The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Dear Editor,
I have been following the Quill's reportings of the proposed consolidation of schools. I have also read the "Transition Plan Flawed!" letter by Charles Apt. Let me be the first to point out that I am no longer a resident of the La Harpe School District nor do I have children attending any of these schools. However, I believe that sometimes it is helpful to get an honest opinion from people who aren't too close to the situation. I hope to be of assistance with this and thus offer the observations as follow.
Mr. Apt brings up some valid concerns regarding the ability of the Sciota facility to adequately handle 500 high school students in the first year. I sincerely hope that he and others with similar concerns are vocalizing them in a format where they can be heard and addressed. Perhaps an acceptable compromise can be reached. He even suggest leaving "each school where it is for the transition year. That solves all the problems that I have listed." So, it seems that there are no insurmountable barriers here.
The defining issue here, it would seem to me, is one of priorities, missions and goals. Where do you want to go as a family, as a community and as a school district? How can education fit into these goals? What are you willing to sacrifice now for long-term rewards?
Even if students had to put up with limited locker room space and not enough cafeteria seats, would that be worth it if there were substantial long-term improvements to their overall education? Everybody has endured less than ideal circumstances to reach their goals. I don't see this as any different. Some of have, at one point, anyway, learned to diagram sentences to get a high school diploma. Some people have delayed getting something for themselves so their kids could have a toy for Christmas. It all comes down to priorities and goals.
If the reader and/or voter can identify their goals, it should become easier to decide if consolidation is a "yes" or "no" vote. If someone has concern for the future opportunities of their children, I would expect them to vote with a different perspective than someone who is just really worried about whether or no there's enough locker room space available in the gym.
As far as the question of whether or not "the kids were even considered in this decision", I think that this suggestion does not recognize different ideas as equally valid. That could be an unfair misperception on my part, but I think that, in general, people get a lot more done a lot faster if they're working together as a team, rather than trying to undermine confidence in others.
I sincerely hope that La Harpe residents can work together (as I have seen you do before) to accomplish your goals, whatever they may be. I wish you luck with this endeavor and remind you to keep communicating with one another.
Cordially yours,
Tricia R. Owsley
Springfield, IL