Dear Editor:
I am writing to offer some relevant questions and comments regarding both the planned construction of a new consolidated high school, and the proposed related bond issue.
First, I would like to point out that in the recorded message by Mr. Cowart posted on the SCSD website, he notes that within the SCSD system in the last ten years, there has been a “consistent and significant decline” in attendance. This begs an obvious question: if attendance has declined, why are new facilities needed?
The decline in attendance noted by Mr. Cowart is a trend that will continue. The older generation represented by most of the current school board may not realize it yet, but public education is in decline due to cultural changes, not the least of which is due to much of the younger generation’s realizing that public schools are essentially government indoctrination camps designed to produce subjects, not free citizens. The modern trend of the construction of large, expensive school buildings is the educational equivalent of a developer building an indoor shopping mall like Northpark or Metrocenter. When much of the current school board are in the grave, those who remain will be stuck paying for their boondoggle, which will be mostly empty, peopled by an option-less minority of school children, while their more fortunate contemporaries will be educated mostly online, in small parochial or private schools, or in home-school type settings.
In the brochure on the SCSD website, an argument is made that somehow, magically, new facilities will result in better educational outcomes. This is a specious argument, despite the referenced studies that purport otherwise. There are millions of families across the country producing top-notch scholars from their humble kitchen tables. Our forefathers in this county had their children educated in simple country schools. Laurence Jones started Piney Woods School teaching children in a shed. The Piney Woods campus is still very basic and somewhat run-down compared to many modern public schools, but their educational outcome is still better than that produced by the average public education system.
The current members of the SCSD board are acting like petty tyrants. They have made the current unpopular decisions based on recommendations by a consultant group with vested interest in the cause of building new buildings. While this group may not be currently involved, their propaganda apparently stuck. Architects specializing in educational buildings produce such gobbledygook as “paradigm shifts” repeated by Mr. Cowart in his recorded message. These people do not have the interest of the taxpayers at heart, but only their own profits and architectural vanities. The SCSD has hired one of these firms to spend our money. While I am sure this firm is reputable and competent, I can assure my fellow taxpayers that architectural firms’ primary interest is in profit, like any business. What we can afford is not their problem. Further, because of current rampant inflation, cost over-runs are almost certainly guaranteed for the project, despite allowances for such within the stated budget. The board will then demand another adjustment to the millage rate to pay for the additional cost.
While some taxpayers in the county, like some of our school board members, live in veritable mansions, the average property owner in the county lives in a simple home, perhaps in a mobile home, or in a decades old house. We are used to “making do.” The school board, and the big shot architectural firm from the coast, wants us to pay for a new school building that is completely out of character for the residents of this county.
Their sales brochure states this plan will provide an economic benefit by increasing the value of houses. This is only good for realtors and speculators. For families who need an affordable place to live, the last thing needed is higher house prices. This sales tactic is yet another example of how the board is out of touch with the working taxpayers of the county.
Further, within the last several years, we have been forced to spend millions for new football field houses for both Mendenhall and Magee. Now we are being railroaded into spending tens of millions more for new athletic facilities. There was a time when extras like athletic facilities were paid for by fundraisers and booster clubs. If Mr. Cowart and his allies believe these facilities are so important, they should raise the money themselves and not force the rest of us to pay for them. An extra $1,000 or so per year in taxes may mean little to them, but an extra $200 per year in taxes is an undue burden for many citizens.
To add insult to injury, the school board informs us that these decisions are already made, and that they will have their way whether we approve the bond issue or not. They unashamedly tell us that if we don’t approve the bond issue, they will force the county to raise the millage rate. This is like telling us we have two choices – gas chamber or lethal injection. We have no real choice left.
There is an important lesson here – do not elect school board members who assure us how much they care about the children and the county. Elect board members who vow to keep cost down and not raise our taxes.
On March 29th, vote “NO” on the bond issue. At the next election, vote out the current school board. We may be stuck with the new consolidated high school, but we are NOT stuck with these people.
Ray Floyd
