Better ideas exist for dealing with Meadows School
This is an open letter to Superintendent Robert Haworth and members of the Vigo County School Board:
The best ideas:
• The best ideas are kept simple and easy to understand.
• Davis Park is the worst place for an elementary school because it is surrounded on three sides by some of the busiest streets in Terre Haute.
• Some young people are inevitably going to be touched and injured and what VCSC has currently designed at Davis Park is not good enough.
• This is a major liability issue for you, as well as a morally responsible issue.
• The simple idea: put Davis Park and Meadows K-5 in Meadows and put your reuse older student programs at Davis Park.
• The costs will be the same for you and you will have solved the drop-off and pick-up security issue by directing young children to Meadows.
The sign of a good leader:
• Several people who are familiar with VCSC have told me that VCSC doesn’t care what we think. It’s already decided and they will do what they want. It was decided a long time ago.
• I do not believe that. I would like to believe that the VCSC has good leadership. Based on my experience as a purchasing director at Indiana State University over the past 21 years, I think the sign of a good leader is one who:
– First get all the pieces of the puzzle.
– Second, he recognizes that he does not always offer the best solution and that a good leader therefore listens to the ideas of others.
– Third, a good leader is confident and sure of his knowledge of what he can and has contributed to an organization and is not afraid to say that Susie here has a great idea and is not afraid to stand up for it and to thank Susie for coming up with that.
– I cross my fingers that I am correct about the administration of the VCSC. Time will tell us.
Shame on us:
• Shame on us if we do not take care of the safety of small children first, as our highest priority and our greatest responsibility.
• Shame on us if we do not do everything in our power to ensure that the little ones can come and go safely without fear of being hit by a car.
Respect:
• It is respectfully requested that the Vigo County Education Authority provide further details of their intentions for the Meadows School Estate, so that we can clear up the confusion, as we have information that the VCSC has the intend to construct, sell and / or rent housing in a subdivision on Meadows School grounds.
• The loss of Meadows School on the east side of Terre Haute damages property values, making it less attractive to families considering moving in.
• The east side of Terre Haute is already opposed to rental units in the area, as they are seen to damage property values.
• The grounds of Meadows School are an exceptional asset to the community and the many activities that have taken place there over the generations and must be preserved.
• Field development will result in more traffic than the area can handle.
• The use of taxpayers’ money for such a project is questionable.
• The subdivision of ownership and the rental and sale of the building appear to conflict with the restriction of the deed and the original intention of the donor.
• The VCSC should not compete with private companies (developers and contractors), in accordance with the council’s policy manual.
• Green spaces are in line with the current environmental movement and enhance the properties on the east side.
• The East Side of Terre Haute, in collaboration with Meadows School stakeholders, currently has a “petition opposing the development of the Meadows Schools land”. The petition is currently signed by 145 people and is growing every day. The petition can be found at: thunderboltprocurement.com/Meadows/Enter.php.
– Kevin Barr, Terre Haute
La Tribune-Star is committed to publishing a diversity of readers’ opinions. Email us at opinion@tribstar.com.
