The Monadnock School Taxpayers’ Association commends Dr. David Hodgdon and the Monadnock Regional School Board for undertaking the recent consulting study.
No prior board has had the courage to lay themselves open that way.
We note that the issues and problems cited in the report predate the current board and superintendent.
Lack of leadership, no strategic goals, and no common values are all problems that take a long time to manifest as deeply as the report cites. It’s up to this board and new superintendent to try to set them straight.
We applaud and commend the faculty and staff for surviving the prior regime, as implied in the report.
So, what were the prior boards doing? We note that test scores are increasing rapidly the past two years, but are still below state averages. Where were the prior superintendent and board members as student achievement was ignored?
They were developing a building program designed to spend $43 million on new schools we didn’t need as enrollment plummeted.
They focused on Monadnock Community Connections (MC2), which tore the community apart while squandering huge amounts of money as students voted with their feet and left the program.
What lasting value did the district receive from the $10 million Monadnock Region Public Schools of Choice grant? What lasting value did the district receive from MC2?
What value does the district receive from having 25 percent higher per-pupil costs than the state average, with below-average test scores? This proves our point that there is waste in the system.
If scores were 25 percent above average, the Taxpayers’ Association wouldn’t exist.
Why did the prior regime ignore rapidly falling enrollment, even though they had the information and could have acted? Recent teacher layoffs in the state have officials concerned about moving from a 15:1 average student-teacher ratio to 17:1. Monadnock is at 10:1.
The same consultants recently criticized Keene for being overstaffed with 130 special education paraprofessionals. Recommendations to shift to more qualified teachers and fewer paraprofessionals would improve special education student achievement, and as a secondary benefit, reduce costs.
Monadnock, with roughly half the students, has about 140 paraprofessionals, and our former superintendent’s area of expertise is special education.
State averages show that 41 percent of district budgets support regular classroom education, while 19 percent is devoted to special education. In the recently passed budget, with Unit 38 special ed allocations included, all of the schools in the Monadnock district will spend more on special education than on regular classrooms.
The former superintendent throws up his hands and says: “We can’t do anything. It’s all IEP driven.” But the consultants’ recommendations to Keene would dispute that.
Can anyone deny that special education is out of control? And even with all the staff, our special education test scores are inadequate. With all the supposed expertise we have, we should shine in this area. It also seems to prove that throwing money at the problem doesn’t solve it.
That test scores are increasing now owes much to the activities of the Education Committee that have supported Dr. Hodgdon’s initiatives. We note that the prior board and administrative regime fought the very formation of the Education Committee, citing that it wasn’t needed, as student progress languished, and Dr. Hodgdon was effectively muzzled.
This report is a stunning indictment of the incompetence that has infested the board and the top of the Unit 38 for years. It proves why the recent change of leadership in the Unit 38 was long overdue. Any criticism of the current board and administration by prior board members has no credibility. They can’t blame their abject failure on the current bunch. We’ll watch closely to see how the current bunch performs to fix it all, but we wish them well.
RICHARD BAURIES
Monadnock School Taxpayers’ Association
124 Sawyer’s Crossing Road
Swanzey
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