Below is a
copy of his letter. His words are in blue. I add my commentary in red. I know
several of you live outside of this are and are watching all of this from afar,
so I will also put a scan of his letter from the Echo up for you to see the
original by CLICKING HERE.
-Eric
To the editor:
To the parents, students and other members of the Valley
community:
As a parent, we
are faced with many decisions regarding what is best for our kids. Sometimes
our decisions make the kids happy. Often, they do not. And sometimes, we are so
convinced that we know what is best for our kids that we miss the obvious best
choice due to our own prejudices and fears. (I am not prejudiced. I have
children who attend North Fayette. I am informed. I am only afraid that people
like you will succeed in killing our school off) It is
these decisions that come back to haunt us as our kids go through life. (So will closing our school) Parents of Valley
students have told me they are having many discussions with their kids about
the North Fayette Valley Whole-Grade Sharing Agreement. (Same here, but obviously not the same ones as you)They have asked me what I think about it. As a former student,
bus driver, teacher and board member, as a current resident of the Valley CSD,
and as a grandparent of a youngster entering Valley Preschool; I am pleased to
be able to share some thoughts. (Enlighten us!)
To the parents
and to the kids who are discussing where to attend school next year, I ask you
to consider the following:
Valley CSD and
the North Fayette CSD are schools with excellent academic reputations. (True) It was the desire of the
boards of these two school districts to not let the academic programs of these
two fine schools decline due to budget shortfalls. The financial problems
resulted from decreasing enrollment and inadequate state funding. (Enrollment isn’t all that much different than before. The budget
problems face all schools. They are working in Des Moines on this issue. The
problem is a short term problem, but we’re making a long term decision – one
that jeopardizes the independent nature of our school. The proponents of WGS
are doing so because they want to – no other reason. Neither Valley nor North
Fayette were in any real trouble or danger.) The
decision to explore WGS was based on the desire to maintain academic excellence
for the students. (Valley had no problem with academic excellence. From the Valley website: “Data analyzed between 2004 and 2007
regarding freshman attending the three State Universities indicated Valley’s
graduates had an average Grade Point Average of 3.24, hence ranking Valley
Community High School as 13th high school in the state of Iowa of
high student achievement.” CLICK HERE to see the web capture with this part highlighted. See comment
above. They decided to WGS because they wanted to, not because there were any
real problems. Remember, Mark Howard called the move “proactive”). The 160 members of the community who participated in the
process produced a comprehensive document allowing the two schools to maintain
an excellent educational program for the students. (Who picked these 160? Who were they? I never heard about it.)
There were no
ulterior motives or secret discussions involved in any of the decisions made by
the two school boards. Both boards have members who have students in school who
will be impacted by WGS. Both boards have members who love their respective
schools and communities. They love their kids and grandchildren. There is no
reason to think that any one of these fine people would support any decision
that would be bad for their kids or grandkids. (It doesn’t
mean that they always make the correct decision.)
Determining
where to send your kids to school is a huge decision. This is probably the
single most important decision you will make as a parent, other than matters of
health. To make this decision based on athletics or your own personal fears or
prejudices (Again with the “fears and prejudice” B.S.) may mean that you are missing the obvious best choice for your
child. (Who says that North Fayette Valley is the best choice for my kid –
you? I say the best for my kid is a smaller school with smaller class sizes) This is that moment in your life as a parent that you have to
step back and put away your own fears and prejudices for the good of your
children. (Why doesn’t Mr. Knox step back and let those of us who actually
have kids in school make this decision? He had his time. He got to raise his
kids how he saw fit. I am doing the same). It is inconceivable to me
that a parent would send their student to another school without first knowing
exactly what the educational program was in that school. (We toured the other schools and spent a lot of time before making
our decision. The other schools have fine programs as well. Yet, Mr. Knox would
have you trust him and his friends for making the correct choice for your
kids). The reality is that North Fayette Valley will offer an
excellent educational program in outstanding facilities. This is about as good
as it gets in northeast Iowa. Take a hard look around. Think about your kids'
education first and only. (That’s why I’m leaving
Valley) Make the decision based on what is best for their educational
future. (Postville, Starmont, and Central are wonderful schools.) Very few of our kids will have their future lives determined by
how many minutes they play in a high school athletic contest. (An obvious jab at Mr. Orr).
