Is Open Enrollment Really Open?
After reading Sharon Academy’s press release that they are officially offering “open enrollment” at their school, I was left wondering what, if anything, has really changed in their admissions process. They claim that “embracing all applicants” has been their practice. What would the numerous Upper Valley students who have not been admitted to Sharon Academy think of that?
If they were truly admitting all students, then:
1) They would provide services for all students, like public schools do. Currently, Sharon Academy cannot provide services for most students with recognized learning disabilities.
2) There would be no application process. Students and their parents would just show up and enroll, like they do in public schools.
3) In the event that there are more applicants than available seats, they would have a blind admissions system, such as a lottery, to determine which students get those seats. Or, they could have a first-come, first-served system, like in public schools.
At a time when private schools that accept public money are under pressure to be more accountable to the public for how they operate and who they are choosing to educate, it is a brilliant marketing strategy to announce “open enrollment” while in effect changing nothing.
It is also worth noting that throughout the press release and the June 28 Valley News article, Sharon Academy mentions nothing about equity and opportunity. It appears this move could be motivated by a desire to fill the desks that are currently empty, not out of concern for disadvantaged students. Look to your public schools for truly open enrollment, where all are welcome.
Geo Honigford
South Royalton
The writer is a member of the Royalton School Board. This letter represents his personal views.
Bleating About Guns, Revisited
All right, I’ll bleat (Anthony Stimson’s Forum letter of June 29, “Those Who Bleat About Guns”): Stimson states that often when crimes like gang violence end, so does gun violence. All right, sure. Logical, and laudable. But — pin me for bleating — I think that gun ownership in America can’t be mentioned in the same breath without also bleating about mass shootings.
Mad boys like James Holmes and the teen who forever defiled Sandy Hook history — isn’t it because of the availability (the popularity) of guns that they could do what they did? Their motivation had nothing to do with those gateway crimes Stimson mentions. I also took Stimson’s recommendation about taking time and thought very seriously. Ruminating bleatingly on these gun-loving utopias he mentioned, the places where people are safest and guns most easily attained, something didn’t sit right. Now, I’m a newbie anti-violent-death bleater, but aren’t those states with the laxest gun laws also the most rural and . . . homogenous? It bears talking about whether these places have really gotten everything just right, or whether they happen to be inhospitable to people with a darker tone, different viewpoint or denigrated surname.
Personally, I’m going to up and bleat because I don’t want my family being shot, or to know someone who was, or did. Generally, I prefer sticking around, in places with more going for them than sameness and easy ammunition power. I’m not bleating now; I’m thinking with a beating heart.
I’m certain I don’t have to think twice about this one: No, nope, our so-called revolving-door justice system can’t be blamed wholesale. One easy target for wholesale blame, I’m pretty sure? An automatic weapon that some dare call freedom.
Kate Oden
Hanover
Bad Use of Public Money
Where does public money go? In Lebanon, public money goes toward the lucrative task of denting innocent lives. Public funding just allowed the Lebanon Police to carry out the mission of posting and answering online naughty sex ads in an effort to financially punish, publicly shame and potentially incarcerate those who dare respond to the allure of sexual intimacy. It’s a well-known (and highly lucrative) police sting scheme that’s conveniently classified as non-entrapment (obviously it is entrapment).
The intention is to severely destabilize the lives of those who seek to combine what many of us want: money and sexual intimacy. Apparently, in the quaint state of New Hampshire, those caught buying and selling intimacy deserve to have their names and faces publicized while facing $2,000 in fines and a year in jail.
Are we supposed to applaud the Lebanon Police Department for cleaning up the “scourge” of society while raising money in fines? Are we better off now? Is this the face of “justice” we want? Meanwhile, since so much public money must be spent upon internet sex stings and on police officers posing as prostitutes and on punishing and shaking down adults who make the mistake of looking for love in all the wrong places, no public money is left over for less-important tasks, such as building a single toilet facility for our impoverished homeless citizens living in the field near Hannaford supermarket. Why consider building something that uplifts people when those same funds can be spent on police officers posting fake sex ads, all to ruin the lives of a few poor souls who are simply seeking money and sexual intimacy? But apparently we’re just supposed to just sit back and mindlessly applaud the effort.
Sean Clauson
Hanover
Support the Prouty
On Friday and Saturday, the Upper Valley community will come together to celebrate the 35th Prouty. We do this to honor relatives, friends and neighbors and to give back to the Norris Cotton Cancer Center because, in truth, everyone has been touched by cancer. We are moved to do our part in the fight against cancer year after year by raising funds to be used locally for research and patient supportive services at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock. Whether you are one of the nearly 5,000 participants, or one of the 1,200 volunteers, or one of the many motorists on the road that day, the Prouty depends on your cooperation and support to ensure the safety of everyone involved. We simply cannot produce an event of this size without the commitment, warm welcome, kindness and patience of the entire community. Thank you for sharing the roads and sidewalks with Prouty participants, and thank you for helping us keep the event safe for all! We are grateful to have you join us as we make a difference in the fight against cancer. With appreciation, Jim Bonney, Judy Csatari, Carolyn Frye 2016 Prouty Executive Committee
Jim Bonney, Carolyn Frye, Judy Csatari
Prouty Executive Committee
Hanover