To the editor:

I can’t imagine what parents are going through who have children at any of the elementary schools that are on the list for possible closing. With a budget deficit of $5 million, there are many tough choices that our school board is going to have to make. There is NO easy solution.

My children attend Sunflower Elementary, which is not on the list. Our concerns are overcrowded classrooms and cutting staff that already is operating at what is considered absolute bare bones. And yet more cuts at each school are inevitable, looking at the numbers.

I feel like the “Save Our Schools” campaign has only served to distract the people of Lawrence from the fact that TOUGH choices will have to be made and that it is more than the parents whose children attend the schools on the list for possible closure that are concerned. We should all be concerned about any of the suggested cuts and the overall impact it will have on the quality of education of our children.

I hate the idea of closing any neighborhood school, but don’t want it discounted if it means cuts to any of the other schools that might have been prevented by closing a building.