Letters to the editor

Black Earth Library  Matters   It has become increasingly apparent that the controversy over development, control and implementation of library policies has become a lose/lose situation. The library and the community have lost a highly respected director; the village board has lost credibility by usurping the library’s control of its own policies and duties as spelled out in Wis. Statutes 43.58. In part this statute …..”provides library boards, but not individual trustees, with considerable discretion to operate libraries as they deem necessary independent of direct control by other municipal officials, city councils, town boards, mayors, village board presidents, etc. In providing this governance structure for libraries, the legislature was attempting to keep libraries under direct citizen control and as far as possible outside the sphere of government.” Clearly, the library board and the village board must reach a consensus as to the library board’s authority to make, enact and monitor policies and procedures of the library and its staff. The “Friends of the Black Earth Library” a 501 (c)(3) organization stands ready to play any role it can to mitigate the apparent friction between the village board and the library board. A comprehensive and respected library is a mainstay in any community that values literacy. Let us not let that slip away.   Friends of the Black Earth Library Board Patrick Mommaerts Gary Olsen Lisa Lutz Mary Miron   Letter to the Editor: A heartfelt thank you to all those who donated arts and crafts to the Friends of the Black Earth Library silent auction. Due to Covid, this was one of very few opportunities we had to host an event benefiting the library this year. A special thanks goes out to all those who bid on the items, or who simply made a donation to the Friends. We are forever appreciative for the more than $1300 raised. All proceeds go to benefit the Black Earth Library. Our library is so important to our community and we strive to keep it so. Thank you again!!   Pat Mommaerts President, Friends of the Black Earth Library   Another Open Letter to the Community Regarding the Wisconsin Heights  Referendum   After voting not to include an auditorium on the November 2020 referendum ballot, the Wisconsin Heights School District Board of Education promised to put an auditorium question to referendum in April of 2021. In an effort to continue fighting on behalf of the students, I am writing to the Wisconsin Heights community to ask for your help. According to the district’s own school enrollment data, 72% of WHSD students grades pre-K through 12 were enrolled in music and drama programs for the 2019-2020 school year. That’s almost three quarters of the entire student body. It breaks down to 100% of all students in pre-K through 5th grade, 58% of middle school students, and 30% of high school students. And yet, these students still do not have adequate performing spaces. They are performing in gyms or on the current stage in the MS/HS building, which is deteriorating. The stage is 55 years old; it is dangerous and has led to student injuries; it is not up to safe standards with the Americans with Disabilities Act; and it severely hinders what the many musically-talented students of this school district are capable of, to name just a few of the inadequacies of the space. A new auditorium, however, would open a new world for these students to showcase the talents that they have proved to have in this community over and over again. It would attract new students and families to Wisconsin Heights and bring the school to the same competitive caliber as the other schools in our area. A new auditorium would also be a space open to the community, for events such as Wisconsin Heights Players performances of all ages, assemblies such as the Veteran’s Day assembly that the school puts on annually to honor our local veterans, graduations, awards ceremonies, concerts, and more. To make a really long explanation short, Wisconsin Heights NEEDS a new auditorium. It would not only benefit the students and families, it would benefit the school as a whole, and the entire community. Think of all of the concerts, plays, assemblies, musicals, and graduation ceremonies that you and all of your neighbors have attended. The students who work hard to showcase these events deserve better than the deteriorating spaces that they have now. The future generations of students who will go through our schools deserve better than what we are scraping by with now. We have to give current and future students the resources they deserve to make this school district a wonderful place. The rebuttal I have heard countless times to including an auditorium is about the tax impact. Using the same estimated property tax impact model that the District used for the November referendum, adding an auditorium to the current construction plans would likely cost around an additional $4.30 each month per $100,000 of property value. That is the cost of one Starbucks coffee. One meal from McDonalds. Two gallons of gasoline. I would buy two gallons of gasoline over and over again if it meant giving 72% of Wisconsin Heights’ students the level playing field that they deserve to grow in the arts. So, what can you do to help? First, attend the School Board meeting on Monday, January 11, at 6 pm. You can attend via Zoom (find more information on the School Board website) or in person in the MS/HS Step Room. Attend to show support for the arts and tell the School Board that you would support an auditorium for the April election ballot. Second, contact the School Board members directly. Let them know that the students of the Wisconsin Heights School District deserve a performance space that reflects what they are capable of. Ask the Board to draft and pass a resolution for a NEW auditorium and allow the people of the community to vote on it. Third, spread the word. Advocate for a new auditorium in the community. Discuss it on social media. Talk about it with family and friends. A new auditorium for the school district would benefit every member of the Wisconsin Heights area. The students would have the performance space that they deserve to enable more enriching music and drama programs, and all members of the community would be able to reap the benefits from student performances and community events in an auditorium. Having this performance space would help to grow the schools, grow the communities, and grow the arts. So, talk about it! Help the students and the community get the auditorium that they need and deserve–attend the Board meeting on January 11, talk to Board members and spread the word. More information about the School Board and meetings can be found at wisheights.k12.wi.us under the “District” tab.   Emma Schaefer Black Earth