Parents rally in attempt to save Marion Elementary School from ...

A group of parents are determined to do whatever it takes to prevent the closing of Marion Elementary School.

[idea]

Thought Alan Piper's group was for responsible government usually meaning being financially responsible. It is not fiscally responsible to keep such small schools in operation. Sounds like he just wants to fight with the school district

[Marion Parent]

If you do your homework you will see that it costs more right now to add on to the larger schools so they have a place to put these students, than to have Marion stay open. There is no place in the district to put all of the students from Marion or Coldbrook. There are only a couple of empty classrooms in the district and that can not hold all of the students from both schools. The district needs to stop spending money...they don't have anymore to spend.

[Marion Parent]

If we shut it down where do we send our children. There is not enough room for these students in any of the other schools. W also have to look and see if it financially more responsible to bus students from one end of town to the other. We would possibly need more buses, more drivers, more fuel. All of that should be looked at.

[Yep]

Wow a whole 18 people. The school is a goner.

[Marion Parent]

It doesn't matter how many parents were there it matters how powerful they are.

[Why Me]

How many children attend this school? Mr. Piper just wants to fight with the school board. He says he wants to save taxpayers money. LOL Reduce the number of elementary schools in this district. It will cost less to bus than repair the schools.

[Marion Parent]

There are 134 students at Marion and 119 at Coldbrook. If you look at the enrollment at all of the elementary schools and especially at Ben Chambers there is not any room to put these studetns. Maximum for classrooms in k-2 is 24 and 3-5 is 29. Alot of these classrooms are all but full at Ben Chambers where they want to put these children.

[Ol Barney]

Marion Parent, You are on the right track. Request the CASD Board provide you with an accounting of how much PER STUDENT it costs for a student at Marion vs. a student at Fayetteville or Ben Chambers. Also, require them to tell you exactly where these students are going and then verify that room exists at other schools. You need facts and figures, and Mr. Piper knows that the board is reqired to provide this data. We taxpayers need to articulate our concerns in a logical and factual manner based on dollar figures & student achievement scores. Don't let the Board continue to waste our tax money!

[The Truth]

I suggest you contact thomas hylton for help

[Marion Parent]

who is this Thomas hylton?

[Frustrated]

Why Me wrote:

How many children attend this school? Mr. Piper just wants to fight with the school board. He says he wants to save taxpayers money. LOL Reduce the number of elementary schools in this district. It will cost less to bus than repair the schools.

It is amazing how busing would cost less then repairs, if ALL schools within the district were maintained year to year the cost of repairs would not be so massive. But there again the School District ingores the cost of yearly maintenance to the schools and then we need to close and rebuild. So we throw another bandage on the broken district and you have to wonder when we will bleed out. Let's not forget it is taxes that not only pay for schools but those you put in charge and I don't think we want to get started on Dr. Joe's new contract. We are willing to close good small schools while we fork that money over to the people in charge instead of to our childern's education, who needs an education our childern or taxpayers!

[smart to leave CASD]

CASD has spread itself so thin in poor financial moves. built new schools and they're still half empty. run out of money cause they spent it all on bigger stadium and even bigger additions. elementary always suffers. sunk their special education program. wont acknowledge childrens needs,to save a dime. coldbrooks gone. mary b. sharpes gone. king st's gone. one by one they grasp to save a dime but only end up costing everyone more money. jr.high that is so in need of expansion but gets nothing. best decision i ever made was to move to new district. you wouldnt believe the difference if i told you. never knew it could be so much better. and my child deserves to get the most from his education. now he will.

[anonymous]

Yep wrote:

Wow a whole 18 people. The school is a goner.

It's pretty obvious that those 18 are the only ones that care. I mean give me a break - usually a PTA meeting only gets about 5 people and those 5 people DO EVERYTHING!!!!! If the parents really cared, they would have come.

[Marion Parent]

It really doesn't matter how many are there. If some of us care and we want to try to keep it open then that's what we do. We need to do what we think is right.

[tiredofdemocrate bull]

lost wrote:

"tiredofdemocrate bull wrote"Shut it down. The economy is bad. And school taxes are high enuff. SHUT IT DOWN YOU TARDS and wake up! If your roof needs replaced on your house would you sell it and build a new one? I don't think so. Make the repairs and move on.Shuting down this schools will cost taxpayers for years to come not just in Marion but the whole district.But on the other hand you may not own a house and have taxes every year to pay. If that is the case you may be the TARD.

I probably own a home tons larger than yurs. I probably pay real estate taxes triple the amount you do. Enuff said. School is not a home. If an old building is costing more to maintain and use. It is in business wiser to get rid of the burden then using. If in the future a newer building would be wiser and more cost efficent, the choice is made well. They shut Duffield down and why? Same scene with Marion. A home is not a buisness, alot different duhhhhhhhh!

[Marion Parent]

Really does it matter the size of your home? And you do know that a child's school sometimes is the only "home" they have and that is the difference in a smaller school. I would not advocate keeping Marion open if it needed alot of repairs but the whole truth has not been told about Marion. It has ben said that the windows are duct taped so they need replaced....this is not true. Marion is actually in good shape. My concern is there is no place to put all of the students from Marion so why close it down, They will have to spend more to add on to a school or build another one to make room for more students.

[The Truth]

Thomas Hylton - Save our Land Save our Towns - He is a well known advocate for saving small schools. He has proof that renovating a small school and keeping it open pays way more dividends then closing and busing. He's on the web and he's from Pennsylvania. He will be a lot bigger help to you than Alan Piper