Dear Editor:
We live in the country and it’s been long accepted that our kids
must travel quite a distance to get to town. It’s part of living in
the country. It’s been long accepted that, since we are in the
country, we can’t always get bussing for our kids to get to schools
in town.
Dear Editor:
We live in the country and it’s been long accepted that our kids must travel quite a distance to get to town. It’s part of living in the country. It’s been long accepted that, since we are in the country, we can’t always get bussing for our kids to get to schools in town. When you make a conscious choice to live in the country, issues like this are a given. People who choose to live in the country have an expectation that they must travel to town for most services and community resources. Again, it’s part of living in the country.
Since when did part of living in town involve driving to the country for services? Is the school board SERIOUS when they think the people from town will want to drive to the country just to get their kids to school?
If a person lives too far inside the city, will bussing to the school then be unavailable like it often in the reverse case (ie. as it is for country kids going to schools in town)?
If I lived in town, I’d expect my amenities and services to be located in town as well. Living in town, for many, is as conscious a choice as deciding to live in the country and with that choice comes some basic expectations.
If I lived in town (and I’ve lived in both places), I’d want my community resources to be conveniently located. If I wanted to drive for miles to avail myself of services and community resources, I’d move to the country.
Isn’t walking a mile in another’s shoes part and parcel of the planning process in any endeavor? Shouldn’t all angles be considered? What happened to the notion that public facilities should serve the greater good? Where’s the logic of a public school located on the outskirts of town when the majority of people live IN town?
It sounds like the school board plans to serve some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time. How messed up is that?
Shouldn’t local business also benefit from the placement of the school? I see lots of community benefit in having a high school located near where kids can stop and buy a snack or school supplies or whatever else might earn their dollars on their way to and from school.
These local sales tax dollars benefit our entire community and statistics show that teens have quite of lot of disposable income. The way I was raised in business is there’s no such thing as a good deal that doesn’t involve a win-win. I was taught that the more people who win in a deal, the better the deal.
The school board’s failure to address the public’s needs on this issue doesn’t look like a win for anyone but certain members of the school board and select segments of the community. What does the school board stand to gain by ignoring the greater good to push this forward? Will we find out when it’s too late to do anything about it … when pockets have already been lined?
They say hindsight is 20/20. I sincerely hope we don’t have to wait until the opportunity to act has passed us by in order to see clearly on this issue.
Cynthia Clinton, Gilroy
Submitted Monday, June 16 to ed****@************ch.com
