LETTERS

 

Further study of solar power

would be a waste of resources

To the Editor:

My Sept.12 letter about solar energy was noted in a recent response in this forum. My basic point was and is that the best technology and science available today does not make economic electricity in our climate. The problem is that the extensive capital cost of solar equipment has to be paid for by cost recovery from the relatively limited quantities of electricity produced in our less-than-sunny environment.

The responder agreed with the analyses and the conclusion that solar energy in Ohio is now quite expensive. But, apparently stuck in the mindset that somehow solar electricity has to be economic today, he wants yet further study.

As I remember, a call for study has been a constant theme. Faced with an earlier letter writer's position and information that small-scale systems are not economic, he wanted a study at larger scale.

That study, fortunately, has been recently and well-done and was provided in the Sept. 12 letter. Since it spectacularly failed to support his beliefs, he now wants building-specific studies.

Scarce public monies need to be spent where outcomes are likely to be favorable. In addition to the existing and unfavorable studies, the absence of profitably operated grid systems (public or private) in Ohio is an additional signal that further study of today's solar power technologies applied to Worthington schools would be a waste of resources.

Ted Thomas

Board members should stop micro-managing district

To the Editor:

Even excellent school districts like Worthington can improve, and if there is one thing I would like to change, it is the school board's habit of micro-managing the administrative team.

I attended the Sept. 10 board meeting, and even though it was a light agenda and there were no comments from the public, the meeting lasted nearly 3 hours and went well past 10 p.m. The meeting was dominated by board members questioning administrators about the decisions made in the course and scope of their regularly assigned duties.

Board meetings of this nature and that last late into the night are not welcoming to the public and are a powerful deterrent to public participation. Although long meetings are sometimes necessary, I believe a board member must be respectful of the public's limited time.

The district is stronger when the public attends board meetings because they are more engaged and knowledgeable of the issues. The public will attend if the Board focuses on the "big picture" policy issues and not on administrative minutia. Certainly, administrative matters must be addressed, but the board meeting is not a forum where board members should compete over who has the best grasp over daily administrative details.

We have a talented and experienced team of professional administrators who are ably supervised by our superintendent. If a board member believes an administrator could have made a better decision, he should not circumvent the chain of command by cross-examining the administrator at a public meeting, but instead discuss his concerns with their supervisor -- the superintendent.

The unending series of questions for administrators undercuts the superintendent's authority and makes for long, unproductive meetings. Most importantly, it distracts the Board from fulfilling its proper function; that of setting high-level, educational policy for the school district.

The Board appeared to acknowledge its tendency to micro-manage at Sept. 24 meeting, which resulted in a more productive meeting.

Geoffrey P. Scott

Worthington School Board Candidate