As prime sponsors of a petition drive to bring to a vote the question of discontinuing the unlimited taxing authority of the Fargo School District, we would like to share with the general public the message we presented the Fargo School Board.
To set the tone from the start, we communicated to the Fargo Board of Education that this petition drive is not an effort to indict or undermine the school district in any way. In many respects, our efforts would support setting the current already generous general fund mill levy as the standard for funding education in Fargo.
Our petition drive is simply to bring the issue of the unlimited levy to a vote of the people on June 11. It would also establish a general fund mill levy of no more than 295.46 mills, if approved in the ballot box.
We also communicated to the school board that this petition drive has no bearing on any individuals or persons affiliated with district administration or with the board. It is our intention to keep the debate clean and constructive, and to focus on issues, not personalities.
We have no assurance how district patrons will vote. We do believe the district and its patrons will benefit from heightened participation in the education process.
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While this is not intended to be a threat, we trust our school officials have often wondered if and when the people will visit the issue of an unlimited levy in the poll booth.
We encourage all participants in this debate to focus on the issues. We intend to stay on the high road in our role in this community discussion. We hope that tone can be maintained throughout the entire process.
The people are the community. The entire community educates its children. Citizens of Fargo obviously support quality education, and they have entrusted officials and administrators to successfully accomplish that task for generations.
Now, however, there are only four such unlimited mill levies remaining in North Dakota. No matter the result, we believe it will be healthy to get a pulse of the people as we move forward in the education arena.
Michael J. Williams
John A. Strand
Voters for Limited Taxes
Fargo
