To the editor:
Tim Carpenter's recent article, which speculated that the Christmas Day fire that engulfed a portable classroom at Hillcrest Grade School might be a "hate crime," smacks of sensationalism and lacks even a shred of credible evidence. It could just as easily have been bad wiring in a 20-year-old "temporary" classroom or a random act of arson. The real story is that our school district has used these stopgap firetrap trailers for over 30 years instead of facing the fact that Lawrence is growing and we have had no comprehensive plan in place to deal with it!
These portable classrooms have sprouted prolifically in our oldest and newest schools all over the district. Some (including one of THREE at Hillcrest) are 35 years old. We should be appalled that a neighborhood school is nicknamed "Hillcrest Hillbillies" by some nearby residents. The Lawrence Alternative School is nothing more than a makeshift assembly of vinyl-sided trailers, and our school board just sold a potential remedy (the former Service Center) at below replacement value! As I reminded the school board several years ago, this is not Appalachia, friends, it's Lawrence, Kansas. It's time the community, our school leaders and local legislators face the fact that we have a continuing need for educational facilities that keep up with our growth. The Journal-World should be concentrating on that story, not conjuring one up from wide-eyed speculation. Good grief!
John Esau,
Lawrence
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