To the Editor:
I am writing this letter to ask for your support in renewing the Brown Local Schools levy due for vote this November. As a parent, coach and community member, I have witnessed firsthand what impact our school has on our students, parents and community as a whole. Our school defines our community and its continued success has an enormous impact on our region. Being a resident and taxpayer in Brown Twp. I absolutely (and painfully) understand the burden that is placed on the property owners and the basic unfairness of the Ohio taxation system. The system has many flaws and no one can argue that. Our Supreme Court has even said it is an unfair system. But you must ask yourself: Where does that leave us, our kids, our community? If we take out our frustration with the state on our schools, nobody wins and our kids suffer because of it. That being said, I agree that schools that have shown no financial responsibility and continue to ask the taxpayers to pay the bill over and over again don’t deserve to have money handed to them until they show some responsibility.
So please ask yourself, “What has Brown Local Schools done to prove to me, the taxpayer, they will handle my money responsibly?” You can start with the consolidation of the principal in which she is now both the middle school and the high school principal along with other personnel consolidations. Follow that by looking at the facility: Have they spent money on “nice to have” items or have they simply maintained the schools so they are fit to use? Are they begging for a new school, a new sports facility? The answer is no. At this point, they are simply trying to secure the future of the school system. Small schools such as Malvern are a dying breed, primarily because of the mentality that bigger is better and cheaper. While the cheaper aspect could be argued, as we are finding out even in our own economy, bigger is not always better, in fact, in educational terms, this is rarely the case.
Please consider all the school has to offer to our community, how well it educates our kids and how responsible they spend our money. Please make your decision based on that, and not because you don’t agree with the Ohio taxation system. Vote the people out of office who are not fixing our system, but leave our schools intact.
Roger Swain
Carrollton, OH
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