EDITOR:
As promised here is the official amount of classroom seats promised by the Platte County R-3 School District with each bond or levy measure since 2004. From 2004 to present, the school district has grown by 1905 students, according to the Missouri Department of Secondary Education. According to R-3 administration, growth numbers supplied to the public during this time period showed projected growth of almost double this number.
Here is the history of what we were told by R-3 administration before each election as to how much increased classroom capacity we were adding with each approved bond or levy:
2004: Platte City Middle capacity of 750 students. (809 current capacity)
2007: Siegrist expansion additional 200 capacity (680 current capacity)
2007: Barry expansion additional 400 students (588 current capacity)
2015: Demolition of Rising Star–180 capacity
2015: Pathfinder expansion 280 capacity (660 current capacity)
2015: Compass new elementary school 700 capacity
2015: Paxton added to High school. Expansion of 260 Capacity (current HS Capacity 1604)
Current “Functional” Capacity numbers supplied by the school district show total capacity of 5041 students in the school district K-12. Actual standard capacity numbers are 10 to 15% higher.
Current enrollment in the district is just 4311 students, with growth the past 5 years of less than 2%.
What happened to the extra 2400 classroom seats the taxpayers paid for the past 16 years? Where are the 500 to 800 empty seats that should be here NOW to handle growth for the next 10 years? We appear to be missing classroom space that cost taxpayers millions.
According to everything I am receiving from the district about the April 6 bond issue they need more money for growth? R-3 has over estimated growth every single election since 2004 and in 2021 growth is actually down. A low capacity count to help get the levy passed for the 2015 election was done by the same architect firm who designed the proposed new high school. The new capacity study increasing several current R-3 schools’ capacity was done by a Platte County R-3 administrator. The architect firm is still on the R-3 payroll so why not use them this time? Was the capacity count provided by the district to the taxpayers way low to get a yes vote for the levy increase in 2015 or is it now way high to get the same needed result in 2021 and to make it look like a south high school will never be needed?
It appears the size of our schools and their ability to handle any kind of growth can by adjusted by as much as 25% by district administration and is pretty much a “fluid number” based on whatever is needed to get the maximum amount of taxes from a very gullible public.
One last item. As of the most recent legal filing by the “Quality Platte County R-III schools” this same architect firm Hollis and Miller, who gave you the low district capacity numbers in 2015, has donated $10,000 dollars to the “Quality R-III” PAC. This is the PAC mailing out flyers in support of the upcoming bond issue and run in part by R-3 district communications director Laura Hulett, the same person who also oversees what information the R-3 district allows the taxpayers to see on their website and taxpayer paid for literature pertaining to the bond issue.
I said it before and I will say it one last time: there is a HUGE issue with how manipulated the information is being supplied by the district on this bond issue and what financial gains can be realized by those who are supporting it.
Between now and the election I will post the documents as to who is donating to get this bond issue passed and the district supplied capacity numbers for the schools on the Plattecountyr3facts.com website and Facebook page.
Decide for yourself on who is being truthful.
–Kirby Holden
Rural Platte County
