some people in Leigh need to get out of la la land--consolidation is inevitable!

I swear some people in Leigh seemed to be cut-off from the outside world. They live in this little town and do nothing outside of it. They seem intentionally ignorant of the trends and what is happening in the world beyond the flyspeck-on-the-map called Leigh Nebraska.

We are going to lose the high school. Please get over it and move on, will ya?

This is no longer the 1950's. Those days are gone and are not coming back.

The population and economic trends are not going to change. As farming gets larger it will become increasingly hard for the "family farmer" with kids to remain in the industry.

There are no jobs in these little towns. Nothing to keep people of child bearing age in the community or to encourage young people to stay.

Clarkson and Howells are going to consolidate. This really puts the heat on the Leigh District to do something. We have no other allies, since to the west of us there are no other schools to join with. And there are none to the north or south until you get to Norfolk or Columbus.

Property and real estate taxes are outrageous, and 80% of it goes to support this dinosaur of a school in Leigh. Please do not force hard-pressed landowners to pay for your dreams of nostalgia and your "warm and fuzzy" feeling you get knowing there is still a school in Leigh.

School consolidation needs to be pushed forward relentlessly and with determination. And the primary consideration in any action plan should be to drastically reduce real estate and property tax burdens.