properly funded and that they need more funding.

Approximately four years ago, Mentor schools requested a levy due to funding issues.  This levy was overwhelmingly passed as our community strongly supports the schools.  But was it needed?  Today, Mentor Schools are looking at a multi-million dollar budget surplus…   There was a surplus two years ago of over one million dollars, then last year the announcement of over one million dollars of additional savings by the closing of two elementary schools, and now this year the schools have announced $1.88 million dollars of expected additional funding from the state…   That comes out to over $3 million in surpluses expected for this year.

So what are we going to do with all of this money you ask?  Well it is not stopping the constant and unnecessary requests for subsidies from parents.  I received a substantial list of supplies that my children need to bring to school for the upcoming year.  Why can’t the school supply these items?  It comes out to $60 for each of my children.  I am certain that the schools with their buying power could source these items for close to half of what I can get them for at a retail store.  But the school doesn’t care they would rather I spend $60 of my dollars than they spend $30 of their dollars.  Why can’t we use our surplus to by supplies and save parents some money?  Or why can’t they ask for a donation of $30 and buy the supplies themselves in bulk and save parents some money.  I believe the answer is simple they just don’t care.

If Mentor Schools did care about saving parents some money, then they wouldn’t send out supply requests like the one that I received from my children’s school.  It is ridiculous.  Every student needs to bring in a box of wipes for art class.  Ok, I get it kids are messy, but lets do some math.  My children’s school has 450 students, art is only taught 4 days per week, that comes out to about 150 teaching days for art class.  450 boxes of wipes for 150 days of classes that comes out to three boxes of wipes per day!  Each box of wipes has approximately 120 wipes in it.  That is 360 wipes per day that are being requested for the art class alone.

How about this for perspective, there are only 360 minutes in a school day.  Are we expected to believe that the Art class uses one wipe per minute each and every minute for the entire school year?  What I do believe is that the schools have the funding to buy the necessary supplies and should be supplying them.  If the schools were supplying them, I bet they would have a conversation with a teacher that was using one wipe per minute.  However that conversation won’t happen, because it is not the school’s money that is being wasted.

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(LFC Comment:  One thing is certain any monetary surpluses will NEVER be given back to the taxpayers.  School expenses will NEVER, EVER decrease.  The only thing declining are the enrollment numbers.  We will post some articles in the near future with information from the “Ohio School Finance Blue Book”.  They will have you wondering,  “How long can this continue?

So we ask everyone, “What are you going to do about it?   Keep passing property tax levies and you are promoting your own eviction!)