Let Your Voice Be Heard on School Needs

What good is a beautiful new home if it stands empty? What use is a shiny new car if it lacks the gas to make it run? What good is a boat if there is no rudder to steer it?

What’s the point of a brand new high school if it lacks the staff to run it properly?

This is the question many Hanoverians are asking themselves as our town faces a round of serious budget cuts that will impact our brand new, state-of-the-art high school, as well as our middle and elementary schools.

As a parent of school-aged children, the proposed budget cuts disturb me greatly.  For example, reading specialists will be reduced at the elementary schools. While reading comes easily to some children, what about the ones that struggle? Without reading specialists, how many children might continually wrestle with comprehension issues for the rest of their school career? How many will never enjoy spending an afternoon with Harry Potter or Percy Jackson or Katniss Everdeen?  How many will suffer as adults?

At the middle school level, how will 7^th and 8^th graders make do with only one Social Studies teacher for each grade? Will this produce a generation of children who will continue on to high school without the basic understanding of our ancestry?  I’m always amazed by the wealth of knowledge my 8^th grader demonstrates when questioned about early civilizations. Will the next group of middle schoolers have to rely on the Internet, The History Channel and their own initiative to learn about the origin of mankind?

At the high school level, there will be one less Spanish teacher, one less Engineering teacher and a reduction of “. 8 Chemistry Teacher”. It’s curious, how humans are being reduced in increments. I recently attended a meeting for parents during which the superintendent discussed the proposed cuts. I found it hard to follow when phrases such as “.2 of a Music Teacher” and “.4 of an Athletic Director” were thrown out.  My seatmate helpfully explained that the numbers refer to hours worked.  Maybe it’s easier to think in terms of hours and increments rather than a person’s livelihood.

These examples are just a few of the proposed cuts for our schools. Losing additional teachers, administrators and other personnel will increase the workload for the staff that remains and jeopardize the quality of our children’s education.  While listening to the superintendent speak about lack of state and government funding, I realized just how little I know about how our school system is funded.  The idea of trying to prevent these cuts in our current economy is daunting.

Daunting…but not impossible. I remember several years ago when the idea of a brand new high school seemed remote. And yet today our new high school stands proudly, the first of many generations already enjoying its benefits.   Who brought that dream to fruition? A group of concerned citizens founded HHSYes and managed to convince enough people to make the dream of a new high school a reality. There is concrete proof of what our town is capable of standing smack in the middle of Cedar Street. If we can do that, can’t we find a way to insure that our schools are able to retain the staff needed to provide the quality education our children deserve?

Just before Christmas I received an email request to join a letter campaign.  The sender included a letter that outlined the budget cuts, expressed concern and asked that school committee members harness the voice of Hanover parents and children when presenting their budget to the Advisory Board.  I dutifully forwarded the letter to each school committee member and received a reply from three.  One member thanked me for the email and said that she had only received five such emails thus far.  She also reminded me that, “…parents do not have to rely upon the School Committee to "harness" their voice when advocating for the students and schools. While that is our job and we are happy to do it, I urge you to bring your own voice and, most importantly, your own experiences, to the table to be heard. Public comment, letters to the editor, letters to town officials (such as myself), and your presence at meetings speak volumes.” Well said, indeed. Yesterday I discovered a new organization on Facebook entitled Hanover Students First, which “...represents the concerned citizens of Hanover who are raising awareness and advocating for solutions to prioritize the needs of students amidst the financial crisis the town is facing.” As with HHSYes, I’m hoping this group will become a valuable resource for educating and informing our citizens as to the options and obstacles we face as we move forward.

The school committee had planned to present their budget to the advisory board on Jan. 9^th, but that meeting is being re-scheduled to a later date in order to give the committee more time to go over specific concerns. In the coming weeks it is important for all of us to make our thoughts and opinions known to the school committee, the town advisory board, state representatives, the press and anyone else who is in a position to affect positive change. If we assume that “someone else” will take care of this problem, we may very well find ourselves in a hole out of which we are unable to climb.

Raise your voice. Make some noise. Let yourself be heard. Affect change. I honestly believe that we can do this if we all work together.

Join me?