Letters to the editor: April 27, 2023
Vote 'yes' on future of Airport Community Schools
On Tuesday, May 2, Airport Community Schools voters have an opportunity to transform our district for today’s students and generations to come by supporting our bond proposal, which includes items to put student opportunities on equal footing with surrounding districts.
Included are six new classrooms, band/choir room, and elevator at Wagar Middle School; significant new auxiliary gym space, tennis courts, and a new main campus bus loop. The stadium would be renovated to include a new eight-lane track, indoor restrooms, bleacher additions, and artificial turf to allow for all-weather use, including for schoolwide events like commencement ceremonies. Construction of a performing arts center would allow adequate space for a multitude of district and community events. Detailed information is at airportschools.com.
Some residents are providing false information for the purpose of encouraging a “no” vote, claiming this proposal will double the tax bills of our residents. Presently, Airport levies 2.85 mills, with some of this expiring starting in seven years. At my home in the village of South Rockwood, a total of 38.84 mills is levied on homestead properties for a variety of purposes. Passage of this necessary 2.85-mills bond would represent a 7.3% increase to my tax bill, NOT a doubling. This type of exaggeration and fear-mongering sets a bad example, and repeated dishonest claims that go unchallenged prevent discussion that’s necessary for fair evaluation of this proposal.
Historically, Airport has been a leader in squeezing the most out of its operating budget. We haven't constructed a new building since 1974, and we used a large portion of our federal COVID-19 funds on a six-classroom addition to Sterling. Because of this, even with these proposed improvements, our capital millage would be less than surrounding districts with these same facilities. Our opportunities for students are first rate; we offer 11 Advanced Placement classes, and our overflowing trades programs are contributing to filling high-demand jobs in the area. We do our best to help our students “find their thing” in life, but it requires investment in our facilities to continue this momentum.
People choose to settle their families where facilities are robust and well-maintained, and economic development opportunities are at our doorstep. Our district must decide what we wish to be – a true community that builds a place our children want to stay and raise their families, or remain stagnant while others pass us by.
Patrick M. Lewis
Trustee, board of education
Airport Community Schools
Airport High School Class of 1994
Consider costs of corn in solar fields debate
Opponents of the solar fields proposal in Milan Township have gone to lengths to cite their environmental concerns about the project. But it is important to consider the environmental consequences of “saving the farms.”
The farms they hope to save are not lush and verdant, but fields requiring massive chemical augmentation to produce. A 2019 study published in Nature Sustainability identifies corn production as a major source of pollution resulting in more than 4,000 deaths per year, through fertilizer particulate (air), runoff contamination of waterways and aquifers, and production processes. Few fields alternate crops but produce, year after year, a monocrop, corn.
Scientists have been describing the negative environmental consequences of corn for more than three decades. About 36% of corn is used to feed beef cattle raised in feedlots. Corn is not nutritious for the cows, whose natural food is grass, but the feed corn fattens them up to satisfy a declining commercial market for red meat because of its threat to health.
The second problem is the domination of high fructose corn syrup in processed foods, taking the place of natural sources of sweetness. Physicians, including those at Cleveland Clinic, warn that high fructose corn syrup is linked to Type 2 diabetes, leaky gut, heart disease, appetite stimulation and obesity because of the way the body processes it. Like factory-farmed beef, it is being phased out as consumers become aware of its dangers.
Corn has many industrial uses and produces ethanol, the biofuel used in gasoline. This may be an environmental plus, but as electricity replaces gasoline in vehicles the demand for corn will decrease, which will reduce the need for corn farming on the massive scale seen in the United States.
There may be environmental consequences to the construction of solar fields, but it is important to consider them in light of what we know about the real and daunting ecological impact of continuing to use these fields to grow corn.
Jean Kearns Miller
Milan Township
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Letters to the editor: April 27, 2023