Dear editor:
I was at the public school board meeting on June 4th and was listening to what the board's ideas were. They sounded really good on paper but they are ignoring all the what-ifs. Now I realize that if you never do anything in life because of the what-ifs you won't go anywhere. That's true but you can't ignore all the what-ifs one gentleman said.
If you worry about the what-ifs, we will never accomplish anything. Well, when you are talking about millions and children's education you have to take the what-ifs and then plan for them.
The whole meeting, they were talking about how great an idea this is but they never talked about a back-up plan. This is negligent. They're cutting corners, closing down schools to save money and lessen costs but at what cost? They're looking at dollar signs, not the education.
They said that student attendance was down, but do they know why? They did all these studies for the renovations on the few schools they're leaving open and how busing would impact the students, but they never did any studies on why the students are dropping out of school or why parents are pulling their kids out of the Warren County School District, because if they did they would find that it's not because we don't have brand new schools or because they condensed the amount of schools. It's because of the bullying the senior projects because the lack of willingness to do everything in the school's power to help out the students that have circumstances or obstacles in their life, like some students live on their own and working and trying to make it instead of saying let's try to help you students here.
Well, sorry about your luck but if you don't do this or can't come to school then you won't graduate. So, how about instead of closing most of the schools and spending millions on renovations they should focus on how they can fix the issues of students' attendance. Spend the money on the schools we have already; add some security if need be and make the students and the parents more comfortable and safe to go to school in Warren County.
Also I am urging more parents to attend the meetings. Tonight there was only a handful of people there. It's too easy for the school board to make decisions like these, because there isn't enough people to stop it. So parents and students need to attend. If there are more people that come and speak up, it's harder for the school board to make decisions like these.
Gavin Blum
Clarendon