Riverside decision the wrong choice
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December 14, 2012 |
The audacious hypocrisy of a public school board
insuring that they will fund a school for
another school year, then voting to close it
mid-year, with only six weeks' notice leaves my
mouth hanging open!
At the June 12, 2012, board meeting, Mr. Conley
stated that, “the students are the most
important." Then, six months later, turns 180
degrees with a knee jerk reaction to a
star-rating system that gives five options for
low rating schools, NOT one!
Our board admits their own confusion to this
system.
There are 99 schools in our state with the same
five options. Why are we the only district
closing our school?
What an embarrassment!
Education is proven to keep our prison rates,
welfare rates and crime rates down.
How then can any sane person possibly think that
it will be in the best interest of these 26 kids
to be placed in a “large” (20’x20’) classroom
together with four teachers teaching four
different subjects?
Subsequently, this will jeopardize their
education!
These are already “at-risk” kids, meeting the
state criteria for admission into an alternative
school setting. Many of these kids have a hard
time in larger classroom settings, thus creating
the need for an alternative setting.
If "the students are the most important,”
shouldn’t our school board be looking at the
other options?
These students have already expressed their
intent to drop-out, thus lowering our district
enrollment further!
It is simply outrageous to throw a closure
unexpectedly at these high risk kids in
mid-year. This board is not considering the
immense negative impact this will have on all 26
childrens' emotional health and education.
As a voter, a tax payer and a parent of five
kids enrolled in this district, I am outraged at
the idea of closing yet another school because
of a lack of desire to improve our kids’
education.
Riverside School is giving teens a good place
and keeping them off of our streets, out of
crime. I fear the day we decide to close all of
our schools down “because they did not perform
well enough on a test!"
I would say it is time to show our children how
to rise up against dishonest, un-kind elected
officials! Maybe if we as parents all write to
this board, they will reconsider this disastrous
decision and keep our schools ALL open …
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Amanda Fairchild
Bonners Ferry |
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