To the editor:

Do we need to save Cordley School because Lawrence School Board member Austin Turney can’t stand to give up his Alma Mater? What part of this process should he be involved in? If he can’t vote impartially, then he should abstain from voting.

I guess before Mr. Turney was elected, we all should have asked him which schools he attended. We’d know then whether we wanted him on the board after all. Remember him? He said he was opposed to closing schools, he just didn’t say which ones he was opposed to closing. If I have to pay high taxes, I agree with Adrian Melott that Centennial is a much safer place for our children to be. Cordley is out of necessary space to expand, while there is a lot of area for needed expansion at Centennial. Let’s not forget to mention the high volume of traffic that passes by Cordley on Kentucky and 19th streets. Shouldn’t the safety of our children come before saving the alma maters of school board members? Mr. Turney has no children to try to drop off in front of Cordley.

I would like to know why it is impossible for Lawrence High School to use the soccer fields just up the street on 19th Street that are owned by Kansas University. LHS could pay a user fee as is already done to use Haskell for football games. The field that the LHS Band practices on could possibly be used, and using it would be better than tearing down Centennial. This field would then get the care it takes to make it safe for members of the LHS band as well as our athletes. Before improvements were made in 2000, the field was not maintained properly and was the source of complaints.

If it takes making the proposed bond issue fail, I say let’s get together and make sure it fails. That may be the only way any of us can get the message through to the school board that they are not responding to the needs of the community.

Marsha L. Pomes,

Lawrence