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Letters to the Editor

School Board at Work or Hardly Working?

Notes from Regular Board meeting Monday, September 22nd: - Sarah Costain was absent. Costain has missed 1/3 of all Regular Board meetings since she took her seat in January. - Eric Lawson, Eric Hanson, Monica Dzieinski and AJ MacArthur needed reminding that their vote to award a contract to a higher bidder on an asphalt project in January was against state law, risked a lawsuit, and most likely will result in higher costs on future bidding projects. - Following a detailed explanation of the bidding process, MacArthur forwarded a false claim that the January asphalt lowest bid and ...

FECKLESS AND FACTLESS

With no shortage of irony, Brynne Fairbanks’ Letter to the Editor on Oct 4th titled “APS Board Critics are Leaving out Facts” was filled with misleading information and zero facts. Where do I begin?! I’ll start by addressing the false information about the rain garden project that was voted down by school board members Eric Lawson, Sarah Costain, Monica Dziesinski and AJ MacArthur. Fairbanks stated there were no volunteers who would tend the garden during summer breaks. She also stated there was no budget to cover the cost of yearly soil sampling and replacement plants. ...

Death be not proud

The term “assassination” is reserved for the murder of a prominent person for political reasons. Certainly, the murder of Charlie Kirk was the most recent assassination. People’s response has been very emotional, and we are tempted to hate. People are tempted to hate the assassin, those who don’t hold our beliefs, those we label as “other” than us, or our opponents. But rather we should do as Ericka Kirk has done, that is she forgave the man accused of killing her husband. “I forgive him because it is what Christ did and what Charlie would do.” “The answer to hate is ...

Laughing at clapping

Dave Bondy worked as a journalist for 25 years. At Dave's last job he was the main anchor and digital content manager for Fox and NBC affiliated TV stations in Flint. He has over 700,000 followers on social media. Embarrassingly, Alpena Public Schools made statewide news when Dave Bondy shared that Eric Lawson, president of our school board banned clapping. On Facebook alone there were 159 comments and 284 views. This doesn't include his YouTube, Twitter and Instagram accounts. View at https://youtu.be/A5rzITgeMRQ. Dave Bondy states, “Is this real? I understand some meetings can get ...

Helping children or flipping burgers

At the August Alpena Public Schools board meeting, many instructional aides attended to voice their dissatisfaction of how they were treated during a staff meeting. As of Aug. 31, they had 107 instructional assistants, with 27 vacant positions. The instructional aides were asked to help recruit new employees. The aides expressed concern about low pay and unreasonable demands due to staff shortage. An instructional aide who had been with the school system 30 years loves her job, her students and the staff. She has accumulated 80 days of paid leave, but can't use her time off due to ...

Parent Groups Alive and Well

We are writing as President of the Parent Advisory Council (PAC) at Besser Elementary and President of the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) at Ella White Elementary in response to the recent suggestion in a Letter to the Editor that Alpena schools should “bring back PTAs.” In fact, parent groups are alive and well across the Alpena district. Historically, all parent groups at all of the schools serve as a bridge between parents and the school. We organize fundraisers, coordinate volunteer efforts, and host a forum where parents’ voices can be heard. ALL schools have monthly ...