To the editor:

At Wednesday’s school board meeting I learned some things I didn’t want to know.

I listened to a lady describe how she spent three days talking to 51 business owners in Langley and 33 of them said they would be financially hurt by the closing of the middle school. Despite the fact that we have neither the student numbers or the money to utilize that facility, she implied that we should keep it open for the economic benefit of Langley.

I was not aware that the job of our middle school students was the economic preservation of Langley. No mention was made of the huge economic benefit of the Langley Middle School property to Langley if it can be intelligently marketed and developed.

I heard people say they or the “community” hadn’t been listened to by the board before the LMS closing decision was made (by the people we elected to make such decisions). After hearing variations of that statement throughout the evening I was forced to conclude that what those people meant by “listened to” was “do it our way.”

One of the leaders of LMS Forever made it clear when she said they had organized to shoot down the bond and would do so again unless they were “listened to.” Apparently she is in favor of not funding the educational needs of our children if she doesn’t get her way.

I heard pleas that sounded like my granddaughter at Toys ‘R’ Us; heartfelt but strange in adults who I presume do live on budgets and not on wishes, building shufflings that would be wonderful if we desired to move students from our newest buildings into our oldest, misinformation — some of it created out of whole cloth, and of course the fear that our younger students would be set upon by the older ones — a phenomenon perhaps thought to be brought on by South Whidbey school air since on the buses, at games, at home, on the weekends, before and after school, it doesn’t happen.

Briefly, an elegant proposal was made to split the bond into three separate parts: one part would be repairs to existing facilities that have been deferred due to a lack of funds; two would be the addition of four classrooms at South Whidbey High School so a somewhat separate program can exist for middle schoolers; three would be a gym primarily for middle school, resurfacing of the track and artificial turf for Waterman Field.

I hope the board will give Ms. Riley’s proposal serious consideration, and act.

Jamie McNett

Clinton