In the News 423 Topic at BPS Board of Education Meeting By Bill Hafer Beatrice Daily Sun. October 10, 2006 A constitutional amendment to limit state spending would leave school districts with few options for dealing with rising expenses, according to some Beatrice Board of Education members. "Basically if you limit growth in spending we would have two choices left, cut programs or raise property taxes," said Mitch Deines, Beatrice Public Schools Board of Education member during Monday's board meeting. During the legislative update portion of the board meeting Deines brought up Amendment 423, a constitutional amendment on the ballot this fall that would limit growth in state spending to the rate of inflation plus population growth. "It's important to understand what the potential impact would be for our local district and local economy," he said. Deines said it's important to get the word out on the potential impact this amendment would have, leaving local school districts with the choice between cutting programs and raising property taxes. Board member Diane Courtney said Colorado passed a similar measure in the early 1990s and suffered at all levels. BPS Superintendent Dale Kruse said that all school districts in the state would be affected by the amendment. "For us, state aid would be reduced," he said. In other business: Facility issues: Learned of facility problems in the district including water damage causing problems with brick facing pulling away from a section of the building at both the middle school and high school, as well as a delay resulting in only one of the three new boilers at the middle school having been installed at this point.