To the editor:

I recently attended a meeting with some frustrated community members, mainly parents, led by a frustrated Regional School Unit 1 school board member.

This school board member encouraged the attendees to voice their thoughts and opinions about the possibility of an upcoming school budget cut of $1 million and to offer up solutions to the crisis.

So here goes: Last year our schools were hit with a massive budget cut and we scraped by and came out with teachers and programs still intact, for the most part, although belts were tightened and people were stretched thin and some things disappeared altogether.

This year we are at what the school board member referred to as the “tipping point,” with another round of cuts possible. This year the challenge is once again not to harm our core curriculum and try to save some programs that really benefit our kids.

This year, this goal will be harder, if not impossible.

Everything is being looked at for where to cut the cost of keeping our schools functioning. Everything.

The school board is not happy about this. The administrators are not happy, and the parents and kids are not happy.

The reality remains steadfast that decisions have to be made. Along with cutting the school budget as a solution, there is also raising property taxes. This is a very reasonable option that does not impact the citizens of Bath badly.

We are a town of approximately 8,000 to 10,000 people. To raise $1 million would cost us all less than $10 a month. This would buy us a quality education for our kids, who represent the future.

Consider investing $10 per month in the future, a future of bright, engaged kids who value themselves and pay it forward. They are kids we can all, as a community, feel proud of.

Without providing our kids with the best education we can, we are telling them that they are not worth the $10 a month — the monthly cost of a pizza, a movie out or three gallons of gas ( for now anyway).

So, raise taxes to benefit the schools? Yes, it’s not as bad as it sounds. Even if you don’t have a child in the school system, wouldn’t you rather the kids in your community were engaged by quality school teachers and educational programs and not reeking havoc, bored on your streets?

Laurie Burhoe,
Bath

letters@timesrecord.com