Skool Daze

So the local school board, in their infinite wisdom, decided last fall to close down our neighborhood elementary school. The school right down the street from us. The school Abra would start at in a month's time, and Thalia two years from now.

When the school board started the process of deciding which school to close, they stressed community involvement in the issue. They would hold open forums, ask for community feedback, look at the financial picture, etc. And then make a reasoned decision based on all these factors.

What a crock.

The board took two schools off the board right off the bat, for reasons which still remain unclear. Then when both the financial models and the community input pointed towards other schools for closure, suddenly, magically, the school board produces a new document saying our school, Coventry, needed another two million dollars worth of repairs.

And then they voted to close it.

And a week afterwards, that repair estimate gets quietly "revised" to about a tenth that cost.

What a scam. There's more -- including the school board violating sunshine laws, lying under oath, predetermining the decision, etc -- but I'm too disgusted with the whole situation to type it all out. If you want to hear more, go to the OPEN blog. And while you're there, think about donating to the OPEN fund.

But it gets better -- now the school board is asking us to support a new levy. And therein lies the point of this post.

I have lived here for ten years, without children until the last six months. And every time a levy vote came up, I voted for it, despite the fact that I had no kids and, for a long time, believed I would never have kids. But I believe in public schools, and have supported them at every turn. They are a critically important part of a community and deserve our support. And afters years of supporting my local schools, I now find myself with children of my own to use the neighborhood elementary school --- and they close it down in the most duplicitous manner.

And now they ask me for more money.

I wish I could give it directly to the individual schools, to buy books, to renovate buildings, to transport the kids. I wish I could give it to the teachers, to get paid competitive salaries, to buy supplies for their classrooms. I wish I could give it to the students, so they could buy notebooks and pencils and play in music groups and sports teams.

But I can't. The money I give isn't ultimately managed by the schools, or the teachers, or the kids -- it's managed by the school board. And I don't trust them to make honest, ethical decisions to help the schools. Not after this. And I'm not giving them my money, or at least not my support on the levy.

So here's my promise: if this school board resigns, I will support the levy in full. Without that, you're not getting my vote. And I'm not alone in that -- I have talked to many people who say the same thing. Long-time public school supporters, levy supporters, who now are unable to trust this school board.

So, to the CH/UH school board: support the schools by resigning your position. Or go ahead and try passing the levy without Coventry. Your choice. But if you opt for the latter, good luck with that. I think you'll be in for a surprise.