I have been following the news in the paper, and I have some thoughts about what can happen to our wonderful school system if the voters ignore what may happen after the votes are counted.

First, I am a retired school teacher, and I taught for many years, all in the state of Montana. I taught pre-first grade, first grade, second grade, and fifth grade. I taught for almost 40 years. It was a rural school district, and many of the kids were bussed into our small town, and back home again, many miles away. I can’t count the number of times a child got sick, and we had a special little “nurses rooms” for a child to wait for someone to take him or her home. And sometimes, the parents could not be reached, and the child would have to go home on the bus, the driver being the only adult.

Second, if I were a parent of a five to 10-year-old, I would be very concerned that my child would be on his or her own for at least an hour with one adult whose job was to drive a bus and get the kids home safely. Asking an older child to be a “helper” is not the answer. They are all just kids on that bus, and can you always count on kids to always know what to do in an emergency? I would say no.

Third, so what will happen to our community school in Ocean Park if it is closed, and all the kids are bussed? It may be sold to a private entity that is geared to tourists, a condominium, or a private business — but nothing to benefit families with children who live here and need a school nearby. What is a town without a school? Everyone who lives up here in Ocean Park needs goods and services, whether we have a school-aged child or not, and keeping those of us who have chosen to live in Ocean Park, needs a school to keep us young! A school is the lifeblood of a small town! We can be a great vacation destination, and still have kids nearby!

On Election Day, my husband and I will be voting for Mark Mansell for the Ocean Beach School Board. We feel he is the most qualified of all the candidates running for the school board.

Here’s why: Before he moved to the Peninsula, Mark was the superintendent of schools in the Vancouver area, and a teacher before that. He is certainly well qualified to be on the Ocean Beach School Board.

My husband is a retired speech therapist, who practiced in Hardin, Montana, and a traveling therapist in almost all of Big Horn County, Montana. I’m a retired elementary school teacher from Hardin, grades 2 and 5. Our son attended all 12 grades in our public schools in Hardin (population about 3,000) and a college graduate! Nothing wrong with small-town schools! Let’s put Mark in charge!

KATHY VALE

Ocean Park