To the editor:

While watching the school board meeting on Monday evening, I was struck by the overwhelming perception that most of the board had paid little or no attention to the alternative budget prepared by the Save our Neighborhood Schools group. Prepared by accountants, business school professors and other experts, this document shows ways to come up with the required savings without closing schools and increasing class size by only one.

Instead, the board relies on data compiled by the bloated administration located in their ridiculously overpriced, underutilized palace on McDonald Drive. In an exercise, much like asking elected officials to enact meaningful campaign finance reform, they have come up with a budget that sacrifices education, neighborhoods and community values in favor of maintaining their domain.

The SOS group should be allowed to give a 15-minute presentation of their comprehensive plan at a board meeting without it being chopped up into three-minute sound bites. There were many impassioned, emotional speakers at the meeting, but it will be sound, logical numbers that will solve our school’s problems, not just angry, frightened parents.

In fairness to the taxpayers of our community, these well-thought-out alternatives should be given a public airing, so there can be discussion of choices before a possibly community crushing decision is reached.