3 days Ago By Scott Tally
I would like to address several members of council about their continued lies and personal attacks against our school district and the so-called affiliation between Merit and Charis. They are clearly misinformed. I’ve heard the lies they and others spew that it was all Charis members standing on street corners opposing 2a.
I was out there holding signs along with many other parents who had no affiliations with Charis at all. I was holding that sign not only as a proud Panther, which I am, class of 97, but also as a Merit Bear Parent, and let me be the first to say I have zero affiliation with Charis, have never attended a class at Charis, but do love the wonderful Christmas show and live nativity scene they put on for our community each year. The no on 2a group was made up of parents and tax paying citizens including Panther and Merit Parents who didn’t want to see our schools face a financial deficit hurting all of our kids just to get back at 3 or 4 board members and a superintendent.
Members on our council are literally trying to demonize a bible college and school district in town as if it’s burning down our city. Even though I have no affiliation to Charis, I’m tired of all the hate members of city council spew towards them, and it’s also the same level of hate they spew towards Merit Kids and Families. These are the same families who live in our community and made this choice for their families because they believe it’s the best choice for them.
Many of the families in our district send their kids to different schools throughout the district because some schools fit their kids learning or social styles better. As a public official it is disgraceful to demonize these parents, taxpayers, and citizens because of their school of choice, the church they want to attend or if they took a bible class at a local college. Charis’ students bring a level of diversity to our community that I welcome.
They come from all over the country and world, bringing with them a set of diverse backgrounds and values that you should strive to achieve in a small town. It appears many people in our town with their Coexist bumper stickers only appreciate different ideologies, races, and backgrounds if those individuals think like them. It’s certain members of city council that have created the recent division in this community.
Take a lesson from our kids, our schools have never done better academically or athletically because of our choices, diversity, and differences not despite them. Take care of city business and get the city’s affairs in order. No one appointed you as the watchdog of all government agencies in our community.
The fact that the council spent the entire summer and fall preaching transparency to the school district, but the city itself hasn’t updated the financials on their website since March 2024 is beyond hypocritical.”.
