I have a dream that one day this Community will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "Neosho, where Excellence in Education is the Norm."
I have a dream that one day on the rolling hills of Southwest Missouri the children of former graduates and the children of new transplants will be able to sit down together inside a modern education facility, second to none.
I have a dream that one day even the Neosho R-5, a District struggling through economic tough times, will be transformed into an oasis of educational opportunity for all people.
I have a dream that my two children will one day live in the District where they will raise my Grandchildren in the most modern facilities anywhere.
I have a dream today.
As I ran for the Neosho R-5 School Board, I made no secret of my desire to pursue a Bond Issue to improve our inadequate educational facilities. When I graduated from Neosho High School, in 1987 (25 years ago this month), the building was over crowded. A few small additions have been made to the building, in the past 25 years, but by and large it is the same as when I walked those halls. The student population has grown greatly, in this time. There are hundreds more students now, than back in 1987.
Our entire District has grown, exponentially, in the past 30 years.
At our most recent School Board meeting, we voted to add Mobile Classrooms to the Middle School and Central Elementary Campuses. Mobile Classrooms are NOT acceptable for our children. They do not contribute to the educational environment AND they are an expense on our operating budget. Real brick and mortar buildings appreciate in value, not so with these structures. They are unsafe in severe weather, as well.
My daughter, Chelsah, is a Sophomore at Neosho High School. She is active in Debate, Track, and Cheerleading. Her activities have led us to travel across the region. What I have seen smacked me upside the head!!!!!! New schools and wonderful state of the art facilities, in Webb City, Carthage, Monett, Republic, Nixa, Willard, Ozark, Bolivar, Joplin, Clever, Carl Junction.......should I continue or do you see we are falling behind?
Last evening, I was conversing with a dear friend of mine, whom I respect a great deal. We talked in depth, about our Schools and the many needs we face. I expressed my desire to present a bond issue to the Voters, early in 2013, and my vision for first class innovative facilities. He replied, "Steve, Neosho may not be ready to dream that big".
I have thought about this remark all night. I ask, "Why?" Why are the people of Neosho not ready to Dream Big? Why do we seem to have such poor infrastructure, not only in our schools, but across our entire community? For way too long, these items have been looked upon as an expense..........well, I respectfully disagree.....NEW SCHOOLS ARE NOT AN EXPENSE - THEY ARE AN INVESTMENT.
I refer your attention to the list of communities above, who HAVE invested in their schools, show me ONE community that has had less retail, industrial, and residential growth (on a per capita basis) than Neosho? They have all had a lot MORE positive growth, because people want to live in progressive communities!
It IS TIME. It IS NEOSHO'S TIME! Interest rates are at ALL TIME HISTORIC LOWS! We NEED new Schools and I don't think anyone can reasonably disagree on that point. I know how tough times are, but I also know this...............
Somewhere, in China and Indonesia, young people are working hard to show us up. This is a matter of not only investing in Neosho's Future, but America's Future.
I have a Dream Today. My Dream is for you to join me in supporting our youth, who will someday be America's Leaders, in having access to the best facilities anywhere. Let's grow Neosho and invest in OUR FUTURE! Let's show people what it means to have WILDCAT PRIDE! The time is now!
If we can't agree, let's at least be civil............................
Steve I think this is a good idea and I appreciate your doing this. I am surprised you have not had any post yet so I guess I will jump in there and offer some thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI think when you dream big you also must dream realistically. There is a difference in dreaming with fantasy of things we wished would happen and dreaming realistically of things that can happen. Good decisions and good planning are the basis of realistic dreams. The school board is the driver of those decisions and planning. It is also important to sometimes think outside the box as that is where innovation is located, not the same old things that is where you are at but not necessarily where you want to be.
Here are a couple of issues that I have and hopefully this will get the ball rolling for others to contribute to the discussion.
First is the issue of the FEMA tornado shelter. I believe the location is totally wrong and will bring up both safety and liability issues. Think about this example, It is raining very hard maybe even hailing and a tornado warning is given. You must now get 1,000 plus student body from the high school across the street to the shelter. What happens if during that process a tornado hits with flying debris in the air plummeting those students exposed to the elements? Who is liable? The school is because you exposed those students to the elements in transferring them to a shelter. That shelter should be connected to the school where students do not have to go outside to get to it.
Second issue. This is thinking outside the box but in these economic times I think a very plausible answer to several issues we are having in Neosho. Lets start with an example of libraries. Why are we as taxpayers duplicating services in several places in our community. Instead of providing a library for the high school and a city-county library, which is wanting to expand also, why don't we combine those .together. The library would be accessible to both the school and the public. It could be staffed by school and library personnel. That way there would not be a duplication of both books and personnel and would be a tax savings to the patrons of Neosho.
