He apparently isn't concerned about the facts but hopefully

there are some citizens out there who are interested in the truth.

Here are the facts:

· The Board of Education approved its budget in June as

required by the state.

· The tax digest is usually approved by the state in August

or September.

· The Board is then required to set its millage rate to fund

the budget based on the state-approved digest.

· The budget was approved based upon an estimated

growth of 9.25 percent in the digest. The budget must provide funds to

provide services for 500 additional students.

· The Board has already indicated there will be a millage

rate reduction in the bond category of the budget. Where have you

been, Mr. Davenport?

· The millage rate for the general maintenance and

operations portion of the budget will be set at the level needed to fund

the budget.

· It does not take an intellectual giant or math genius to

determine that a rollback can happen if the digest does grow beyond the

level projected to fund the budget.

· It would have been irresponsible, regardless of the

pending election, to promise a millage roll back in the M & O budget

before the digest had been approved by the state.

Where did Mr. Davenport get the fact that the digest will

grow by 20 percent, since the local appeals of reassessments and

state approval of the digest have not yet been completed?

I trust that in the future Mr. Davenport will check his facts

and accurately report them. This great nation provides for free

speech and a free press; neither will survive unless both are used

responsibly.

Once more the citizens of Fayette County are treated to

another negative letter from Bill Webster. He now presumes to tell

others how I should feel about the results of the July 21 primary.

I can assure him that I feel no personal embarrassment over

the choice made by the voters. I offered my knowledge,

expertise and experience as a service for our children and grandchildren

and the voters had every right to say they did not want someone

such as me representing them on the School Board.

Webster is obviously angry because I and the rest of the

School Board would not agree to allow him to "hand pick" programs

and or services from the system for children, in his care, he has

chosen to home school.

Mr. Webster has every right to make a private choice about

educating children in his care and he knows that he is expected to

pay for that decision if he does not enroll them in the public

school system. Enrollment in the public school would allow

participation in all programs and services offered. He needs to stop

complaining and take responsibility for his decision.

I believe that Mr. Webster needs to review the statistics on the

primary before being carried away in his hyperbole.

The "rising sea of discontent" represented less than 13

percent of the registered voters in Fayette County. He knows

approximately 78 percent of the voting public did not participate in the board

election July 21. One could assume they were satisfied with the

system and felt no need to vote.

The negative letters with omissions and distortions may serve

a useful purpose only if they eventually awaken the sleeping

giant (the voters who did not go to the polls). If this does not happen,

a negative small minority will eventually destroy a very good

school system.

Bob Todd

Fayetteville

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