To the editor:

Closing neighborhood schools is a bad idea. You only have to go as far as Topeka to see the damage done by closing schools. Everyone that could afford to has moved out and away from central and east Topeka, leaving a hole in the middle. Older neighborhoods and homes are now full of drugs and crime. This is an irreversible trend.

I’ve lived in six other cities across the United States and have seen over and over again the damage done by closing small neighborhood schools. We chose to live in Lawrence instead of Topeka because it had not reached this point — every neighborhood in Lawrence seemed to be thriving and healthy. Once you take away the neighborhood school, which is the anchor for most neighborhoods, its health takes a downward turn that can never be corrected.

Is this really what we want for Lawrence? We will be inviting more crime and drugs to our town. You can’t insulate yourself from crime by moving to a different area of town. It takes healthy neighborhoods all over town to keep drugs and crime down.

We need to find better ways to deal with the financial crisis rather than destroy neighborhoods. If the school bond issue passes, it will forever change our city and will affect everyone — whether you have school-age children or not. You might note that none of the five candidates that support the bond issue live in areas where schools are being considered for closure.

Linda Howe,

Lawrence