Your letters for June 21, 2024

By NewsPress Now

Your letters for June 21, 2024

Back-door approach

As usual, it seems that School Board plans for the future of our city high schools is continuing in spite of the known wishes of the tax-paying citizens of St. Joseph. The current plan is a back-door approach, in that neither Benton nor Lafayette will be “closed,” but they will no longer exist as high schools. Instead, they will become middle schools which will eventually feed into “North High School” and “South High School,” both of which are to be newly constructed with the passage of a bond proposal in April 2025.

If the bond proposal does not pass, then one high school will be closed anyway, and the rest of the boundary changes and “resizing” of elementary schools will proceed as planned. No doubt, once that initial step is taken, it will be easier to close both former high schools, because technically they will no longer exist.

Why will the School Board not listen? St. Joseph wants its high schools, and if money can be made available to build two entirely new schools, then there should be money available to upgrade the three existing ones.

On a final note, what are the plans for Central High in all this long-range planning? The report in Tuesday’s paper doesn’t mention it at all, leaving a questionable void.

Sandra Jacobs

St. Joseph



Not warranted by the stats

Once again only maybe worse this time, the fans are allowed to pick an all-star cast of players not warranted by their statistical data at this time! The players at each position should be selected not by the fans, but from the numbers generated that statistical season!

For example, there is no way to justify the selection of Ohtani (.314/19HR/47RBI/.989OPS) over Ozuna (.321/20HR/62RBI/1.003OPS)! All are great players, but when one player has a demonstrated set of numbers better than the fan selection player, thus altering the potential outcome of the game, it is clear that most of us should have gone fishing along with our favorite beverage instead!

Pat McLear

Dearborn, MO