Letters to the editor

Please help Glacier Valley School

To the editor:

Our school has found itself in a bit of a predicament. With less kids and the probability of our bus contract being lost, Glacier View School may close down.

There are two main reasons for this, the first is the school board, and second is the problem of too few kids.

The school board has been calculating how many students will be at GVS next year. Their predictions show that we will have a drop in students. The calculations don’t have to be true, but they make them true. Last year they cut the funding down which cut one staff member with two children enrolled in the school, forcing them to move. The school board is also planning on cutting buses next year which would cripple our school by lessening enrollments even further.

That brings me to the next reason: too few kids.

Due to us living in the middle of nowhere, there aren’t many kids around in the first place. And most kids that do live in the area are homeschooled. I’ve been to AWANA and seen how many people are at Youth Group. With all of those kids in the programs, even if only a few more students enrolled, we might be able to keep the school open.

As I’ve mentioned before, with the possible lack of buses next year we could lose a third of our students. Seven out of twenty students might not be at school next year because of a lack of buses.

However, you could help change that. You could help students. Some whose other options could be having to move. Some who haven’t ever had to move or fit in somewhere else. We can’t fix the school board, but maybe we can prove them wrong. You can help by considering enrollment at Glacier View School.

If you have reservations, think about this: Have you ever seen anything bad come out of GVS? Are teachers encouraging their students bad? And do you really think that I would have written this if it wasn’t really important to me? If I thought GVS wasn’t worth it? My answer to all of those questions is “no”.

In the end, if you won’t listen to teachers, or parents, listen to a student. Someone who actually goes to the school. Please help our school and consider enrollment at GVS. It’s not far away, and we have good people here.

Avery Swirtz,

Glennallen