To the editor:

“RTR school building bond does not pass votes”

It states RTR Schools have 721 enrolled students in PreK-12. It should be noted that of these 721 students 80 are 3- and 4-year-old preschoolers in groups that go every other day. So a daily head count for these students is 40 less on a daily basis bringing daily head count in the school each day to 681.

The 3-year-old state of the art school was built for 700 students. I am sure the District could look at the Preschool class sizes and accept only district students plus any additional opened enrolled students depending on how many extra they can include. As I understand it, the preschool program is tuition based and state aid is not received so state aid should not be used to figure in the extra revenue the district gets for open enrolled students.

If the district did not send the buses to every town in the 30-mile radius of Tyler we may not have an overcrowding issue. If open enrolled parents want to bring their kids to the district make them at least drive their kids to the district line for pickup and drop off. School districts have a state statue stating they have a right to do this. The district has options for overcrowding issues. Does overcrowding mean the districts needs a $1.7 million state of the art fitness center? Does overcrowding mean the district needs another gym which they could open up to the community to use?

Marshall Independent should take a closer look at what the RTR School District wanted with the $20 million instead of just stating overcrowding issues. RTR School District has a beautiful school and the students are lucky to get a great education but enough spending. Work with what you have and appreciate it.

Tami Nelson

Ruthton