To the Editor:

I am addressing Bethlehem Central School District Taxpayers.

On Wednesday, June 21, the Bethlehem School Board voted, 4 to 2 with one abstention, to sell 11 elementary classrooms and 12.4 acres to the Albany County Sheriff Office for a really good deal — $325,000 paid by three years of lease payments and in-kind services (post-graduation patrols of the high school) despite the district's remaining debt service of $2 million (until 2022) associated with the Clarksville’s school expansion and capital improvements ($4 million in 2009).

Clearly, this decision was never about the money or our tax dollars; here is the agreement: http://www.bethlehemschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Draft-Lease-Purchase-Agreement-for-Clarksville.pdf

You can watch the decision take place yourself: https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=RbcQMrdb33A

As an observant taxpayer, I wonder why our school district’s administration and four school board members — President Matt Downey, Vice President Lynne Lenhardt, Michael Cooper, and Charmaine L. Wijeyesinghe — were so eager to get rid of the Clarksville Elementary School before the new board was seated in July and without consideration of other creative uses for the district’s assets.

We are in sound budgetary shape having $2 million dollar budget surpluses for the last few budget cycles. So there was no fiscal pressure for the sale.

Through public discourse and letters to the board, numerous concerns and uncertainties were raised by community members, particularly with respect to the fiscal nature of the deal and the uncertainty about purported declining enrollment projections vis-à-vis visible community growth in both the towns of Bethlehem and New Scotland. (I note the Voorheesville District where there is big growth was left off of superintendent Jody Monroe’s enrollment presentation.)

No other options were considered, including looking to open the sale up to get a better deal. So people’s input didn't seem to matter for the board majority and the fix was in. (I need to mention that, for some reason, the full membership of New Scotland’s town board was not aware that a decision was planned for the June 21 meeting.  I am perplexed by this but know that most board members live in Voorheesville School District.)

The Bethlehem District administration and majority of the school board were comforted by the notion that the district’s remaining five elementary schools can easily absorb 478 additional children, despite past statements that there are only six classrooms remaining in Hamagrael, Eagle, and Glenmont and that Slingerlands and Elsmere were at capacity.

Smaller schools better serve our community’s children. The board is also apparently comfortable with longer bus rides for the elementary-aged children who reside in the town of New Scotland’s portion of BCSD (much more than we used to). The school district didn't even want to save a few of its 12.4 acres in Clarksville to accommodate future growth should it be needed.  

I believe this shortsighted decision is not consistent with the character strengths that we expect from our student body — including respect, fairness, justice, creativity, integrity, and a sense of community and civic-mindedness. None of the school board members or the district’s leadership live in the Clarksville area so their children are not directly affected by this decision.

Clarksville Elementary School is located in the heart of the hamlet of Clarksville, which has public water and a strong potential for growth. The school building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of America’s first handicap-accessible and environmentally-designed public school building.  Community members loved their elementary school and worked hard to try to compel the district to support our community school over the last few years — thank you!  

I hope that the sheriff enjoys his new home in Clarksville and treats the Clarksville community well.  And, maybe someday, the community can use some of the County Sheriff's 12.4 acres to have a school, preschool, or daycare center to again serve the children residing there.  It was a great school for many over its 60 years.

P.S. “Climb to Clarksville” was our wonderful school song.

Judy Abbott

New Scotland

Editor’s note: Judy Abbott notes that she is a taxpayer in the Bethlehem Central School District.