Letter To The Editor
To
the Editor,
After the last School Board meeting, I had a long discussion
with a parent at Hannaford’s. I was after a bottle of wine,
just saying. She was appreciative of the fact that I would say
what I felt no matter what.
You
should know that the SAU has spent your money, without board
approval, having our lawyer look at my letters. The SAU and most
of the board hate that I give you information. I spend a lot of
time checking my facts. In his recent letter Mr. McGuigan
accuses me of “making up facts,” that I’ve sent in “some truths
that I know just aren’t true” and that “all of the statements,
that he touts so dear, are shown to be false: crystal and clear.
Cute. Where are his facts, what was false, what did I make up?
Funny, they seem to be missing. Mr. McGuigan has only one thing
going for him. Your money. He constantly reminds me of Margaret
Thatcher’s famous saying, “the problem with socialists is that
eventually they run out of other people’s money.”
The
Northwood School board and SAU 44 know that if they did the
honorable and right thing by giving you the option to have all
day kindergarten and a full time curriculum director, that you
would vote no. I don’t blame you. So effectively, they have
eliminated your option. I absolutely believe in transparency in
government and that the will of the people is to be followed.
Shine a light in those corners and you will see the critters
scatter. Election time is coming fast.
Tim
Jandebeur.
Northwood
Letter To The Editor
I
went to both Northwood budget committee meetings held on 12/3
(town) and 12/10 (school) where they were advertised as being
public hearings.
However, I was later informed that it was advertised incorrectly
and that they were work sessions with no public input. However,
I did leave my written public comments for the budget committee,
school board and SAU.
Each year I make benchmarking comparisons between the Northwood
and Nottingham school budgets. The elementary school (K-8) in
Nottingham had 141 more students than Northwood (526 versus 385
or 37% more). The total proposed budget for Nottingham
($11,958,174) for K-12 is only $148,913 more than Northwood
($11,809,261) while Nottingham has 99 more students. The total
number of regular education teachers for K-8 in Northwood is 37
while Nottingham is 34.
Based on the total proposed budget, the cost per student (K-12)
in Nottingham is $16,404 while Northwood is $18,745, a
difference of $2,341 or 14%. If Northwood’s total school budget
were at the same level as Nottingham’s (cost per student) the
annual savings would be $1,623,996 ($16,404 x 630 students). The
cost per student (K-8) in Northwood is $18,203. Nottingham’s
budget does not break out their budget by grade school versus
high school.
The
tuition rate at Coe-Brown is $15,560; Dover High School is
$13,379; and Pinkerton Academy is $11,513 where Nottingham does
send some students. Pinkerton’s tuition is $4,047 (26%) lower
than Coe-Brown’s. Nottingham will be paying 2.5% less per
student to send their students to Coe-Brown next year compared
to Northwood. If Northwood received the same discount it would
save taxpayers $94,527.
Pinkerton has returned surplus to its sending schools in 12 of
the past 13 years. Coe-Brown has not returned $1 in surplus in
over 30 years. From 1991 to 2008 they reported surplus of
approximately $6.6 million.
Jim
Hadley
Northwood
Rep. Yvonne Dean-Bailey To Serve As Vice Chairman Of The
Committee On Election Law
This week Speaker Shawn Jasper announced his leadership team for
the 2017-2018 legislative session including Northwood State
Representative Yvonne Dean-Bailey (R - Northwood).
Rep. Dean -Bailey is serving her second term in the New
Hampshire House of Representatives and her second term on the
Election Law Committee.
“I
am very excited to have the opportunity to serve as the Vice
Chair of the Election Law Committee this term,” said
Dean-Bailey. “It will be a busy and exciting year and I look
forward to working with the Governor, the Senate and our new
chair to work towards important and meaningful reforms that will
work to increase the transparency, integrity and accessibility
of our elections.”
The
Election Law Committee will begin meetings at the start of the
new year and will be chaired by Rep. Barbara Griffin of
Goffstown.
This Weekend’s LRPA After Dark Feature: 1941’s “Penny Serenade”
Join Lakes Region Public Access Television at 10:30 p.m. this
Friday and Saturday night (December 30 & 31) for our “LRPA After
Dark” presentation of 1941’s heart-wrenching classic “Penny
Serenade,” starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.
“Penny Serenade,” the story of an ordinary married couple who
must handle life’s many ups and downs, is told in flashbacks.
Grant and Dunne play Roger and Julie Adams. Roger, a newspaper
reporter and confirmed bachelor with no desire for a wife or
family meets Julie, a young working woman who dreams of a loving
husband and baby. When Roger gets assigned a post in Japan, he
realizes that he can’t live without Julie. They get married and
very soon, Julie is pregnant. Life seems perfect for the couple,
but then tragedy strikes, and Julie and Roger must find ways to
cope with grief, anger and disappointment, and the toll that it
takes on a marriage.
