Letters to the Editor
Commissioners Not Responsible
On May 22, 2017, Maple Leaf reporter Diane Ryder wrote an article concerning the employment non-renewal of Geauga Tourism Director Lynda Nemeth in which she suggested the reason for the non-renewal was that the Geauga County Board of Commissioners had to reduce its contribution to the tourism agency in order to purchase Narcan to fight the opioid epidemic.
Since the Geauga Tourism Board is an independent agency that acts on its own behalf with no connection whatsoever to the Commissioners, to link that board’s decision to the Board of Commissioners is hardly accurate. Ms. Ryder would have known that had she taken the professional joumalistic step of contacting the Commissioners’ office to ask.
Last year, the Commissioners’ office asked Geauga Tourism and the Geauga County Historical Society to create a plan for collaboration that would reduce possible duplication of effort so that the county’s donation of tax dollars to those agencies could be used more effectively.
In the absence of such a plan, the Commissioners chose to eliminate their contributions to both agencies. For the Maple Leaf to suggest anything different is simply not correct.
Ralph Spidalieri, President
Geauga County Board of Commissioners
Handwriting on the Wall
Newbury School – “Small but mighty!” That is the mantra of the Newbury Board of Education since the decision was made to end consolidation negotiations with West Geauga.
Everyone, including myself, loves to cheer for the little guy and hopes he succeeds against the odds.
In this case, I believe that the handwriting is on the wall and this attitude does no favors to the students or the community at large.
Newbury Schools might be financially stable for the next few years, barring any federal or state funding cuts. Maintaining an independent school system with less than 400 students in a community that is showing little signs of growth is becoming untenable. Budget cuts can, of course, be made to meet the challenge, but most likely with detrimental effects on the quality of education.
Newbury students already have to deal with a nearly 90-year-old facility that no longer meets the needs of today. The current building is not even equipped to meet needs of the physically challenged individual. The science facilities are wholly inadequate to fully prepare students for what they will encounter at the college level.
Even back in 1969, when I graduated from Newbury and went on to Hiram College, I experienced a culture shock when comparing the facilities. The difference today is even more pronounced.
Academically, we cannot economically provide the advanced and honors classes that a larger school can. In sports, we cannot offer the variety of physical activities that are available at larger schools.
Even though Newbury’s per pupil cost is higher than many other school districts, we are unable to offer what the other schools can. There are already too many parents in Newbury that feel they must send their children to other school districts for them to receive a quality educational experience.
As a lifelong resident of Newbury, there was a time when consolidation was never a consideration, but the times have changed. No longer do our students only have to be prepared to compete with others in the area, state or even country. They must be prepared to compete on a global scale. It is our responsibility as citizens to assure they are prepared to meet whatever challenges the future has to offer.
We must no longer be satisfied with the status quo and hope for the best. We must anticipate the future and be ready to meet it head on.
It’s time.
Terry L. Sedivy
Newbury Township
