Grace Rhoads

Financial concerns, especially when they affect our wallets and pocketbooks, always cause passions to run high.

School district officials are regularly put through a meat grinder of public opinion when it comes to balancing and then defending their budgets. If there's one thing that will bring out a crowd to a board meeting, it's discussions on that dreaded "T-word" taxes.

The mid-to-late 1980s marked a tumultuous time in Lehighton. School administrators and school board members were confronted with a decision which all districts must face in time whether to renovate existing buildings or to undergo a new building program. The new construction option, of course, would mean higher taxes, but those proponents felt that this made more sense than regularly pumping money into older buildings, which they argued, would become a bottomless pit for local tax dollars.

The heated debates that boiled over in the Lehighton community opened wounds that took many years to heal. One voice of reason who helped calm the stormy waters and chaos during that difficult period was Grace Rhoads, who passed away last Saturday at the age of 84.

When it came to fighting through difficult times, Grace had a lifetime of experience on her resume. A member of this nation's Greatest Generation, she attended local schools during World War II, graduating from the former Packerton School in 1941 and the Lehighton High School in 1943. She knew the newspaper and printing business, was an excellent seamstress and involved herself in numerous church, civic and art enterprises, but her contributions in local education could never be overstated.

She was a strong voice in building the partnership that led to school consolidation in the Lehighton School District. And those who lived through the aforementioned chaotic school building period surrounding the school district 25 years ago may also remember her as a calming voice of reason.

During the height of that controversy she formed a group called CARE Committee Advocating Responsible Education. The group's mission, besides endorsing a slate of school board candidates to run in the local election, was to introduce a more "positive approach" and to keep the public informed in the district.

The healing process for the school district and the community was long and difficult but thanks to Grace Rhoads, it began much sooner than anticipated. Every community should be so blessed to have a calming voice in the midst of chaos and clamor.

By Jim Zbick

jzbick@tnonline.com