To the editor:

I am a father of two children who attend Kennedy Elementary, one of the primary schools affected by the consolidating of East Heights/Kennedy and New York Elementary to help ease the $5 million that USD 497 was over budget.

The school board encouraged the patrons of the school to put on fundraisers, but a community deprived of bare necessities has little interest or ability to frugally spend on candies, cupcakes and dunk tanks.

Children with significant social disabilities are being stuffed into classrooms that are overcrowded and understaffed. In a community that has the highest level of poverty and crime, what message is the school board sending to the parents, teachers and, most importantly, the students in this area?

Why are we forcing the poorest population in Lawrence to absorb this debt? With some elementary schools in the district being able to spend on broadcasting stations in the classrooms, I fail to understand why the “poor kids” are told to raise their own money.

The wealthy schools in the district don’t want to let go of their five-star amenities, but the children at Kennedy Elementary shouldn’t have to sacrifice their education.

No school in the district should have more than another — plain and simple. If you donate to one school it should be distributed throughout the district. The parents and students in the Kennedy/New York district are not the ones responsible for the deficit; they should not be the only ones paying for it.