Next, as everyone know, we do not have a recreation center for our kids. Why should we be building another building when we already have so many in town. Why couldn’t the gyms be opened after school and on weekends staffed with city personnel. Why do they sit empty. We the taxpayer have paid for them. Why do they have to remain a specialty building only for the schools. Why can't they belong to the community, which they are, and treated as such.
These are just a couple of ideas and maybe that will jump start your blog and others can express some ideas and maybe between everybody those dreams can come true.
David Holley
Who are you and what have you done with Steven Douglas? I agree with you 100%, but that sounds like an argument I had a year or so ago that blew up Facebook about taxing and spending. Don't mistake me, I do believe that we do need to INVEST in all aspect of our community and with these investments the citizens will have to pay a little more in taxes either real estate or sales or a combination of both, but it needs to be stressed as an investment. It is time to stop trimming fat when you are carving bone. It's time to grow. It's time to shine. Dare I say that it is time to become the " Pride of the Ozarks" once again. Together we can accomplish great things if we have high expectations of each other.
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your remarks! Thinking outside the box is exactly what this community needs!
I agree with you on the location of the FEMA Shelter. It is not ideal, for its stated purpose. I have asked some questions and thus far this is what I know....there is a review ongoing about possibly having another shelter added, at the south end of the school complex, so eventually there would be two for the campus. The current proposed location is the cheapest for the needed site work and it allows some facility improvements, which we desperately need. If it were placed adjacent to the High School Building (as I agree would be much more sensible) there would be a need to block off a portion of access around the parking lots. This could present a problem for emergency access to the property in day to day operations.
The fact is this, in my mind, the location of the current High School is not perfect, as our District and Student population have outgrown this facility. Unfortunately, previous School Boards refused to consider a Bond Issue Proposal for a new High School Building, which I think would have been wise. But, that is in the past.....we have invested money in improving the High School and it will be difficult to address the facility needs there in the short term.
As for the Library Issue, I could not agree with you more! It would be nice to have a combined facility. Obviously, we are behind the 8 ball on that issue, as there is a current Bond Issue Proposal on the June Ballot for a County Library Addition and the School District is in the process of a $600,000 renovation to the High School Library. This is an Excellent example of where we, as a community, need to buckle down and greatly improve our long range planning. I wish this idea had been circulated widely, prior to now, because I think your suggestion is worth a good review.
As far as having school facilities open for kids to use, year round, I would have no objection to that, as long as there was a mechanism for physical security and on site supervision. I will mention this to other Board Members, at the School, and I will seek out some City Council Members, to relay your idea. This IS worth considering. We need to provide for our youth and give them as many positive outlets, as are possible.
A few months ago I had an opportunity to drive around Monett, and was so surprised to see all the growth in their business community. And I thought then, why is Monett growing and it seems like Neosho is stagnating? And I think you are right. They have a beautiful new school and I think that is half the reason. If we have great educational facilities, we grow businesses, and in turn a better community. I don't know what it is going to take for the citizens of Neosho to wake up and see that we as a community are way behind most of the small communities of the area. And if you drive around our town, you will see run down houses, unkept property, and empty store fronts! It is sad to think when I married a home town boy in 1963 and came to Neosoho in 1971,it was a bustling community with great schools, lots of great industries, all those wonderful businesses around the square, and pride in our town, and to see how we have let ourselves go is a shame. I don't know what the answer is, but I do know we need to instill pride in Neosho again and make it a better community than is has ever been. I, like you Steve, visit many of the same communities you mentioned above, to watch my grandchildren in their various activities through school, and see all the wonderful new schools they have provided for their children, and their many businesses and industries, and wonder what happened to Neosho. I recall my dad many years ago talking about Joplin. He said that the leaders of Joplin had the opportunity to grow, but chose not to , while Springfield, who at one time was the same size as Joplin, chose to grow their community. Look what happened there. That is the thing that kept going through my mind as I drove through Monett that day a few months ago. We as a people have the responsibilty to make our town the best it can be, and our schools a place where our children get the very best education possible. If we want jobs in Neosho, we need a great town and great schools. Remember when our band was "the Pride of the Ozarks"? We have a great band again, but if we don't do something to make our schools better, we are going to lose the great teachers we have now to those other schools that provide a quility facility and environment for them to teach in.
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more, with the last post! I appreciate your remarks and perspective. Thank you for sharing them!
ReplyDelete