Perkins: What's wrong with this picture?

Does anyone else in Waterford think it's kind of strange that we can spend more than $60 million to "renovate" our high school, yet we cannot fund our freshman sports programs? We continue to build these monuments to education, when the old ones probably could have been renovated and added on to and then find ourselves without funds to provide the services to our students that have always been a regular part of our curriculum.

It's like building a fabulous mansion to impress your neighbors and then canceling the plumbing, because you ran out of funds. I was flabbergasted when we tore down Great Neck, Quaker Hill, and Oswegatchie schools to replace them with behemoths that could easily hold all the children in Waterford in any one school.

For example, Oswegatchie School, where my kids went, was just over 50 years old when it was deemed obsolete. If we keep building schools that have to be replaced every 50 years, we probably won't even be able to pay teachers to man the classrooms in the near future. Jordan School, where I went to elementary school is still standing and in use as our present Town Hall. It must be almost 100 years old and is still useful.

Waterford High, as well as Clark Lane Middle School, were both dedicated when my father was first selectman in the mid-1950s, so they are both just over 60. The present Waterford High construction was originally, as I understood, to just be an addition or renovation. Now as I understand we are replacing almost the entire school. And yet, we don't have the money to fund freshman sports! Is it too simple to think if we weren't building these monuments to excessive spending, we could possibly still retain the freshman sports programs?

I think that when we pay the superintendent of schools the highest salary in town, as it is in most towns in the area, he should devote some of his time to see that the budget includes enough funding for the freshman sports program, which has been a given since high schools have been in existence. We seem to be top-heavy with administrative personnel and assistants all receiving comfortable salaries while our students are asked to accept lesser services as part of our educational plan.

Now, quite possibly I don't see the big picture, and someone will inform me of my misguided diatribe, but until then I still think we could do things differently. I realize we probably receive some state money for these projects, but that doesn't make me feel any better about it. It's still our money. And the state won't pay for our freshman sports program. And you can't downplay our sports programs; they keep the kids out of trouble, and have been a part of teenage life forever. They build character, and teach the kids lessons that are not learned in the classroom. A very important part of high school life.

In this society of excessive salaries for sports stars and celebrities, what kind of message are we sending to our high school students by not including their interests in our planning? I hope someone can turn things around before even more programs are cut.

If you think this is important, speak up and talk to your RTM representative, or board of education representative.