School board public comment includes kids

Last week at the Tecumseh School Board meeting, I heard one of the most eloquent pleas for help that I have heard in a while. It was just a brief statement, and an emotional one. A young lady named Amelia from the TSO8 drummed up her courage to stand up at the end of the meeting to ask board members not to forget about what the orchestra students need as it considers future plans. “We really need this room, Without it we won’t have room to continue what we’re doing,” she said, then added, “I will continue to fight for what I love to do.” I’ve heard student pleas before, sometimes from a group that comes into a meeting, each reading a statement that pretty much says the same thing. For my money, one emotional plea has more impact. The important thing, though, is that people sometimes actually do come to a meeting, whether it’s council or school board or township meetings, taking the time to let these boards know their view on a subject. When it comes to the kids it’s especially hard. Each student out there has a special interest, a special love, something they uniquely enjoy pursuing. What’s hard is that there are only so many dollars to go around. I don’t dispute that the Tecumseh School Board, like boards of all kinds these days, have a difficult job allocating funds to various areas of need. But I did like what Amelia’s mom had to say. She was speaking specifically about AstroTurf (and had some facts about its toxicity and dangers) and did we really need to go that route for our schools when there could be some cost-savings to go with grass, even with some upkeep costs. This was a mother in the community who also has seen a son attend four years at THS, which she said was a good experience, but she cautioned that the schools should not put all their dollars, whatever their source, into athletics. It’s a point that I think is right on target. I know the schools want to do everything they can for every student they have in every special interest area and that’s not possible. What will be important, however, is to look hard at all the options (like school board member Jason Sines had earlier asked) so that when final decisions are made, there can be programs, facilities and equipment for as many areas as possible whether it’s sports, clubs, fine arts, performance arts, whatever. From what we hear “out here” in newspaper land, it’s not so much that the public is opposed to schools doing what they can to meet student’s needs. Along with a hope that schools, government officials and others recognize that times are HARD and everyone has to pare back, when things have to be done, they just want their elected officials and those in positions like school and government administrations to study the issues carefully, move cautiously and in as economical a fashion as possible and to do it in a balanced way so that everyone can benefit.