WOODRIDGE SCHOOL LEVY
The May 24 issue of the West Side Leader included an article "Woodridge Board Contemplated Finances at their May 15 meeting."
That meeting must have been depressing to them, because our fiscal "emergency" certainly is depressing.
This article contained more smoke and mirrors which concluded with that if we just approve the levy, everything will be fine. The article projected a deficit of 2.7 million dollars in 2020, and increasing deficits after that.
It also said that "several years ago, the state passed a phase out of the authority to tax personal property owned by businesses, primarily business equipment and inventory."
"Since then, the state has provided transition aid that decreases each year." The transition aid ends altogether in 2020.
Knowing this, why did our school board embark upon scrapping two usable schools, namely Woodridge Intermediate, and Woodridge Primary, and then construct an all new campus that we could not afford?
The schools they scrapped were presumably paid for, and they were sound enough that Cuyahoga Christian Academy and Summit Christian purchased them.
Please ask yourself "Is it the building that teaches, or is it the teachers that teach?"
It is, of course, the personal connection between teacher and student that matters.
The recent firing of twelve teachers was a desperate move to threaten us, and save face. It was the worst possible way to save money.
We need to ask ourselves if an extraordinary teaching prospect wants to come to Woodridge, given the track record of our school administration and board.
The voters have twice turned down the proposed "emergency" levy, and they recognize that our present school board and administration are part of the problem, not part of the solution.
| Marty and Marilyn Griffith |