Case Ave. school has long history of board neglect

Bob O’Neil, Sharon

I wrote a letter that was printed in late 1996, regarding the condition of Case Avenue Elementary School. Isn’t it amazing that nothing has changed?

Our school board and administrators continue to sit back and let things deteriorate, rather than attacking, updating and repairing, eliminating problems as they appear, or before they appear. Again, I question the quality of maintenance supervision and employees that are hired.

Are they approaching similar maintenance problems in the new high school the same way, by neglecting them? Does the board budget for repairs or improvements on an annual basis? Do they have a long-range budget for needed large cost projects?

Do public sector businesses let their buildings and equipment deteriorate beyond repair? I don’t think so. Maintenance is an ongoing item needed to stay in business.

I saw a picture on a Youngstown TV news broadcast of carpeting coming off a wall. Why wasn’t it re-glued as soon as the problem started?

I question the need for carpeting on the walls. In the past I heard of a head-lice problem in the school. Could the carpeting be an excellent place for lice to live and spread?

Rather than panicking and spending millions on a new school, why don’t we prioritize the current building’s problems, taking on the most important first and then continue to attack the other problems in order of need? Costs could be spread over several years, rather than hitting the taxpayers with a high property tax increase.

Have the school board and the administrators forgotten that a large portion of the taxpayers are senior citizens living on fixed incomes and there are many people unemployed? Also, how many homes and properties sit empty? Where is the lost tax revenue going to come from?

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