Building a School

Last Sunday we received a written report from the committee that is working on locating a site for a future school building. Our church grade school is bursting at the seams, still occupying space in our church building. Two free-standing classrooms are in use there, and three classrooms are located in an addition that was built to accommodate the classrooms temporarily, with planned later use as auditorium overflow, fellowship hall, and kitchen.

In the report, the committee solicited suggestions from people. So I complied. (They might at this moment be thinking sorry I asked.) In short, I tried to make a case for re-opening consideration of an option that was listed as not being under current consideration. The funny thing about all this is that on the afternoon when I had finished my response, my dad called and told me that he had written something on the same subject that he wanted to read to me and then have me type later. We were both surprised to learn what the other had done. We had not talked at all about the report or our thoughts on it. He described mine as having more clout than his. I would describe his as being less detailed, but more directly useful in accomplishing what we would both like to see. I'm keenly aware that, in our setting especially, an aged leader such as my father is, will always have more clout than a vocal female of any age. I'm not as bitter about that as it sounds. I respect aged male leaders too.

All sorts of things enter into the dynamics of finding a suitable location for a school. Some of the ones that are becoming obvious to me are these:

a) We have varying impressions about our relationships with the non-Mennonite community in which we live, and varying ways of thinking about interacting with the people in it. Some of us are very wary about creating rifts, perhaps believing that they are already suspicious of us, and we dare not do anything to risk offending them. Others suspect that it is we who are suspicious of them, and one of the ways to overcome this would be to actually take some initiative in interacting with them.

b) We see land differently. Some of that happens because we view it through different lenses. 1) Some of us see it as farmers. (Don't "waste" the best spots by building on them!). 2) Some of us see it as builders. (Would it take a lot of dirt work to create a level site? Does it drain well? Note that these may conflict. Low and level would create problems.) . 3) Others evaluate land in terms of its diversity--in habitat, plant and animal populations, and terrain. (Level farmland with monoculture as the goal is about as boring as it gets. A farming "wasteland" can feature incredible diversity.) What is the most ideal environment for children to inhabit? Should diverse habitat be intruded upon with construction?

c) People see the presence of a new building in a certain spot differently. Some see it as destroying a view for other home sites already in the vicinity. Some have concerns about the ostentatious appearance of a large structure for the use of people who only one generation ago were content with home-sized church gatherings, and used meeting houses only minimally--a people who still profess a preference for a simple lifestyle.

d) People who struggle financially, and live simply by necessity (or who live simply by choice) have a very different view of the the prospect of construction on a new site than do people who are financially more secure (or who live less simply by choice). "Why can't we make do when we're together just as many of us make do every day in our own homes?" versus "If we need it, we ought to all work together to make it happen, regardless of the cost."

e) Educational philosophy enters in. It goes without saying that if everyone homeschooled, we wouldn't need a new school building. We all realize, of course, that not everyone wants to or can homeschool. Is it solely a matter of everyone being able to have what they want, when some options are a great deal more expensive than others? Is working together to fund the expensive option incumbent on all of us equally? Would it be wise to be more deliberate in encouraging homeschooling, or at least to make it clear that people who do so are providing a service to the church by not requiring the church's provision in facilities and teaching staff? This would represent a huge shift in some communities where homeschooling is still viewed with a great deal of skepticism (party-pooping at best, sedition at worst)--less so in ours, where there is a good level of interchange, but, to my knowledge, there has still not been any officially-expressed encouragement and affirmation for this option. To give some perspective in how homeschooling affects the picture in the Beachy churches here--I think probably about 1/3 to 1/2 of the children are homeschooled, although I don't remember the exact numbers. Enrollment numbers at the school include children from non-Beachy families also, so it's not accurate to note only the Beachys in one group without doing the same in both groups. Maybe someone else can post more exact numbers in a comment.

f) People perceive demographics differently. Earlier, nearly everyone from our Beachy churches had either a Hutchinson or Partridge address and most people lived in the area SW of Hutchinson between Hutchinson and Partridge about 10 miles away. A few lived beyond Partridge on all sides. Now people have addresses such as Arlington, Langdon, Abbyville, Yoder, and Nickerson. All of these towns are outside of this original predominantly Mennonite "Partridge" community, and most of them are located west and north of the original community (Yoder is an exception.). Obviously the people who live on the outskirts visualize the "center" of the community differently than people who have always lived in the originally settled areas and who seldom have occasion to venture into the other areas. If you always have to go east to nearby Hutchinson to get products and services, why does it make sense to build in a place where you'd have to go west--out into the hinterlands?

g) We have varying spending priorities. Some people see a school building as a good investment, while others see it as having a huge opportunity cost. The scenario I am most familiar with on this point is the perspective of missionaries from our churches who lament that the money we spend on a school is money that is not being spent on missions. I didn't read it, but I understand that last summer, three missionaries from here--from El Salvador, Romania, and China--collaborated in writing a statement on this subject.

Back to Dad's and my responses--Long story short (his story shorter by half than mine), we put both responses in the same envelope and gave a copy to each committee member. On Dad's response we added a postscript clarifying that we had not conspired together in our writing.

I really appreciate being given the opportunity to respond. I think it's especially critical that people have that opportunity when plans are being made that are likely to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in donated money. In my memo I said, about the property that catches my eye, "I do realize that it may simply not be available, and, when I become convinced that this is, in fact, the case, I will "rest my case." I'm not convinced yet."

Ah! Church life! What a many-splendored (splintered?--no, please, not that) thing!