Private schools are a net plus

hat a difference two years makes. At that time, the municipal elections in Salisbury were marked by the presence of failed selectman candidate George Bednar. Among Bednar’s platform items was the lack of "tax fairness" in the town’s private schools not having to pay property taxes on their extensive holdings.

Fortunately, voters rejected Bednar’s demagoguery by overwhelming margins. Since then, we have heard no more calls for selectmen in the Northwest Corner to march into the headmasters’ offices and demand a hefty payment in lieu of taxes.

As a report on Page B3 of this week’s Lakeville Journal makes clear, the region’s private boarding schools contribute much to the community. The six schools in Salisbury and Kent alone employ more than a thousand people in decent-paying jobs with good benefits. And the schools always seem to be hiring. In this era of declining manufacturing and white collar jobs in our region, that’s no small feat.

The never-ending construction taking place on the campuses ensures a steady stream of work for contractors. Hefty building permit fees enrich the towns’ coffers. Faculty and staff live in the town and purchase goods and services for their families. The area’s inns, restaurants and art galleries reap a large percentage of their profits during alumni and parents weekends.

Independent schools also provide educational alternatives for students and families for whom public education is not the best option. Those alternatives add to this area’s cache and make it a more attractive place in which to live. The independent schools often open the doors of their fine facilities to civic organizations at little or no charge. Performances and gallery openings are typically open to the public free of charge. By and large, the schools are good neighbors.

And the loss of revenue from the tax-exempt schools isn’t as bad as it seems. Former Salisbury Board of Finance Chairman Carl Williams, who taught at Salisbury School for 25 years, told Bednar two years ago that his research indicated 73 town residents attended one of the town’s three private schools and that the town was paying nothing to educate them, while their parents were presumably paying full property taxes on top of a day student tuition. Furthermore, many parents of boarding students at the schools purchase weekend homes here and wind up paying property taxes while enrolling no children in the public schools.

But best of all, there are the people. Williams is just one example of the hundreds of private school administrators, faculty and staff who have stepped up to the plate and lent their expertise to various organizations and government offices that depend on sweat equity for their operations.

We’ve come a long way since 2005 and thank goodness for that.