SPEAKOUT

School board must make tough choices

WHEN I first came to town, the Board of Education was involved in budget reductions. This was the first of two budget reductions the last few years. There were some tough decisions to be made but that board was up to the task. The second round of reductions was just a few years ago. I remember them more because I had children that these reductions affected. In fact, these reductions brought out more candidates for the school board that spring than in the previous several elections. Now we come to this year. We have been a hold-harmless district for about three years. The board has known about the possible future shortfalls in our budget since the time we were declared hold harmless. This evidently has had no effect upon financial decision making. This present situation did not just happen all of a sudden. Why didn't the present board do something about it before now? Why did they continue to spend money they knew was going to run out before too long? Why are they afraid to make difficult decisions? Why are they looking for someone to blame when it all could have been avoided with the use of responsible financial management? I realize that they are getting to work on it now, but isn't it kind of late? Sometimes difficult decisions must be made. This is why we elected these people. I find it rather ironic that just a few years ago there were a few parents who took the board to task about spending money carelessly. Board members quit. Others refused to run. One even took his name off the ballot. This was all over a few hundred dollars. Where is this group of parents now? It is time for this board and the administration to stop making decisions just because they are popular and start making the tough decisions it takes to run this school district properly. I'm thankful we are getting new schools. We need them. But what we need more are BOE members and administrators who are responsible to the constituency that they serve.