Over the past several years I have been running for a position on the Jackson Board of Education. The reason why I did not run for that position this year was because I missed the petition deadline, but I will definitely be running next year and every year after that until I get elected.
The main reason for this letter is to discuss the new high school which is supposed to be built by 2005. I’m sure that I’m not the only one wondering why this school absolutely has to be built on the Jackson-Lakewood border and not anywhere else, although there are plenty of other suitable locations around here in Jackson which would be suitable.
I have a suspicion that the board wants to turn our new high school, funded by our skyrocketing property taxes, into a regional high school. They’re shading the facts, my friends, trying to pull the wool over our eyes once again and playing with our property tax dollars as if they were Monopoly dollars.
It’s really the only thing that makes perfect sense because why else would the board fixate on a piece of property that is not for sale and then use "eminent domain" to acquire it? If you would just look at the facts, I believe you will agree with me.
Fact No. 1: At least three senior classes will be graduated from Jackson Memorial High School before the new school is built.
Fact No. 2: The school board is totally inflexible about the new high school’s location.
Fact No. 3: The design of the high school’s outer areas has enough recreational fields to accommodate two townships, rather than just one.
Fact No. 4: The building itself is large enough to house double the number of extra students. The high school will accommodate 1,900 students, so where will those extra 600 or so students be coming from?
All of this adds up to once again, that our Board of Education is treating us shabbily, as if they have the right to tax us and spend our money as they see fit, and that their decisions about our quality of life are absolute. I don’t know about anyone else here in Jackson, but as for me, I’m pretty sick of this nonsense.
Sal Duscio
Jackson