As I am sure that at least a few of you have heard, the proposed merger between the Canton and Potsdam high schools was voted down last week. If you have not heard about it, I highly recommend that you take a look at our article about it, which is on page four of this issue. The merger has been a major local issue that the St. Lawrence community has not been discussing openly. Glaringly, the St. Lawrence administration has not released an opinion about the merger, official or off the record, since it was proposed months ago. Also, the St. Lawrence community never even seemed to consider what the merger would mean for future hires. Will young professors want to move to the North Country with their families when the Canton school system falls into complete disrepair? I do not think so.
As a local and as a SLU student, I am rather outraged about this lack of discussion. Personally, I see this lack of discussion as a reflection of the deeper issues and animosity that exist between the University and the town. Growing up in Canton, I continually felt disconnected from the University even though I lived a ten-minute walk away from SLU my entire life. Maybe this is a class issue, maybe it is an economic issue, but I think it is absolutely ridiculous.
When talking to my professors now, many of whom are residents of Canton, I realize that I am not alone; I am not the only one who felt this disconnect. Perhaps this is why the St. Lawrence University community had such skewed views when it came to the proposed merger. When talking to my professors and other SLU employees about the merger, I came to realize that the people who voted “yes” did so because they felt cheated by the Canton community. They felt cheated because many schools of the same caliber as SLU exist within communities that have more benefits for residents, including far better school districts. These individuals wanted the merger to pass so they could pretend that the North Country is Cambridge, MA; they did not want the merger to pass so the local economy would not fail, so that local students can receive the education they deserve, so that we can pretend for a few short years that New York State funding is not completely rigged. They did not want the merger to pass for these reasons, and more, which locals have been considering long and hard for months.
In an equally ridiculous fashion, the SLU personnel that I talked to who voted “no” did so for, in my opinion, completely selfish reasons. They voted no because they too are affected by the town-gown divide that transcends Canton and St. Lawrence communities. These people voted “no” because they have never allowed local issues penetrate their St. Lawrence bubble. Never, for a second, did they think about the merger as something beneficial for the community. Instead they only saw it as a potential tax hike, nothing more.
If I have not been completely transparent yet, I voted “yes” towards the merger. I attended Canton’s high school for four years, and while, yes, I did receive a good education, it was only because I knew how to work the system. I knew to take all the AP classes I could, I knew to join a sports team, I knew how to get the most out of the already overly taxed district. Now, my two younger brothers are, or are about to be, in the same high school and they are being provided with even less opportunities than I was. If they never have a chance to take an AP course or play on a sports team, how will they get the most of their time in high school? How will they be able to compete against other students far better funded districts when it comes time for them to apply to colleges?
While both communities voted the merger down by landslides, I hold the belief that this was partially because of a lack of information and communication amongst the residents of Canton and Potsdam. I wish the St. Lawrence community had taken the time to step down off their hill before voting last Thursday, perhaps I am asking for too much. But maybe, just maybe, one day we will begin to see cohesion between St. Lawrence and Canton. Just maybe the merger, or lack there of, will be the tipping point.