‘The school district has earned our support'

To the editor: I think that most people who write letters about the budget vote like to focus on all the negative things they read in the newspaper. They like to complain about the school board, the current superintendent, the past superintendent, last year’s school budget and so on. Well, I think they might be missing the point. The Warwick Valley schools educate approximately 4,500 students per year, about 900 of which get some kind of special services from extra reading to BOCES. Our graduation rate for 2006 was 90 pecent (93 percent of which were Regents diplomas). Our SAT scores (Verbal 529, Math 540, Writing 509) are not only higher than New York State, but also higher than the national average. More than 300 AP exams were administered with over half earning grades high enough to earn college credit. Our seniors this year have been accepted to colleges such as Princeton, Brown, Cornell, NYU, Boston College, Virginia Tech, SUNY Binghamton and SUNY Geneseo to name a few. Hundreds of students throughout the district participate is some kind of after school activity. Booster Clubs, fundraising and parents are now funding a large portion of these expenses. We have scholar athletes, All County musicians, a Blue Ribbon School, Odyssey of the Mind teams that consistently advance to the state level, drama productions that rival the professionals, Junior FFA members who competed at state competitions, History Club members who advanced to the national level and a new Middle School program “BUG” that recognized any students who increases their grade by 10 points. In the fall our school district held a Legislative Forum to try and bring attention to the tax burden being put on homeowners, and our school board members are constantly working with Albany to try to find alternative solution to how schools are funded. There are a lot of good things happening. Vote yes and be proud of our students and our schools. They have earned it. Jodi Denmead Warwick