A bad word

In the latest issue of the Community Free Press I wrote a story about the upcoming Springfield R-12 bond initiative. The district wants to raise money for air conditioning and other projects by extending its debt service levy.

The district is also, as Jackie Melton points out, hoping to secure federal stimulus dollars, which will be added to the overall construction funds once the bond measure has passed. As Jackehammer notes in her post, that money is not guaranteed.

My story was one I worked hard on, struggled with, but felt good about. Unfortunately, it is not without error. You see, I found the mistake after being bothered by a word in the ballot language box and re-read the story. In the second paragraph of that box, it reads:

If this question is approved, the District’s debt service
levy is protected to remain unchanged at the current levy
of $0.51 per $100 of assessed valuation.

You can see the second paragraph of the actual ballot language on the sample ballot here. Do you see the mistake? I copied the ballot from a fax the County Clerk's office sent me before the ballot was online.

I wrote "protected to remain unchanged" when the actual language is "projected to remain unchanged." And I never caught it.

I want our readers and SPS to know that I regret this error. It was unintentional. I will make sure we run a correction in the next issue.

It's one word. One letter, actually. But it was wrong, and it does make a difference. I spent a lot of time on that article, and I hate thinking that any part of it could be wrong. I thought you should know.