Headed to my Dream College, I Feel for the MERSD Students I’m Leaving Behind

To the Editor,

The Manchester Essex Regional School District has given me so much. Thanks to the incredible teachers in this district, I’ve gotten into my dream college.   

I love this school, which is why it hurts so much that over the past month I’ve seen a real sense of confusion and unease settle over the school community.  In the high school, the uncertainty of whether the override will pass and which positions will be cut if it does or doesn’t pass is a frequent subject of discussion.  Around lunch tables, in the hallways, in classrooms – students are turning to their friends and asking:  

“Which teachers do you think are on the chopping block?”  

“Oh, I bet it’ll be that teacher and not this teacher because this teacher’s been here longer than that teacher.”  

“I hope my favorite teachers, or the teachers who teach the electives I want, won’t be cut.”  

 Regardless of how much of this speculation is based on fact or myth, the fact remains that it is happening.  It is pervasive.  There is so much uncertainty that as a senior who will be graduating in two months, it can sometimes feel like I’m getting off a sinking ship. 

What’s worse than the uncertainty, though, is what’s developing as a result of it.  Two years ago, when the override failed, there was a real sense of pessimism that fell over the school.  It’s still there today, for those of us who remember – so many seniors and juniors who have this terrible feeling that history will repeat itself and the override will not pass.  This pessimism, it seems, is here to stay – but what I see developing now, among the grades who are experiencing this for the first time, is a sense of resentment.  Not towards the school committee or any one individual or group, but towards our situation.  We seniors may be “getting off” this sinking ship, but for the younger students who are left behind as it goes down without any say in the matter, I see resentment developing. 

Maybe it’s best explained in terms of an anecdote.  There’s one teacher in the high school who has been out on a three-month maternity leave. She just returned, only to be told that, regardless of whether the override passes or not, she will not be offered a position at this school next year. And worse than that – there are students who knew before she did.  Regardless of the logic and rational reasoning behind the decision to lay off this specific teacher – she is the most recent hire in one of the larger departments – this decision feels like a slap in the face.  A first-time mother with a three-month-old newborn at home, coming back from a very brief maternity leave only to find out she is being let go: it breeds resentment.  Among students and teachers alike. 

I understand the logic and reasoning behind this decision, I understand that the district is trapped in a terrible position, but as a student in the school, I think it’s my duty to say: these actions, these events, the mere fact that we have to have a contingency budget – they breed resentment. 

My classmates and I have had one of the most successful college cycles I can remember. Our little district is sending students to the Ivy League, to Scotland, to some of the best schools in the country and around the world.  To the voters of Manchester and Essex – don’t take this away.  Don’t perpetuate the pernicious resentment taking hold.  Please vote for our schools at your town meetings and on the ballot.