Representative Town Meeting (RTM) - 268 (05/13/2020)

5/13/2020
Dear Members of the RTM,
Iam writing this letter to you as a taxpayer, teacher and parent of a middle schooler. My
husband and I are not alone in having moved to Waterford because of the excellent
reputation of the school system. As a parent and teacher I take great pride in the caliber
of staff and quality of education Waterford provides its students, As you surely know,
Waterford has been recognized for their superior performance on a number of occasions
this year by the State Department of Education. Given this, I was extremely
disheartened to listen to the RTM debate on the BOE Budget. I am respectfully urging
the RTM to reconsider their vote to reduce the BOE proposed budget by $470,000.
A cut of this magnitude will have a devastating impact on the children of this town. There
is no way a $470,000 deduction can be made without impacting personnel and programs. It
is highly likely that these cuts will affect the youngest children the most, where early
intervention is so critical. We already have class sizes exceeding 21 in several elementary
classrooms and limits on the number of slots available for intervention services. There is
no way a cut of this size won't have a negative impact on our children’s education and social
emotional health.
I also don't understand how a cut of this size can be made during a pandemic, when we
don't even know what the fall term is going to look like for our children (or our teachers).
Our children are already suffering with the effects of social isolation, and teachers are
working long hours to make sure their students are engaged, connected and stimulated.
These children need to be able to come back to school and have their needs met. It is very
likely that those educational and social emotional needs are likely to be bigger than when
they left, however, if the cut stands, there will be even less money available to meet those
needs. 
‘
I look forward to hearing your discussion on Thursday and sincerely hope you will
reconsider this reduction.
Tammie Hullivan
16 Center Street
Waterford