The Shadow
Dear Editor,
As a lover of humanity, a believer in democracy and a former pupil of the Alleghany County School System, I write to express my bewilderment at the decision of the school board to hold a vote on Tuesday to close either Boiling Spring and Sharon or Boiling Spring and Falling Spring.
I understand that schools cannot be run without funding. I understand that cuts to the education budget have been made since 2009. I also understand that public officers are supposed to be guided by the will of the people that they represent.
I applaud the school board for holding public hearings and work sessions over the past few weeks on the topic of school closures. Community input and transparency were lacking in the decision last year, and these forums have allowed for public input this time around. However, I am deeply troubled that after listening to this testimony, the school board has still decided to close schools.
The people of the Alleghany County community have spoken; they are against school closure. It proceeds anyway. What were the public forums for if the people’s representatives on the school board were going to move ahead with school closures regardless of their constituents’ opinions?
When you truly want something, you do whatever it takes to obtain it. If that means the school board cuts needed items from the budget to keep schools open, they do it. If that means the board of supervisors reaches into their reserves to keep schools open, they do it. The citizens of Alleghany County have done their part; they spoke out and expressed the need for each community school. Why hasn’t the school board and the board of supervisors done their part in obtaining what the community truly desires – to keep all schools open?
The school board vote on Tuesday shouldn’t be on whether to close Boiling Spring and Sharon or Boiling Spring and Falling Spring. It should be a vote on what critical areas of the budget can stand to have a bit of trimming. The board of supervisors should be arranging to vote on what funds they can provide to the school system to prevent the school closures. This is what the community is asking for.
If public officers aren’t in place to carry out the will of their constituents, why do their positions exist?
Government does work, if we let it. The people expressed their will to the officers who represent them; the question now remains if the public officers of Alleghany County will follow their mandate in listening to the people that they represent.
With continued faith in the Alleghany County community,
Ashlee Warren
W. 75th St.
New York, N.Y.
