Travis Allen, Candidate for Board of Education
♦ School Board and Dr. Lynn Moody, I would like to ask you to put off plans and expenditures for renovating Knox Middle School and moving forward with the building of the new central office until after the election in November. I believe the people of Rowan County are going to speak very loudly as to what they think of our current Board of Education. Never at any time in local history has our local board lost the support of the teachers and community as they have now done. There was no primary election for school board members. The voice of the people was not heard on the central office issue. We need to give them a chance to voice their opinion in the ballot box in November. It appears this school board is fighting tooth and nail to get this central office underway before the election. Why is this? Because they know that they are on the way out and time is not on their side.
How can we justify building an 8 to 10 million dollar building that will not educate, motivate or encourage a single child in this county. Have we forgotten we have teachers and children in mobile trailers and dilapidated old buildings? I understand our hard working staff needs a good healthy place to work. We do need to work toward a better working environment for them, but our children must be put first. They should be our focus, not back door dealings with a few elite that accumulate wealth and influence while stepping on the backs of everyday tax paying citizens. Why have we become a system that caters to those outside of education instead of our devoted teachers and their students? I just do not understand.
Why are we short changing these inner city children and the west end community? I would like for our school system to step up and do something big for these children. No, they are not any more special or deserving than any other children in the county, but their community is struggling right now. The current Knox property is landlocked with terrible athletic fields and facilities. A 14 million dollar renovation may be a bandage on our problem, but what does it really do for that community and those children? We need to step up and put our children in this school system first.
I picture a new Knox Middle School with top notch classrooms and beautiful sports and recreation areas. Several schools have been built in the county over the last few years. When is the last time we did something for our inner city children? We need to build this somewhere right in the heart of the west end community. (Where?, well I don’t know. Maybe some wealthy Salisbury family could donate the land to the school system.) We need a place that this community and the children can rally around. We need somewhere that those families can escape the street and enjoy learning and socializing in a great educational environment. A place of refuge during the day and a community building during the evening.
The campus could be within walking distance to hundreds of families for programs, social organizations, religious organizations and community groups. What a great way to recruit and keep quality teachers! Please, can we rethink the Knox project? I envision so much more than just a remodeling job. Here is our chance to truly make a difference. The environment in which children learn has a drastic effect on their ability and desire to learn. We could pick up this entire community if we would only put them first.
I ask you all to first stop the plans for the central office in Salisbury, and stop plans for renovating Knox. If we truly want to help the City of Salisbury let us do something for the children and the families who are in a war zone. We should ask the commissioners to put us in the West End Plaza for the 3 million it would take to make it a wonder central office. We then take the 6 million dollar savings and add it to the 14 million already set aside for the Knox renovation. This gives us 20 million to get started on a state of the art middle school for our children. After all who are we really here to help? Is it the elite of Salisbury or is it children in need? You answer the question.
Have you heard the saying?—“Your walk talks and your talk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks.” Our schools system talks a big talk about helping children, but their actual walk tells us something far different.
