To the editor:

Others have written and spoken beautifully about the human costs of school closures, but I’d like to repeat how much money went into these renovated schools recently. These figures appeared here last week: New York ($5.6 million), Broken Arrow ($1.3 million), Woodlawn ($2.4 million), Pinckney ($6.9 million), and Hillcrest ($8 million). Think about some buildings most of us still consider “new”: Sports Pavilion Lawrence (2014), the new Theatre Lawrence building (2012), the renovated Lawrence Public Library (2014). The schools in question were finished more recently. Heck, the paint hadn’t yet dried in some when Mitch Lightfoot’s KU basketball career began. OK, maybe that’s not a good one since he’s been around forever (don’t worry, Mitch, we all love you).

I’m the first to admit I don’t understand school finance, and I’m daunted by the budget crisis. I don’t have a solution, and I tip my cap to the school board and Superintendent Anthony Lewis for facing up to it. They deserve a big hug (and probably need one). Teachers and staff, who, along with medical people, are the true warriors of the pandemic, deserve a hug, too. And a raise. And a monogrammed Snuggie, unlimited Wordles and a hot cup of chamomile tea or something stronger. But is the financial situation really so dire that we must close what are essentially brand new schools? My gut keeps telling me that, as the first guy who ever tried to ride a unicycle said, “There’s gotta be a better way!”

Dan Coleman,

Lawrence