Bill Lang's Statement at the School Board Meeting

Below is the statement read to the school board on October 6th by Keedysville resident Bill Lang against building the proposed Eastern Primary School.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the School Board, thank you for taking the time to hear my comments.  I am here today to challenge you.  I am challenging you to make a tough decision not a politically expedient decision.  I am challenging you to provide leadership and help guide our school system for the next 20 years.  I am challenging you to live up to your charge of establishing a vision for the community schools and to participate in the strategic planning.  I am challenging you to begin earning back the trust of the citizens of Washington County.  I am challenging you to act in the best interests of the tax payers of Washington County and the State of Maryland, as well as acting in the best interest of the children of Washington County.  You have before you a great opportunity, the opportunity to show true leadership.  A true leader is one who is willing to say we have made mistakes in the past and we are going to learn from those mistakes and do things differently this time.  A true leader is willing to delay a project that does not serve the overall community.  As I see it you have 2 choices before you, choice number 1 is to build Eastern Primary and spend $25 million dollars on a school does not have popular support, does nothing to relieve overcrowding in existing schools, will not be close to filled even when it is completed and as of today the assumption is that the children will come to this school based on a redistricting program that has not even been presented to the School Board.  Choice number 2 is not going to be an easy choice, but it is the right choice.  The School Board needs to not award the contract for Eastern Primary today.  You as the School Board need to stand up and say enough to this philosophy of we will build it then force them to come.  That has worked so well with Rockland Woods.  You need to say to the voters of Washington County, we understand your concerns and we are not going to spend $25 million of YOUR TAX DOLLARS on a building a new school until we are certain that it is in the right location and the maximum number of children will be positively affected by this new school.  You need to advocate for those students who are in the overcrowded existing facilities to get those facilities relief and build Eastern Primary will not do that.  Finally, you need to restore the trust of the electorate.  The electorate who hears things said by employees of the Board of Education like “it costs less to build a new school than to renovate an existing school” and that a new school will be built in South County when “the time is right to receive maximum funding from the state.”   So Mr. Michaels feels that the welfare of the students is trumped by state funding?  One of the School Boards mandates are to “advocate for the needs of all of the students” now is the time to do so.  You stand at a cross roads ladies and gentlemen, do you want to be remembered as the School Board that went along with the status quo and did the easy thing, or do you want to be remembered as the School Board that stood up for what is right and what is in the best interest of the students and tax payers of Washington County.  Again, thank you for your time