We received this letter from a former student as a response to Mr. Buckman's recent piece in the BCCT. This letter unlike the ones from Mr. Buckman and Mr. Hellmann is full of facts. It is a great summary of how the students and the community feel about what this board has done to the town and district over the past two years.
Mr. Buckman, I went to every school board meeting for almost two years and I heard one of your own colleagues say that "Newspapers are in the business to sell papers." You thanked the BCCT for letting you post your letter. To go with the words of your colleague, I'd say the paper published what you wrote solely because your outlandish comments will prompt more letters and therefore sell more papers. I appreciate the Courier too, but with these comments from you, papers should be flying off the racks.
You stated "But their actions belie their slogan: They are on a mission to undermine what we have accomplished in two years and tarnish the reputation of our school district. To get elected!" Mr. Buckman, Damon Miller is one of the most passionate pro- Morrisville School District men I have ever met. He has joined committees to try to make our district better; he comes to concerts and sporting events because he CARES. Damon Miller and his "noisy band" want people to care again about Morrisville and feel PRIDEFUL when they say "I go to Morrisville." You know what happened when your current majority got elected? My class said "At least we won't get affected by this board." I counted the years and started to feel sorry for the students behind us because I knew that you would hurt their education somehow. This proves that it just happened quicker than I expected.
"To put it simply, they are part of a group that believes great education comes from bricks and mortar. You will recall that two years ago a slate of candidates and their allies on the former school board were on a campaign to build a new school building." Very good, this is a true statement for once. Yes, they wanted a new school because the current ones are FALLING APART! For the last 20 years the budget for maintenance has been too low and important building issues ignored. We need to show that we care about education. Families might actually move in and STAY in Morrisville. Businesses see a rising population and move in to town. Morrisville is back.
"I have heard teachers, parents and administrators and "no breakfast" blamed, but never has anyone said our kids are doing great, or our kids are doing poorly, and it's all because of that "damn old school board." Mr. Buckman, we know you heard the complaints about the “sick” M. R. Reiter building, a building you ignored now during two terms on the board of education. Before the explosion, that school building DID affect the performance of the students. There are a lot of factors that attribute to poor PSSA scores. It's a natural flow of ages and grades and people and there is nothing to change about it. It's neither bad nor good, it simply is. But, I will refer back to "Damon's Group" for a second and refer to Pride. Would you go to work every day and try hard for a boss who doesn't care about you? I didn't think so. But guess what, that is what you are expecting the students to do. We all believe that the school board doesn't care about us. All we hear at MHS is "money, taxes, money," and not "students, students, students." The kids may not be doing well because they feel you don't care: So... why should they?
Let me finish on this last passage: "I know what it takes to be a good school board member. It takes responsibility, common sense, and the ability to listen." Good Mr. Buckman, I agree. So PLEASE start on that and maybe we can get going in the right direction. If you actually felt responsibility, the school would have been maintained right in the first place, OR we wouldn't have only "shiny new windows" as our "renovations." If you had common sense, you would see most of the problems are because of the school board’s disinterest in education and its lack of caring about "Student John" instead of how caring much anonymous Student #123 costs to educate and how that cost can that be lowered.
If you listened, you would know that Damon Miller's "band of noisy politicians" is in this election because they want what is best for the kids and not just their wallets. Pride is something you should probably look up in the dictionary because it is a strong word being used for the purpose of a lot of good. "And we need to be realistic" you say? Here it is Mr. Buckman: Beck, Miller, Jenkins, Stoneburner. Why? Because they genuinely care about the school. And I don't mean the building like your "Stop the School Stay on Track" friends mean...in the bricks and mortar way...but as STUDENTS. Morrisville Pride not only wants there to be a MHS today, but a MHS in the future because they care about Morrisville and they care about the KIDS. They have... what word am I looking for? Oh yes, they have PRIDE in us.
