Awesome!

To the editor:

It’s nice to hear the good of what people do once in a while to offset all the negativity that seems to get to the media. Ivan and Olga Orisek, Ed and Christine Jackson, and many other organizations and volunteers should be commended and recognized for all their effort and long hours that made Rally New York such an awesome event. I enjoyed it even better than Nascar and I can’t wait till the Fall International event!

Answering questions with questions

To the editor:

Closing the Delaware Valley campus is not the answer but closing the “mistake by the lake” should be an option. There’s no guarantee that this double-digit increase won’t occur again next year. In fact, you can bet that it will happen. In my opinion, too much money was put into the high school, which was built on questionable land with inferior contractors.

Board members, administrative staff and Mr. Derry himself have no idea how we got into the situation we’re presently in nor do they have any good ideas on how to get us out of it. It’s been said that we should keep the finger pointing and blame to a minimum. Why?! I believe we should certainly have this investigated. To not do so would be an outrage!

After my parent-teacher conference meeting last week, I had no answers for my seven-year-old son. Where will he be going to school next year? Who will his teacher be? How long will he be on the bus? These are all very basic questions that have yet to be answered.

Mr. Derry, if the Delaware Valley and Narrowsburg campuses close, you won’t be administrating over four campuses any longer–only two will be left. Care to cut your salary in half?

Invest in the community —keep our neighborhood schools open

To the editor:

I am writing in response to the school board’s decision to vote for a budget that will close the Narrowsburg and Delaware Valley Elementary Schools.

First of all, I would like to say that the way the board handled the recommendations from the Community Budget Committee (CBC) was incredible arrogant and a slap in the face to those who served on the CBC board, myself included. The CBC collectively spent hundreds of hours discussing, brainstorming and agonizing over how to deal with the budget crisis before us, just as I am sure you, yourself have done.

Yet, the CBC’s recommendation did not even make it on to the agenda of the April 7 board meeting. Nor was it included as an option to vote on together with options A & C. The public who attended the meeting never got to hear any discussion about the recommendation and seven of you never even mentioned a word about it. The work the CBC did and its final recommendation obviously carried little weight!

The reason most of you gave for voting for option C was that you based your decision on Mr. Derry’s recommendation that consolidating the elementary schools would provide the best education for the children. I must tell you, that during the three long meetings I attended with Mr. Derry, this was never brought up as a reason to close the schools. I also disagree that this notion is true. It may be better administratively to consolidate schools, but it has always been held as gospel that smaller schools and smaller class sizes offer the best opportunity for a superior educational environment on the elementary level.

And what are we offering our kids educationally with this proposed consolidation? Larger class sizes, swapping gym for art, and 20 minutes of French, does not seem like any great improvement. Especially, not when you consider the impact going to school far from their home environment will have on the children and their family. This is certainly no way to create a lighthouse district and I believe closing schools will cause us to lose more students, not attract the families with children we so desperately need. Already, I know of two families who are looking to relocate out of the district, because of the board’s decision.

I believe that it is unfair to let 330 elementary students of our district bear the burden of avoiding having 60-80 students redistricted. Further, it is wrong to not give the community an opportunity to decide if we should close our schools or not. Together we made the decision to merge and it should be up to the whole community, not just nine people, to decide how our school district should proceed in this difficult time.

The impact on the towns of Narrowsburg and Callicoon also cannot be ignored. Commerce will be affected and each town will lose part of their soul. Real estate prices may drop and many people who will lose their jobs, if the schools close, live within these communities.

If any school is going to close, I would suggest that the community that would be the least affected by school closure would be Jeffersonville as we have the potential of renting school space to BOCES at the Jeff-Youngsville school. Commerce would therefore not be affected and local students, who attend BOCES, would be going to school in their own community. Further, that campus would actually produce a yearly income, which Narrowsburg and Delaware Valley will not.

But, really I urge you to find a way to keep the schools open. It is an investment in our whole school district and with all the construction and real estate transactions that are taking place, we will be a lighthouse district in a few years, if we hang on. There are a lot of questions regarding the additional money we are supposedly getting from the state. Please take it upon yourselves to look into this and find out if it is 1.4 million or $200,000 or something in between. And, if it is more that the $200,000 Mr. Derry believes it is, use it to keep the schools open.

