Commenting Here

               If you’re going to comment on this blog, you’re going to have to put your name. Say what you will, but at least I’m not afraid to put my name behind my beliefs. I’ve gotten a couple of blog comments. On one, the commenter put their name, but when it was published, they withdrew it. Then I get this one this morning from someone who instead of putting their name, they put “Person you don’t know”. Would it make a difference if I knew you?

               At least Al Knox isn’t a coward - and I never said he was stupid. We may strongly disagree on the future of our school, but give the guy credit, he puts his money where his mouth is. I’ve met a lot of people who are against WGS, but many of them are like today’s commenter, afraid to have their name out there. I’ll publish opposing comments, but you’re going to put your name behind them or they'll go in the trash can.

               I’ll also address this “person I don’t know’s” comment. Here it is: 

Person you don't know has left a new comment on your post "Don't Lose Hope!":

Sir i understand if you are upset, but that doesn't give you the right to put this blog on the Internet and badmouthed North Fayette schools. In my eyes the reason Vally haf to WGS with us is because Vally were in a lot of debt and needed a a solution. For them North Fayette was there solution because we were interested in WGS with them. They turned to us not because they wanted to, they had to other wise they were gonna have to close there school. So again if you are upset about what is happening then you go to the board meetting and you voice your opinion. I am happy for you that you are concerned for your school, but does that really give you right to do all this and Mak NF look bad, no it does not.

 

               I copy and pasted word for word. I am not making North Fayette look bad. If anyone makes North Fayette look bad, it’s North Fayette. I have children at North Fayette. I have children at Valley. I prefer Valley. I have always felt that Valley gives more personal attention to their children. I guess I’ve always attributed that to Valley having smaller class sizes. That’s something that we will both lose once we WGS. Class sizes will triple for our students, and be half again as large for North Fayette students. Am I not entitled to oppose that? Am I not entitled to complain about how North Fayette buses MY children all over the countryside, and oppose any plan to include the three kids who live with me from being subjected to longer bus times?

               I would also like to dispel this notion of us being in financial trouble. We were not in any danger of closing. Our board president called the move “proactive”. If anyone needed this WGS arrangement, it was North Fayette who had an infrastructure problem. My eldest daughters are currently in North Fayette Middle School. Geeze, you lost the Junior High building there by the court house and ever since, you’ve been shuffling those kids between Fayette and West Union. Why haven't you built a new building? Money. That’s why. By WGS with Valley, North got an instant solution to their infrastructure problem. The problem is, it will lead to consolidation. I’m not opposed to helping someone out, but losing your own school in the process is another matter. Then, once consolidation comes, there will be a greater tax base, and I’m willing to "bet the farm" that a push will be on to build a central campus in West Union. I don’t want to pay for that. I like the building we have right now. I like the smaller class sizes that we currently enjoy. I like having lower taxes than North Fayette. Mine are high enough as it is now! In the end, neither schools needed to WGS. North Fayette needs to build their Middle School and Valley needs to be content being one of the best small schools in Iowa.

               My wife has been to the board meetings. I have spent quite a bit of money opposing WGS. I’m not going to quit opposing it until it’s too late. WGS is the new reality. I’m not oblivious to that fact. I have not been able to find a single school which has come back from WGS. Every school that has ever entered into a WGS agreement has eventually consolidated. I was unable to find out if there are any schools who have been in a perpetual state of WGS, but generally, most schools have consolidated within ten years. Is consolidation what you really want? Does misery really love company?

               One of my biggest beefs is that when WGS was being pushed to both schools, the people were told that the contract was only for 3 years, as if it’s not a permanent solution. Even Duane Willhite put in his letter that there were no immediate plans for consolidation. In other words, the message they were sending to those of us who oppose consolidation - Don't worry. What they weren’t telling anyone publicly was that there was absolutely no intention of us ever going back to 2 separate schools. The purpose of this blog is to tell people the truth. It’s to show them what WGS really is. If after reading this blog, and learning about what WGS really is, you still think this is the right move, then so be it. We’ll have to agree to disagree. Don’t blame me for being upset that we were sold a bill of goods which was terribly misrepresented.

               Next fall there will be another school board election. There will be people at Valley who will run opposed to continuing WGS. If the people of Valley still elect pro WGS after knowing exactly what WGS is going to do to our school, then at least I can live with the fact that the people are getting what they want. We were never asked if WGS was what we wanted. That decision was made by 11 people (7 North Fayette board members and 4 Valley members). The school board election will be people's first chance to vote for their future.

 

                                                                                                                                                      -Eric