To the editor:

As a resident of Lindbergh Schools, parent of graduates and proud to tell all who will listen that Lindbergh is and continues to be one of the top schools in the state of Missouri, it is time to reach out to all parties and ask for a little reflection.

I first would like to thank all the teachers, board staff and Superintendent Jim Simpson for all the hard work they all do each and every day. Because of all of you, we as Lindbergh have become one of the best school districts in Missouri. Each year we win awards and are featured in news reports.

You should all be proud of that. Thank you. But we need to look at what has happened the last few months to a year. Division, unjust comments, hurtful dialogue and debate at meetings that can and will hurt our district if we aren’t careful.

As a taxpayer and longtime resident in our great district, I can say it’s time to reflect. I can’t say buying the old Johnny’s was or was not the best purchase for us. Could we have done something other than purchase this land, probably. I will not judge if the teachers got what they deserve in a pay raise and/or proper compensation, but I do know a lot of working people, union or non-union, never see pay raises — police, firefighters, nurses, average Joes, et cetera.

A few retired teachers I know live very well, so something worked for them. The school board and Dr. Simpson have a lot of work to do.

They need to get together and work hard at getting this pay raise, infighting and bad blood repaired. The blame falls on their shoulders to start with.

The residents of Lindbergh cannot keep passing tax and bond legislation each time a financial crisis hits the board.

We have done our fair share, voted in favor of a number of bond and tax increases with great results in building new schools, additions, programs, et cetera. Now it’s time for all three factions to get together and fix the bad blood.