If school board members approve a school without a flagpole, the rest of the flags in the district should be lowered to half-staff in mourning.
The Lawrence school district can't afford to put a flagpole at its newest elementary school?
Please. Do local residents have to take up a collection?
There apparently is a need to reduce costs for the new school, but this really goes too far. Among the "extras" cut from the construction budget was $953 for a metal flagpole. The architect said the district couldn't find any regulation that required a flagpole for the school, so out it goes.
This is too silly. The purchase of most items cut from the school's construction budget -- trees, fences, sidewalks and classroom furniture, for example -- probably is simply being delayed. The same likey is true for the flagpole, but allowing an elementary school to open without a way to raise a flag out front just isn't acceptable.
Perhaps school officials are banking on a parent-teacher organization or some other generous donor providing this "extra" for the new school. That shouldn't be necessary. A place to fly an American flag outside a public school isn't a frill; it's basic. A flagpole isn't an optional item, and acceptance of this cost-cutting measure would give district patrons reason to wonder about board members' common sense and priorities.
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