The Lewisburg Area School District owns the property immediately adjacent to ours, divided by a long row of majestic trees.
Recently the school district informed us that any trees not on our property were going to be felled because they posed a danger of interrupting the communications wire from Kelly Elementary that runs along the boundary separating the school district property and residents of our subdivision. Many of the trees posed no danger to any of the homes. Yesterday, I brought my daughter (in 10th grade at the Lewisburg High School) home to a barren landscape devoid of those stately trees she's known for all of her 14 years. We both surveyed the fallen carcasses of the once living trees, and she picked up a handful of tree that had been chipped into powder. This all came about because when the school board asked for quotes from companies to put the communications wire underground, they were appalled at the cost. So the trees were destroyed. The Lewisburg Area School District proudly announces that it is a "learning community that prepares every child individually to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow." Indeed, the "learning" received by my daughter was clear: the beauty and resources of Earth are expendable when weighed alongside one thin communications wire. I lament this kind of legacy being taught most vividly to our children -- but perhaps my daughter will learn a valuable lesson from the actions of the Lewisburg Area School District -- perhaps she will one day take her place in the world where such shortsightedness will give way to the long vision of living peaceably with the Earth.
Robin Jarrell, Lewisburg
