OCR Text |
Show vniEwipaDHRnr Page A14 Thursday, January 19, 1989 Park Record Here's to board harmony This past year was a turbulent one for the Park City Board of Education, but Park City should not forget the accomplishments of old board members, and should offer the new board members all the support they need. At the root of the old board's troubles was a decrease in Park City's assessed valuation, coupled with steady growth in year-round residents, especially the little ones. In 1983, the board asked for and received an additional five mils of property tax from Park City. If financial growth had continued in the direction it was going, this probably would have been enough leeway to afford the district lower class ratios and higher teacher salaries indefinitely. in-definitely. Unfortunately, Park City's rose-colored glasses were broken when the town faced a two-year two-year slump in the real estate boom which had boosted the town's ability to educate its children. These troubles have tended to obscure the efforts ef-forts of the board of education. As three members leave the board, people should remember they are largely responsible for much of the good Park City education realizes. Ed Axtell, Nancy Garbett, and Ralph Hale have all given up their seats. Axtell, a four-year board member, was defeated in an election with Greg Schirf. Garbett and Hale, both eight-year veterans, gave up their seats to Jan Sloan and Val Chin, respectively. Hale and Garbett were both in office when the voted leeway was passed. They took the initiative in-itiative to ask the public for more money, a decision deci-sion politicians never take lightly. Education was always their first goal Garbett says she joined the board partly in response to the inactivity in Park City educationbut educa-tionbut they worked toward making the district a better place to be in other ways. Dozier Field, for instance, was one of Hale's pet projects. Axtell came in as the economy was slumping. The board was still spending with abandon, but the writing on the wall was beginning to appear; the district was facing diminishing revenues and increasing expenditures already. The board Axtell was elected to was just learning learn-ing to say no to some of the excesses the district had planned. The new board would soon consider alternate ways of scheduling a school calender, in an effort to alleviate crowding and funding problems. The board had its hands tied temporarily as far as construction was concerned legislation aimed at inefficient use of space prevented districts from new construction unless they met certain guidelines. As the board fretted over methods of skirting the legislation and decreasing growing classroom ratios, the assessed valuation took a huge drop last year, necessitating cuts from a completed budget. Now, the once-thriving district is operating illegally, il-legally, in a deficit-spending situation. The problems pro-blems developed on their own, they are not the fault of the old board. However, the old board can be accused of inaction. inac-tion. During each crisis of the past year, the board has argued instead of acting. We would like to welcome the new board and wish them the best of luck in the current financial climate. But they will need more than luck. No matter what the financial situation does in coming years, the new board has problems to deal with now. This transition is a critical one; the new board needs to adopt an active posture quickly. Superintendent Ron Mclntire has handed the board a list of recommendations on how to deal with the problems. The board shouldn't be unduly undu-ly impressed by the list; they need to realize he is just doing his job. Compiling a list of the district's problems is no great task. In the recommendations, Mclntire spells out his opinions on how to solve the troubles. Considering Con-sidering his record in agreeing with the old board, that is a large step. Now the new board members need to take these recommendations, study them thouroughly, and decide, item by item, exactly how they want to deal with the problems. The board of education runs the school district, and the superintendent works for them. Members of the old board have accused Mclntire Mcln-tire of working toward his own end, so the new board should take charge of these solutions immediately im-mediately so they can call them their own. Yes, it is mostly a semantic difference, but it is important to know exactly who is running the district. If that relationship is clear, the relationship relation-ship is apt to be harmonious as well. : 5?f tlx . L A ft - A fjam If . "-""' -" 111 ' " " ! mm m u. 01 Ofl " .i.'tk. .' Til- l du 7 XJ bWft ft 1 1 Ten On Well, alright... Maybe one of these guys was Peggy Sue's baby, but it don't matter anymore, because the Crickets are gone, and we're tired of trying to be punny. The Crickets, Buddy Holly's orginal band, were in town for the Senator's Cup, and they got rave reviews from all the folks old enough to remember all that stuff. Shermaia TihinmEjs Up, TEnam&s own 6, THUMBS DOWN - to those water abusers in Summit Park who refuse to accept the seriousness of the conservation efforts and use water in a normal and thoughtless fashion. THUMBS UP - to the Steve Garvey Classic for the benefit of the Utah Special Olympics. Celebs raced and graced the slopes raising more than $25,000. THUMBS UP - to the third annual Senators' Ski Cup. The Jake Gam party animals showed show-ed up in red, white and (black) and blue force to raise more than $100,000 for Primary Children's Hospital. THUMBS UP - to the the return of the United States Film Festival. We hope there is no real news to cover next week because we all plan to be inside theatres eating popcorn and star gazing. Wm ffiae IH(B(E0nodl How do you escape the doldrums of winter? 1 . . . J L F'J If t t i - k ilk Dale Garfield roofer Lee Van Sickel visitor from Southern California Mike Kapp visitor from Southern California 1 lt Ji )'. Kevin MacKay carpenter v Scott Donald assistant manager, Jeremy Ranch I'm a hunter and that's Seeing as I live in Southern We do inside things, like I go skiing or I go out and Winter's not a doldrum for how I enjoy the winter. I've California, the doldrums playing games and keeping play with my dogs in the me to begin with. It's the nvcu ncic an my me dim iianuy ever napptu. yoursexi ousy. ' snow, never have skied. highlight of the year. i I'' ' , -V ,. A Lucette Parillo visitor from Boston Skiing helps and participating par-ticipating in other outdoor sports. I try to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. |