Two years spent on boundaries issue could have been better spent securing a new school

Is there some secret, exclusive society that reside in the Meadowfields school district, that people in other parts of Yarmouth are not privileged to belong to? Many of our town’s finest citizens have been born and raised on the “other side of town”.

My issue is with the school board which has systematically made anyone who is outside the Meadowfields School District feel like second class citizens. What parent who had the means wouldn’t choose a brand new school over the two older failing schools? The structures are outdated, with major problems including inefficiency and a shocking lack of the basics: no gymnasium in one and no cafeteria in either. There are questions of air quality and in the not too distant past, one had a mould issue. Not to mention lack of programming in one and classes filled to capacity in the other. Shame on all of you parents for wanting the best the area has to offer for your children.

This school board appears to have some self-serving members. It is obvious that we need a new school in the centre of town that has full French programming as well as English. The two years spent on boundaries could have been better spent trying to secure a new school for the area. Our children are the future of our town - ALL of them, not just the Meadowfields students. Invest in them, not a deluxe, brand new, prestigious waterfront, leased building for the board while there are sub-standard schools in the area. Is this the message that we want to send to our children; that only the kids in the “rich” part of town deserve proper schools?

If we want to keep existing people in the area and attract new ones, quality schools would be a fine start.

When the board is “crunching their numbers“ I hope that they become acutely aware that every dollar they eliminate affects someone’s child. There are often many ways to solve problems with funding.

I hope that all people of Yarmouth will stand up and fight for the children and for a school board that has an agenda that serves all students.

Rachelle Tuepah,

Yarmouth