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Show ILoMorFS Tt tLDnB EEaHntLdDn0 The Park Record D Section A Thursday, September 7, 1 995 Page A1 3 Miner's Day breakfast Editor: I would like to express ; appreciation to all who made the annual chuckwagon breakfast for ' Miner's Day such a success. Pat , Morgan again directed the effort land gave tirelessly of his time and 'energy to ensure that everything ran Smoothly. Contributions from :AIbertsons, Wasatch Brew Pub and :the Grubsteak were greatly :appreciated. A flood of volunteers ;from St. Mary's ensured that the breakfast was well prepared and .served with a smile. To the city, I thank you for permitting St. Mary's to again be a part of the Miner's Day '.celebrations. In many hidden ways 3ark City's churches provide ".service and assistance to the people ;of this community throughout the :year. This annual more public .moment affords us an opportunity in the sun when we show off our jride in being a part of life in these -mountains. In Christ, Tather Bob Bussen, pastor it Rotary thanks Editor ; The Park City Rotary Club would like to thank the generous 'sponsors who helped make Miner's Day a great success: Albertsons, Coldwell Banker, Cole Sport, David White, architect, Deer Valley Ski Resort, Dolly's Bookstore, Brent Gold, attorney, Jans, Jupiter Property Management, McDonald's, Mike Hale Chevrolet, Park City Ambassadors, Park City . Cheerleaders, Park City Performances, Park City Ski Area, Park City Silver Mine Adventure, Park Record, Peter-Anthony's Studio, R&R Properties, Recording .Industries Music Performance Trust Fund, St. Mary's Church, United Park City Mines, Utah State AFL-CIO AFL-CIO & Trade Unions, Wasatch Brewing Co., The Yarrow Hotel. " Thanks to everyone involved in , keeping the Miner's Day traditions. Bond. election Editor: . The upcoming bond election for the Snyderville Basin Recreation District will be a watershed event For over four years I have been intimately involved in recreation issues both in Park City (as ' chairman of the Parks & Recreation ' Advisory Board) and in working with Summit County, the recreation district and school district on various committees and task forces, exploring options to the recreation crisis. The reality has not changed in four years...it has only become more obvious. Park City can no longer be the sole provider of jecreation fields, amenities and programs for both city and county residents. Park City is out of field space. There ain't no more nice, 'level, open land that we can buy or annex or cajole out of a developer 'to build recreation fields, tennis courts, etc. on. '. The plan for the bond election .and the preliminary fields plan is a very good one. I know personally the extraordinary effort which ..members of the Snyderville Basin Recreation District and county commissioners have put into this proposal before the citizens of western Summit County. Thank "you all for you untiring efforts over -jnany years. Recreation and open space are .two of the primary reasons people move to Summit County and the Park City area. At present, despite hundreds and hundreds of new homes built and extensive commercial development in western Summit County, not a "single public park or recreation field exists (if you don't count school fields)! When my son says he wants to go to the park, he means the one at the outlet mall. It's the only one in the county. On Sept. 12, county residents xan change today's reality and implement a vision which has emerged from the citizens over the past few years. Decision is the catalyst that turns a positive dream into a permanent reality. I pray the decision of county voters will be :yes. Paul Sincock, Park City Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Orphans in need of a home Editor : Sadly, many people lose their dogs, but sometimes, just sometimes they manage to survive. We will probably never find the owners of two lonely little souls picked up wandering lost and frightened in the forest late last week, both sadly without identity. The male is a young yellow Labrador mix, so heartbreakingly sweet you can't help loving him on sight. He is so starved his bones show through and his poor little face is swollen from the pain of the porcupine quills that were surgically removed last week. We know he was once someone's pet because he is neutered. His partner in loneliness is a darling female pointer mix, around the same age. She protects and cares for him like a big sister. They are being cared for at the shelter, but ideally they each need a kind home of their own where they can recover in comfort and peace. If you are looking for a pet to love and be loved by, consider either of these two sweethearts. Friends of Animals will help with food and vet bills to get them on their feet again. They have no one but you to wait for. Call Animal Shelter, 649 5449, or Sherry 649 5441. Summit County Friends of Animals Busing equality Editor The recent decision by the school board to charge a transportation fee of $180 to students living in hazardous zones to be bused to school is a flawed decision in many ways. In seeking to find an "equitable" solution, the board failed to realize that equity is not served when the needs of those living in the most hazardous zones are not addressed as a priority for busing. People living in areas where the only access to school on foot is alongside busy highways, freeway frontage roads, and under freeway overpasses, are asked to bear the financial burden for the lack of foresight in providing the necessary infrastructure for our children to arrive safely at school without busing. These people don't have the same options as families who might live in subdivisions where the speed limits are posted at .. 