Letters

What can reader

tell her children?
To the editor:
   When I read in today’s paper that South Hunterdon’s referendum was one of the few in our area that was defeated, it made me want to cry.
   Do you want to know why? Because when my seventh-grader gets off the bus today, I have to explain to her why the voters in her community don’t value her education enough to approve the upgrades to her school.
   I have to tell her that for many people who don’t qualify for property tax relief, $100 to $200 more per year is too much to invest in her future.
   I have to tell her that many people feel the educational standards from 30 years ago should be good enough for her today even though that won’t help get her into the college of her choice.
   I also have to tell her apathy and indifference kept many parents from voting at all yesterday.
   This is not the message I want conveyed to my children, yet it’s true! For those of you who voted the referendum down, have you walked through the South Hunterdon building recently? Have you attended a musical in the cafeteria or a choir concert in the gym? Have you seen the science labs and the broken outdated equipment?
   Are you aware of the latest state requirements for our schools and our students? Have you talked to any of the students who attend classes there? Have you spoken to the teachers who have to share class space?
   If you did all the above, and you came to the conclusion this referendum was extravagant, I don’t understand but I will respect your decision. If you did none of the above, then shame on you for not caring enough to check into it before denying our kids this consideration!
   Construction costs have risen even since the last referendum vote. Does anyone expect them to go down? We had access to 4.1 million state dollars for this referendum; chances are it will not be available for the next one.
   There is property tax relief for people with a limited income. Is there tax relief for parents who have to seek private schooling to equip their kids for a promising future?
   I have never written a letter to the editor before but I am so appalled by this latest referendum defeat and the divisiveness it has created in my community that I felt I had to respond. What now, voters?

God’s peace plan

for Middle East
To the editor:
   Well, they’re still at it.
   The Palestinians and their left-wing allies want the United States to pressure Israel to stop the attacks on "innocent" Palestinians. That way they can kill Israelis in peace.
   There are three facts everyone is overlooking: First, the Jewish people are still God’s chosen people. Though they, like every other nation in history, has disobeyed His commands. His covenant with them given to Abraham is still in force. He will not let "the apple of his eye" be destroyed.
   Second, the Palestinians have vowed to destroy the nation of Israel. Their "homeland" is to be Israel itself. They will stop at nothing to achieve this goal.
   Third, they have been fighting for over three thousand years. Are we that arrogant to think our efforts will bring peace?
   The Israelis have their plan for the Middle East, the Palestinians have theirs and we have ours. But God also has a plan for the Middle East. His will be the one to come to fruition.
   Peace will come to the Middle East only when the Lord returns to put is plan into place.

Solebury open space

not cutting taxes
To the editor:
   The Solebury open space program may be a hoax.
   Proponents of the program suggest one objective is to prevent burdensome tax increases caused by unconstrained home building. Another objective is to preserve a rural setting.
   Yet hundreds of new high-density homes authorized by the supervisors have been and continue to be built in one concentrated corner of the municipality adjacent to New Hope.
   In the past six years, taxes for some in Solebury have doubled. A new school has been built, and there’s talk of the need for another, plus a new municipal building. And the agenda is being set for another bond issue to acquire additional open space.
   The crowded masses in their little corner of Solebury are subsidizing open space for the elite.
   There are other options to keep growth and taxes in abeyance. Let the farmers sell to develop large tracts of land for communities of million-dollar homes. Or use land throughout Solebury for expanded development of 55+ communities of homes.
   Both should yield tax revenues sufficient to cover added municipality costs. Or a large shopping center midway between New Hope and Doylestown as a variation on open spaces from which all in the community can enjoy.
   Open space as a way to keep taxes down and suburbia away? It may not be working that well in Solebury.

Yes campaign

grateful for support
To the editor:
   I would like to extend a big thank you to all those who so graciously helped with the "get out the ‘yes’ vote" campaign in all three districts and especially West Amwell. You know who you are, and your efforts are deeply appreciated.
   I would also like to thank each and every voter who came out to support the high school. We came so agonizingly close.
   Please know that we are committed to the cause and will continue to work towards getting the referendum passed.

