Letters to the Editor 9-26-13

Adopt Credo
Editors: Driving to my home in Sebastopol, I could only sigh with relief that I lived here. I’ve attended many city council meetings, which, while perhaps contentious, always gave me the feeling that the elected officials listened as best they could. However, last night I attended a public meeting in another town that shocked me for it’s indifference, posturing and outright rudeness.
I was at the school board meeting of Cotati Rohnert Park School Board where they were considering revoking the charter of the newly formed Credo High School, the only public charter Waldorf high school in the U.S. as far as I know. The room was filled with impassioned parents, students and highly skilled educators presenting their plea to keep the school open and give it time to succeed. The school draws on students from the area’s many Waldorf public charter schools, several of which are right here in Sebastopol.
Three things shocked me about the meeting, other than the dismaying outcome which was a vote to revoke the charter.
First, one of the issues is that Credo seems to have debt, perhaps $100,000 of debt, which they were working to pay off. However, the school board itself is in debt of over $1 million climbing to $10 million in 3 years. Isn’t there something odd about this? Pot calling the kettle, people in glass houses, etc?
Second, in a written letter that was available at the meeting, the board stated that Credo students are not enrolled in the Cotati Rohnert Park district. Then the letter states that the board’s first obligation is to students in their district. How can a board oversee a charter when they have no interest in seeing the school succeed, because they feel no obligation to the students who are not theirs?
Finally, the worst was that the board had made up its mind from the start. The most appalling comment came after the almost four hours of public statement. One of the women on the board said basically, (my paraphrase): “Well, it may all be true, but if we let their mistakes go unpunished, what message are we sending?” Um. Excuse me? Are we talking about Syria? Are we talking about punishing kids who stole the car keys? Or are we negotiating in good faith?
I don’t wish to live in that district, but if I did, I would be the first behind a recall petition for elected officials who show such disdain for their constituents, and for the students whose very educational lives are at stake as well as for the future students deprived of a choice of high schools.
Dear me. What’s next? Perhaps filling Rohnert Park with more deserted malls and thriving casinos rather than an outstanding educational system? Bless you all, Sebastopol. Maybe we could adopt Credo ourselves.
Laura Duggan
Sebastopol
GCSD a good deal
Editor: It is very popular for the Grand Jury and it seems virtually every “journalist” to censure the GCSD Board for rate increases over the past 10 years, with absolutely no mention of the deluge of new wastewater treatment mandates imposed by Federal, State and Regional agencies that come with no funding to comply.
For example, we used to have to test for chlorine once per month; now we have to test daily, almost a 400 percent increase in mandated costs.
Are these simply cases of extreme ignorance or willful untruth? Either way, it is dishonest and does not serve the citizenry. They make it sound as if the GCSD Board increases rates to pay for trips to Tahiti, or from stupidity, when the opposite is true.
As a volunteer, I put in 10-20 hours most weeks, keeping up with procedures, mandates, communications, policy, financing and other important topics. Graton has almost finished construction of a new state-of-the-art treatment plant, after the current Board brought in $11.5 million in grants and other funds that the ratepayers do not have to pay for.
Our rates, with a new plant that is already compliant with upcoming mandates, compare quite well with neighboring communities:
Graton: $1,574 per ESD;
Occidental: $1,682, and they don’t even have a treatment plant or plan yet and are still controlled by the Sonoma County Water Agency;
Forestville: $1,375.61, while their new Sonoma County Water Agency-designed plant is failing (and has had over 80 violations in the past three years; they will require huge rate increases to fix or rebuild it).
In the light of truth, Graton is looking great and at an unbelievably low cost to our ratepayers.
Jane Eagle
President, Graton Community
Services District