Fight for Education, Not Against Parents
In the Simi Valley debate over school closings, some parents have complained that the district will be closing at least one school while it plans to build a new school in Wood Ranch.
I live in Wood Ranch, and my house backs up to the site where the school will go. I do not support the district’s haste in deciding to close a school without thoroughly looking at other alternatives first. But I hope that parents of the schools threatened by this action will not fall into the trap of neighborhood against neighborhodd and class warfare.
The Wood Ranch school site was acquired by the district as part of the development agreement for Wood Ranch. The Long Canyon property became the property of the district when the developer went into bankruptcy and was unable to pay the fees to build the school. Buyers of homes pay these fees as part of the purchase price, and the future promise of a school is at least part of the reason we bought here.
Our children are miles from Madera Elementary, with no safe way to walk. The neighborhood school concept is no less important to us than it s to you. Our children are no less important.
The sale of the long Canyon property will bring many millions more than needed to build the school-money that will be used districtwide to make all schools better.
Fight for better administration and better education. But don’t fight us. We are your friends and neighbors. JEAN RUECKER Simi Valley
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