Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 5 · column 3 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
Reader opposes
middle school
To the Editor:
Two items featured in your paper of Jan. 20 caught my interest due to their apparent slant towards an opinion that I do not feel is shared by the majority of your readers.
Firstly, on the front page you headlined a story about the school budget to imply that drastic financial problems were about to beset our schools. However, upon reading the article, I found that the “MAJOR BUDGET SQUEEZE” so shrilly proclaimed by your headline was in fact an amount of approx. $7000, which, when figured as a percentage of the total school board budget ($4.7 mill.), amounted to approx, one sixth of a percent, hardly the type of number one would consider a major problem.
Secondly, I was amazed to find the editorial on page 4 dedicated to the topic of convincing your readers of the necessity of a middle school in Rappahannock. Was there not a public hearing last year on this very, topic where the overwhelming majority of a very large attending crowd voiced the opinion that a middle school was not a viable option in light of the alternative of expansion to existing facilities?
And didn’t the school board sub—v sequently study several options and conclude that an expansion program at the elementary school was the best choice?
Despite these occurences (which I don’t think were my imagination) here we find the Rappahannock News proclaiming that the plan espoused by a very vocal minority is the one to be adopted.
To address some of th£ points made:
-You state that with the expansion, the elementary school would have a minimum of two and probably three vacant classrooms as a contingency for future population growth. Does that not provide a sufficient cushion for a growth that is neither fully expected nor fully supported?
-You state that if the middle school is built, we would have a minimum of 10 vacant classrooms at the elementary school. Can we afford that type of luxury?
-If a middle school is built, then wouldn’t we have to address the state's vocational education requirements for middle schools? And would this lead to a voe. ed. center here in the county? And how much would that cost? And are there any other hidden expenses that a middle school would bring into the taxpayer’s fold?
-Why is building now rather than waiting 10 or even five years (after
84.3%