This is in response to Bill Larkin’s letter, printed Aug. 6.

Basically, he proposed five ideas on how to help lower costs in the Sabattus school district:

• Combine school bus routes.

Should Sabattus buy one giant bus to transport all the kids in the school district? Kids would be riding for hours. Savings?

• Combine school buildings.

Should Sabattus close down all current school buildings and build one gigantic school to hold all children in the district? Cost of new school, plus heat and maintenance on such a large school would bring a savings?

• Where there are sidewalks, no school bus pickups available.

In other words, the children walk. Is the personal safety of the children worth the savings?

• Eliminate pay for teachers during the summer months.

Teachers get paid only for time worked. They do have the option of spreading their pay over a 12-month period. Teachers are not paid for summer months.

• Pro-rate the school tax burden according to family size.

Families with more children (four or more) would pay more, and persons with fewer, or no children, pay less. I speak from experience, my wife and I had four children, and were extremely blessed to have them, but our budget was very tight. A night out to a fast-food restaurant was a splurge. The school budget, just like the nation’s Social Security system, depends on everyone paying their fair share.

Otherwise, those systems would not thrive or survive.

Mike Grover, Greene