Possible consolidation raises many questions

To the Editor:

On Aug. 5, some voters in the area will go to the ballot box to vote on the dismantling of the Bessemer Area School District and the Wakefield-Marenisco School District under the auspices of a consolidation between them. Many questions have been raised by this undertaking.

Here are some questions I’ve entertained and here are the straight answers I’ve collected to some of the queries.

How much money will this cost? Answer: This is not known.

Will this save money? Answer: This is not known.

Will any funds be provided by outside entities to pay for the cost of consolidating the two school districts? Answer: This is not known.

Will taxes go down if we do this? Answer: This is not known, but not likely.

Will taxes go up if districts are consolidated? This is not known for sure, but it is likely.

What is the plan for going forward after Aug. 5 if the Bessemer Area School District and its neighboring district no longer exist on Aug. 6? Answer: There is no plan.

Who will teach the students of the new consolidated school district after Aug. 5? Answer: Nobody knows.

How will the Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District structure the future of the new school district? Answer: This is not known.

Will the students receive a better education this way? Answer: Some people think bigger means better, but we don’t really know for sure.

Will the resulting consolidated school district produce the kind of student achievements and/or the national recognition the school districts have achieved independently? Answer: No one knows.

Why are some seeking to consolidate these school districts? Answer: No one seems to know, really.

Susanne Brown

Bessemer