Dear Editor,

In 2016 Brown County taxpayers approved a referendum for teacher salaries. During those years, the school lost an additional 361 students resulting in millions in lost revenue. In fact, the school has been on a steady decline in enrollment for 15 years.

A study by Ball State explains that for a school to be viable it must have a minimum of 2,000 students, otherwise overhead and administrative costs are too high. Brown County currently has 1,455 students.

Paying more in salaries to anyone is not going to fix this problem. We need more students. Vote no on this referendum for salary increases. Send the school board back to the drawing board. We need a referendum that is focused on enrollment.

This referendum will cost taxpayers $15,000,000. How could the school spend $15,000,000 to increase enrollment? Spending $15,000,000 on salary increases is not going to help anyone. You might as well set the money on fire.

Sherrie Mitchell

Morgantown