Letter: Insist on school district accountability

Published 8:21 am Monday, February 5, 2024

Hey, we go again folks!

Our failed school board has again neglected to plan for the future. They knew full well that two levies were expiring this year and what did they do to prepare themselves for the possibility that they would be defeated? Absolutely nothing! When I asked Superintendent Amy Huntley at a local business meeting, what was the school board’s contingency plan should these levies fail at the ballot box, she admitted that they had no contingency plan. When pressed for an answer, she stated that cuts would have to take place, and when I pressed even further as to where/what departments would suffer, the answer was the children’s activities such as athletics. So, to be clear, the children will suffer because of their failure to plan for the children’s educational future. That is really sad, folks!

I ask you to please take a look at what Resolution No. (2-2023-2024) funds are being used for: (And I quote) “…fund programs and operations not funded by the state’s basic education funding….” I repeat, basic education funding which includes in their listing, classroom materials. Really? Chalk, pencils and paper are not “basic” materials? Another is student athletics and activities. For one, kids need to get out and play — they need to release their inner need to run and play, they are children. Secondly, these activities provide for building strong, healthy bodies instead of sitting around building fat cells.

Instead of cutting programs, how about we cut salaries, pensions, and health plans? Ouch! That will hurt, but hurt who? Certainly not the kids. Oh, there are those who will argue that if we cut the salaries, the teachers will quit. Excuse me? Are not the students the teachers first priority? Is that not why one becomes a teacher, to teach, or is it simply to better themselves at the taxpayers’ expanse. If it is for the latter, then say good-bye to bad rubbish! I want teachers who will step it up a notch or two and put the children’s needs in front of their own. I want a board and a superintendent whose number-one priority is to plan ahead, build a budget that promotes learning and that protects the children’s best interest, not big business. Big business?

Yep! Take a look at Resolution No. (3-2023-2024) all big business. Do you see anything about the education of our children in that resolution? It is all about dumping more money down the black hole of technology. By the way, the security they are speaking about is not school grounds security, it is cyber security. I do not know about you, I prefer educated children who can think and reason for themselves without the use of a “PCD” (Personal Control Device or what is commonly referred to as a cell phone). I want children who have actually learned how to count back change when paid for an item in cash, not simply hand you back a wad of money not knowing if it is correct or not. I want children who can create and write a term paper without the use of a PCD. I want children educated on how to actually use a dictionary to learn how to spell and know the meaning of the words coming out of their mouths or being written on their papers. I want children who know what happened on Dec. 7, 1941, June 6, 1944, and Sept. 11, 2001. I want children to understand life, sacrifice, love, humility, respect, and honor. They need to understand at an early age that not everyone gets picked for the team, and not everyone gets a trophy. I want children to understand that it is alright to push the envelope, to take the chance to see if the grass is really greener on the other side of the wall and not to simply accept it because someone or the PDC said it was.

I am pleading to your inner self, the child within you, to take a good hard look at the issues. We need to stand together for the kids, to see they get the education they deserve, to respect the country they live in, to honor and respect those who are here to help them achieve their goals in life. Children learn from examples, so let’s make an example of the school board. Force them to achieve a balanced budget they can educate within, without simply kicking the proverbial economic can/resolution down the road in hopes the measure passes. Let it be us who sets the example. Let it be us who sets the bar just a bit higher. Let it be our school board who demonstrates the art of educating our children within a balanced budget.

Vote!

Many an American paid the ultimate sacrifice for you have that privilege to do so. A good educational system will assure that is never forgotten!

JOSEPH S. NATOLI

Ocean Park