25 mph, where there might be a bike path, or where there might be a crossing guard with signals. A committee comprised of a cross section of parents and administrators from all areas of the district which studied the transportation issue saw the importance of considering hazards in making their recommendation to the board, for when resources are scarce, those most in need should be first in line to receive them. This committee, using input from many district sources, sought to create a recommendation that truly answered the needs of students and the community as a whole. Why then, in a supposed site-based management system that superintendent Dr. Fielder advocates, did this very comprehensive study fall on deaf . ears? Why did the board accept Dr. Fielder's recommendation without more public notice and input? And last of all, an estimated sum of $63,000 coming from property taxes was originally budgeted to bus the ineligible students. Why was it suddenly removed this summer after the committee submitted their proposal; where has it gone and what will these funds be used for? This is a serious issue affecting many families and their children. I ask the board to reconsider their decision on Sept. 12. Sincerely, Diane Ingalls-Reid Child safety first Editor The debate over busing in the Park City School District was not fully covered in the Park Record article of Aug. 31. Transportation resources in the district are limited so the issue is how to most fairly allocate those resources. We believe that child safety should be the important criterion. It is our understanding that a committee with members representing different neighborhoods in the district was appointed by the superintendent for the purpose of studying this issue. The committee recognized that all the children who live within 1.5 miles of their school do not have an equal need for busing support Some children live in developments in which construction is complete, the roads are level, and no major streets need to be crossed. Walking to school is a reasonable option in these neighborhoods. However, many children live in neighborhoods in which major streets would need to be followed or crossed often hilly streets that support heavy construction traffic. Walking to school is not a reasonable option in these circumstances, regardless of the distance from home to school. A busing plan for Park City has to take into consideration the safety problems that are created by this geography. We believe the committee appointed by the superintendent recognized these problems and developed several options that serve the needs of the children and families in this district. The school board's decision to ignore the committee's recommendations and adopt the superintendent's position that all families must be treated "equally" with respect to busing appears to be a decision driven by community pressure rather than child welfare. We urge the school board to reconsider its decision with respect to busing. We should use the resources we have for those children who need it for safe transportation. Sincerely, Jeffrey R. Botkin Paula N. Botkin Safe access to schools Editor With the latest controversy over the school busing issue, the perception I get about the Park City School Board is that budgetary concerns take priority over making sure that children have safe access to Jeremy Ranch Elementary School. In my opinion, it is unsafe for any elementary school age child to walk to Jeremy Ranch Elementary. The combination of the school's location, the amount of vehicle traffic and the lack of sidewalks in the area make it too great a risk to allow even those children who live the closest to walk to school. As spenders of taxpayers' money, I believe it is a school board's, responsibility to make sure there is safe access to a school and the appropriations necessary for that safe access. I can understand the funding issues involved. Invoking the "1.5 mile rule" from 1963 is not the right way to address a 1995 money issue doing what is right for the circumstances involved is. The current status only increases the chances for a safety incident to occur. The goal should be to reduce incidents not increase their chances. I hope for the present there are no incidents and I hope for the future that new school sites get a better review for safe access than this school. RickColton Busing to Jeremy Editor There has been tremendous concern regarding the busing of many of the children attending Jeremy Ranch Elementary School. I understand that in the spring of 1995, there was a committee to assess the needs for busing the students to school for the coming year 1995-96. This committee compiled their information and presented it to the school board for discussion; at that point, it seemed that the time and effort that had been put into gathering this information was discarded. The board made their own decision on the matter, which included a fee to the parents and it seems discrimination to the fourth and fifth graders as to whether they would be able to ride the bus at all. Jeremy Ranch has been deemed as a "hazardous" area. You do not need to live in the area to know about the growth that has been going on in the Park City area as a whole. In regard to the Jeremy Ranch area, we have no sidewalks for the children to be walking on; there are numerous construction projects going on, from housing to convenience stores, to expanding the water treatment plant, all of which are en route to the elementary school, from the Jeremy area. Last fall we were urged to vote for the bond issue in Park City, which was voted on and passed. I cannot understand how andor why there should be any funding issue involved in this matter. This is beside the fact of the harsh winters we have in Park City, along with early