A recent letter to the editor published on April 6 from a past school board member made a number of misstatements that were offensive to us. To set the record straight, our group advocates for a new high school, improved educational outcomes and improved financial footing for the district.

Over more than 20 years, this school board and past school boards have caused enormous delays and huge taxpayer costs in their many missteps to build a new high school. The current site and development process is well beyond three years already without a spade in the ground. And there will not likely be a new school on the hilltop site for at least four or five more years … if they get zoning approval.

The site chosen by the board is by all accounts expensive, risky, environmentally questionable, and undesirable from an accessibility standpoint. No child can walk or ride a bike to the school anymore. Ride the road sometime and see if you think this site access makes any sense at all. Ride it in the winter. The board purchased this property without thorough due diligence and spending 10 million of taxpayer dollars without knowing whether it could even build on the site. The risk of a slide, like Walmart, is very present and no engineering firm will guarantee that the hilltop site will work without extreme additional investment and site work.

The school board does not truly consider the taxpayer impact of its decisions as it spends about $30,000 per student annually. Schools like Hampton, Mt. Lebanon and others of the top 10 spend about $20,000 per student. In other words, if our school board ran the school as efficiently as the best schools in Western Pennsylvania, our taxes would be at least one-third lower. Instead, they celebrate raising our taxes every year.

The author of the prior letter accuses our group of being composed of folks whose children didn’t go to QV. This is not true. We have hundreds of supporters, most of whose kids went to QV. Further, does the author imply that only certain taxpayers have an interest in the spending, taxation and operation of QV? We strongly disagree.

The author and QV in their recent publications mention the Common Pleas Court’s decision to overturn the Leet Zoning Hearing Board. They don’t tell you that there is an appeal pending that could revert to the decision by local authorities. Those authorities offered the board the opportunity to address their issues of concern. Instead of addressing those concerns, the school board appealed that body’s decision. Should one judge apply his own opinion to issues thoroughly considered by the local officials?

It’s not only time to build a new school for our children, it’s time for sensible decisions in this regard and time to elect new school board members who will openly discuss and debate this important matter for the community.

Peter Floyd

Citizens for a Great School

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