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A8 • FOREST HILLS JOURNAL • APRIL 17, 2013
FOREST HILLS
JOURNAL
Editor: Eric Spangler, espangler@communitypress.com, 576-8251
EDITORIALS | LETTERS | COLUMNS | CH@TROOM
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Bond issue offers bang for the buck
I wanted to weigh in on the current bond issue proposed by the Forest Hills school district. As a 20 year plus school teacher in the district who has watched facility discussions closely, I will be casting my vote in favor of the current plan. My reasons are thus: First, because at the end of the day, politics and finances are personal, I’ll start with my own children. My two sons attend Summit Elementary school which provides them every day with an exemplary education despite their very different educational needs. At Summit, the building is not new and it’s not pretty. It is well-maintained, and it has a lot of building life left it in. However, although there is a
Janet Baker COMMUNITY PRESS GUEST COLUMNIST
buzz-in system, the way the building is configured a potential bad actor could get buzzed in, bypass the office and go immediately down a set of stairs into areas with
students. It doesn’t matter in that case how well the staff and students are trained (my own son passed by me waiting at the door because he is so welltrained to not let anyone in). That situation is unsafe and needs to be addressed. The new plan directly addresses that safety concern and simi-
AfterProm event is worth all the work It's spring, that wonderful time of the year when high school students are thinking about that annual rite called prom. It is also the time of year when parents remember their own proms and the memories may not be as positive. Each year there are stories of car accidents, out-of-control parties where kids are drinking and the ultimate parent horror when a young son or daughter does not come home. Now, at many schools, the kids have an organized event called AfterProm they can attend in safety and fun. In the Forest Hills school district parent groups for many years, with no money from the district, have organized an evening of fun, games, food and prizes. After the dance the evening begins with check-in at the school. The kids are aware they are expected to stay at the event. If they leave, their parents are notified. Once the kids have checked in, they will have several hours to avail themselves of Las Vegas-style games of chance, caricature artists, potty racers, huge inflatables and other games. They can eat food donated from many area restaurants and have the opportunity to win raffle tickets that can be used to potentially win one of the various prizes donated by area businesses. It's an evening where kids are safe and parents can be assured that their son or daughter will enjoy themselves in a supervised situation.
As mentioned previously, the school district expends no money for this event. The AfterProm Jim committee Cagle solicits parent COMMUNITY PRESS donations and GUEST COLUMNIST business donations throughout the year. Groups of parents volunteer their time to decorate the rooms that relate to the theme chosen for that year's event. Other parents volunteer their time preparing and serving the food. Still more parents volunteer to clean the school after the event so the maintenance staff at the school is not used and doesn't cost the school any extra money. AfterProm is a wonderful event for the kids. It takes a lot of parent time and effort but we do it to keep our kids safe and having fun! My wife and I have been involved with the event at Turpin High School since our daughter was a freshman nine years ago. It is a lot of work but if we can prevent one accident or one unsafe party, we feel it is worth it! If you would like to see what goes on at AfterProm, come to the Preview Party. The Preview Party for Turpin High School will be 8-9:30 p.m. Saturday, April 27. It is open to the public for you to see the transformation of the school. Jim Cagle is an Anderson Township resident.
FOREST HILLS
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lar ones at each building. Second, I don’t know of anyone who could spend time at Wilson Elementary without knowing that as a building it’s on its last legs and, if anything, presents far more significant safety concerns than Summit. As a building it needs to be replaced and the plan to incorporate needed early childhood facilities is a reasonable accommodation that has not been addressed elsewhere. Regardless of how one feels about a new mega high school – I am not a fan, personally, this is not the time to either ask for nor spend the kind of money required to make that change – not while there is good life left in our current buildings and a strong and viable school culture.
ABOUT LETTERS AND COLUMNS We welcome your comments on editorials, columns, stories or other topics important to you in The Forest Hills Journal. Include your name, address and phone number(s) so we may verify your letter. Letters of 200 or fewer words and columns of 500 or fewer words have the best chance of being published. Please include a photo with a column submission. All submissions may be edited for length, accuracy and clarity. Deadline: Noon Friday E-mail: foresthills@communitypress.com. Fax: 248-1938. U.S. mail: See box below. Letters, columns and articles submitted to The Forest Hills Journal may be published or distributed in print, electronic or other forms.
