To the editor,
As a parent of five current students, one at Penta and four in Perrysburg buildings, I have an interest in making sure the District can achieve its mission of educating “ALL” kids. However, once graduating class sizes get as big as they are now, at over 400 kids, the district-wide buildings like HPIS, PJHS, and PHS are so big that opportunities to be seen, heard, and participate start to disappear. This is why we cap elementary buildings at under 1000 students; that sense of belonging and community goes away when you get larger than that.
Passing this levy means we are committed to one, 3,000+ student high school, versus the already anonymous feeling 1,600 student version we already have. The District’s “community” talk is pure salesmanship, crafted around their other favorite slogan: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. What creates love, acceptance, community, and participation at school is knowing each other and having shared experiences, not hiring more administrators to talk about it. Those shared experiences happen in sports, band, or the arts. Those opportunities start disappearing as we divide our 10-12 year olds into colors at HPIS and finish at the High School when many kids disappear into the woodwork. Bigger buildings are the problem, not the solution.
We need a levy. We do not need this levy. The only winners at a 3,000 student high school are the select few who can play on a dominant sports team. What is getting lost in the money debate is what students need to succeed: Supportive teachers in a loving environment. Yes, older kids can handle larger buildings, but only to a point. Keep student participation and a true sense of community in our schools by voting “no” on this levy and then support a better one next year.
J. Todd Grayson
PHS ‘96
Perrysburg
