Lack of funding is a travesty

There was a time in the not-too-distant past that adults in authoritative roles, such as teachers, would have no reason to expect to be physically attacked by students. While it’s not open season, acts of violence against teachers and school staff do occasionally take place. School officials must have a strategy to handle such incidents, and they do.

But they almost didn’t.

Last week, Dothan school superintendent Sam Nichols found himself with the task of dealing with an elementary school student who attacked two teachers by hitting and biting them.

The 10-year-old is being charged with assault by police, and school officials are taking the student out of the classroom. Destination: Pass Academy, the system’s alternative school.

That should be a reminder to administrators and school board members that the alternative school is a necessity, not an expendable frill.

Earlier, Nichols broached the possibility of closing Pass Academy to save about $500,000 per year, a change that would address about 10 percent of a $5 million shortfall in state funding this year.

No one warmed up to that suggestion; in fact, representatives of the local NAACP chapter warned that such a change might upset the stability that allowed the city school system to be released from a federal consent decree mandating racial balance in schools.

We do not envy the task of Dr. Nichols and other school administrators who must cut millions of dollars in costs while trying to maintain the quality of schooling our youngsters receive.

It makes us wonder how the voters of our community could reject — overwhelmingly, a few years back, as we recall — a proposed increase in our picayune ad valorem tax to help fund our schools.
It’s a travesty.