Westmoreland School Officials WANT, WANT, WANT...But what about GIVE??? VOTE NO ON BUDGET!!!

Ah, yes....travel back to the days when parents clamored into a school board meeting at Westmoreland Central School...asking for one simple thing...RECESS. Parents did their homework on this topic...presenting the school board with numerous studies extolling the benefits of recess. Some concerned parents even beat the pavement in (this mostly rural area) driving countless miles just to get signatures for a petition to re-instate recess....Spending their OWN hard-earned money to make flyers etc....Unfortunately, the parents have been met with opposition from school board members and still, months later, no promise or inkling of recess coming back. Now one must remember, when the "idea" to remove recess was brought up with district officials, nary a peep was heard by the public...They did NOT reach out to parents to get their feedback. Nothing. All very hush, hush...Parents had no idea.

BUT, when Westmoreland wants something in the monetary sense, well the whole district knows about it!!! Yes, they sent out FULL COLOR flyers to entice Westmoreland taxpayers to vote and approve a ONE MILLION plus "Capital Improvement" budget....that allegedly will cost us nothing. To me, I have some concerns. Lets start:

1. One hand washes the other. Parents wanted recess for their children. Westmoreland officials dug their heels in and often were hostile and condescending in attitude when their wonderful idea was questioned. They felt they "revolutionary" and "ahead of other schools" in removing recess. They did (and continue to do) very little to return recess. Support is a two-way street and school board members need to know that.
2. Westmoreland has a prior history with mismanaging their money. There are at least 2 projects that seem to be flawed in recent months (or within the last year and a half). One being the middle school stairs in the main entrance. The students are NOT ALLOWED to use them for reasons not quite known, although it is alleged the stairs are unsafe for students. Also the seats in the NEW AUDITORIUM are not safe which was brought to light at a recent open house in February 2009. There is mention of the seats in the minutes of a recent school board meeting. It seems that Westmoreland officials aren't quite as responsible with money as they need to be. It would be a shame to squander over a million dollars on shoddy projects.
3. Westmoreland was audited by the NYS Comptroller, dated July 2006, for POOR ASSET MANAGEMENT. Check out the complete release by following the link below:

https://osc.state.ny.us/press/releases/jul06/071306.htm

All in all, Westmoreland officials are selfish and want what THEY want, YOUR concerns...well maybe not so important....Think twice and VOTE NO.