We know from the results of last year’s Warren County School Board election that Joe Colosimo’s words during last week’s Warren County School District Board of Education meeting aren’t popular.

Colosimo was voted out of office in a wave of support for the current four high school configuration in the district. But as the bad financial news piles up and the district’s fund balance dwindles, Colosimo is proven more and more right – having four high schools makes no financial sense.

“We’re building heavy,” Colosimo said. “So what is the issue? The district has $83 million in debt that won’t reduce until 2028. What’s the cost per student to have 130 students in a multi-million dollar building? That cost is astronomical but we don’t worry about that.”

We can talk about administrative expenses and alleged wasteful spending all we want, when $83 million is being spent modernizing buildings that have relatively few students in them, that’s going to be a financial drain on a school district.

That $83 million could be spent on a bevy of items that could make a difference in the life of students when they leave high school – more teachers to offer more courses to prepare a student for college, teachers for courses that prepare students for a career or even extra-curricular activities that give students who have little desire to be in school in the first place a reason to be excited for a school day.

None of our decisions are made in a vacuum. Money spent on building projects is money we can’t spend in school buildings on programs and staff.

Joe Colosimo sees where the school district’s population and finances are trending. Do the rest of us?