My experience with the School Resource Officer (SRO) is very different from the ones by people who claim we need police in our schools. My experience with the SRO is that he uses his position within the schools to build networks among students and the adults that work with students to collect information.
Students and staff feel that they can trust him and then he has used that trust to investigate students. This I experienced firsthand when the police showed up at my house due to false information collected by the SRO.
This early police access to students is by definition the school-to-prison pipeline.
The Students of Color Collective, the teachers union, social workers and community members have all asked for this form of racism to end. In the fall of 2020 there was a student protest at the high school to end this program. Last March, the City of Lebanon voted to discontinue the police program within the schools.
My brothers and sisters of color experience racism at Lebanon High School and Middle School. I’ve been called the N-word. An armed police officer makes our experience worse, not better. I have a younger brother in the second grade and a 2-year-old daughter. I would ask you to consider them and listen to the students, teachers and community members that have asked you to help end this form of systemic racism.
Vote “yes” on Warrant Article 6!
Chris Roberge
Lebanon
I am voting for Keith Charpentier for Haverhill Selectboard. Keith has a deep history in our town going back to the 1980s and has served the community in various capacities.
A resident of North Haverhill, he is a longtime Haverhill firefighter and is a trustee and assistant treasurer of the First Congregational Church in Haverhill.
As the church treasurer, I have worked very closely with Keith and appreciate his devotion to duty, reliability and thoughtfulness as we make decisions to the benefit of our church.
I am confident he will bring this same approach to the Selectboard — listening carefully to people and making decisions in the best interest of our town. I encourage Haverhill residents to join me in voting for Keith. Thank you very much!
Douglass Teschner
Pike
Please listen to this podcast: https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/changing-behavior-not-beliefs/. It helped to simplify the discussion about the Lebanon “SRO” (School Resource Officer). It convinced me that having an armed officer in place in schools is not just a waste of money, but also dangerous.
It is long, so I listened to it while cleaning up my kitchen after dinner.
I hope the school board, the administration and all Lebanon residents will find the time to listen to this. Don’t be put off by the “whoowhoo” music or theatricality, please. This is important stuff. More important and urgent than I had previously thought.
Maybe it will help.
Amelia Sereen
Lebanon
Next week on March 8, voting “YES” for the Lebanon school renovations bond will address flaws in our critical infrastructure.
In the area right outside the music room, you can often find trash barrels sitting in the middle of the hallway, surrounded by line divider fences to alert children and staff. The minor roof leak that traditionally occurs in winter has become much worse this year. When the roof leaks that badly, the music teacher cannot use her classroom and has to adapt and travel to the other classrooms for instruction. With the approval of the renovation project, the stairwell will be moved to reopen the hallway for easier traffic flow and the roof leak would be repaired for good!
With the approval of the renovations, the main office area will be redone to enhance safety, add needed outlets and repair the phone lines at Hanover Street School. When we have too much rain water or melting, HSS loses phone service. The renovation will provide the opportunity to have a phone system that our schools can depend on during emergencies and an office space that is more space appropriate.
Currently, three of the school’s special educators and a few special education paraeducators (who have had to move spaces every year for, at least, the past four years) share a small, crowded space. The current staff is making the most out of partitions and improvised whiteboards on wheels and one made into a table. If they are found working in their room, they are participating in meetings with headphones on, quietly trying to share the space with others conducting individual or small group instruction. However, the space is so crowded that most of our special educators have to push their materials into the classrooms or work with students in the hallways outside their classrooms. The goal of the school renovation project is to provide space that is conducive to a better learning environment with greater tools for special education instruction.
Hanover Street School is in dire need of renovations and it is fiscally responsible to address these issues NOW.
Brendan Callahan
Lebanon
The position description for the SRO (School Resource Officer) raises a number of questions. It lists his/her responsibilities as education, counseling and law enforcement. Topics of education include areas such as substance abuse, “legal, safe and healthy sexual contact,” domestic violence and various areas of policing. Many of these would be better taught by professionals in education, counseling, nursing or social work. As for counseling, again, better this be done by a specifically trained professional. Since Lebanon schools are currently understaffed in social work services, why not increase hiring in that area beyond the single position added to the coming year’s budget, instead of supporting the SRO?
