If you listen to what some people say or read what they write, they seem to consider the school board as some sort of far off enemy or worse.

We should keep in mind that the seven people who make up the school board are neighbors, friends and loyal Davis County residents. They ran for the school board to serve their community and help give our children a good education. They aren’t any different than they were before they were elected except they know a whole lot more about the school and education—a whole lot more about the school than any of the rest of us who have never sat in their seat.

We can disagree with their judgment, but layoff all the other crap. They arrive at their decisions honestly, as fairly as they know how and in what they think is in the best interests of the school, the students and the community.

For all the time they spend, for all the study they do and for all the headaches they encounter, they don’t get anything out of it other than a satisfaction of having served and knowing that they have done a job that has to be done. To be sure, they don’t get a lot of thanks from the public.

I often wonder why they serve. Why would they want to continue?

Would you? Why haven’t you served? Why don’t you become a candidate for the board? Could it be that it’s easier to bellyache than to do?

Thank God, there are still people who will agree to be members of the school board. The alternative is to turn the schools over to some bureaucrat in Des Moines, who gets his marching orders from the Governor and the Iowa Legislature.

Make all the arguments you want against a new high school building, but don’t malign the seven people on the school board who have an opinion different from yours. Consider, too, that they have much more information and knowledge upon which to base their opinions than any of the rest of us do.