OSWEGO – The Oswego City School District’s proposed $60,180,000 capital improvement project was soundly defeated by voters Tuesday night. The unofficial count was 905 no to 572 yes.
The no votes outnumbered the yes votes in all four districts.
It was 145 no and 77 yes in District One; 181-76 in District Two; 276-186 in District Three; and 226-150 in District Four.
The absentee yes votes barely nudged past the no votes 83-77.
“We don’t have a contingency plan yet. But the facilities committee is going to meet Wednesday morning to discuss things,” Superintendent Dr. Dean Goewey told Oswego County Today. “We may go out for the full shot again. Our marketing campaign was exhaustive. People don’t come (to board meetings and the public hearing) and then they act like they don’t know. It’s discouraging. It is a big project – it is a necessary project.”
The vote was the closest in District One with just a 68-vote difference. In District Four, the difference was 76.
District Two had the widest margin at 105.
In District Three the margin was 90.
A special board of education meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday morning in the Superintendent’s Office to accept the results of the vote.
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If this doesn’t send a clear message to the board that we’ve “had it” and cannot afford anymore craziness then I don’t know what will!
Oswego can not afford more TAX INCREASES
scrap your plans …we taxpayers have had more than enough from the likes of you!
Your marketing plan was exhaustive and the people rejected it. Take the turf fields out of it. This is a democracy.
Only 1477 voters. Very low turnout but a battle won.
Drop the turf. Oh, and do your job taking care of bullying and maybe we might want to pay into schools our children aren’t scared to go to. Overhaul your principals, too.
“We may go out for the full shot again. Our marketing campaign was exhaustive. People don’t come (to board meetings and the public hearing) and then they act like they don’t know. It’s discouraging. It is a big project – it is a necessary project.”
HU– DEFEATED IS DEFEATED– IT DOESN’T MEAN TRY AGAIN WITH A DIFF MARKETING STRAGETY–we the people are done :0)
Like said previously. Take the frills out and stay with the essentials in school improvements. Try this first then have a different vote on turf fields and you will really know how the people feel.
“We may go out for the full shot again. Our marketing campaign was exhaustive. People don’t come (to board meetings and the public hearing) and then they act like they don’t know. It’s discouraging. It is a big project – it is a necessary project.”
No Mr. Goewey, your marketing campaign was a bunch of fluff. That you tried to convince taxpayers a $60 million price tag with less than a dozen pictures of some stained ceiling tiles and old lockers tax payers are going to say no. But go for the full shot again— I assure you it will be defeated by an even larger margin.
I am not voting yes until all athletic upgrades are removed and until the school board picks only 5 of the 7 buildings to do maintenance work on and closes the other 2 due to low enrollment. They have been kicking this can down the road for 15 years.
We heard your marketing campaign and chose not to buy what you were selling or rather forcing down our throats as taxpayers. I actually watched the videos on youtube of the school board public hearings and noticed that the superintendent chose not to answer questions from people who were critical or concerned with the costs. The school board and superintendent’s omissions and dishonesty were noticed by the public.
Enrollment has dropped 25% since 2001-2002 and yet we continue to operate with the same 5 elementary schools. Until this board takes fiscal responsibility and downsizes to the correct number of schools for the current enrollment taxpayers won’t take them seriously. When it costs over $22,000 per year per student, which by the way is more than a SUNY school with room and board, you have a serious problem. Time to right the ship and make the tough decisions that EVERY OTHER school district has made. The superintendent thinks the voters have a comprehension problem. I think it may be the other way around. We understood your proposal and are soundly against it. WAKE UP AND DO YOUR JOB. NO MORE TAX AND SPEND! WE’VE HAD ENOUGH!
1998 enrollment was 5166 it is now 3600 ish. That is almost 1/3 less. I think everyone understood what Goweye was selling and they are not buying. Time to right size by down sizing. Close a school (or two) and reduce staff.
The scam did not work and now Goeway and company are crying there eyes out and calling taxpayers stupid pretty much. Like Heath Jones aka Friends of Oswego said “it amounts to the cost of a pack of gum” tax increase. Taxpayers did not buy Goeweys fake news propeganda.
How do you not have a back up plan? As a superintendent in charge of this school district you should have contingency plans for every possible scenario…especially a 60 million dollar plan. I find his comments arrogant and condescending. His back up plan all along was run it back out and hope for better after bad mouthing the no voters. It’s about time the leaders of this district looked at the community around them and realize the economic factors. Close a school and become the stewards this community needs.
I agree with FED UP! Our enrollment is down and they expect to just keep the status quo. We have some of the highest payroll and highest paid teachers (base and tenured) in the state, with some of the worst results in the state! Close an elementary school, realignment necessary teachers, close the Oswego Public Library (all of our students have access to a library in the schools, and the public library is just a glorified internet chat cafe). The average family makes $57,000 a year, and ONE teacher makes STARTING $66,000 a year to work 5 periods a day for 165 days a year. In any other career field this is a part time job. You can no longer squeeze the tax payers left. Renegotiate contracts, reduce the starting salary for new teachers, and stop spending on frills! A new football field for a non-existent football team? Time to stop the madness! Place a residency requirement in our teaching contracts. If you want to draw money from our local tax payers, you need to be invested in them! Stop offering tenure to teachers who can not cut the muster! Tax payers are not going to write A BLANK CHECK to this school district that has been being bailed out for two decades! (Plants, bonds, etc.) So many districts with less are turning out better numbers to include FULTON, HANNIBAL, and MEXICO. Stop underestimating these tax payers. Sadly, the teachers union is made up of non-residents who can no longer vote for their own increases, and the real citizens have a voice. Also speaking of bullying, isn’t it ironic that the Middle school and high school report virtually NOTHING on their DASA and VADR reports? Ironic. Not one student at the middle school has been offended and referred to guidance or the administration for behavior conflicts between students. NOT ONE! FIRE THESE ADMINISTRATIONS AND LETS START FROM SCRATCH. The high school can’t keep one anyway!