|
|
|
Last
Updated: Jun 19th, 2005 - 20:05:13 |
The Seminole County School Board meeting of Monday, February 9, brought welcome news: the county has abandoned plans to build a new Midway Elementary School on toxic land replete with high levels of arsenic and other pesticides.
Announcement of the news brought exclamations of joy and relief from School Board members upon learning from Deputy Superintendent of Schools George Kosmac that an alternative site had been found.
Wile we applaud the acquisition by the county of a new site for the school, we remains puzzled by the reaction of the School Board members.
It is a bit disturbing that they seemed intent upon using the toxic site until the time that an alternative site became available. Had this alternative site not become available, the question remains as to whether the School Board would have pressed forward with plans to use the toxic site.
Their comments indicate that the only concern that would have prevented them from doing so was the cost factor of cleansing the site to meet acceptable standards. To hear them express such relief, now that another site has been found, at not having to expose children to such dangers seems a bit hypocritical at the least.
Basically, their expressions of relief at now not having to expose children to health dangers indicates that they would have chosen to expose the children to those risks if they felt it was the only option available.
School Board decisions should not be driven solely by economics.
Their main rationale for wanting to use the toxic site was that it was the cheapest land available, and that even with the cost of a cleanup, it would be worthwhile to use. Obviously, the reason the land was offered as a donation was the toxicity levels from its having been a repository of numerous chemicals that have been proven detrimental to a person’s health.
For the School Board to have been willing to expose children to such dangers, and to now express relief at not having to do so, is tantamount to saying, ‘Thank you for saving me from myself.’ It brings to mind the purse snatcher who becomes a hero when he calls to say he has found your purse.
Most disturbing of all is that this incident is indicative of the School Board’s established pattern of behavior.
There are changes coming to Seminole County that raise serious questions regarding this School Board’s ability to deal with them. Until recently, the Seminole County School Board has ridden the wave of the affluence that has symbolized the county overall.
Things are changing now, new problems are arising, and it is no coincidence that with those changes, a change in School Board membership also seems in order. Many of these members have served several terms and many years, and their inability of late to adequately deal with the new challenges shows it could very well be time they moved on.
Our children deserve the best leadership possible from their School Board, and, to be honest, they are not getting that from the current membership. Hopefully voters will start taking note of what is occurring, so that we can elect new leaders capable of handling change, which is taking place and will continue.
Seminole County Watch.com
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
