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Friday, February 05, 1999     Page:

Forcing a new school on Lake-Lehman by withholding information
   
An article concerning Lake-Lehman Middle School described it as a crumbling
building in bad repair with many expensive problems (Jan. 24). Your reporter
quoted Karen Whipple who stated she was worried something terrible could
happen to the students or staff if the district continued using the
buildingThe middle-school building is not crumbling. It has been checked by
several engineering firms and declared a solid, sound building. The fact that
it is in disrepair is due to purposeful neglect by the administration in hope
of forcing the idea of a new building on the taxpayers. Sewage, air quality
and water problems could have been solved, one at a time, with immediate
action had the administration so chosen. They didn’t.
    Recently one of the taxpayer-friendly board members provided me with a book
that was available to all members of the administration. In this book was
information about government funding for reclaiming and modernizing old school
buildings. None of this information has ever been discussed or disclosed at
the school board meetings. It’s not something the administration wants us to
know. It’s not part of their plan. It would save the district too much money.
   
Mrs. Whipple is not a very good source of information. She always has been
a tax-and-spend board member, more concerned with aesthetics and sports
programs than with our children’s education. She is one of Dr. Price’s puppets
with very few thoughts of her own.
   
If the new building project goes through, what happens to the middle-school
building? There are rumors of making it into an administration building. Don’t
the administration and its bevy of secretaries need bathrooms, good air and
water? Which means we would still end up paying for repairs and remodeling.
Why not benefit our children instead of the administration?
   
With the decline in enrollment and smaller classes just a few years down
the road, it just makes sense to repair and make do with what is available.
   
It will still cost the district to repair and remodel; but with a new
program, a lot more can be done for a lot less. Spending 50 cents instead of
$5 still makes more sense to the budget-minded. The middle school can be
repaired and brought up to modern-day standards both physically and
educationally if the administration wanted to. They don’t.
   
Catherine E. Pauley
   
Noxen