For whom does the bell toll?

I read with dismay the latest comments by our new school "chief" regarding her desires "to improve the board's image and find ways to pay for new construction."

Ms. [Debbie] Condon states, in reference to the Starr's Mill High School and Rising Starr Middle School athletic facilities, "They should have a stadium, but there is a difference between a functional stadium and one with a lot of bells and whistles."

At first blush this seems prudent. But were bells and whistles a concern when she championed the demolition of a perfectly good synthetic track at McIntosh High School and its replacement by a newer, larger track so the county could host invitational track meets?

Was it Ms. Condon's fiscal responsibility that compelled her to support building new coach's offices and a new concessions building at the same campus?

With so many new "bells and whistles" at an established school, one with "functional facilities," I must question her sincerity. Would these funds not have better served the community at a new two-school complex which has no track, concession stands, tennis courts, baseball field or field house?

Why the continued push for a special local option sales tax to build a new stadium, even when alternative financing was proposed? Did not the citizens of Fayette County already speak to this issue? If certificates of participation are not acceptable, why not sell the Sandy Creek sewer facility to Tyrone, freeing the school system from the burden of running a public utility, and use the proceeds for needed facilities?

I'm certain Ms. Condon wants the same nice things for her children we want for ours. Fair enough, but are adequate athletic facilities being withheld from both Starr's Mill High and Rising Starr Middle schools to entice voters into supporting a SPLOST? On what, besides functional sports facilities for the south complex, would this money be spent? A new gymnasium at McIntosh? A new high school? Are our students being held hostage to a grander plan?

Blank checks should never be written to those who govern, particularly those with little regard for all their constituency. A responsible board would have installed facilities at a new school and saved the upgrades until discretionary funds were available.

Meanwhile, the children of the taxpayers who pay for these "bells and whistles" play on grass laid by students and mowed by parents, run track in the school parking lot and roam the county like nomads, seeking tennis courts and ball fields on which to practice and compete.

This school board should be ashamed of itself!