Wills places too low of a priority on education of students within the County; assessing dual enrollment fee on High School Juniors and Seniors her latest educational sin–it’s time for a new president
Commentary
Yavapai Community College President Penelope Wills places education of Yavapai County students far too low on her list of priorities. At the top of her educational agenda are buildings, buildings, building, despite a 5,000 drop in student enrollment, which is continuing under her presidency.
Think about it: She is anticipating spending $119 million on new building projects while student enrollment at the College continues to plumet. And look at some of the projects.
She spent thousands of dollars in 2014 to build a concrete patio seating facility into the bank of a hill overlooking the College ballpark. Critics say it was a complete waste of money since few use it (there are bleachers around the field). She has also spent millions of dollar converting the 1105 student auditorium into a dinner theatre. No additional seating; only amenities with no added educational value.
She spent over $1 million dollars to build a professional tennis complex where there is no College tennis team. The Prescott Campus swimming pool and therapy pools are carefully groomed although the College has no swim team.
Her latest assault on education is her determination to force Yavapai High Schools to pay at least $10 per credit for taking dual enrollment classes at the high school. That fee will be assessed beginning this fall. The dual enrollment classes provide qualified Junior and senior high school students with an opportunity to earn a limited number of college credits while still in high school. High schools provide transportation, classrooms, heat, light, air conditioning, qualified instructors, high tech equipment, counselling and maintenance. The College provides minimal administrative support and a tiny stipend per high school teacher. The cost per student will now be at least $30 and will no doubt go up each year once it is in place.
How high schools will pay the fee is unclear. For many students, especially in rural areas, the dual enrollment program is the only opportunity they will have to take college courses. For some, who are poor, the fee will mean that they will not be able to take the college courses. Some high school districts, such das Camp Verde, will most likely drop the program. The district simply cannot afford to pay the fee.
This decision illustrates just how little Wills values education and the advice of taxpayers and teaching experts. All eight superintendents from the Verde Valley opposed the fee. The seven-member Verde Valley Advisory Board opposed the fee. It didn’t matter. Does Wills’ see herself as a kind of goddess with a taxpayer trove of millions of dollars to spend as she pleases? (Or, maybe she sees herself as a schoolyard bully.)
Yavapai County residents now dump from $43 to $45 million each year in tax revenue to be spent by the Community College on education in this County. Instead of strictly applying that revenue for education, Wills squanders it on nice for little needed construction. The use of that revenue to educate “all” students in the County gets a low priority.
Wills’ needs to be replaced.