Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Point / Counterpoint

These two comments were left below on the article "New Middle School for Greenville?"

From Bob Voigt:

Has anyone ever taken the time to notice how Versailles has put the horse ahead of the cart.; 1 - They enticed the county to build the airport in their area. Corporations have airplanes.; 2 - They worked very aggressively on showing their pride as you drive through the town with new curbs, sidewalks and tree planting on ALL the main streets from corp. limit to corp. limit.; 3 - They have not enticed a bunch of government housing projects to be built that add to the financial burden of your community.; 4 - They have developed only upscale housing which adds to both the property tax receipts and the income tax receipts.; 5 - They have made a very attractive park to be enjoyed by the people, not for the pleasure of wild animals. People can take their children there and not have to worry about them getting in the goose crap.; 6 - After this has all been in place and the community knows where they stand financially, they then work on their schools; A lot of people complained because every other school district in the county was building and they weren't, but their leaders knew how to put a plan togeather and make it work. We could all learn a lot by paying attention to Mr. Gump and Mr. Doseck.

From Anonymous:
 
I agree with Mr. Voigt but want to clarify that Versailles did not do all those things and then build the school by choice. The school board has been trying to pass a building levy since 1997. Each time a different plan (new high school, new K-8, etc) was presented to the voters and finally the K-12 passed.

I do give credit to Village Administrator Gump, the last 3 Mayors, many town council members, the Versailles Chamber of Commerce, other civic groups, very philanthropic corporations, generous private donors, and the citizens for the state of the community.

However it would be unfair credit to former Superintendent Doseck and lack credit to Superintendents Taylor and Fair to say they succeeded or failed to pass a levy. The various school options came from the Board of Education. Their first 3 levies failed and there were accusations of not listening to community input. The levy that did pass was also their plan. The real credit goes to the citizens who held out and voted down inadequate plans and then passed a comprehensive plan that addressed all existing needs and positioned the district for the future.

7 comments:

  1. I vote Versailles Village Administrator, Randy Gump, for Greenville City Mayor!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Look at the “Ohio Department of Education releases 2008-2009 district reports” listed above… Versailles get an excellent rating and Greenville gets an Effective rating. It is not the buildings which better the education of our children.

    I agree with Mr. Voigt... Versailles has put the horse ahead of the cart.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Look at the state's top schools. Versailles was rated and Greenville was not. A new building does not make students smarter, it's the right kind of teaching. Greenville's big fault is they for some reason like to hire alumni. You need new blood for new ideas and leadership. Greenville does the same thing over and over and over. They turned down Miller, Lilly, and many others. Build the city then build a school.

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  4. It's not just the buildings, it's more the parents and the school staff.

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  5. I agree its not the building it is the teachers but I all so think it is the kids because they have to want to learn or it want matter what building your in or how good a teacher is.

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  6. I think this city has bigger problems right now than the schools like maybe the unemployment in this county I have not worked in over a year and it is not from not trying.There is just nothing out there.

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  7. It sounds like two debates are getting mixed together. The issues are the Greenville City Schools facilities, and the Greenville City School system.

    Facilities are cut and dry. Either the buildings are in good shape, provide adequate educational spaces, and are safe for the students...or they are not.

    If the citizens of Greenville aren't satisfied with "effective" and want "excellent" then new facilities aren't going to change that. Local districts with new buildings have been put on "academic watch" status.

    Versailles Schools have been consistently rated excellent year after year after year (with all old buildings). And Mr. Voigt is right, it's a very nice little community. There is definitely something to be learned from what they are doing.

    My suggestion is to split these issues out. A new building isn't going to fix Greenville or Greenville schools...but that doesn't mean it may not be necessary.

    ReplyDelete

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