Dear Editor,

This new bond the board wants passed, asking for more money ... why? So they can build and then tear down without the vote of the people, like the pool? And how did the pool deteriorate to the point it couldn’t be saved? No one paying attention or just wanted to be rid of it? Most people probably don’t know, but this small community at one time ran the second longest, uninterrupted Red Cross swim lesson program in the nation. Quite an accomplishment for a small town that depended on volunteers. They don’t come better than Lloyd and Grace Engel when it came to loving and serving children.

A great example of spending and building just for the sake of doing it was in 2006. Several new classrooms and other buildings were completed at Van Allen to eliminate overcrowding at Dent. This was the same year Dave Mantooth became superintendent. He boasted about this as an accomplishment in his retirement speech. Problem ... boundaries were never redrawn and no Dent students were transferred to Van Allen at the time of his retirement ... in 2010, at least four years later! What was being done with the additional classrooms we were paying for? When Collegeville reopened it was utilized as soon as the building was ready. When the new gym, pool, Dent addition, etc., were built they too were utilized immediately. Why was Van Allen treated differently?

At a recent board meeting Ms. Powell seemed surprised at how well this community supports our students fundraisings. For as long as I’ve been here it always has. Businesses, even when the district turned their back on them, continued to support and fund our children as well.

Question, don’t be sheep. Time for our children and money in our pocket can only be spent once, spend both wisely.

Grace Joyce