There has been much discussion recently about the drought and how to conserve water throughout our state. In Cary, some of these measures have included banning the use of automatic irrigation and sprinklers for an unknown time period, voluntary reduction of household and outdoor water usage by residents, and use of reclaimed water by businesses such as car washes. These measures have been somewhat effective, although we have not received enough water from rainfall to lift us out of the drought.

It seems that at some point, we will eventually get enough rain to end the drought, but my concern is about the future. With population growth, we need to always be conserving water, and valuing it as a resource, instead of taking it for granted. Even after the drought is over, we need to continue to think about conserving water, so this does not happen again.

If we continue limiting outdoor water usage and automatic irrigation, and make every effort to conserve water on a regular basis, I believe it is a lot less likely that we will get into a situation as serious as this again.

Wes Haddon, Cary

Davis Drive Middle School, eighth grade

Too much trash I think there is too much trash on the sides of the roads in Cary. Every time my family goes somewhere, I see trash on the roadsides. I remind my family not to litter but don’t know why other people are not being punished for making our roads ugly. I think all dump trucks should be required to have covers on when they have a load. I think we should have garbage men assigned to pick up trash on the roadsides. They could drive along the shoulders making Cary a cleaner place to drive and live. We should all do our part too. Not just the garbage men. Why don’t we make Cary a cleaner and prettier place to live?

Douglas Shaw, Boy Scout Troop 212

Proposed increase in developer’s fees

Davisandighhouse.org supports the immediate and maximum, cost-justified increase in developer’s fees in the town of Cary in the areas of water usage, sewer usage and irrigation systems. We believe this is an appropriate and overdue step toward the overall goal of “balanced growth” within Cary where each portion of the community is paying its fair share of the costs.

Specifically, davisandhigh house.org supports the proposed immediate increases of developers fees, on the agenda for the Feb. 14 Cary Town Council meeting, including:

n 43 percent increase in water fees

n 75 percent increase in sewage fees

n Increase in irrigation meter fees from $374 to $1,548

Posted on the DavisandHigh House Web site (davisandhigh house.org) is the letter being sent to members of the Cary Town Council as well as additional information on the issue of developer’s fees.

For any additional information please contact Katie Dunn at info@davisandhighhouse.org. Patricia Lee, Cary

Water rates confusing

The residents of the town need to congratulate Walt Sliva for his timely comments on the confusion in understanding the water rates that the town charges its customers. Walt is rightly puzzled (as are most of us) that the town charges the City of Durham less per 1,000 gallons than it does its own residents. This is the straw that broke the camel’s back. It appears that our council and especially the town staff are totally confused in regard to our motives in pricing our water. It appears that we are not certain if our priorities are conservation, capacity utilization or building reserves for future development. In the search for capacity utilization we are currently selling water to Durham and Morrisville and contemplating selling to Raleigh to increase throughput and lower our cost. In the search for conservation we have had use restrictions and scaled pricing for over a year (while others consumed at low rates) that resulted in loss of lawns and expensive shrubs and a browning of Cary. Property values reflect a green environment. In the search for water to satisfy growth we appear to be encouraging growth at a rate that will double our needs within 10 years without being concerned about supply.

What we need from the council and staff is a rational justification for our confusing water policies. Are we assuming that the drought is an abberation and that as soon as it rains we can return to normal? Assuming that 2007 represents future normal rainfall, that growth will equal that in 2007, and with no constraints on consumption when will our reservoir be stressed to the breaking point? We need some straight talk. Ray Czarnecki, Cary

Parents need voice, choice in reassignments

If you are a Wake County parent, you most likely have a personal interest in the heated debate surrounding the county’s public school reassignment plan. To date, numerous education columns have recounted the merits and flaws of traditional calendars versus year-round programs. Others have focused on the increasing disconnect between parents and the Wake County school board as well as the socioeconomic implications of the plan itself. Lost in the discussion, however, seems to be the core issue-— parental choice.

In the 1990s, Wake County enjoyed the success of several pilot year-round programs. In just two years, year-round enrollment figures increased more than tenfold. Visitors to West Lake Middle School in the late ’90s may recall marveling at the community’s pride for its school: Hallways and classrooms sparkled with the refreshing energy of active parental involvement.

