To the Editor,
There are large classes at Memorial because there are a bunch of school choice kids in them—not Manchester residents. The district used to take non-resident students at the elementary level before they decided not to a few years ago.
How many more non-resident students will we add before we notice resident students are paying the price?
Memorial also has a high number of high-need special education kids, which may skew the number of students in your child’s class slightly higher. These kids, however, leave the classroom for much of the day for specialized instruction. Another driver: Essex had to move its special education programs to Manchester because the Essex Elementary building is not compliant with handicapped accessibility standards.
Not to worry though: once we get our new building, we will happily take all those kids back.
Superintendent Pam Beaudoin has asked Memorial parents who want smaller sections to bring their students to Essex, reiterated in the January 7th school committee meeting, which is recorded. Have you contacted Pam about this option?
Memorial used to provide math enrichment to its students called “Math Explorers” but recently had to drop this program. Essex never had “Math Explorers.”
Upset that the music teacher at Memorial is not a full-time position? Making that change would require another teacher to leave—I thought we did not want to cut. By the way, Essex didn’t have a rock band until two years after Memorial did.
The elementary world language program needed an overhaul. The district is looking to update and improve that program, likely returning it in about two years.
You may feel a loss when the district is actually trying to provide equitable experiences between elementary schools. You see what it is like without these specialized programs, to which you are accustomed, and you feel these changes represent a “decline” in your school.
This is how the Essex families have felt for years, having never had access to them.
So now you understand.
Provide an equitable education across the district, then I will consider an override.
Antonella Muniz
Essex
