Millstone residents want it all for nothing

Iwrite to express concern over the focus of the state our school district and community is in as a whole. While the Examiner chose to report on the Millstone Board of Education's meeting on Feb. 11 and the discussion around field trips, the true story is constantly missed of late.

The community of Millstone Township is one that wants it all. People move here because of the wide-open space, nice homes and demographics that apparently are preferable for varying personal reasons. Of course, there are the schools. Good? No, very good, if not excellent. Our state scores are phenomenal. Yet, the school board meetings remain the least attended public forum or activity.

Sure, we get repeat performances by those with the repeat agendas, which certainly do have their place and do provide for good discussion. However, this community wants everything for nothing. It wants good schools. No, it demands great schools, with which I don't have any problem. The board is dedicated and committed to answering this demand.

The community wants great schools, but it doesn't want to pay for them. The community passes a referendum to build a middle school and then forgets the school must operate. This is demonstrated by the continual voting down of the school budget almost every year.

The community wants the Board of Education to volunteer its time, but makes comments about the school providing bottled water at meetings when community members feel they won't get their way or say.

The truly absurd part of why I write is the community's inability to step up and be a part of the community. An example of this is the four open seats on the school board this year.

Thankfully, two board members, Holly Dietz and Kevin McGovern, have decided to continue to be a part of molding the educational opportunities for our children and re-run. Both are tremendous assets to this community, and their participation on the board is invaluable. Kevin came forward last year to fill a seat when one was left open due to not enough of the community running in last year's election. A third candidate, Brad Winfree, is also running. Brad has also given so much to this community in the recreation program and is now shifting gears towards the educational side of the coin. Still, one seat will remain unfilled again this year.

It's more of the same - give us the best in education, but don't count on me to help. As a parent of children in the district, I felt obligated to step up and contribute. It's only when giving do you get, and I've received an enormous return on my investment in the short time I've been on the board. I challenge community members to take a look at themselves and see what they are giving to get.

Margaret M. Gordon Board of Education member

Millstone