Looking for real answers in SAD 45
To the editor:
I am a resident of the town of Washburn. In the recent months, the Board of Directors of MSAD 45 (which services students from Washburn, Wade and Perham) have had several conversations at school board meetings about the possibility of moving the seventh- and eighth-grade students from the Elementary School to the High School.
As is in any board meeting, big changes/decisions are met with much resistance. Board members and community members alike have been asking a wide variety of questions: Why? When? Where exactly will they be housed? How much will this cost the taxpayers? Many of these questions have yet to be answered publicly.
At the most recent school board meeting (March 10) these questions were once again asked by community members and school board members alike. The discussions were lengthy and in the end the questions appeared to once again, not be answered.
Superintendent Ed Buckley spent time covering a list of reasons for making the move. This list included cutting teaching positions, making building structural changes, and making more class offerings available. He also made contradictory comments about having more staff and no construction costs. At one point in the discussion a board member asked for the community’s advice/suggestions which spurred several responses from the crowd, which were not able to be acknowledged. Bottom line, in my opinion, people would like real answers to the questions that have been repeatedly asked during this process.
If this move is about space — how does the move help students? If this move is about economics — how does the move save money? If this move is about politics — where is the political gain? To me, none of these questions are even the right ones to ask. The right question is “How does this move best benefit the educational learning and experience for the students?” That is the question that truly needs to be answered.
MSAD 45 is an educational institution. Is it not the job of the institution to find the best way to educate our students?
Rick Bragg
Washburn
