To the editor:

This is for Holly (J-W 11-6-02, 6B) of LAHS. Please don’t let the callous words of one curmudgeon affect your self image and pride as an LAHS student! You need to know that most of the people in this community care about and are supportive of the children here ” ALL the children. We care about you and your classmates, and the pain you felt upon reading those unfair and unkind words.

Whether or not LAHS gets funded for a new building, please don’t take it personally. There are many schools slated for changes in the board of education proposal. It’s just that some of the proposed changes are not acceptable. These include the closing of certain neighborhood schools, while at the same time allocating money to build new facilities, including a new LAHS. The BOE “close-here, build-there” proposal pits those who stand to lose from this proposal (children and families deprived of their neighborhood schools) against those who stand to win (recipients of new facilities and improvements). You would agree, I’m sure, that no child should lose with the changes we make.

In this context, you can see that, while many might oppose the building of new facilities, including LAHS, it is not because they don’t want you and your classmates to “win.” It’s because, in accepting the proposal to build new facilities, other kids will “lose.” We need to come up with a proposal that will allow a “win-win” outcome for all the kids of our community.

Sharon Dewey,

Lawrence