Royalton Living
Beyond Its Means

The school board and town of Royalton’s decisions absolutely boggle my mind. Their trying to pass an almost $4-million gym while the rest of the school building has excessive needs is fiscally irresponsible. The board showed a picture of the science lab which was in shambles and we already know that there are leaking school roofs that will need to be replaced very shortly.

Shouldn’t we be taking care of what we already have? We need to keep our teachers and students safe, and let them teach and learn in a healthy building.

It surely seems that the townspeople having local control is a big farce. Teachers’ salaries, rising health insurance, and supervisory union costs are totally out of control.

The school board, at a very strategically-planned town/ school meeting, even while the gym vote is still in litigation, told the townspeople that they borrowed the money and were moving forward as they had planned. Provided the gym legally moves forward, the amount of money that has already been spent and how much it will cost to maintain this huge undertaking was never talked about. I believe that the board said that they would take care of such things when they get there.

If the gym goes through, I understand that all people of Royalton and the Law School can use it at no cost after school hours. That means that we will take care of extra lighting bills, heating costs, cleaning and all maintenance bills for the ones who can get to the gym, but those who cannot will still be paying a huge expense. I have nothing against fellow Royalton people or law school students, but I, and so very many others, cannot afford to pay for their playground.

It was in an October school board meeting that it was said, by accepting the petition, the board could potentially open the vote for endless petitions. What precedent would we set for future school boards? That seems as if the school board is trying to dictate and at the same time take away our freedom of speech.

There are major concerns that I have which are listed below. I feel as if the school board is not listening to some of us. Is there anyone out there who is? Please let yourselves be known.

• We are one of the highest taxed towns and states with declining school enrollment;

• The delinquent town taxes are rising;

• The country is in recession;

• The town, state and federal governments are not keeping costs down.

Again, we need to provide a safe and healthy place for our children to learn and our teachers to teach, but given the existing fiscal situation, the state of our town, state and federal government, I also believe we should act responsibly and set a good example for our children.

Judy McCullough

Carol Zuccalo

Royalton