Regarding Gregory Walter’s letter (“It’s not their money,” April 15). in which he warns that the Butler school consolidation issue should not be left up to the parents of the district.

The writer appears to misunderstand what the parents want.

As a parent and a member of Butler Residents for Quality Schools, I took part in presenting an alternative consolidation plan. This plan involved closing down three campuses and had almost no upfront, one-time costs to implement. It would have resulted in almost immediate savings of $1 million to $2 million per year. As a bonus, the vast majority of parents supported this alternative plan — the parents voted 172 to 38 in favor of this plan at one school board meeting.

Instead, the district has chosen a plan that will result in a greater deficit the first year — more than $6 million in the red. The Butler Eagle got it wrong when it reported it will save $3.5 million in later years. The actual best case scenario put forth by the district was $1.5 million in savings after the initial deficit of $6 million. Under the plan selected, they are also going to have to pay to maintain five empty buildings until they sell, rather than three under the parents’ plan. Even worse, they are talking about issuing a bond to upgrade technology, putting the district into even more debt.

So it appears that some may have misunderstood what school board Director John Conrad meant when he said this issue should be put to a referendum. Conrad understood that the consolidation plan put forward by the parents was actually more fiscally sound than the one chosen by the district.

It makes sense to me that hard-working, taxpaying parents would understand the value of a dollar better than the government.