Mayor Lawrence said she felt many residents in Stacy feel slighted by the district s plans to use tax dollars supplied by outlying areas to build in North Branch. The voting system, too, came under the mayor s fire. Superintendent Stepaniak indicated the decisions on where to build and why were based on simply rules of supply and demand. The district, also, already owns the land where it is proposing to build. We put the facilities where most of the people have reasonable access to them, Stepaniak said.
School districts respond to where the growth is.
Stepaniak said feelings like the mayor s are fairly common in situations where multiple communities form a conglomerate district. He said it is unfortunate, but simply part of the program. Stepaniak said the district expects to continue its trend in growth for at least another 10 years, and that no one can predict the future much further out beyond that. The chance of a declining enrollment trend in North Branch any time soon, he said, are extremely remote. The school board has two representatives from the southern tier of the district, he said, and both agree with the proposals now being voted on.