Gee... for a school "operating well below capacity" I'd like to see them fit another student into Kennedy. It's packed. Class sizes are right on par with the rest of the district, and the school boasts almost 400 students-- over 100 more students than Broken Arrow, which is not on the list for consolidation. Or Woodlawn, which has about 180 less students than Kennedy, and 100 less than Hillcrest. Schwegler isn't on the list... it's the same size as Kennedy. So school size/capacity is an arbitrary factor, randomly applied.

The real reason these schools were chosen? Check the voter records. Figure out where citizens (incensed or otherwise) are LEAST likely to vote. You'll find your voter turnout runs right along the school boundaries, and that those schools with lower turnouts? You guessed it. On the list for consolidation. Do you think that those voter turnouts are going to change when the bond issue comes up? Hmm. I don't think so.

And I get chastised for dissy the school district. Just watch what they are up to next.

You will be more than surprised.

All governing bodies should deal with the issues at hand regardless of election cycles. If they follow the same track as our federal officials, government will actually work on real policy about 12-18 months out of every four years. Is this what we want?

Regarding what the public wants, it appears that the general public is not paying very close attention when 13% vote. However, elections have consequences and it will certainly be true in this instance. A well-organized and motivated group that wants to oppose any school closures elected their slate. It may stem the tide of school closings at the expense of the education of all 10,000 students. The fact is that populations shift over time in all communities, and facilities must be closed and expanded appropriately to keep some level of efficiency.

Finally, the idea that Lawrence created this issue through growth is simply misinformed. The state is funding education for K-12 at a level that is pre-2007. As health care costs, wages and general expenses grow with inflation every district is trying to provide an acceptable level of education with less. Funding comes from growth in students. Unfortunately, slow of no growth actually makes it harder to sustain the same level of service. That is why Johnson County (growing fast than all other areas) will escape somewhat unscathed and rural areas will get hit the hardest as enrollment declines.

How much longer do we postpone the inevitable? If you read the Consolidation Committee's report, which is located on the USD 497 web page, it is clear to see that our schools are operating way below capacity. There are far too many extra seats going unused in classrooms. As a taxpayer it is clear to me that this is an inefficient way to operate. Each day that classrooms go unused and buildings are not operating at capacity costs the district money. How long would a business continue to operate if they didn't fully utilize their resources? Why do the people of Lawrence have so much trouble making tough decisions? We can no longer afford to utilize schools that are not filled to capacity.

If Mr. Ingram has read the report, which I hope he has, it is clear to see from enrollment numbers that even this year there are elementary schools in the district where enrollment is down. If you then factor in the loss of sixth graders, as they move to the middle school, elementary enrollment drops again. This is yet another reason we can no longer postpone the consolidation plan.

Finally, I wish that the city commission, school district, Chamber of Commerce and home builders would begin to explore the reason that our school enrollment hasn't been growing. Why are young families choosing to relocate to other communities? What barriers are keeping the city of Lawrence from growing?

USD 497 BOE can talk all they want but let us not forget this is the same board that paid wayyyy too much for a piece of property that had no special purpose according statements made.....

USD 497 pays $1.73 million for new unimproved land. $23,000 per acre and USD 497 officials thought this was a great deal. USD 497 has schools that need serious maintence yet the district chose to blow $20 million on a sports project and buy unimproved land at $23,000 per acre........ not a lot of wisdom demonstrated here.

"Harwood also believes the purchase represents little risk to the district. He said if the district discovers that the site is not well-suited for its purposes, it is likely that the property will draw heavy interest from developers because of its location.

At 76 acres, the site is also large enough that part of the property could be used for a school and the balance could be sold for a profit. An elementary school, for example, generally needs about 25 acres." ( Not a real good reason for USD 497 to buy this property. Games of speculation should be left to Wall Street. - Merrill)

The school district purchased the property from P.D.O. Investors, a Lawrence-based group led by Steve Glass, the former owner of LRM Industries.

I would certainly urge voters to show up at this BOE meeting Monday night April 25 to exercise your rights as the citizens who are paying the bills.

After all contrary to popular belief the USD 497 BOE works for the taxpaying voters not the other way around.

Mark Bradford is wrong on this.

The new thinkers are correct in their request to place a hold on this for another 75 days. It would be a show of respect from existing BOE members if a simple majority of BOE members would call for putting this off for 75 days. That is NOT too much to ask.

Mark Bradford is not a single power unit who can over rule the majority of BOE members.

After all the tax paying citizens elected the new members for a reason so I say let the new members become sitting members before making any further decisions on this important matter.

Let's display some respect for the tax paying citizens of USD 497..... for a change.