Act as the voice of school children

To the editor:

I read a letter just the other day regarding the closing of Pennville Elementary School.

I wasn’t sure how exactly I felt after reading it, but then after a minute or so thinking about it, I had to agree with the view point of that writer. She said it best and said it all in a matter of one sentence: “The decision has been made.”

I bet you ask any parent, student or teacher of Pennville Elementary and they will have that same “gut feeling.” What makes it worse, is that we keep hearing people tell us this. Rumors are hard to ignore even as adults.

In my opinion, the school board wants to take the easiest most direct “way out” of their financial crisis. That way out would be to close the smallest school, the one that’s in the red on the bottom line and the one that will leave the least amount of people affected. We all know that school is Pennville.

Pennville has been targeted more times than any other school in the county, and they are tired, we are tired. As teachers, parents, community members, business owners, students past, present and future, we want to keep our school.

I understand that dollars are important, but there have been suggestions, good suggestions for alternatives to try and it’s as if the board doesn’t want to listen, or rather is afraid to upset a majority group, or bigger community.

Has the Joe Vinson plan even been seriously considered? I don’t feel like it has been. If so, where are the studies as to why it couldn’t work or where are the meeting notes and Powerpoints from the board discussing the plan in full detail, weighing the pros and cons, etc.? I feel like the board is just doing their due diligence so that Pennville residents will feel like they are being listened to, but I’m not sure any of us really feel heard.

Pennville is the minority here, after all, if it closes, it’s only 80 or so students affected, versus the 100-plus at the other schools. Why upset the masses. As a parent and a community member I can’t shake that feeling of not mattering, imagine how our teachers and kids are feeling right now too.

Perhaps the board should sit back and think hard about those “bitter pills” that are about to be prescribed and then be ready to swallow a dose themselves because at $7,000 a head on a declining enrollment trend, you’re about to see a portion of those “just 80 or so” students of Pennville exit Jay School Corporation completely, and honestly, it’s more so out of spite than anything if you listen to some parents. I can’t say that I blame them really.

I sat down just last night and listened to my third grader tell me that she knew for sure that four of her friends were heading to Southern Wells if their school closed. (We’ve also heard those same four sets of parents confirm that.) That’s $28,000 out of third grade alone, and I know there are more that will follow. So, Jay School Board, how is this going to help you out? 

During this same conversation, the look on my third grader’s face was heartbreaking. I could tell she was holding back tears for a moment, and then she sat there quiet, waiting for some reassurance. I had none. My husband had none. We had nothing to say to ease her 8-year-old mind other than, we would figure it out and she would make more friends wherever we ended up sending her. 

You see, our kids are resilient and they will find their way no matter what school they are in, that’s the one positive we have going for us here, but they will always remember that they didn’t matter enough to let them keep their school.

This shouldn’t just be Pennville’s fight, who will be next if closing Pennville doesn’t help? Support keeping a school in each community, sign the petition at Change.org

These changes affect us all, but more importantly they affect our kids. Be their voice.

Lacey Wentz

Pennville