My Letter To Local General Assembly Members

Dear Senator ----------,

I had hoped to get this to you before the General Assembly had started back, but now I must apologize for adding to your correspondence pile!

As you know, the debate concerning the forcing of year-round school attendance in Wake County continues to escalate in intensity. You already know how I feel about the subject, and that I base my opinion both on research and on personal experience and insight gained as a parent and former teacher.

I know this is a terribly busy time for you, but I think you'll agree that the following information is important. It has taken awhile, and I finally had to go through Superintendent Burns, but I have some real data on electrical and natural gas costs for year-round schools. I share this with you because Wake County's attorney, Michael Ferrell, indicated in a recent memo that, "Generally the State pays for annual operating expenses [for public schools]."

I have studied and studied this data, and have come up with what I think is a fair - and conservative - piece of information. That is:

If the current plan by the Wake County School Board succeeds, approximately 26 additional schools will open on a mandatory year-round calendar this-coming fall of 2007 (22 conversions, 4 new). The electric and natural gas expenditures for just TWO summer months in these year-round schools, will cost the state of NC approximately a quarter of a million dollars in EXTRA expenditures. That figure is based on a comparison of actual costs in a comparable traditional school and year-round school here in Wake County. It was not even based on costs during the hottest months of the year - July and August. These are costs that will never go away, and will only increase with time. Also, since other school systems look to Wake County as a flagship, if they should start adding year-round schools....you see where this could lead.

I would ask that you please consider data such as this ( just one example of many) and join with me and other concerned citizens in urging the Wake County Board of Education to stop and research (as well as make public) all real repercussions of forcing year-round school attendance. History shows that they are headed down a proven path of failure. Even though this will not affect my own child at school, she will suffer, as will all of us, the many negative consequences that hide beneath the cover of promotional rhetoric. There are other options, a combination of which would be much less disruptive county-wide.

As always, I thank you for your time and interest in this vital matter.

Sincerely,

Louise Lee