Let me start by saying that I fully support the Tamaqua school board members we have, and we need to support them in every way we can. They have done so much for our district, and I think we need to hear the facts. Every substantial capital donation for the Tamaqua Area School District over the past 24 years was a direct result of the relationships that were built by members of the Tamaqua Area School Board.

The fact is the school district would not have the soccer, softball and baseball fields had it not been for the efforts of the members of the school board and their persuasive persistence exploiting personal relationships for the good of the district. The scoreboards for the softball and baseball teams, the dugouts for the softball and baseball teams were all a direct effort made by some members of the school board.

The uninformed, no-financial person might take issue with the acquisition of a centrally located administration building, acquired for nothing, when prior to this location, the administration was located in the nurses office in the high school, and before that on the third floor of the high school, taking up valuable classroom space and not convenient for the parents or anyone else.

Neighboring Lehighton Area School District built a new administration office for well over a million dollars with no state reimbursement, which means it was paid entirely by the taxpayers. Tamaqua gets one for free, and the school board is criticized for having to heat it. Again the criticism comes from (wise) financially challenged individuals.

Lehigh Carbon Community College would NEVER have been in Tamaqua if it wasn’t for one person. It was that person’s idea for the college and brought all the players to the table to make it happen. The Morgan Foundation provided the construction dollars and the state kicked in another $4.5 million for programming. Again, this was facilitated entirely by direct efforts of Larry Wittig. We need to keep this board in because of the good that has come to our school district. Go over the facts and make the right decision. Have pride in our school and keep the efforts of our board going in the RIGHT direction.

Thank you!

Lisa Hope

Tamaqua