The SRO also appears invested in and charged with encouraging students to consider law enforcement as a career. It seems odd to privilege this one vocational choice.
Added to these concerns, the presence of a uniformed, armed police officer in our public schools is potentially harmful to students who are disabled, students of color, LGBTQ or otherwise marginalized. This is not a reflection on the officer currently filling that position, but on the experiences of marginalized persons and the dynamics of power in our society. The Lebanon School Board diversity and inclusion statement reads: “We are committed to identifying and removing barriers in order to foster an environment of respect and acceptance for all, regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender identity, disability, sex, sexual orientation, religion, or socioeconomic status.”
Students of color and many teachers have affirmed that the SRO position is such a barrier. On March 8, Lebanon voters can vote “YES” on Article 6 and urge the school board to live up to their statement above by ending the SRO position.
Diane Root
West Lebanon
I just read a letter to the editor from Kathleen Beckett (“Lebanon needs social workers, not SROs,” March 2) and wanted to respond and clarify so voters can make an informed decision.
For whatever reason, there was a lot of communication out there that the decision to have a social worker was dependent upon getting rid of the School Resource Officer (SRO). That was never the case. What the board decided was to have both. I will not get into all the reasons for or against an SRO, but please do some research on what an SRO provides and remember that not all communication to the board was in the public forum, due to confidentiality. After months of discussions, board members took all input into consideration and voted to retain the SRO position. Please consider the position thoroughly before you vote on Article 6.
Having served with Jenica Nelan and Martha DiDomenico for the past three years, I can assure you they serve that role extremely well. They are at all meetings, listen thoroughly to the input and provide honest feedback. Please do not disregard them because of how they voted on one item. The description by Kathleen of Jenica’s actions was not accurate. If you want to see it for yourself, please watch the video of that meeting. I most certainly intend to vote for Jenica and Martha.
In closing, I would just ask that before you vote for or against any of the articles, please do a bit of research on what they are asking for and what impact they would have on the district.
Tammy Begin
West Lebanon
Tammy Begin is a current member of the Lebanon School Board.
With the retirement of our excellent tax collector, Barbara Woodard, we are fortunate that a new highly qualified individual, Stephen Castellani, is now a candidate for this position.
Stephen Castellani has a long-standing devotion and commitment to Lyme, excellent qualifications and sterling communication skills. Given the fact that we are a small town, it is particularly important that the position of tax collector be elected and voted upon by the community and be independent of other town officials and offices. The recommendation Stephen Castellani received from the assessor he worked for previously describes many strengths most relevant to the position of tax collector. Quoting from the assessor’s letter of reference, Stephen Castellani “routinely handled stressful situations with disgruntled taxpayers with tact, empathy and diplomacy to defuse hostile situations.” We believe that a new voice in town governance will be of benefit to all of us, and we heartily support his candidacy.
Marianne and Hoyt Alverson
Lyme
Community choice aggregation (CCA), also known as “municipal aggregation” or “community power,” are programs that allow local governments to procure power on behalf of their residents, businesses and municipal accounts from an alternative supplier while still receiving transmission and distribution service from their existing utility provider. CCAs are an attractive option for communities that want more local control over their electricity sources, more green power than is offered by the default utility and/or lower electricity prices. By aggregating demand across an entire community, cities and towns gain leverage to negotiate better rates with competitive suppliers and can have access to greener power sources.
The Town of Plainfield would like to implement a Community Power program as a means of taking control of its combined electricity purchases, both to reduce the cost to consumers and to push for production of more renewable energy as a percentage of the total electricity produced in the U.S. Increased demand for green power fosters investment in renewable energy producers by ensuring a sizeable and sustainable customer base.
I urge the voters of Plainfield to adopt the Plainfield Community Power Electric Aggregation Plan at Town Meeting on March 12, in order to allow the town of Plainfield to participate with over 18 other cities, towns and counties in New Hampshire in a coalition to buy electricity at a lower cost than most utilities charge their customers and to meet our town pledge for striving for 100% renewable energy for our town’s electrical needs by the year 2030.
Steve Ladd
Meriden
Steve Ladd is co-chair of the Plainfield Energy Committee.