On April 5th, 2011, voters of the Riverside Brookfield community voted no to the proposed referendum. They also replaced four board members, including the president of the board Jim Marciniak who made the decision not to run for re-election.

The community members were fully aware of what they were voting no to. The school board and administration had posted online a proposed list of cuts that would take place over three years. In theory, the public would have the ability to vote every year to a referendum. Unfortunately, the current board has completely changed everything about the promised situation.

I understand that the new board brings new ideas and different changes, but I can’t grasp the idea that the community has no say in the future of the school from now on. The board is faced with the difficult task of balancing the budget, but the way they are approaching it does not seem to be fiscally responsible.

The board is cutting aspects of RB that make it such a great unique school that we students are proud to be a part of. As senior who recently applied for colleges, I have a firsthand experience of seeing how participating in a wide variety of clubs set me apart from the crowd. This board is now trying to cut clubs and sports in order to save money.

Yes, these cuts will obviously save money, but what do they propose to do after everything is cut? Once a club is cut, it is extremely hard to start it up again. What are the students supposed to do? When Student Association, the student representatives of the school, tried to share the feelings of the student body with the board, we were literally ignored by a board member who was reading a book.

“Isn’t the board supposed to be looking out for our education and our best interests?”

My main concern is not letting RB lose the reputation we have worked so hard to maintain. We are outstanding when it comes to academics because of the amazing staff. We never used to be the school that didn’t let kids play sports, and there is always a club for kids to join. RB made a niche for everyone. Losing that aspect of the school would be devastating.

All I want is the board to give another chance for the community to think about how their decisions are affecting the students. Yes, it is very tough, but we elected them because they tried convincing us they were capable of positive change.

Now, I want them to prove it.