“Penny Serenade” is the third of three movies that Dunne and
Grant made together, including “the Awful Truth” in 1937 and “My
Favorite Wife” in 1940. Those first two movies were romantic
comedies, but “Penny Serenade” is a bona fide tear jerker, with
outstanding performances by both Dunne and Grant, who, for his
emotional performance earned an Academy Award nomination for
Best Actor. Dunne often pointed out that, of their three films,
“Penny Serenade” was her favorite. We dare you to watch without
shedding a tear. So grab your popcorn (and your tissues) and
join LRPA after dark for this sentimental movie from the past.
Letter To The Editor
Save
Your Money
On
December 12 I attended the Board of Selectmen’s meeting where
the Conservation Commission Chair and Vice Chair were there to
express the C.C.’s concerns about a petition warrant article:
Erosion Control and Reconstruction for Mary Waldron Town Beach
and Boat Ramp on Bow Lake Road. It would “raise and appropriate
the sum of $61,000 to be used in the repair of beach area, beach
parking area, and rebuild the boat ramp.”
It
was concerns about the boat ramp that brought us to the meeting.
The C.C. is concerned with water quality, and it was pointed out
to the Selectmen that motorized watercraft introduce exhaust
by-products into the water – not a good idea next to a swimming
beach. They also stir up the bottom, releasing nutrients that
can result in algal blooms.
The
discussion also mentioned the possibility of milfoil or other
aquatic invasives being introduced into the lake, which the BOS
seemed to dismiss – and in doing so, seemed to provide the best
reason for NOT supporting the rebuild.
I
recall one member saying, “only 6 or 8 people actually use the
ramp. There’s no parking.” Another agreed, “there’s nowhere to
park.” So we don’t have to worry about milfoil. And maybe we
don’t need to spend the money to rebuild a ramp that very few
people use.
Furthermore, there is an excellent state-maintained, Lake-Host
staffed boat ramp 4.9 miles around the lake at the dam at Bow
Lake Village. Google Maps estimates the driving time at 9
minutes.
I
suggest that we save our money on this petition. The Budget
Committee agreed, voting it down 8-4.
Tom
Chase
Northwood
Letter To The Editor
To
the editor:
According to his letter of December 7, Mr. Jandebeur would have
public schools run like a business, which are intended to
provide a service or product and generate a financial profit.
It sounds from his letter like he equates proficiency on
standardized tests with generating a product and low taxes with
profit. It sounds like he has no concern for anything else in
terms of student development and growth. Perhaps students are
nothing more to him than test scores.
If
that makes you feel worried or sad about how we, who actually
work with children here at Northwood School, feel about our
students, I have some great news for you.
What the staff here know is that we have people, ages 5 through
14, who have many needs, gifts, attributes and challenges. We
are not here to prepare “test takers.” We are here to serve,
protect, coach, mentor, assess, treat, refer, and teach, in a
myriad of ways, the 382 individual children in our care.
We
teach them how to be lifelong learners, good neighbors and
citizens, develop self-awareness in their bodies and emotions,
how to self-regulate appropriately so they can make and keep
friendships, to resist the ever-growing number of unhealthy
temptations pressed upon them by the wider culture, how to
recognize and enhance their own unique talents, compensate for
weaknesses and play to their strengths. In too many cases, we
do all this despite the challenges of poverty, hunger, and
mental health issues, all of which have been proven to
contribute to learning difficulties.
But
Mr. Jandebeur, a long time member of the school board, never
shares all this good news with you. He doesn’t even share
positive test scores with you, only his spin on the negative.
Is it because he doesn’t spend enough time in our hallways and
classrooms to witness it, or because he doesn’t value it?
Beth Benham, RN, BSN Northwood School Nurse
The Time Of Giving: CBNA FCCLA
by
Victoria Sheridan ‘18
Items collected by CBNA FCCLA to help the community during
this holiday season.
The
holiday season has started, and with it comes the spirit of
charity and a time of giving. People are more generous during
the holidays, and CBNA’s FCCLA (Family Career and Community
Leaders of America) feels that way too. From Parent’s Night out
on December 9th to our backpack drive for End 68 Hours of
Hunger, we are doing our part to make the holidays a happy time
for everyone. FCCLA is also filling and donating stockings to
Santa’s Helpers in Northwood as part of their Christmas Drive.
Over the past two months, FCCLA has participated in community
building activities, including a CTSO (Career and Technical
Student Organization) dinner, where all Coe-Brown’s vocational
clubs (FCCLA, FBLA, and FFA) joined together for a spaghetti
dinner and friendship building activities. FCCLA helped with the
Feed My Starving Children food pack at Turbocam in Barrington in
November. FMSC packs dehydrated food full of essential nutrients
and sends the bags to those in need all over the world.
As
always, FCCLA hopes to continue to participate in community
services events into the New Year. We hope that your New Year is
phenomenal, and that you join us in the spirit of giving this
holiday season too!