In an earlier letter I called Mark Uher a ?“storm crow?”. Whenever Mark starts babbling incessantly about some inane point that, we all become distracted to the point of hysteria. Just when Mark heats up about some dribble, we can be assured that something truly evil is going on somewhere else that deserves our attention. In constantly criticizing the school board, you are killing the messenger. The simple problem is that the school district is overcrowded and lacks sufficient economic base to survive. This problem is getting even worse by the moment. In Pickerington Mayor Postage is leading the charge to save the ?“investments?” of the developers with the result that we now have nearly the same amount of permits issued this year that were issued all of last year. At this rate, Pickerington will be adding over seven hundred homes to the school district this year alone. Violet Township will be adding, if past years are indicative, about another 250 homes. This bring us to about one thousand or, using the school board figures, about eight hundred new students added to schools that are already filled to capacity. As Monty Python used to say, now for something completely different. In Liberty Township a builder whose name won?’t be revealed even to the planning and zoning board at the last public hearing is seeking to obtain a variance from township trustees to the requirement of two acres per residential unit. It would appear that a group led by former Pickerington city council member Jeff Monnebrake and our favorite hometown developer, Daryl Berry, is seeking to construct a new neighborhood with 225 residential units on a hundred acre parcel. Guess what folks; this new development is also within the Pickerington Local School District. If that wasn?’t frightening enough, there are other farms out there in the school district also waiting to be leaped upon by these vultures.
In case all of this isn?’t clear to you, between the efforts of the Pickerington Mayor and his cohorts on city council to protect the ?“investment?” of the developers and the efforts of a former city councilman (and perhaps former Mayor) to develop new filed in Liberty township for residential growth, we will be adding approximately 1200-1300 new homes to the school district (and the end is not even in sight). If we use .8 students per home, this means about a thousand new students. If we use the more realistic figure of 1.2 students per home that occurs in new developments, then we are adding about 1400 new students.
In other words, while all of you are arguing about half day versus full day kindergarten and whether Johhny/Joanie will be able to play basketball, the developers and their cronies in the city government and townships, are taking actions that soon will render that debate pointless. Unless we turn our efforts to stopping growth now the school board debate in the next couple of years will be over whether using word problems in math will count as language arts, allowing us to fire a third of the faculty and whether we can institute ?“pay to participate?” for gym classes.
Each and every one of you needs to stop going to school board meetings and start going to city council and township trustee meetings. As Big Bill use to say, ?“It?’s the growth, stupid?”.
By Robspierre
In case all of this isn?’t clear to you, between the efforts of the Pickerington Mayor and his cohorts on city council to protect the ?“investment?” of the developers and the efforts of a former city councilman (and perhaps former Mayor) to develop new filed in Liberty township for residential growth, we will be adding approximately 1200-1300 new homes to the school district (and the end is not even in sight). If we use .8 students per home, this means about a thousand new students. If we use the more realistic figure of 1.2 students per home that occurs in new developments, then we are adding about 1400 new students.
In other words, while all of you are arguing about half day versus full day kindergarten and whether Johhny/Joanie will be able to play basketball, the developers and their cronies in the city government and townships, are taking actions that soon will render that debate pointless. Unless we turn our efforts to stopping growth now the school board debate in the next couple of years will be over whether using word problems in math will count as language arts, allowing us to fire a third of the faculty and whether we can institute ?“pay to participate?” for gym classes.
Each and every one of you needs to stop going to school board meetings and start going to city council and township trustee meetings. As Big Bill use to say, ?“It?’s the growth, stupid?”.
By Robspierre