There’s two sides to every educational decision

To the editor:

Mr. Derry has stated that closing the Narrowsburg and Delaware Valley schools is in the best interest of the children educationally and makes oversight of that education easier to administer. After speaking with many in education, I have found that arguments can be made on both sides regarding the educational benefits of having three elementary schools vs. one. This district has not studied the effect that such closures will have on our children or communities. Have we not learned from past mistakes that making decisions without fully exploring the ramifications of them can have dire consequences?

Some have also said that the public should not have any say in this matter, as the decision of whether or not to close schools lies wholly within the discretion of the board of education. While that is true, every member of the board is elected by the voters of this district to represent them and be their voice regarding how this district is run. Therefore it is their responsibility to take into account the wishes of those voters in any official decision making concerning the fate of this district. To disregard that which the voters of this district are in favor of is at best insensitive.

Mr. Derry polled the CBC regarding how we felt about school closures many times; for the most part the committee did not want to recommend the closing of any elementary school(s): Narrowsburg, Delaware Valley or Jeffersonville. That is a sign of respect. Respect for the fact that young children need a school close to their home community. This district does not need to have one elementary school to truly become one. What it does need is respect—respect from all sides.

Decimating communities without representation

To the editor:

What right does the Board of Education, along with Superintendent Alan Derry, have to decimate at least five communities without clearly representing them? The seven board members along with Mr. Derry made a rash decision of closing the DV and Narrowsburg buildings for the false sake of saving $639,216 and for the educational value of having all the elementary students in one building. Anything this devastating needs at least a year of careful study to consider what is in the best interest of all.

First, the savings of $639,216 will quickly be eaten up with the additional cost of having to “move” (estimated $200,000), maintaining the two closed buildings, curriculum realignment, the lack of technology hook up that the newly renovated DV building has and the monster of busing for which the district currently pays $2.5 million.

Second, bringing children all under one roof is not as educationally beneficial as they want you to believe. Mr. Derry states “there are no apparent benefits to keeping both schools open” and some of the stated pros of bringing them together can easily be stated as cons with thoughtful consideration:

A larger number of students creates diversity: larger groups also entices exclusion and the development of “cliques.”

More opportunities for grade level meetings: proximity of teachers does not dictate opportunity, time and scheduling does.

More administrative control with the reduction of staff: that amount of children will not be sufficiently serviced with one school nurse.

More numbers in the PTSO: as a continuous volunteer it has been my experience that the larger the number, the less productive and the travel time to attend meetings, school functions, etc. will create a lack of involvement.

Are the Jeff classrooms large enough to hold more students in them as compared to the newly renovated ones?

Will the Special Education and Title 1 students receive the same individualized attention, care and warmth when lost in a larger student body?

Can the school accommodate the multi-age of extra curricular sports of elementary students with the now compromised gym floor of the new high school?

They talk about drop in enrollment for the decrease in state aid, according to the paper a drop was predicted well into the future, so why was a rash decision made to build a new high school without the number of students to occupy it?

I feel we have stepped back in time to a period when the people were taxed without representation. They were voted into the school board to represent us and I feel they have let us down.

Please consider what they are proposing. Vote “no.” Elect a more representative school board. A difference of a two percent increase in their proposed budget and that of keeping the DV and Narrowsburg schools open is less taxing than the devastating effect on our communities, families and children as a whole.

(Editor’s note: Unless the school board opts to reintroduce the higher approximately 23-percent increase budget, a “no” vote, and its triggering of a austerity budget, will simply curtail $80,000 of new equipment spending for the 2005-2006 year. With the decision to put forth the 18.8 percent tax-levy-increase budget, the school board has destined the community elementary schools to close. Electing different school board members can affect next year, but is not likely to affect the school closures. Short of increased money from the state, the April 8 Sullivan West Board of Education decision is a death knell for the Narrowsburg and Delaware Valley campuses. Sorry.)

A people’s victory

To the editor:

Re: The April 19 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) 4-0 ruling upholding federal license # P-10482-065 for continued free and unencumbered public access to the boat launch and recreation area of Toronto Reservoir via Pine Grove Rd. and Town Road 62.

Yesterday’s FERC ruling is a huge victory for the people of Bethel and two of its councilmen, Dick Crumley and Harold Russell, who cast key votes on the town board giving credence to the mounds of submitted evidence exposing an unhealthy and anti-public interest alliance between and among Mirant (the hydroelectric company), Woodstone LLC (the developer of the proposed gated community of The Chapin Estates on the Toronto Reservoir), and the three-member majority on the BethelTown Board.

