A small group in the community is determined to politicize and hijack our public schools for their hate-based, ignorant beliefs. At April’s board meeting, students, teachers, and members of the community spoke on concerns about board members’ obsession with bathrooms and adopting policies on a non-existent issue. Board members are wasting time micromanaging issues that they have little knowledge of. Now they are pushing their lack of expertise in the legal arena to find opinions that fit their political agenda. Months were wasted questioning the plans for the rain garden, which included replacement of aging storm drainage free to APS. Based on my 50-plus years of engineering, construction, and contracting, the decision to turn down the rain garden project and also gifting asphalt paving to a local at a higher cost was inexcusable and harmful to APS, now and in the future. Meanwhile, there has been no focus on improving student educational performance. If they ever get to that point, it will be important to listen to the experienced educators and not micromanage them.

Last week, Bruce Heath’s letter made a disingenuous portrayal of the handling of the meeting by the board president and superintendent. He’s alleging unequal treatment to “his” board members, he notes a prior board meeting, he was stopped when specifically stating a board member’s name. The policy prohibits any personal attacks by NAME. He failed to mention that his attack on the board member continued, just absent of a name. All who listened were well aware of whom he was referring. Further, the next speaker (George Pena) continued with a smear attack on both the board member and superintendent, both identified by position. Maybe several months should be wasted revising the policy to also exclude reference to occupation and a host of other identifying items.

DALE FRITZ,

Alpena