To The Editor:
We want to thank the public for attending our recent unofficial board meeting last week. After the official school board meeting was canceled days after reductions in force (RIFs) were announced, teachers felt the need to get together and express our concerns publicly. It was wonderful to hear from residents and students as well. Our hope is that people felt heard.
As a union, we’re not taking a stance on how townspeople should vote with respect to the school budget. Voting is a personal issue, which can be influenced by a variety of factors. Like our community, our members have different points of view also. People should vote their conscience and not assume the educational staff in the district has a monolithic stance. No matter the outcome, educators feel supported by the general public. We want to acknowledge the amazing support, financially and philosophically, our community has demonstrated for all of our schools over the years.
This year, our concern has been both a rush to merge schools and a budget process that has deviated from standard practice. Typically, stakeholders know about cuts to educational programs and staff weeks, if not months, in advance before a budget is voted on and adopted; thus, everyone is afforded plenty of time for difficult yet rich discussions about how we best invest in the future of our children. Unfortunately, such discussions did not happen before a slim majority of school board members voted to cut an additional million dollars from the budget.
We don’t believe Act 46 calls for hasty decisions about merging or funding schools. We would have desired a more deliberate and planned process that didn’t deviate from previous practices. Clearly, we appreciate the delicate balance between what is best for our children and how to best alleviate the burden on local property owners, yet we are used to a budget process that is far less acrimonious. Regardless of the outcome of the budget vote, the Harwood Unified Education Association (HUEA) hopes to work collaboratively with the board and administration to continue to work toward providing the best educational experience for all our students.
Greg Shepler for the executive committee of the Harwood Unified Education Association
