To the editor:

Robert Chilmonik, Lee County Board of Education member, is absolutely correct when he expresses concern for the abysmal SAT/ACT performance by our schools, and with the FCAT scores among the lowest in the state.

This coupled with the fact that our per-student transportation cost is among the highest in the state certainly should serve to sound the alarm for change. The issue of student transportation has been a sore spot for years. Time and again we have heard of exhaustingly long bus rides,l to and from the school, impacting adversely on student performance and parent frustration.

These are not issues to be ignored and Mr. Chilmonik is to be saluted for his determination to finally institute a plan to correct the problems, one board member cannot make the changes. We should not continue with a program that has been tried, tested, and failed and the rest of the board along with the superintendent should pick up on Mr. Chilmonik’s leadership and institute the obvious changes. These are top priority issues that should be addressed immediately and until solved.

Dick Kalfus

Cape Coral