Dec. 11 was a sad day for Spotswood’s schoolchildren.
It was a sad day for the Schoenly School pre-kindergarten children who are bused to Appleby School due to lack of space at Schoenly, and for the children at Schoenly whose classrooms are simply divided by partitions to make extra classrooms for the growing enrollment.
It was a sad day for the children at Appleby School whose homerooms are trailers, and who must walk daily to the main building for other necessary classes.
It was a very sad day for the students at Memorial School whose facility is so inadequate that it lacks the space for standard middle school courses. Some classes are held in the hallway, while others require that students walk to the high school.
It was a sad day for our high school students who don’t have the benefits of a full facility due to the occupation by Memorial students.
And it will be a sad day for the voters who opposed the referendum, who will see their taxes go up anyway if the state mandates an expansion of our schools due to overcrowding and deteriorating facilities.
The improvement to our schools is a necessity, not a luxury. Our taxes increase for many reasons. I don’t know of a better reason for an increase in my taxes than for more adequate and safe facilities in which to educate our children.
We can only hope now that the state will provide sufficient funding when construction becomes necessary.
Eileen Leonard
Spotswood