Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Yes it is an issue

Yes!!

Facts it is an issue.

This has been the issue for a few years now because of the Summerfield gang. They have dominated the Athletic Boosters and the School Boards for years now. That same gang was the push behind the new Junior and Senior High school and the WASTE of tax payer dollars built in the TOWNSHIP. No one has addressed that issue before proceeding on to getting the levy's passed.

Trying very pitiful to defend my charge you say that Vince Utterback is a city resident. I respect Vince but in the end he has no vote.

The same goes for the Boundary Committees. The last boundary committees where the school board wasted months of the area resident's time only to have the school board adopt their own plan.

The fact remains that all of the current and recent past school board members live in the unincorporated areas of Violet Township. Their expectations and future plans for the school district may and certainly will differ from the majority of the school district residents as a whole.

Until we have a school board that reflects the interests of the entire community then our future will become even more difficult to pursue. There are reasons people move into the city, there are reasons people move into the rural areas of our community. Just because a board member living on a $400K plus estate thinks a massive sports complex is important and pushes it on the voters doesn't mean that it represents the wishes of the entire school district.

That gap still exists in our community. Until that gap is addressed we will continue to have issues and problems passing levies. To continue to deny that will only prolong the solution.

By Abstainer

What Are You Saying?

If you believe all the ills of the PLSD are because all the board members live in the township, you are sadly mistaken.

Are you advocating that school board seats be assigned to specific ''wards'' of the district, so that there will always be one or more city members on the board at all times? Do you seriously think that will cure everything?

I see the same complaints about the Athletic Boosters all the time. ''They'' are the ones who are the ''real power'' here in the PLSD, that's how the mantra goes. How many members of the Athletic Boosters forced school board members to approve ''extravagant'' school designs when Central was originally constructed, and did the same when North and Lakeview were built? Which Athletic Board members forced your neighbors to vote for the construction levies?

It's very convenient to have an eternal ''boogeyman'' such as the Athletic Boosters to blame everything on, and thus enable you to shout and throw up your hands, bemoaning your fate while not doing anything other than complaining.

voting no

Pat Stover

Refocus PLEASE!

Dear Mr.Tigerpanther

Please refocus. This discussion started with Disappointed Voter going off on the Pickerington City Council and to start the blame game to why the Pickerington School Bond issue in May is going to fail.

I then responded with a few problems that the school board has and what the district as a whole has and you then say I am blaming all the problems on where the board members live.

First residential growth is a problem in the school district. Much of it since 2000 has been in the City of Pickerington. Also since 2000 the school board built a new Junior and Senior High School complexes that has divided the citizens and voters of this community.

Like the perception that Disappointed Voter has about the Pickerington City Council and a Law Suit Settlement. Those of us that live in the City and also for the most part the Central High School District also have perceptions about the general state of the school board and how we got here. When I express those concerns it looked upon as ''complaining.'' Same crap a different day.

First I could care less about what happens with the School Bond Issue in May. I pulled my daughter out of this school system a few years ago and I pay tuition.

Simply put, I will vote no on the Bond Issue because my taxes are too high now and I get no benefit from the school system. As for split sessions so what! I attended school with split sessions and I survived like everyone else.

Whether you want to believe it or not the opening of the North High school has caused a Cultural Divide in this community. Not only do we have the rich school/ poor school but we have peoples attitudes. I know at least three families that I considered more than acquaintance said to me that they were moving out to the Township so their kids didn't have go to school with the N-Word.

I made no suggestions on how to fix the Cultural issues in our community. If we all wait long enough they will correct themselves. All of the problems this community face are not at the school board many are in the hearts and minds of the citizens that live here. Neither of us will correct that




By Abstainer