We here in BG are once again, at a crossroads. We can continue to fight, argue and draw lines in the sand against our neighbors; or we can come together and support a plan that much thought and revision has gone into. The elephant in the room is, school funding in the State of Ohio is broken. It is my opinion; the entire system of school funding needs to be assessed and reconfigured. But, because this ends up being a Republican/Democrat, finger pointing issue either side will not work together to fix the system. Which leaves the localities to figure out how to work things out themselves.
The BG school board has done due diligence finding the right plan for our community. Not once, but three times now. Rebuilding that plan twice to suit community member needs, as they were asked and concentrating work on the elementary school. They also were asked and figured out a better way for the funding of this plan to not leave the burden on one sector. All while, the kids in our community wait, and the teachers trudge along teaching in buildings that are not conducive to learning in our modern age, and construction costs rise. Student & Staff safety is becoming more of a prevalent issue and it is something that needs to be addressed. Retrofitting safety devices in old buildings that we can’t even properly heat & cool, I feel is a waste of money. It is also not the fault of the current board & administration that these schools have fallen in such disrepair. I once worked at Conneaut, and saw the lengths the custodial & repair staff needed to go to keep Conneaut up & running, constant fights with the boiler system, etc. They did their best with the resources they had. My last year at Conneaut was 17 years ago, so I can only imagine how bad it has become. I worked there as a paraprofessional and I had to assist children on IEP’s in hallways, school stage or make-shift rooms made from closets. This didn’t help those students with their needs or the students around them. Confidentiality? Forget about it. If my kiddo was having a bad time there wasn’t a place he/she could go with me to address their struggle. Everyone saw, every heard, everyone knew. That is not the way it should have been. These were issues that two past superintendents and many board members had the chance to fix, and either couldn’t or chose not to.
It is my opinion, that no matter what levy goes up before voters, certain individuals in this community will vote “no” not because they can’t afford it, but because they just don’t want to support schools. Sadly, I guess they have that choice. They had their public education, and their kids were/are educated here in the public school system and they are done. Not paying it forward, leaving kids in sub-standard facilities and blocking any good that anyone else is trying to do, they have the right and opinion to do so, but it’s a shame that some chose that direction.
It is my opinion that, some are rallying behind the neighborhood school idea under false pretense, skewing the view of neighborhood schools vs. consolidated elementary even further. Now I fully understand that there is concern with the size of the building. The philosophy of this new building is “schools within a school” if we give it a chance, it makes sense and it works in other communities- why can’t it work here? I also feel that the number of children in a building, doesn’t matter as much as the number of children in a classroom. We’ve been one way for so long, people just can’t see how another way could work. It’s also my observation of traffic congestion at drop off & pick up time at these elementary schools, a great number of students are bussed due to the size of our district, or parents/day care vans transport children to & from school for necessity or convenience. Is it better for overall wellbeing, that kids walk to school? Of course!! But in our community, it seems that isn’t what is happening. Does it make sense to sacrifice the benefit for some rather than making improvements for all to benefit on many different levels. Absolutely not.
It is my opinion, that this community school is the best plan, to even out class sizes, to provide modern amenities and securities in our school building that other communities have in their community school. Classrooms within the community school could be modified if maybe, for example, a particular year there’s an exceptionally larger second grade class, that needs maybe an extra classroom (going from 5 -6, for example)- then as that class goes through- proper adjustments could be made within a building, rather than changing and shifting kids from building to building (this was proposed as “realignment” back a few years when Dr, Caumartin was superintendent. BG voters didn’t want that option then, as it took children out of their neighborhood school and put them all over town from time to time. The community school would be located in the proposed location where I feel, the bulk of our city population resides.
Vote how you feel is best, but PLEASE get your own information, ask our neighboring community members how they feel about their community school. If all but one of our neighboring districts have moved to this model, and the one that didn’t is now struggling itself. Maybe we need to take this as a sign to make the change while we can. Stop fighting with each other on social media like children and figure this thing out to finally help our community children. Also, make sure your School Board candidate choices support your intent on this issue and make sure you know why.
I appreciate your time & consideration. Go Bobcats!
Shari Beeker
Bowling Green