morning snow-plowing of snow on the roads when the children are expected to be walking to school (in the roads). I would hope that in all good conscience of the school board, that they see the justification that we as parents feel about the safety of our children. I would hope, as I am sure all parents hope, that the board in reconsidering this issue will allow all students the right to ride the bus to school. Sincerely, Shellie and Grant Collram Don't sell your souls Editor: Oh how quickly it changes! It was only several short weeks ago that Dr. Fielder and the school board was pleading financial and facility shortfalls based on a projected future growth model. Well, the community responded wholeheartedly positive. Now, with the multi-million dollar bond approval tucked firmly in the school district's knapsack, the pleading parties say they don't care about the safety of the school children. There are several very hazardous areas surrounding some of our schools. This has been confirmed and documented by an independent study group. Any normal person only has to walk around the Jeremy Ranch school to see for themselves. Freeway interchanges, high-speed frontage roads, construction sites, commercial enterprises, absence of walkways and lighting do not allow grade school children to walk or bike to the school. This is evident even in the best of weather. When winter arrives, these hazardous conditions will be even more severe. Dr. Fielder says the school district is not legally obligated to bus children if they live within 1.5 miles of the school. So what? This legislative decree is geared for the state's neighborhood schools, not one that is perched on the edge of a major interstate highway. When the "powers to be" asked for millions of dollars based on someone's projection, we said OK. When we ask for a logical safety solution for the sake of the children, they thumb their noses. Your true colors are bleeding through! Don't sell your souls and endanger the children simply because you can. The school district has the money! Do what is right! Our community wants the leadership you promised to provide. Bus the children in the hazardous areas and we all sleep better. Charley Morrison Hazardous conditions Editor: It concerns me to see the lack of concern shown by the current school board members through their recent decision not to bus children living in hazardous areas. These people are major decision makers in our children's lives. Shouldn't the safety of these precious individuals to be their top priority? The location site chosen for the Jeremy Ranch Elementary School does not allow safe access in any way for a child who is walking. Snow and wet roads have caused me and many others to slide countless times around corners at the very intersection through which every child must walk to get to the Jeremy school. I and many others had slid down the off-ramps and around the on-ramps on-ramps where the children from Pinebrook must walk to reach the Jeremy school. I have always been relieved there were no bikers or joggers brave enough to be on the road. I for one do not want to live with the pain of accidentally hitting a child. We must keep them off the roads. We hope the day will soon come when our neighborhood is a quiet and safe haven for our children but with the ongoing construction, that is just not the case. Construction vehicles and dump trucks roar through our streets with little or no regard for posted limits and will be doing so for many years to come. Streets, which are for the most part narrow, without sidewalks, crosswalks, flashing signs or crossing guards. Let's put our priorities in line and do what is best for our children. We have the resources and especially the community support to come up with a viable solution. Respectfully, Jeri Freckleton The Park Record welcomes letters to the editor on any subject We ask that the letters adhere to the following guidelines: They shoubeddress and telephone number of author. No letter will published under an assumed name. They must not contain libelous material. Writers are limited to one letter every 28 days. Letters must not be longer than 350 words and should, if possible, be typed. We reserve the right to edit letters if they are too long or if they contain statements we consider unnecessarily offensive or obscene. All letters will be printed, unless the number exceeds our space limitation. A tested method Editor Like all parents we have great concern for the safety of our children, and of course there are many areas in which we cannot control their safety. But with regards to our children getting to , and from school we can and should have control. Here in Park City most communities have been rated hazardous, meaning dangerous. With our long snow season, early school hours, no sidewalks, snowplows, interstate highways, construction, the list is long with many more. You might ask yourself, why don't the parents of these children drive them to school? In answer again it's not safe, what about the children who have to walk to school because their parents work and those of us driving hit one? Isn't a child's life worth more than this? What about the huge problem of all those cars driving to and from the school? We know that the safest way to get our children to school is through the busing program it's already been tried and tested. It's a success! We who are outraged urge the board to reconsider and pass the committee's number one recommendation. Thank you. Sincerely, Randy and Danielle Gerth A few thoughts on busing Editor: 1) If our community and administrators plan for a school (eg; Jeremy Ranch Elementary) it seems logical to us that we automatically plan for safe busing along with it. You plan the school you plan the safe busing to get the kids to the school. If you have to raise taxes to complete that safe busing, then you raise taxes, but not just raising it $310 for some families that live in five particular areas, (or $180 as the corrected figure stands). You raise taxes a little for everyone, to cover whatever safety measures are required for the different particular areas of Park City. Some may need more safety measures than others (if a child is expected to cross a four-lane highway, or pass within, or be exposed to 1-80, big trucks, construction vehicles, big machinery, with NO sidewalks to assist). 