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York City School District, get a grip! We're in a recession! Why should you be able to just reach out and take what you want for a budget increase, in the name of education, with all the examples of waste and frivolous spending that have come to light. Do you feel that by being part of a bureaucracy it gives you entitlement to salary increases and benefits the hard working common man doesn't get due to the economy?

I would like to respond to the comments made by a couple parents who were interviewed by this newspaper about the underage drinking that took place after Dallastown's homecoming and the consequences that were given by the school. I'm a therapist and I work mostly with teenagers and their parents. I commend the parents who commented in the article and said that underage drinking would not happen in their homes. However, these same parents expressed concern that the kids should not have been cut from the football team because the school shouldn't "ruin a kid's life because of a bad mistake." I'm sure these parents mean well and just feel for what the kids are going through. However, I believe this kind of thinking is at the heart of the mixed messages we send to teenagers.

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York City School District, get a grip on reality. $90,000 for a software package to record school board meetings. Ludicrous is the best description I can think of for this plan. The time frame used here is laughable. A software package that won't be obsolete in 180 years? Give me a break. None of you will even be alive when it becomes uhh..obsolete. Software is now obsolete in, at the best, 20 years. Take this as sound analysis from a "geek" who has worked with everything from PCs to mainframes. It's high time YCSD starts pulling in their belt and spending their money for education and denying frivolous purchases.

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I read with sadness the story of the Dallastown High School football players dismissed from the team for underage drinking. If the objective is to "teach them a lesson" as I've heard so many say, the fact that your choices have consequences is the most obvious and most important one. Along with that, however, let's teach them that there are second chances in life... and that one mistake doesn't define you as a person.... Let's teach them about the meaning of redemption. And in any event, don't give up on them; don't criminalize them amongst their friends and teammates; and, don't be so quick to take away something that probably means more to them than just about anything else right now, the one thing that enables you to speak into their lives.

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How apropos! On page 22 of this Sunday's Baltimore Sun, there is an ad for the upcoming Steinway piano factory event sale. "Over 100 new and used factory direct, family of Steinway pianos under one roof..."

I hope the South Eastern School District's Board of School Directors saw the ad. We wouldn't want them to miss the opportunity to save the taxpayers some money if they insist on proceeding with the district's proposed purchase of a $97,000 Steinway grand piano. Being responsible stewards of the taxpayers' money is their fiduciary obligation, after all.

David Mohan
Stewartstown

Thorns to the York Daily Record for criticizing the Southeastern School Board's willingness to hear a presentation about the purchase of a new piano. The piano in question will actually SAVE the taxpayers money over the long haul. How do I know? I asked the right person. You could say I "interviewed" the people who have the relevant information, did a little "research" before I wrote this letter - maybe you could call it an "article." Like a newspaper might do if it was more interested in finding out the "facts" rather than bashing school officials trying to do their job.

Janet Winters
Stewartstown

Well it's back to school time in Red Lion and it's great to see the new school year is starting out the same way last year ended. I have two children in the Red Lion High School and already today, on the first day back, neither of them were able to purchase a lunch.

I know, the school is going thru growing pains and construction problems but the policy of the entire school eating lunch at the same time just doesn't work. The idea sounds really good: students who need help can go to a teacher during the lunch break and seek out assistance after eating their lunch. They also can sit with their friends since eveyone eats at the same time.

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This letter is in response to Anna Attig ("Speak of God in Schools," August 22). Ms. Attig asserts, "How come we dare not talk about [God] in our schools?" Normally I choose to ignore such religious fanaticism, but this is just one instance where I can not. Ms. Attig, we do not discuss God in America's public schools because our nation has the Constitutional principles of freedom of religion and separation of church and state. Thomas Jefferson himself declared in an 1814 letter, "Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law." The U.S. Constitution begins "We the people" and contains no mention whatsoever of God, Jesus Christ, or the Bible. If America was established as a "Christian nation," why does our governing document fail to mention this?

Because we do not promote God in the public schools, Ms. Attig claims that we are guilty of atheism. Nonsense! Promoting atheism in the schools would involve advocating the viewpoint that God and gods/goddesses definitively do not exist. Christian fundamentalism is, sadly, all too common in York County. This fanatical mentality is what led to the 2004-05 Dover school board saga that made York County a national embarrassment.

Justin Garcia
Lancaster

I go to Dallastown and it is an amazing school. They have nice technology, dedicated staff, a beautiful building, and many educational resources. But what is going on behind the scenes isn't that amazing. Of course, just about everyone of the district residents are complaining about how high taxes are, but some have more "bragging rights" than others.

I want to warn West York Area School District parents and taxpayers about a new math program being implemented in West York elementary schools. It is called 'Everyday Math'. Many school districts have tried and discarded this way of teaching math to children because it is needlessly complicated and does not work. West York, however, has already purchased math books at a considerable cost.

Because it would take so long to explain the new method, I am including a website for you to visit. Be sure to scroll down and click on the YouTube video demonstration. After you see this, I am sure you will understand my cause for alarm. Please share this article and website with as many parents as you can. The teachers will not have a say in what method they are told to use, but you do have a say. Speak up now.

Cynthia Crouse
West Manchester Township