Crowd at school board meeting makes it tough to express an opinion

When attending a Jackson Board of Education meeting you may want to consider bringing a bodyguard.

I attended the board meeting on June 17 and spent most of the evening trying to prevent a brawl between two groups of people; those who have lived there for years and those who have joined the community in the last few years.

The concern that ignited the crowd was the need to have young children attend school in trailers.

Apparently, if you are against the use of trailers you are against the Switlik School. As a matter of fact, if you are against the use of trailers you also: Have never voted in the school elections; Should be ashamed that your home is worth more than $50,000; Missed out on a quality education because you did not, at one time, go through a trailer class.

I wanted to make it clear, from the safety of my own home, the concern I have with trailers does not mean that I am against Switlik. If the trailers were at either of the new elementary schools it would still concern me.

As I stated, although it fell on deaf ears, I am not concerned with the quality of the education my children are receiving in the Jackson school system. In fact, I am very pleased with the progress my children have made and with the teachers who helped them get there.

The problem in Jackson is that the Planning Board has allowed the developments to grow without considering the need for schools. When you raise this with the angry crowd their response is, "That is a problem we have had for years." Well does that make it right?

The problems with the trailers from my point of view are:

• There is no security and the children are at risk.

• The children need to battle the elements daily when having to go from the trailer to the school. The past nine months have been a mess with respect to the weather, so good luck kids.

• The children are isolated from the rest of their fellow schoolmates.

Now this may allow them to focus more on the schoolwork, however, there are social development benefits that come from being surrounded by many children at various levels of education.

• The trailers are a "temporary solution," yet they have been there since 1982.

The experience of this meeting has haunted me and that is why I needed to write this letter. This meeting was open to the public and last I checked we still have the freedom of speech in this country, which covers Jackson.

This crowd was so abusive that many felt the need to leave. Ironically, they were blasted for not attending enough meetings.

My question to the angry crowd [is this]. After the way they were treated, do you think they’ll want to attend again? I myself will go back and I will hold my head high. I am a successful businesswoman with a master’s degree and never once had the opportunity to sit in a trailer class. Go figure.

I am concerned with the trailers, I am not pleased that the town did nothing to ensure that our children had a school to attend, and I have nothing against the Switlik school or the education my children have received thus far. The purpose of these meetings is to voice your opinion and the focus should be on our children.

Marybeth O’Brien

Jackson