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July 25, 2003
I want to thank all of you that choose to read
this dribble, for your support and for your understanding in regard to
reasons beyond my understanding. My thoughts on various subjects may be
read here on my real estate web site, or you may pick up a copy of this
article, as well as the football related article, Play To Win
At 1000 Ford St. in Llano.
There have been a great deal of things to happen over the past two months, and over a few articles, we will try to catch up.
Number one at LISD, we have two new school board members in newly elected Alan Geistman, and Ken Barrington. I have already heard criticism of these two new members. My remarks are simple. Give these two honest men time to get their feet on the ground. They ran for the school board because their hearts were in the right place. They love Llano school, and love Llano County. They did not run for fame or financial gain.
If you have ever been in an elected position, you find out one thing very quickly. You have much more information than the general public. Does the general public have the right to know “everything?” No. We do not. Sometimes, information is made available to elected officials that must be held close to the vest. In the instance of LISD, the information supplied to board members may soon be used in the courtroom. I am referring to LISD Superintendent Jack Patton’s trial soon to come.
One criticism was the recent release of the audit on the construction at LISD. Parts were not released to the general public. Very important that they were not. One should expect a great deal more to be investigated in regards to relationship between Patton and Emerson Construction. Items in that report could compromise that investigation.
Our schools need to get back to normal if at all possible. And that means in every sense of the word. Normal to you and I really do not matter. Normal is what our 1900 plus kids think as normal. Are our kids running the show? Hardly. But learning will not take place if the kids see and recognize changes that make school less attractive…less fun…less tolerant…less structured…less challenging…and more stressful. There are people that will not be satisfied until our school system is on its knees, and the State of Texas takes over with full control. They will not be happy until the State sends in an acting Superintendent, known as a Receiver. There are people that will not be happy until Llano schools are dead.
One idiotic suggestion is do away with all extra curricular activities. This may be the most ignorant statement I have heard since the infamous “fat, dumb, and stupid” remark by a school board member. This statement is worse than that. It is beyond stupid. It is arrogant, and sickening to know people would respond by thinking they know Llano, and want to put their stamp on our heritage.
Nearly 60% of Llano High school students participate in sports, FFA, and Band. And not in that order. Those same students are our brightest, least sedimentary, most enthusiastic, and most gifted, as well as our top ten graduates. They are our doctors, and our lawyers, our postal workers, our mechanics, and our teachers. You take that away, and by one account, would save LISD $1,200,000.
For every student that would leave LISD over that move, LISD would lose nearly $5,000 in credits per student that we pay the State in the “Robin Hood” plan. If 15% in LISD students left our school because they could not enjoy a well-rounded education in Llano, that would make this a wash. Would 15% leave the Llano school? No. The number would be closer to 25%. That is how many kids in Llano come from the soil. They come from a rural background, that activities and sports, and FFA, and the love of wonderful teachers. And the most successful of those programs in the history of LISD, is Band. 25 years of being number one is something for hundreds of elementary school children to look forward to when they get to junior high and high school. Being part of something so successful…so much fun. And most important, so educational. A part of their education that will last forever. Long past the days they will need Yates and Frost. Do away with that part of LISD, and you will no longer have a school. Listen for the signs. There are people out there that have their own agenda. And their agenda is to bring LISD to its knees. It is up to you and I to see that LISD returns to normal.
And it can, if we believe in our leaders, our two new school board members, and believe that we must move on. We cannot do that by tearing down everything that has been built here since 1900. The last four years should not be what makes us who we are.