Greenfield Recorder - May 7, 2010 - A Response

Earlier this week I received a call from the Orange Town Administrator in which he invited me to attend an emergency meeting at Orange Town Hall on Saturday morning, May 8th. Mr. Kwiatkowski informed me that the topic of discussion at the meeting would be the projected budget shortfall for the Town of Orange in the 2011 Fiscal Year. I informed Mr. Kwiatkowski that I would be in attendance and I asked him if the Orange Finance Committee or Selectmen would like for me to bring anything. By anything, I not only meant the Mahar budget materials and information about our organization. I was also willing to bring the coffee and donuts that could help set the stage for meaningful dialogue about how we would work together to create the best situation for the families in the Town of Orange.

This morning [Friday] a staff member at Mahar came into my office and handed me the front page of the Local section of the Greenfield Recorder. She said to me, “Sorry to ruin your day…but you have to read this.” I carefully read the article that was written about the budget crisis in the Town of Orange, and then I read it again. Orange Finance Committee Member Jane Pierce speaking of the teachers at Mahar was quoted; “I feel if we have more excellent teachers then there are fewer needed. Doesn’t it sort of beg to a larger class size?” The reason that I read this twice was that I could not believe what she [Ms. Pierce] said. I have been in communication via E-mail with Ms. Pierce this week and I have been preparing a Mahar class size report for her. I thought that we were working together…but then I read her quote.

One of my mentors taught me that a public action should always receive a public response. With this in mind I am compelled to respond to the statements made by Ms. Pierce publicly. To be fair, if you did not read the article in Friday’s Recorder please stop reading this and go back and read it before you proceed in reading my response. If you did read it and my response is of interest to you, please continue. I am writing this article on behalf of the students who attend our school, their families, our staff, and the four towns that make up the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District. It is also important to say that more than 75% of the students who attend Mahar reside in the town of Orange.

There are really only two points that I need to make. The first is that when one talks about the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School in terms of “they” you would expect that the person who is speaking does not reside in the Towns of Orange, Wendell, Petersham, or New Salem. It would be okay for a person from Athol, Gill, Turners Falls, Montague, or Amherst to talk about Ralph C. Mahar in terms of “They” but not for a person from Orange. The Ralph C. Mahar Regional School is here for the education of the children and young adults from Orange and our other member towns. I don’t call our teachers “the professionals.” Rather, I refer to them as “Our professionals.” Mahar is Orange. Mahar is Wendell. Mahar is New Salem. Mahar is Petersham. I have an agreement that was drafted in 1956 and later amended to back these statements up.

Second, I am going into Saturday morning’s meeting with a different paradigm than the one that Ms. Pierce conveyed in her statements to the Greenfield Recorder. I am going in to the meeting with the intent of building and sustaining synergy with my colleagues from the Town of Orange. I want to be part of a solution rather than part of an argument that has gone on for years. Rather than remind readers about what a wonderful school community Mahar is and rather than write about the ills of educating children in crowded classrooms, I am choosing to write about the need to change some hearts and some minds. Mahar should not be viewed separately from the communities of Orange, Wendell, New Salem and Petersham.