Board Transparency and Tigervision

Dear Editor:
    In recent letters to the editor, accounting figures and transparency by the school board have been questioned and replied to.
    I would like to comment on school board transparency.
    As part of the Tigervision project, the school board levied a debt service tax to the property tax payers of the Red Oak Community School District in the amount of $2.11 per thousand dollars of assessed value, and President Fellers said they intend to continue this levy to 2020. This will amount to a sum of $4.5 million dollars.
    I have talked with individuals that attended every Tigervision meeting, and not once was the issue of this levy disclosed.
    Would you call this transparent?
    The public would have known of this levy by attending the school board meetings or by paying close attention to the proposed budget that is required by law to be printed in the newspaper.
    However, I would say “barely” anyone knew, considering that most school board meetings have maybe a dozen attendees at best, and not many of us look through the details of the proposed budget. I don’t believe the levy was disclosed or was as transparent as it should have been, considering the sum of money involved and impact to the property tax payers. I certainly don’t believe the public understood this was part of the Tigervision plan.
Respectfully,
Mark Johnson
Red Oak