Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

You're getting it

Dear Southern Parent,

First you say to take my concerns to the Board meeting on August 9th. Didn't we just have a mini scandal about the board meetings and voting on issues while the board was in a work session?

The second issue deals with those fraudulent boundary committee meetings. I went to one and left in disgust. They have tables set up for assigned people in the committee to then be controlled by a handler to get the decision needed by the board or superintendent or who ever. My neighbor faithfully attended all but the last meeting and she was exhausted by then. The fact is that the PLS board planned and put on a huge charade and in the end they ignored the parents and citizens of the district.

I have no hope that future projects like this will turn out any differently.
-By Anonymous


Dear Anon ?–

To clarify, we didn?’t just have a mini-scandal, we are in the midst of one. Two things to be sure of:

1. This ain?’t the first time this has happened. The last time it happened that meeting also included some of these board members.

2. Don?’t think the media is ready to give up on this story yet. They are now beginning to scratch the surface of something and I think they realize it.

The meeting you left in disgust ?– I was there and I was disgusted, too. I am glad you noticed how the groups were ?“salted?” with pro-levy, pro-school board boosters. Handlers is a great term. I wish that one had come to mind when I was there. I called them plenty of names but that would have worked much better. It wasn?’t just the school board who put on this boundary exhibition, if anyone wanted to do a little digging, contact the woman who was hired to facilitate the meetings. Her name is public record and she is local. She was ten times more frustrated that the regular joes like you and me. She was hired to take resident input and formulate recommendations to deliver. What she got was a boundary decision handed to her and given the mission to make sure the residents came to that inevitable conclusion.

Why would you believe for a minute that any future projects will be done differently? Quite simply put, they got away with it over and over again. They have never been called to task on it other than some complaining in this discussion forum. They will continue to have closed meetings and will continue to manipulate the taxpayers until everyone stands up and says ?“ENOUGH!!?”


By Drip / Hop

Mythbuster

Dear Dripping Wet ?–

Thanks for debunking the myth. We should start calling you ?“The Mythbuster?”. Let me add some D to your Bunk. While Melrose plays a pivotal (snobbish) role in the inequality of the schools, the highest blame should be placed where it is deserved. The people I recognized as assuring the socioeconomic division in the district came from Glenshire, the higher ends of Summerfield and that area along Harmon sandwiched between Summerfield and Glenshire (sorry I forgot the name). While Melrose cannot escape blame, these others were most vocal about the Tussing area. Two interesting statistics were brought up at a boundary committee meeting that sealed the fate of the Tussing/Hines kids.
1. According to the 2000 census, Pickerington has 3% minorities. Tussing Elementary is 30% minority.
2. Disciplinary actions at Diley MS run at a 10:1 ratio over Harmon MS.

Old Glenshire?’s eyes got really big at stat 1. Besides the fact that including these children in the high-brow-upper-crust-country-club atmosphere they were creating, one of the most important factors in sliding the boundary line around some was that if all these minorities came to play at their country club, they wouldn?’t bring booster money with them. If they had to live in Columbus, rather than Pickerington but still attend Pickerington schools, they therefore must be considered poor. If they are poor, they will not contribute to the boosters. However, because of their demographic, they might be more athletically talented (not my racism ?– theirs) and take spots on teams that might ordinarily be filled by those whose parents will contribute much more to see their kids be Panthers.

That in itself caused the boundary line to slide east from Hines to 256. Now the attempt at balance populations was askew. How to solve this you ask? Let the line dip down below Refugee to pick up Melrose. Melrose isn?’t quite up to the standards of old Glen and his compadres, but the potential for more income for the boosters is certainly more positive. So they decide to accept some urine in their gene pool and concede turf to Melrose. Could they have picked up Mingo instead? Of course, but there again, not enough income to the boosters was recognized.

As to the disciplinary ratio, that is simply a matter of keeping the riffraff together and out of their club.

You ask about sidewalks at the north campus? You don?’t need sidewalks for the kids to drive their BMWs, Volvos and Saabs on. Focus more on beating city hall over the head on why the city and its neighborhoods aren?’t blanketed in sidewalks. Half of the student populations of the ?“city schools?” could walk if there were just more sidewalks.

As a final note, the Ricketts just sold another of their vast farm empire holdings. The section east of Pickerington Road, north of Refugee, across from the Taj Mahal was just sold to Dominion Homes last week. Hopefully old Glen and the Summers were consulted before the sale. Al least I hope they have enough influence with Dominion Homes to assure that the same type of lesser quality homes and subsequent lesser quality residents (read: less booster contributions) that Dominion typically draws will not reoccur in this new development right in their own back yard.

Heaven forbid!


By Drip / Hop

Schools that Feed North

You comment that the 3 northern elementary schools should feed North.

Is that Tussing, Fairfield & Violet ?? Those are geographically the 3 northern elementary schools. You also state that Melrose was picked up for the wrong reasons, by North - the vast amount of Melrose kids walk to Violet.

Are you suggesting these kids belong in a southern elementary school & be bussed to it ?? I don't get that at all.

By More confused