Dear Editor,
With another vote coming up for the Slate Valley Unified School District I am writing to appeal to “Yes” voters and those on the fence to please turn out and vote. Our district will need over 1,000 “Yes” votes, or around 200 per town to effectively pass our school budget, on this third try. We need to focus and fund our schools.
Voting “Yes” on a school budget has always been one of the least complicated civic decisions I regularly make. I trust the imperfect process. I trust that the administrators, the teachers, the unions, the volunteers and the legislators who take the time to put an annual budget together, are operating from a place of love and mutual respect. Respect to circumstance and need. And why not?
I am a property owner, a have sent three of my children to these schools. (Easily $120k per pupil or more). I want educational opportunities, financial gains and agency for all of the children and young adults in this community. I want to go to work and know my children are well taken care of. Why not?
I am not naïve. I know when and how to “manage” and micro-manage. A personal budget is full of intended and unintended expenses and we operate in a financial vortex, seemingly beyond our control. It is worth remembering, we can make personal agency with our money, there are unexpected expenses and “screw ups” (life taxes) and there are deliberate empowered “choices.” Personally and imperfectly when I pay my annual school tax I deliberately choose to contribute to the care and enthusiasm of our young learners. I am also choosing (imperfectly) to thank the educators in our community who offer the day to day care and love. And I am choosing to thank and respect the students who attend school and try to bring their best 40 hours a week.
Thank you.
Scott Greene, Orwell
