Should We be Thankful For This?
November 22nd, 2007Interesting article in Wednesday’s Keene Sentinel¹:
Four years after voters killed a plan for a new Monadnock Regional Middle/High School, the estimated cost for fixing and expanding the current building has jumped to almost $10 million more than cost of that proposal.
The architectural firm that has been studying Monadnock Regional’s facility problems has made a long list of recommendations to fix them, according to facilities committee Chairman Karen Cota.
And the price tag for those changes? More than $37.5 million.²
…
The estimate was completed by the Leach Consulting Co. of Connecticut, which was hired by Kaestle Boos, Cota said.“It was higher than we thought,” she said, after Tuesday night’s meeting of the Monadnock Regional School Board. “But the building hasn’t been kept up.”
I wonder if anyone who continues to vote for those school board members who claim they’re trying to save money, that the building just needs “a fresh coat of paint” is going to be grateful when the final bill comes in. I’ve always thought our task as citizens was to be a responsible stewards of the future, not to make short-sighted decisions for our own bank account.
Happy Thanksgiving, Monadnock Region. Remember, at harvest time, we reap what we sow.
Also in the same article:
Board members approved $94,721 to hire four additional special education aides at Mount Caesar Elementary School, for the remainder of the school year, to help meet the needs of 13 new students who have moved into the district since September. Five of them have entered Mount Caesar in the last few weeks, according to Principal Elizabeth G. Tatro. The money will be taken from savings on health insurance for 2007-08, which Chambers has said was primarily due to rate decreases as the result of a competitive bidding process. [emphasis added]
I wonder if these are the same students that were reported by the Fitzwilliam Newsletter to be going to MC2? Not that it matters—we serve everyone in our community, and part of education is giving people what they need to be successful. But still, I have to wonder if we’re going to see an outraged letter because we have parents moving into the district?
Should we stand on the borders of the towns with pitchforks? ‘Cause, ya know, I really didn’t imagine us all with quite that degree of foolishness…
Oh, and once again, I’d like to point out that even the Sentinel is calling the newly re-negotiated health plan a savings. If I paid someone twenty dollars to mow my lawn last year, and this year I pay him ten, I’ve saved ten dollars, not lost ten. This is basic math, which (sadly) seems beyond some.
1 Thanks to MR for cueing me into the article. Nice to know there are teens reading the newspaper, and even nicer to know they’re using the Internet to keep others informed about all that’s going on—namely me. ↺
2 Apparently it wasn’t such a rumor as I thought… ↺
November 23rd, 2007 at 8:20 am
It is difficult to support something one has lost faith in, financially or otherwise. I think the message is clear: The voters have lost faith in the school system. Monadnock Regional is not the only school system struggling for funding from its taxpayers. My previous school, by all standards an affluent school (a couple of years before I started Bill Gates donated 10 million dollars to help create a video graphics and imaging class. The biggest whine around school was that the three-year-old Dell computers were a little slow for the programs commonly used. Unlike Monadnock, where one could spend half a class period just booting up the computers to find that they will not make the wireless internet connection or they would quickly succumb to the blue screen of death.)
What is the answer to Monadnock’s funding problem? I am not sure, but I certainly understand, minus the continual blatant lies of some who should know better, where the taxpayers are coming from. Without faith, there is no hope.
November 23rd, 2007 at 10:23 am
Hey Eric,
No argument, except that I think there are ways to create faith, though it does require works. I think the MRSD needs to work twice as creatively (notice I didn’t say hard, as I don’t think we could work any harder…) in order to make a change. When schools in the MRSD show a willingness to make changes and deliver a better education, then we’ll see a more supportive public which doesn’t feel it’s throwing good money after bad.
For instance, there are policies which have been in place for a very long time which need to be looked at. If kids come home and complain about hating their school every day, mom and dad are going to start thinking something is wrong. There’s a difference between whining about work and pointing out a problem—and our kids do have valid concerns.
The biggest supporters of MC2 are the parents. Why? It’s not because they like riding into Surry to have an open session. It’s because their kids like where they are. It’s not that they don’t whine—boy, do they ever whine—and it’s not that school is perfect—nothing ever is—but they actually like where they are (as opposed to a traditional school—I’m sure compared to Disney World or even hanging out in the McDonald’s parking lot we fall a distant second.)
If there’s going to be faith in the schools, then the schools need to show they can change, that they’re willing to try something new. It needs to be obvious too—kids walk in August 27 and they’re told, “Here’s your schedule—you’ll notice it’s in a block. It’s so we can better educate you. You’ll notice the school attendance policy has changed—if you’re late, you can’t play sports that day and you lose parking privileges. If you can’t drive yourself here and get to class on time, we’ll give your spot to someone who can. If you do have a vehicle, you can leave campus anytime you’re not in class and you can leave the building too—but don’t be late. Oh, and by the way, you need to be present for advisory in the morning—that’s the twenty minute block in your schedule in the morning. You can pick your advisor, but you can’t pick whether or not to show up. Bring breakfast though, since we’re a community and you should be able to eat like humans—if you need a snack in class, the teacher has discretion. Oh, and by the way, in order to play a sport, you need to do an hour of community service a month…”
I could go on. I haven’t even touched on what we could do to fix what we’re doing in the classroom (map testing to determine academic levels, competencies, a host of others). But I think if we could make these changes, it would be a good faith show that the schools are trying which would justify support from the community.
But then, I’m the optimist…
November 23rd, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Excellent reply! Yes, I agree: the teachers, at least the vast majority of them, are good people and cannot work any harder than they already are. Changes must come from top down, or better yet, from the outside in. One of the saddest days I experienced while working at Monadnock Regional High School was during the first couple of weeks of school. It was during this time that the vast majority of my kids’ parents did not show up for their first parent/teacher conference. And later on, in the first semester when I tried to reach out to those parents who’s children were failing one of my classes; I again received no response from the parents. This non-response was pervasive throughout the year. And sadly, I would learn that it is the norm. Yes, Monadnock needs to commit to change; but even more importantly the community needs to step up, commit, and support that change. Education can be the closest thing to a silver bullet against society’s ills. Why is it that everyone knows this but refuses to load the gun?