In last week’s Leader, a story was published regarding a mailer that was sent out to approximately 8,100 Oxford High School alumni seeking donations to help pay off the $300,000 private debt associated with football field’s blue turf.
After it was published, Jim Reis, who’s president of the Turf Committee and serves on the Oxford Board of Education, notified the newspaper there were multiple inaccuracies in the story.
In the interest of fairness to the Turf Committee and the Leader’s desire to be as accurate as possible at all times and present all sides of an issue, we are allowing Reis to set the record straight.
According to Reis, the district will not be reimbursed the money spent on the mailers because the schools? didn’t spend any money on them. ‘The invoice (from the printer) will be sent to the district offices made out to the Oxford Football Club,? he wrote in an Aug. 29 e-mail.
In a Sept. 3 phone interview, Reis indicated he received the bill from the printer and it was $1,035. The printing was done by a company called PrintMasters, based in Madison Heights. ‘Nothing was printed from the district offices, using school equipment,? Reis wrote in his e-mail.
‘Money cannot be reimbursed (to the district for the mailer) because the district has not paid a dime,? Reis wrote. ‘The bill comes to Oxford Community Schools and is paid by the football club.?
The Oxford Football Club is a private, nonprofit entity.
Reis also explained that ‘the school district did not mail the post cards from district offices? as originally reported.
‘Mailing services, including valid address check, printing the addresses on the cards, bundling and delivery to the post office will be included on the invoice from the printer,? he wrote.
As far as the actual mailing process, Reis indicated ‘it was more economical to use the school district’s (bulk mail) permit.?
‘The Oxford Football Club has permission to do so,? he wrote. ‘The school district has extended the same courtesy in the past to other groups, such as PTOs.?
Reis told this reporter the Football Club will be paying for the postage as well. He received an invoice for $1,178 from the school district.
Reis noted ‘the design and employee hours? that went into creating the flyer ‘were donated.?
‘The school district taxpayers did not pay for employee resources,? he wrote. ‘The only things provided by the school district were the alumni list and use of the bulk mail permit.? ? CJC