I support Springfield, Vt.’s proposed school budget and ask that you vote “yes” on March 1. A wide group of community members, including me, worked for several weeks crafting our school budget. We asked tough questions, ensuring that our tax dollars are being allocated wisely.
Springfield local taxes pay about 23% of the overall proposed $33 million budget. That is roughly $7.8 million in local taxes, of which $3.5 million is from residential homeowners. Qualifying Springfield homeowners will receive $1.4 million back in property tax relief. The school budget is increasing by 1.7% from last year. And while the per pupil cost has increased 5.75%, the tax rate is going down 1.4 cents per $100 of property value. The bulk of the money comes from the State Education Fund.
When we vote down school budgets, it sets our town and our district back. We are in direct competition regionally to hire high quality teachers and staff. We cannot move forward in hiring without a budget — causing us to fall behind. This is especially important as we face a teacher shortage nationwide.
Staffing shortfalls make it difficult to meet our children’s needs in the classrooms. Without proper staffing, we cannot fully support students in their learning to recover from this pandemic.
This school budget is a good budget and worth supporting. It is well thought out and maximizes our resources. Please join me in voting “yes” to our school budget this year.
Mary Krueger
Springfield, Vt.
With reference to former Canaan police officer Sam Provenza and his “settlement” in the Crystal Eastman case (“Settled accounts,” Feb. 16): The problem of police and municipal accountability will never cease without court rulings that force it out into the daylight. The legal system must help shed that light on “qualified immunity” end-arounds by police officials or unions. Those, as well as municipal mishandling of taxpayers’ money, lead to a lack of trust in the communities affected.
Even when settlements for police brutality are eventually paid by insurance agencies for said municipalities, the taint of corruption still hangs in the air if underlying reports about the original police action, also paid for with taxpayers’ dollars, are not released to the public, forcing more lawsuits for disclosure.
If it were the municipality that was made to pay out for someone’s egregious wrong-doings, which were then covered up by politically powerful unions protecting the municipality’s own employees, don’t you think that it would want to get to the bottom of the whole affair?
And if someone is truly not guilty, and not hiding behind “qualified immunity,” then why go to court to continue quashing reports that might actually tell a different story?
We can only hope that others besides us care enough to see this through. Justice is never served by injustice, corruption and falsehoods. Police officers who brutalize citizens must be held accountable for their actions, and “qualified immunity” should be disqualified, once and for all.
Alix Olson and Martha Popp
Canaan
Last Friday, two different headlines appeared in local papers: “Abortion ban adds to pain of fetal diagnoses; Mothers decry NH’s 24-week limit” in the Valley News on Feb. 11 (which originally appeared in the New Hampshire Bulletin) and “Moms with tragic pregnancies split on late-term abortion ban” in the Union Leader on Feb. 11.
Both reporters attended the same hearings and heard the same testimony. Last week’s hearings on repealing the current 24-week ban on abortion focused on fatal fetal anomalies, and the testimony was emotional and heartbreaking. The Valley News headline leads one to believe that the testimonies of mothers diagnosed with fatal fetal anomalies were all against the ban, but they were not.
The Valley News article doesn’t name the mothers who testified that they had received fatal diagnoses yet delivered healthy babies. Nor does it tell the stories we heard of those who had carried their babies until the babies either died in utero or survived only a short time after birth and used those events as part of their grieving and healing.
There is a political saying that “Hard cases make bad law.” Last week’s hearings certainly focused on the hard cases. Repealing the 24-week ban on abortion, however, would not only open the door for late-term abortions for fatal fetal diagnoses, but for any reason — or no reason — at all.
This is a serious conversation to have, but the public can’t have that conversation if only one side is being highlighted.
Margaret Drye
Plainfield
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Mary Bryant for the past two years on the Thetford Selectboard and have come to recognize her genuine concern for issues that affect our current and future plans, such as the drinking water quality in villages along the Connecticut River and in Post Mills, affordable housing, dealing with the climate crisis, pay equity for town employees and restorative justice.
Of great importance, she has played an integral role in the town’s successful transition to the “town manager” form of government.
Mary’s attendance at meetings is excellent and she is seeking reelection with an eye toward keeping Selectboard meetings positive. Please vote for her on March 1 or by absentee ballot.
Steven Tofel
Thetford
Steven Tofel is a member of the Thetford Selectboard.