Dr. Wallisch, Mr. Bradley, and School Business Alliance Members,I need your help.My name is Robert Tomamichel, and I’m a resident of Colorado Springs. I attended your last D 49 School Business Alliance meeting on April 14. My four children attend school in District 49.As I’m sure you are aware, this fall the district’s board of education is planning to ask for a tax increase of $82 million to support the construction of schools in order to relieve the massive over crowding of students. The board asked for a similar tax increase last year, but the increase was rejected during the November election.The reason the board must keep asking taxpayers for this money is due to our inability to work cooperatively with city council and major construction companies to make our school infrastructure a major priority for our community.Is there a way for the School Business Alliance to help me build a cooperative and lasting relationship among the school districts, construction companies and City Council? We desperately need a permanent solution to the financing required to manage the incredible growth of our school system and its quality of education for our children.I’ve received supportive correspondence from Mr. Healy (Colorado Springs city planning director), Mr. Lorne Kramer (City Manager) and Lt. Colonel Gallagher (a local Military Wing Commander). In addition, I’ve been working with the District 49 board of education. City Council and the El Paso County Board of Commissioners are planning a joint meeting in September or October. I want to make sure the business, military, and civilian community interests are well represented, and a concrete cooperative action plan is incorporated.Again, my mission is the establishment of a permanent solution to the financing required to manage the incredible growth of our school system and its quality of education for our children.Robert Tomamichel
