To the editor:

The district’s financial shortfall is not going to disappear! It is time to take action to become more efficient and effective in our staffing. If we do not become more efficient and effective, we will see elementary class sizes in the 30s, combination classrooms and a lack of extracurricular activities for students.

As difficult as it may be, we believe it is time to transition East Heights and Centennial students to nearby schools. The $1.4 million saved could then be used to protect the educational opportunities of ALL 10,000 students in the Lawrence public schools. The district has allocated additional resources to schools “at-risk” in the past, and we feel confident that those actions will occur in the future. One of the most important keys to any student’s success is small class size and that becomes impossible to protect in our current configuration of one-section schools.

We also do not believe that the failure of the school bond issue is indicative of the community’s lack of support for school closure. The bond issue was a complicated issue. Many people felt it was just too much money at this time. A more appropriate measure of the community’s feeling about school closings is the board of education election. Two of the four newly elected members are in support of closing schools. With the three continuing members who already have voiced their support for closings, the board that will be in office after July 1 would still form a majority, and thus, favor proceeding with those closures.

Deb Passig,

Millie Emerson, co-chairs,

Quail Run Site Council