After attending the Garrett County commissioners meeting to discuss possible school closings and aiding or taking over the Adventure Sports Center International, (ASCI) I am afraid we may be asking the wrong questions.
School closings are not in and of themselves the real problem at hand. They are a symptom of a larger problem; lack of enrollment and a dwindling local population in Garrett County.
Treating only the school closings would be like taking Advil for a headache when in fact you have a brain tumor.
The big question is why are people born and raised in Garrett County leaving? Why are more families not making the county their primary residence?
Improvements are being made, though I assume lack of jobs that offer a real salary is one problem. High property taxes present another.
Cost of living is nearly on par with the nicer areas of large cities or other recreational destinations. Complete lack of anything that caters only to locals and doesn’t have a large price tag attached could be another part of the equation.
When I was a student at Garrett College in 2002 the GEIC incubation center for small business had just opened. I, along with 15 others was part of an internship with a software firm from Frederick.
We were paid minimum wage and offered health insurance with promises of good salaried jobs right at home in Garrett County when we graduated and potential for some of our education to be paid for.
One year later they dumped all of us with the exception of two and made good on none of their promises. What was dressed up and masqueraded as opportunity for locals was nothing more than cheap labor for a small software firm full of bloated promises that ended up being lies.
We need real economic growth and opportunity for all Garrett County citizens; $7.50 per hour, no health insurance and often sub-par working conditions don’t cut it and certainly does not encourage local people to stick around.
Closing schools will just make the area less and less attractive for potential new residents. The college is overpopulated with students from out of the area and this has created a tough learning environment for local children.
In, “Field of Dreams” Kevin Costner’s character learned, “If you build it they will come.” Perhaps our elected representatives and private business people need to realize if you offer real opportunity people will come.
If you stop allowing local citizens to feel like second class, more people will come and more people will stay.
Jeremy Gosnell
Oakland
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