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By Andy Beauerle
Magee High School Senior
On March 11, the School Bond Steering Committee hosted their 3rd “Bond Issue Public Forum” at the historic Pinola High School Auditorium. As with the previous forums, Dr. Holloway advocated for the Bond Issue, which will go to pay for either new school buildings and extracurricular facilities if passed, or if not passed, will just buy a new schoolhouse. Dr. Holloway was the only speaker there, saying “I decided to let the others have Spring Break off so I could stay here and work.”
For the last 3 weeks, these forums have been held, where Dr. Holloway, Dr. Sanders, and several other people with the District Board have spoken about the positives of voting for the Bond Issue and negatives of voting against it as well. But at the Pinola Forum, it was not Dr. Holloway who caught my attention.
After the forum ended, I hung around, talking to two older gentlemen who I will address and John and James. John and James are two people who stand staunchly against the bond issue, citing waste of resources and high taxes. Stephen is a former education official who stands for the bond issue, for the same reasons as Dr. Holloway explains each time. Lately when a post is made about consolidation, we see people fighting back and forth, severing ties and burning bridges. All over what? A silly misunderstanding over money. MONEY.
But I watched as James, Stephen, and John (these are not the men’s real names, just made up ones because of privacy and security issues) talk to each other, one thing I noticed is as much of a difference there was between their points, never once did they insult each other. They kept their words in check, only talking louder every now and then. I really admire the way these men handled their differences and kept everything levelheaded. I believe this is something we should all look at. We shouldn’t let these petty political ploys separate us. That’s the best thing about towns like Magee and Mendenhall. Everyone is so close knit. Face it. Consolidation is happening. We can’t help it happened the way it did. Yes a lot of us are also upset about the Simpson County Super Bowl ending, I am one. But we cannot let this tear the county apart. And no, I am not for it or against it, I’m in the middle. I know Simpson County is too strong to let something like this tear us apart.
Also, some people who are on another committee that handle the upkeep of the Pinola Auditorium asked me to mention an upcoming event and I told them I’d be more than happy to. On Friday, March 18, a Jam Session will be held at the Auditorium at 7:00pm. Local musicians and vocalists are welcome to come and perform.
“Andy is a Senior at Magee High School and plans to attend a four year college”
(Opinions expressed by the writer are not necessarily the opinion of MageeNews.com)
MageeNews.com is an online news source serving Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi.
Good article Andy, and you are right about the lack of civil discourse. I believe part of the problem is that it’s east for people to WRITE negative, rude, or insulting things on social media when they don’t have to face people in person. I don’t know what the answer is to that but it’s good for it to be pointed out.