Prior to this gathering the school board had voted to construct the District's next elementary school on a "free" parcel in Chaska instead of Victoria, even though several important questions remained without answers and significant considerations remained unconsidered. 
It took this hasty gathering of Victoria residents to finally put those questions and considerations on the table -- where they should have been placed by the school board prior to the November referendum.
Several poignant remarks and questions highlighted the evening.  Superintendent Bev Stofferahn and the two school board members could not answer the questions appropriately nor satisfactorily.  At one point in the evening, as Mayor Mary stepped out to catch the name and phone number of a departing resident, the superintendent was asked if the City of Victoria had made any offers to the School District.  The superintendent's reply was, "No."  From the back of the room, Council-member Jim Paulsen stepped toward the panel panting, "Whoa, Nellie!  Whoa, Nellie!  Whoa, Nellie," and proceeded to tell the Victoria residents about the list of offerings Victoria has made to the School District.
But we begin here with resident Diane Lynum who asked, "Why is Victoria the only community in the District without a community based school?  Where does this happen in another community in the District?  Your commitment doesn't appear to be strong.  How are the needs of Victoria, Carver, and Chanhassen being served by locating three elementary schools in Chaska?"
Replied board member Kelly Von De Bur, "We don't have the money to make a commitment to Victoria."  (In fact, there is $500,000 available from the referendum for land purchase for an elementary school plus Victoria has offered to pay 100% of SAC and WAC, 100% of utilities, 100% road cost, and 50% of site work.)
Replied the superintendent, "Not all Chanhassen kids attend Chanhassen schools and not all Chaska kids attend Chaska schools."  (In fact, it is most generally true.)
Diane Lynum continued.  "It seems to be affecting Victoria the most.  It's a half hour bus ride to Bluff Creek Elementary and a half hour bus ride to Jonathan Elementary.  Where are the Victoria kids being represented?  Chaska kids seem to be served already."
Said resident Diane Koban, who volunteers several hours and positions in the School District, "I believe in public education, and this breaks my heart.  We have the numbers here in Victoria.  That area by the Chaska parcel doesn't have the numbers yet.  If you put the school here in Victoria, you could save the bus money.  There's a conspicuous absence of process here.  We believe just as much as Chaska does in community based schools."
Diane Koban also said to the superintendent, "You are the queen on the chess board, and you are leading in a very divisive way.  You didn't do your homework.  You've alienated an entire community here for a little bit of money."
The superintendent responded, "It's not a little bit of money."  (In fact, no one on the panel was able to tell anyone just how much the "free" Chaska site is going to cost.  For all taxpayers know, the differential between Chaska and Victoria sites could be a little bit or a whole lot.)
Asked resident Jenny Neubarth, "How are we planning community based education -- by where the kids are living or where a developer gives the land?"
Said the president of the school board, "The main thing is to keep our property taxes low.  We're committed to that."  (In fact, people haven't been told how taxes would be affected differently by either site.)
Resident Kitty Lieberg asked, "What is the enrollment of Victoria elementary kids in the School District?"
Replied the superintendent, "Approximately 280 in kindergarten through twelfth grade are from Victoria."
"That cannot be true," said resident Michelle Kaufhold, who is very active in the Victoria Athletic Association.  "There are 280 kids, kindergarten to age 16, who signed up for ball this summer." 
(There are other children in Victoria who do not play ball, of course.  And there are Victoria kids attending private and parochial schools outside of Victoria.  Some Victoria students are also being home-schooled.)
Kitty Lieberg asked, "How can we make a decision to build a school in an area that is not populated?  Does 'free' land override the best education of our children?"
Replied the superintendent, "The board looks at the big broad picture."  (In fact, Victoria children are a significant part of the big broad picture.)
Added the superintendent, "The City of Chaska is projecting 950 mixed housing units on the Chaska parcel, which will be completely filled by 2005."  (In fact, there are over 1,200 mixed housing units in Victoria that were already filled in 1999.)
Asked resident Tom Schrepel about the Chaska parcel, "Who paid you to take it?  Normally when some-one gives you something, you want to ask why.  It's not for free.  It increases the value of the developer's land."
Said resident Niles Cole to the panel, "They bluffed you.  This developer has a piece of flat land.  They're using you to get people to come out this way -- to go further west than Hwy 41 and Bavaria Road.  They're not going to get people there without that school.  You've been bluffed.  You've got 140 people here tonight and no one from that Chaska development here.
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