A harsh lesson

What damage a school district can do. We live in a time when the sins of our fathers are ever present in everyday life. It is imperative that we as future generations recognize, investigate and then act on these harmful behaviors. We are surrounded in our daily lives with so many of them it is hard to be calm in the face of everyday living. I am speaking to the mass destruction of decades-old trees and bushes surrounding a schoolyard at Madison Elementary in Wheaton. The powers that be gave an order to destroy the tree-lined perimeter of this property and remove all vegetation. They even cut down trees not on district property.

This is a school that once hung a sign on a schoolyard tree from Morton Arboretum as a Champion of Trees. These children have just been taught that our environment is expendable. That honoring and following EPA guidelines is a joke. That following the laws and regulations of FEMA land management in a flood zone doesn't apply to them. This school district appears to have no value for neighborhood values and environments. This complete decimation of vegetation is not reversible and cannot be corrected with a few token trees and wood chips. I wish I could stop being forced to give my tax dollars for education for these destructive and punitive events.

Nancy Douglas

Wheaton