2) Having a board member come over and walk the roads to Jeremy Ranch School and deciding that it's safe, still isn't going to change the minds of the parents in Jeremy who see the hazards and believe it is NOT safe. We will just continue to fight for safe busing, forever. It's a principle. 3) I called over to the office of my beloved chiropractor. Dr. Jerry Klein, in Heber, this morning, to make an appointment, only to find that he had just died in a car crash last week. He and his wife were just waiting at a stop sign there, and a car plowed into them, leaving a number of children fatherless! (God bless the precious memory of that dear, kind, gentle, talented man, who has worked on the backs and removed the pain from many of us Park City people for years!) You would have thought he would have been protected, with a wall of metal around him but our children, walking to school, through intersections, and over highways, would not even have that much protection! Let's pick them up, close to home, deliver them to the front door of the school....not so they "don't have to WALK," but so NO ONE will be sorry that we, as adults, didn't act responsibly in doing what WE KNOW to do to get them there SAFELY. Sincerely, Mim and Ron Rindcrknecht Site-based decision Editor Currently sweeping the country in education is a movement toward site-based decision-making. The rationale behind this movement is that the traditional top-down management of schools is not the most effective way to meet the needs of children. Site-based decision-making is a plan that recognizes that those who are closest to a problem should have a voice in the decision making process. Governor Leavitt has shown his support for site-based decision-making with his Centennial Schools program. The Park City School District also purports to embrace the site-based philosophy, yet the school board's recent decision concerning busing is a blatant example of ignoring the suggestions of a community-based committee in favor of- a recommendation from the district I am one of many parents in the Park City community who is upset about the process by which this decision was made; but more importantly, we are gravely disturbed that this decision was simply a poor one. In response to the board's decision, many of us sent letters to the board, signed petitions to render our support for the committee's decision, and attended the school board meeting on Aug. 22 to voice our concerns about the safety of our children. Many of us were hopeful that the board would reconsider their decision, but it was truly disheartening to learn that the morning following the Aug. -2 board meeting, Carol Murphy, a school board member, told a local radio reporter that the board would listen to parents, but the board's decision was not likely to be altered. Are we as parents really asking too much to expect the school board to listen to our concerns with open minds? To do anything less is certainly antithetical to the process of site-based site-based decision-making. I am concerned about my child and his fellow classmates who need busing privileges for the next few years, but I plan to live in this community far longer than it will take my son to reach the fifth grade. I want to establish a busing plan that will continue to bus every child who is at risk for hazards as long as those hazards exist I will gladly contribute my tax dollars toward the protection of our community's children far past the time .when my child will enjoy those benefits. We contend that there is no fiscal educational interest that can compete with the safety of our children. Our concerns are sound, and they are widespread. We would like the Park City School District to rise above giving "lip service" to the philosophy of site-based decision-making and adopt the recommendations of the citizen-based citizen-based committee that bqst represents our community's children. Joyce Sibbett Listen to the voters Editor: As a two-time supporter of the recent multi-million dollar bond issue to raise money for the Park City School District, I am shocked at the Park City School Board's recent decision not to utilize $61,000 of budgeted money to provide transportation for school children in hazardous areas. As a supporter of Superintendent Fielder's method of managing the district using a site-based, shared decision-making approach, I applauded his efforts to research the transportation issue and make recommendations to the board using a committee with district-wide district-wide representation. I was, however, appalled to learn that Superintendent Fielder then ignored the committee and made his own recommendations. It was even more distressing to learn that the school board ignored all four recommendations of the committee (who studied the issue in great detail for three months) and acquiesced to the superintendent's recommendation. I sincerely hope that at the Sept. 12 meeting the school board will listen not only to the recommendations made by the superintendent's own committee, but also to the parents who have voted in favor of recent bond initiatives to give monetary support whenever the district has asked for it Sincerely, Margo Ayre |