Only in South Florida. Just up the road from Miramar, in western Boynton Beach, is probably one the worst examples of selfishness anywhere. For several years, the Palm Beach County School Board has known that a new middle school had to be built. The problem, of course, was finding a suitable site. By every measure, a parcel on Woolbright Road was ideal, and the board voted for it.
Trouble is, the site is near an upscale retirement community.
When a brigade of elders organized and trotted into a meeting with signed petitions, board members, being the politically expedient creatures that they are, realized that middle school kids do not re-elect them. It reversed its vote and is now looking for a new place for the badly needed school. Meanwhile, thanks to these well-heeled oldsters, many of the youngsters who live in the Woolbright Road area will continue to be bused 40 minutes each way to school. Given the old-timers' reaction, you would think that the county was putting a landfill or a shooting range or brothel or a topless doughnut shop in the area. You might even think that a black family was moving in.