Dear Editor: With our budgets stretched beyond the limits I would like to request the School Board at least discuss the possibility of a new schedule for education in Newton. This trend will be sweeping the nation very soon and we could be first, not last in line for tens of millions in property tax savings.

Several years ago I suggested to the State Board of Education that they pass a resolution which would not allow schools to be built with flat roofs which need constant repair. One of my very esteemed builder/suppliers once told me, "The only place you can build a building with a flat roof is where it doesn’t rain!"

Secondly, I requested they use a set of generic building plans instead of paying hundreds of millions statewide for each building to be built from a new set of plans. The response was, "We couldn’t do that because the architects who do this kind of work would get mad at us."

OK, with those points made, here is how to save hundreds of millions in property tax dollars in Newton County Georgia.

Two sessions. Group "A" would attend for six months with several breaks and during those breaks Group "B" would come in for refresher courses. After Group "A" has finished their six month session, Group "B" would begin their session and with the breaks and Group "A" coming in for their refresher courses.

This would double the capacity of our existing buildings and not require any new schools to be built for many years down the road and even then, only half the number to construct and maintain.

One of the most expensive elements on our property tax bills is construction of new school buildings.

Teachers would complain? I always had to work 12 months and it didn’t seem to hurt me any.

The students would be out of class for too long? Our summers used to be three months long and to quote a recent statement by a learned professor, "A high school education from the ’50s and ’60s was a better education than a PhD today."

Sam M. Hay

Community Activist

Covington