South students

grateful for backing
To the editor:
   Thank you to all who voted in the South Hunterdon Regional High School referendum.
   As students, we would particularly like to thank those who supported us. It was encouraging that the margin of defeat reduced from 112 to 6 between the first and second referenda.
   In the event of another referendum vote, you will also have an opportunity to show support. We look forward to your continued backing for our great needs.

Consider bigger

picture at South
To the editor:
   To the students of West Amwell, Lambertville and Stockton elementary schools, I’d like to express my deepest sympathy for the recent failure of the South referendum.
   Without the facility improvements and enhancements that would have resulted from this key project, your future educational experience at South may not be as robust as it could have been.
   To the voters of Stockton and Lambertville, I pass on my embarrassment and disappointment that my community of West Amwell was unable to share your support of the referendum. In spite of the tremendous efforts of the South officials and members of the community to educate the West Amwell residents, there still remained a majority of voters who could not support this ambitious project. It is extremely unfortunate the vote of one sending school district could and did outweigh the vote of two other districts.
   Parents from both Lambertville and Stockton have every right to be upset with my community for preventing your children, let alone our own, from reaping the benefits of the referendum, which they deserved and are entitled to expect from an upper grade education. But please remember an almost equal number of voters in West Amwell did support the referendum, including senior citizens and parents with students who do not attend our local public schools.
   While I firmly believe many West Amwell voters who opposed the referendum simply felt they could not afford the potential tax burden, I’m sure there are some of them who supported the referendum in spirit. I sympathize with the dilemma they must have been faced with when entering the voting booth. But I have heard of, or read letters from other opponents from all communities, who claimed the referendum was unnecessary or too extravagant for a variety of reasons too numerous to list here.
   What is most surprising and perplexing to me about many of those opponents is they are parents with children attending our local schools, including South. Anyone would be justified to think those parents don’t want their children to have the best possible educational opportunities the school could potentially offer.
   In fact, some of the reasons given by opponents appear rather petty and only perpetuate this perception. For example, the need to renovate space for the administration or add additional science labs. Or that the demographic studies are flawed or inconsistent in projecting future student enrollment.
   Personally, I find it difficult to believe any parent would conscientiously want to limit their child’s ability to grow and learn. That can’t possibly explain these parents’ rejection of the referendum.
   I do believe the administration has proposed a major facility change to South, which some residents might have found daunting, and with an attached huge sticker price. I also believe there may be an opinion amongst opponents enhanced facilities would not inherently result in enhanced education.
   And lastly, the belief student enrollment will remain constant seems to be prevalent.
   To the first point, I agree the referendum was extensive and may have contained specific components that each had different levels of support from voters. But I would urge opponents to consider the bigger picture that enabled all of those components to happen at a lower price. For example, the current administration area was being displaced to accommodate the expanded art program and equipment. The administration area was targeted to displace the current library area that needed a larger location to accommodate an expanded inventory of books, computer work areas and enhanced research capability.
   With these improvements, to my second point, new educational opportunities would immediately have been possible. I have to believe the administration would have fulfilled their mission by implementing curriculum upgrades and changes to take advantage of the other facility improvements. I’m sure the public would have expected and demanded nothing less.
   And to my third point, it seems unrealistic to expect the student population to remain constant or decrease. Regardless of how accurate demographers can predict future enrollment, the increasing population in our state will continue to consume more available land each day. Like it or not, West Amwell will become a prime target for developers with huge financial offers to landowners that will be difficult to ignore.
   We should be prepared to expect growth over the next five years or so and, therefore, be ready now to accommodate the resulting impact to our schools. It will only cost us more if we wait until later.
   With all that said, I encourage the South school board to continue pursuing its mission to enable better education for all our students through a community supported facility repair and enhancement project. Furthermore, I encourage opponents to the past referendum to work cooperatively with the board to achieve that mission with the common goal of providing our children with the skills they will need to live and thrive as part of our communities.
   Let’s help them exceed their own expectations.