This bond will set us up for the next 15 years with spaces that are safe and educationally sound. It’s never a good time to increase taxes, but this particular initiative repre-
sents a modest investment with substantive educational and safety benefits. Janet G. Baker is an educator with the Forest Hills Local School District.
CH@TROOM Last week’s question A federal judge ruled April 5 that age restrictions on overthe-counter sales of the morning-after pill must end within 30 days. Should there be age restrictions on the morning-after pill? Why or why not?”
“If you are old enough to say yes to the boy you are old enough to have second thoughts. How many of you parents want to be raising your children’s babies? “This is nothing about morals. It is about bringing unwanted and poorly cared for children into the world. A girl should have some choice other than an abortion.”
F.S.D.
“There is no age restriction on having sex, so why should there be an age restriction on the morning-after pill. “Until these kids, both male and female, understand about sex, responsibility, and commitment, whether they use the pill or not, we all must pay the consequences of raising their kids and supporting them through some agency.”
D.J.
“No age restriction. With any medication sold over-thecounter there is always potential for abuse and overuse. However, it was repeatedly noted that the side effects are not very significant. “There has been a lot of research that’s been done that indicates teens can follow the instructions for this medicine. That said, when it comes to any form of birth control it’s important for women/ girls to educate themselves on the benefits and risks of taking hormone medication, and the best way to do that is to speak with a parent, doctor, nurse, or pharmacist.”
K.S.
“Should there be restrictions on the sale of the morning-after pill? Yes, but society
NEXT QUESTION Does North Korea’s threat of a preemptive nuclear strike against the U.S. and its restart of a reactor that generates weapons-grade plutonium concern you. Why or why not? Every week we ask readers a question they can reply to via e-mail. Send your answers to espangler@communitypress.com with Chatroom in the subject line.
is changing, and I am not sure that these restrictions will continue to be observed. “There are restrictions on the ages of people who want to buy cigarettes and alcohol; why not the pill? I think the answer is that the liberals among us want to remove all restrictions and stigmas on sexual activity of any kind by anyone, and they appear to be succeeding.”
Bill B.
“There is no age restriction on when a woman can become pregnant. Although there are religious and social beliefs that parents have the right to be involved in a minor’s decisions on matters like this most healthy families don’t need a law to require a young woman to consult her parents. “The only situations where this comes into play is in unhealthy families, such as where parents are abusive, involved in the minor’s pregnancy or have failed to indoctrinate their child in their radical religious beliefs. Or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or coercive sex in a situation where the pregnant woman will have no support or fears for her safety. The federal judge made the correct decision. “People who are opposed to birth control can exercise their beliefs through education and social reform to make it easier for women to bear children when parental
394 Wards Corner Road Loveland, Ohio 45140 phone: 248-8600 email: foresthills@communitypress.com web site: www.communitypress.com
or spousal support is absent. “The simple fact is that the United States does a lousy job of providing for unwanted children. Until we fix that, people have no right to try to impose their beliefs about reproduction and birth control on others. “We practice freedom of religion in this nation, which is or should be understood to be freedom of belief, since all religion is belief. That is a two-way street. “Freedom to embrace your ideals and freedom from other people’s ideals. We haven’t done a very good job of recognizing that restricting access to birth control is imposing the views of one group on another, and it’s time we put this issue in its proper perspective.”
N.F.
“I have yet to see an analysis of the judge who made this ruling. All too often the media focuses on the rulings and ignores the person(s) giving them. “One has to wonder why some judge, somewhere in America believes he has the power to order every last pharmacy in this great and vast land to obey his command. Even the president and Congress have no such power. “If a pharmacy disobeys the judge will he dispatch Storm Troopers to the scene?”
R.V.
“As Hillary said in her Benghazi hearing ‘What difference does it make?’ We are getting all the liberalism we’ve voted for. “We fund Planned Parenthood who’s primary function is performing abortions. California has a bill to fund infertility treatments for same-sex couples. We’re paying for gender reassignment surgery for for inmates convicted of murder. This madness never ends!!”
Forest Hills Journal Editor Eric Spangler espangler@communitypress.com, 576-8251 Office hours: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday See page A2 for additional contact information.
D.J.H.