In denying the Mirant application, on behalf of Woodstone, to close off public access to the reservoir through Smallwood to TR 62, the federal agency unanimously upheld its sworn duty to protect the public’s right to reasonable utilization of the natural habitat against incursions by profiteers, developers and misguided or self-serving public officials.

April 19 was an historic day for the Town of Bethel and all of Sullivan County that will, hopefully, bring closure to this divisive and protracted struggle to keep the public’s domain public. Special thanks go out to the several thousand signees of the Friends Of Toronto Reservoir petitions, the campaign workers who distributed literature door to door, along roadsides and polling places, and the 135 concerned citizens who submitted briefs arguing for the continuance of free and unencumbered public access to the reservoir. Extra special thanks, however, must go to Bob Barrett, who, with the resolute assistance of Mary Anne Burke, exhausted vast amounts of time, energy and personal resources in keeping this issue alive and in full public view in what is now being called the David vs. Goliath struggle for truth and justice.

A final acknowledgement must go to the frontline people at FERC, especially Heather Campbell, Mark Robinson, Housein Ildari, and the staff people who made the treks to Bethel, convened the meetings and sought reasonable solutions to the impasse. Thanks to their efforts, on April 19, justice was served in Bethel.

PTSO supports teachers

To the editor:

Many education leaders suggest that the best way to improve education in this country is to give teachers the status, support, and recognition they genuinely deserve. The George Ross MacKenzie Elementary School P.T.A. agrees.

We are joining National P.T.A. to focus attention on the outstanding work of our public school teachers. Their dedication and expertise form the cornerstone of our nation’s education system. They are there for our children, often under trying circumstances and with less-than-adequate resources and support. Without the hard work of teachers, the scientists, artists, and political and social leaders in this country would not be among the best in the world.

One hundred percent of the teachers in the George Ross MacKenzie Elementary school are members of our P.T.A. and as we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week we thank them for their support, dedication, and service.

The time has come—for chang

To the editor:

The time for change in the management of Palmyra (W) Township has come. The incumbents have had their opportunity to demonstrate their leadership at the township’s helm. To date, their efforts limp along to the mantra of, “It’s all about roads! !”

Well, gentlemen, here’s what it’s all about.

It’s about management, planning and accessibility. It’s about representation, communication and accountability. It’s about responsibility, integrity and honesty. It’s about people, electors, residents, neighbors. It’s about pollution, dust, noise, malodorous smells, blasting. It’s about quality of life. It’s about missing street signs.It’s about storm water projects gone awry. It’s about facing the winter season with impoverished equipment and frozen cinders. It’s about listening...to the concerns of residents and neighbors.

We’re in the fifth year of the 21st century and, gentlemen, you’re acting as if you just learned that Edison invented the light bulb and Bell, the telephone!

The future of Palmyra (W) Township is in the hands of the 700+ voters of our township who know what it’s all about. They’ll tell us with their votes on Primary Day, May 17, our date with destiny.

Elections are about qualifications

To the editor:

What is it about our election process that seems to bring out the worst in people? He said, she said blah blah blah. For the record, I despise the rumor mill. My wife is running for tax collector in Lackawaxen Township. Some people seem to have a real problem with that, and so they say mean things and perform rude actions. Those of you who know her, realize that Annette will not campaign this way. She will not talk badly about someone no matter how they may be. Sure everyone is entitled to their opinions, that is why we have elections, so people can make a choice. But to talk badly about someone in order to try and get votes for your favorite is not right, not in my eyes and not in God’s eyes. Look around people. Have you noticed that there are dozens of people around here all running for tax collectors in other townships? This is a job. It opens every four years. Anyone can apply. My wife has applied for a job. Period. We have two children to support. If someone wants to fault Annette for wanting to work hard for family and her community, then so be it. I can vouch for the fact that she puts in a lot of time at the firehouse and other community and non-profit organizations because that is how she is. She works as hard at these functions as she will at being a good and pleasant to deal with tax collector. She is working hard for her campaign and even that has people upset. To me, the fact that she is so nice, keeps her family’s interest at heart, and works so hard at everything she does, makes her a great choice for tax collector.