It's a bond issue or nothing if Fort Wayne Community Schools is to make costly, but needed, renovations to its buildings. And the district's failure last summer to persuade taxpayers to cover $500 million of work has left Superintendent Wendy Robinson and the rest of FWCS' top administrators uncertain what to do next.

“We need the basics,” said board member Jon Olinger, a frequent critic of the administration. “We need to respect the way the economy is. It's not the time to come back with a $300 million or $500 million project.”

Board President Mark GiaQuinta suggested that a scaled-down proposal covering one or two buildings would be a way to win taxpayers' trust before resubmitting a districtwide plan. Some board members say talks about a new plan won't begin until after a June presentation; others say it won't begin until after the November election.

Though the original proposal wasn't subject to a referendum, opponents gathered more than enough petition signatures to keep it from moving forward, at least temporarily. State law allows FWCS to propose another plan after a year has passed, though it must be significantly different. Now, 10 months later, neither the administrator nor the board has even discussed the details of a new plan, at least publicly.

“What were we doing last year?” asked board member Kevin Brown. “We were screaming, ‘Our schools are falling down, and we can't put your kids in those schools,' and now it's a year later and here we are. You can't say the buildings are falling down and not come back with a new building project a year later.”

The original proposal called for renovations to aging, deteriorating buildings across the district — most constructed before 1970 — over the next five years. The work included upgrades to heating and cooling systems, windows, electrical systems, masonry and expansions to accommodate special programs.

“I think one of the problems that we had before is we didn't paint a picture of the gathering storm,” said John Peirce, leader of the “Write Yellow Right Now” group that supported the project. “Let's put it out in front of the public.”

FWCS Facilities Director Steve Parker said he'll take whatever help he can get. Fix plumbing and mechanical systems, Parker said, and “at least we can continue to operate.”

Legislation passed since last summer, however, puts even more fiscal control in the hands of a cost-conscious public. State legislators, along with approving caps that reduce the state's reliance on property taxes, decided that voters can have a say on building projects for kindergarten through eighth grade costing more than $10 million and for ninth through 12th grade costing more than $20 million.

Evert Mol, who led last summer's petition drive against the project, welcomed the change. Even though his side collected more than three times as many names as the Write Yellow group, he said it will take away the intimidation some people felt signing their names to a public document.

“If they can convince someone (to support a plan) under a referendum, then I'm fine with it,” Mol said.

Robinson said the reality is that the problems aren't going away. In fact, they've gotten worse. Last week the board voted to fix a roof at Harrison Hill Elementary School because damage to it could not be ignored any longer, officials said.

To pay for the repairs, the district used all but $56,000 of its emergency fund for 2008. Officials said money can be moved around slightly within its capital projects fund in case a similar problem arises elsewhere, but a major malfunction of a critical system could just force the district to close a school.



“How long will the systems continue? It's anybody's guess,” Parker said.