Letters to the Editor

Speak up to save education
My name is Derek Barnes. I have known most of your children as a
teacher and or class advisor at San Benito High School. It has been
both a pleasure and an honor to know your children and I look
forward to hearing great things about them once they leave this
school.
Speak up to save education

My name is Derek Barnes. I have known most of your children as a teacher and or class advisor at San Benito High School. It has been both a pleasure and an honor to know your children and I look forward to hearing great things about them once they leave this school.

The purpose of this letter is to let you know that the SBHSD Board of Trustees made a decision on Tuesday night. March 11, to approve a plan that will make major cuts at the school. The plan is designed to cut back on staffing (teachers, custodians, etc.) BUT NOT ADMINISTRATION. The plan is also designed to cut back on programs (like band, drama, etc.) This plan personally cut three teachers from my department (social science).

  THE PLAN DOES NOT INCLUDE THE DISTRICT USING ALMOST $6 MILLION IN RESERVES TO HELP AVOID THESE CUTS.

I am writing to you as an employee of this school who is very concerned that these cuts will impact the education of this school. The fewer teachers (the proposal is to cut at least 10 positions) we have here means much larger classrooms with a much harder challenge for teachers to reach all students. The loss of programs means students will not have an outlet to help them become more well-rounded individuals. I want to urge you to help teachers such as myself fight these cuts, save jobs and save programs at this school.

I ask you to please do one of the following:

– Email a letter or statement (you can offer suggestions if you would like) about the cuts to all of the following people:

wg*@ho******.com : Bill Tiffany (president of school board)

ev********@ya***.com : Evelyn Muro (trustee)

en***********@ya***.com : Mary Encinas (trustee)

St********@ch*****.net : Steve Delay (trustee)

GI******@ao*.com : Joe Gardiner (trustee)

sr***@sb***.us : Stan Rose (superintendent)

mp*******@sb***.us : Mike Potmesil (director of human resources).

– Show up and speak to them at the next board meeting on April 9. You can contact the school to get on the agenda or find out the location.

The teachers and programs of this school need your help. We alone cannot succeed, we need your voice as a concerned parent. To ensure the quality academic offerings and curriculum at this school please let the board know how you feel. I appreciate you taking the time to read this and I hope you can help.

Derek J. Barnes,

Teacher at SBHS

Just the facts, voters

This letter is written in response to the editorial comments on Feb. 15. During these difficult times, support for our San Benito County Schools would be very much appreciated. This factual information is available at the ASJUSD district office.

“The ASJUSD board would be ill-advised if they did not provide the voters opportunity to support their students.”

Fact 1: Voters elected to pass the bond in 2002. It was their choice. The decision about which projects to build was a shared decision that was thoughtfully considered over a period of 8 years, by parents, staff, administration and the school board. Voters helped to identify and develop the list of facilities and projects in the 2002 bond which included the Gym at Aromas, renovation at San Juan School and Vocational classrooms at Anzar.

Fact 2: Providing school facilities for the students in the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District is organized in phases to provide for the needs of students as the district grows. Over the last 14 years the facility needs of students have been reviewed regularly by representative groups such as school site councils made up of parents, and district councils representing staff and administration. The process is informed by the latest data such as enrollment projections, facility assessment, safety issues and by having first hand-knowledge of the sites, the community and other pertinent information. This group has worked with the superintendent to identify the greatest needs in the district to be considered for the bond proposal that will be on the June ’08 ballot.

Fact 3: The State of California has been 47th on the nationwide list for school funding and appears to be in danger of dropping even lower as the Governor proposes to slash funding for public schools. In June voters will have the choice of whether to pay off the debt incurred for construction of Anzar High School to free up funds that can be used in the classroom which would help to keep our schools strong. They would also have the opportunity to provide facilities identified by an inclusive process to serve students in our district or they can chose to leave the facilities as is. 

This may not be an easy time to consider supporting our students but this is precisely when our students need us to step forward and provide for them.

Fact 4: The average property owner in the district would pay approximately $39.50/$100,000  tax value (not appraised value) per year. Do the Math for your property.

Fact 5: Whenever there is new construction or projects, large or small, this tax will be redistributed and taxes will be reduced for residents in the district.

Fact 6: When ASJUSD was formed there were a significant number of San Juan residents who wanted to keep San Juan School as a “one school district”. However, those same people overwhelmingly voted for the unification board candidates. They wanted to see the new district succeed.

Fact 7: The bond in 2006 failed by a mere 77 votes. Some “Yes” voters stayed home because they were so sure the bond would pass. We need to get work harder to support our students.

    Opinion: It would be morally wrong for the board not to offer voters in Aromas-San Juan School District the opportunity to support their schools. School bonds are one of the few taxes that stay right here in our local community. The taxes that property owners pay are tax deductible just as donations to other worthy causes are tax deductible. A school bond is an opportunity to make our community a better place for our young people now and into the future.

     Over the last 16 years that I have been involved in the district I have seen our school community come together. Anzar is our high school and a source of pride to both San Juan Bautista and Aromas.

Sylvia Rios Metcalf

Trustee, Aromas-San Juan School District

Community that cares

I am writing this letter to express how amazed I am by the love and support of our community. Hollister is a wonderful place to be!

A group of wonderful teachers, parents, and staff members of Spring Grove School came together and organized a benefit pasta dinner for Diana Magana – a seventh grader suffering from Osteosarcoma. Throughout our two weeks of planning we contacted several local business asking for donations to support our efforts. Not only were these businesses willing to participate, but many of them asked “What else can we do for you?”

We sent out emails asking all of you to pass it along to people you knew. I know that my phone rang for two weeks! With every call, I was met with nothing but caring, loving, supportive individuals. Not just people in the Spring Grove School community, but members of the entire county … reaching out to a child in need. You offerered monetary donations, dessert donations for our auction, and many of you even showed up to volunteer your time.

You went above and beyond! I am deeply moved by the willingness of so many people to reach out and give. I am proud to say that I am a part of an amazing community of people! Thank you so much to all of you for all that you did to make our benefit dinner a success for the Magana family!

Julie Neff

Teacher, Spring Grove School

Vigil marks dark anniversary

Hollister in Black and all locally peace-loving people will be joining in solidarity with all groups in the country for a candlelight vigil on his Wednesday evening from 7 to 8 p.m. at the grassy corner of Fourth and San Benito streets.

March 19 marks the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. As the number of U.S. military deaths approaches 4,000 and the number of Iraqi deaths is estimated to be 600,000 we grieve for the suffering families and for the soul of America.

Remembering also that this group started originally as a small group of Israeli and Palestinian women in black grieving for their dead sons and husbands, it has spread worldwide uniting all people in grief and ardently praying for an end to war.

We invite all people interested in peace and interested in breaking the cycle of violence to join us for an hour with a candle as we grieve and meditate on the horrors of war.

Mary Zanger

Hollister

Now that’s real money

The Heritage Foundation analyzed the Democratic controlled House Budget Resolution for 2009. It predicts a $1.3 TRILLION tax increase when the Bush tax cuts expire. It is hard to visualize $1,300,000,000,000.00.

At the local level, each taxpayer in Congressman Sam Farr’s (D) district (CD-17), can expect a tax increase of $1,516 ($3,132 if you file joint). Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s district (CD-8) can expect an increase of only $1,663.

  And we thought Pombo was bad.

Marvin L. Jones

Hollister