Open-enrolling
your kids to any neighboring school guarantees where they will be going to
school for one year. The neighboring schools have the same financial problems
as North Fayette and Valley and will make the same decisions regarding WGS
within the next two or three years. (Who told you this? I spoke
to both Central and Starmont. Elkader has looked at WGS, but told me that they
are trying everything else first in order to preserve their independent school
district. Starmont isn’t even close to entering into a WGS agreement. Did you
speak to the superintendents of these schools like I did?) Consider sending your child to Guttenberg, Garnavillo or
Oelwein. Does that make sense as a parent?(Neither does West Union.
It’s further away from Wadena than Starmont by about 5 miles) With the North Fayette Valley WGS agreement, you know where
your kids will attend school for the next three years. That is a very big deal.
(My decision is long term unless we can save Valley).
And I struggle
to understand why a parent would send their Valley student to a neighboring
school because "they won't know anyone at North." (I know plenty about North) The reality is that
their friends will be at North Fayette Valley with them and the K-8 students
will be at the same Valley school they already know but with some new friends.
lt is all good if they stay at NFV.(Mr. Knox’s opinion. My kids
will be just fine at Starmont as well) Sending them to another
school does nothing to guarantee that they will have friends and/or not face
bullying and other problems. (My kids already have
friends who attend both Central and Starmont. This will not be a problem) Sending them to NFV assures they will be with the large
majority of their friends.
And finally, I
am confused when a parent talks about how much they love the Valley school and
how good it has been for them and their kids and then decide to open-enroll
their kids to another school. This act takes money out of the Valley School and
makes the effort to keep Valley Community School District open that much more
difficult keep preschool through eighth grade at the Valley facility. (What about those kids open enrolling to North Fayette Elementary?
Valley should have taken this into consideration when they entered into a whole
grade sharing agreement. If they had polled the parents, they would have seen
this coming, but alas, the parents were never polled!) I see a stronger Valley Community School District. (There will be no Valley. Only on our tax bills will we see the name
Valley. It’ll be North Fayette Valley. Our children won’t graduate from Valley.
They’ll spend four years in West Union and their photos will hang there. Whole
Grade Sharing guarantees that Valley will one day no longer exist) I don't see how taking kids and dollars away from what you love
is any type of solution. (Nor is putting Valley in the position of consolidation) I would ask that you think about your true reasons for
open-enrolling your kids to another district. It is not about loving Valley. (Correct. It is about keeping my kids in smaller class sizes, under
one roof, and closer to home than West Union.)
The Valley
Community School District is a very good school that faced a difficult
decision. The Valley board made the decision that provides the best educational
opportunity for the students. (That can be argued) Take the time to look at the current program offerings at North
and at Valley. The North Fayette Valley WGS agreement gives the students
excellent choices to prepare for their future. As a parent, the educational
opportunity should be the basis of your choice of a school for your kids.
Parents,
grandparents and other good folks of the Valley community need to step up and
speak out for what is best for kids. (And many of them are saying
to keep our school!) It is time to set aside our frustrations, upsets, fears and
prejudices and support what is truly best for our kids. (And many of us believe it’s keeping our school!) We need to take a deep breath and rationally discuss the true
choices based on educational opportunities that are in front of our kids. The
large majority of us believe that the NFV WGS agreement is the best solution
for the kids and our communities. (I wouldn’t call it a
majority. There are a lot of people believe that this is the wrong move as
well.) We are a good and strong community. We will do-what is right,
just as we have through the 5o+ years since Clermont, Elgin and Wadena all had
independent school districts. (School board elections are
next fall. I look forward to them.)
And we will do it together! (No, we won’t.)
Thank you,
Allen Knox
Clermont
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Keep it civil.