Letters from Our Readers

I read with amazement and some amusement the letter from Bruce Davenport concerning the alleged assessment "windfall" dirty trick by the Fayette County Board of Education.

He apparently isn't concerned about the facts but hopefully there are some citizens out there who are interested in the truth.

Here are the facts:

· The Board of Education approved its budget in June as required by the state.

· The tax digest is usually approved by the state in August or September.

· The Board is then required to set its millage rate to fund the budget based on the state-approved digest.

· The budget was approved based upon an estimated growth of 9.25 percent in the digest. The budget must provide funds to provide services for 500 additional students.

· The Board has already indicated there will be a millage rate reduction in the bond category of the budget. Where have you been, Mr. Davenport?

· The millage rate for the general maintenance and operations portion of the budget will be set at the level needed to fund the budget.

· It does not take an intellectual giant or math genius to determine that a rollback can happen if the digest does grow beyond the level projected to fund the budget.

· It would have been irresponsible, regardless of the pending election, to promise a millage roll back in the M & O budget before the digest had been approved by the state.

Where did Mr. Davenport get the fact that the digest will grow by 20 percent, since the local appeals of reassessments and state approval of the digest have not yet been completed?

I trust that in the future Mr. Davenport will check his facts and accurately report them. This great nation provides for free speech and a free press; neither will survive unless both are used responsibly.

Once more the citizens of Fayette County are treated to another negative letter from Bill Webster. He now presumes to tell others how I should feel about the results of the July 21 primary.

I can assure him that I feel no personal embarrassment over the choice made by the voters. I offered my knowledge, expertise and experience as a service for our children and grandchildren and the voters had every right to say they did not want someone such as me representing them on the School Board.

Webster is obviously angry because I and the rest of the School Board would not agree to allow him to "hand pick" programs and or services from the system for children, in his care, he has chosen to home school.

Mr. Webster has every right to make a private choice about educating children in his care and he knows that he is expected to pay for that decision if he does not enroll them in the public school system. Enrollment in the public school would allow participation in all programs and services offered. He needs to stop complaining and take responsibility for his decision.

I believe that Mr. Webster needs to review the statistics on the primary before being carried away in his hyperbole.

The "rising sea of discontent" represented less than 13 percent of the registered voters in Fayette County. He knows approximately 78 percent of the voting public did not participate in the board election July 21. One could assume they were satisfied with the system and felt no need to vote.

The negative letters with omissions and distortions may serve a useful purpose only if they eventually awaken the sleeping giant (the voters who did not go to the polls). If this does not happen, a negative small minority will eventually destroy a very good school system.

Bob Todd
Fayetteville