Community Members Speak Out: 600+ Sign Petition

Good evening.  My name is Susan Lasota.  I want to thank the Board for giving me the opportunity to speak this evening.

I am part of the Save Katonah-Lewisboro Schools community group.  You may have heard of us.  I think that some of you on the Board may be mistaken about the composition, or the purpose, of our group.  I want to start by telling you who we are not.  We are not the anti-closure camp.  We are not all LES parents.  We are not all parents.  We are 607+ members of the community, with widely different views on the school closure issue.  

We do have something in common, though.  We have all signed a petition.  It says, “We ask the BOE to suspend the current School Closure Task Force process and establish a new process and timeline that addresses all relevant issues -- properly, fully and inclusive of our whole community.”

I have heard that some of you dismissed this petition immediately, because you do not intend to stop.  We know you don’t want to stop.  We know about Article 9 - subsection 402 of the New York State Statutes, Procedures for Closing a School Building.  You set out to accomplish a task, and you plan to complete it.  

But you cannot accomplish your task if you are deaf to the voice of the community.  Right here we have 607 of your constituents.  They did not sign a petition saying, don’t close a school ever, under any circumstances.  They signed a petition saying, you are moving too fast, and you are not addressing all of the issues.

I have heard that some of you want to bite the bullet and close LES now, so that you don’t have to deal with public outcry for another year.  I want to tell you that the public outcry – if that’s what a petition can be called – is a direct result of your rushed process.  607 people are not going to be angry if you slow down.  607 people are going to say, thank you, you listened to us.  

Stop the process – we know you have the power do it – and don’t bring LES closure to a vote in January.  Work with us – not against us – to make this district right.

Thank you.

For more information or to sign the petition, visit  www.saveKLschools.org.