At that time, Wake County families had a choice. Many parents opted to keep their children on a traditional academic calendar. For other families, however, the year-round model was a good fit. And at schools like West Lake, parents by and large were satisfied with their decision. That’s the great thing about choice. When people make decisions based on what works best for them, they tend to be more satisfied with the results. And if they’re not, they have the power to change their minds.

Flash forward to the present debate, and the climate is much less rosy. Families who currently wish to remain in traditional schools share many of the same concerns as year-round advocates: student learning retention, community involvement, socioeconomic balance, transportation, family schedules and traditions and overall academic impact.

Certainly, there are other factors at play as well, such as public perception that the school board establishes reassignment plans with little regard for parental or judicial input. Still, parents on both sides of the argument believe — for various, valid reasons — that they know the school model to meet their children’s needs. The crux of the problem is these equally frustrated parents don’t have a choice in the matter. And for their children, it ultimately could be a matter of success or failure.

Darrell Allison, president, Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina

Students need say, too

I have noticed that a very big dilemma is happening to some neighborhoods. The problem is that we are being redistricted. One neighborhood that is being affected is the one I live in, MacArthur Park. My neighborhood currently attends Davis Drive, but if we get redistricted we will have to attend Laurel Park. A large majority of people that live in this neighborhood are opposed to it.

Recently, Davis Drive Elementary families that are being affected walked to protest. Why redistrict neighborhoods that can walk to school, and make them go to a school that requires further transportation? The new students coming to Davis Drive will have to sit on a bus for about an hour. These students have many schools that are closer to them. Many people feel that if you move to an area because of a school, you should be allowed to stay at that school. How would you feel if you were taken out of a school that was in your neighborhood and you liked? Many of the friends that you have met won’t be with you anymore. I feel as students we need to have a voice in the reassignment plan. I understand that schools are crowded, but we can fix that by expanding the foundations of some schools and hiring more teachers. To get the money we could hold fundraisers and school functions.

Claire Bauschka, Fifth grade Student, Davis Drive Elementary

Schools concept flawed

The unrest in the Cary community regarding school reassignments is well warranted. The social engineering of the past few decades has not produced better schools, better students or better test scores but it has soured parents on the process and gobbled up copious amounts of our tax dollars.

Our daughter was fortunate enough to finish school before the social engineers began to break down the fabric of our society by ripping students away from neighborhood schools and forcing them to make long bus trips in order to promote diversity. I’m all for Americans of all races, creeds and colors working and playing together but busing underachieving kids into a classroom that is overachieving or busing overachieving kids into a classroom that is underachieving invariably “dumbs down” the students rather than lifting them up. Teachers must adjust to the weakest students and everyone else has to slow down and fall into line.

I have friends today whom I met in grammer school almost 60 years ago. Because our schools were in our neighborhoods our parents were able to attend functions there and be involved with our progress at school. Teachers knew our parents and did not hesitate to let them know when we fell short in class. If it does take a village to raise a child why on earth do we insist upon busing that child away from the village? It is not a matter of separate but equal. That concept was flawed from the beginning but I can’t imagine any parent, regardless of color, who wants their child bused miles away simply to fulfill a racial or economic quota. Poor does not equate to stupid and neither does the color of one’s skin. The deciding factor is the parental attention or lack of attention given to these children and for parents who devote that attention to then have their children bused away from their neighborhood school and placed in underachieving schools where that parental inattention has taken its toll is almost criminal.

We should arm all schools with the proper tools and, if necessary, raise the pay of good teachers who are willing to work with underachieving classrooms to bring them up to standards rather than ripping students from their neighborhoods in ill-fated attempts to create artificial environments. Those who call for more indiscriminate funding ignore the fact that we have thrown money at this problem for decades and find ourselves still on the outside looking in.

The best course is to dismantle our antiquated public school system and give parents and students a say in how and where their children are educated but given the entrenched bureaucracy that created this monopoly that will be a long time coming. In the meantime parents have every right to protest the Wake County school board’s blind obedience to diversity, regardless of the harm they do in the process.

Tom Joyner, Cary