YourNeighborhoodNews.com: The Hooksett Banner

Could school funding get any messier? It seems our state leaders are bent on making it so. No matter what good intentions started House Bill 616, and no matter how the funding pie gets sliced up, if the state Senate approves this bill many of the state's school districts will be put into turmoil.

It's not bad enough that property values are skyrocketing, pushing taxes up for many, now we may be hit with a surprise extra tax bill to pay for budgets already approved that counted on funding that isn't going to be there? It's the kind of thing that could spur a tax revolt, and deservedly so.

When changes are made to the state school funding formula, it should go without saying that those changes cannot go into effect until the next school budgeting cycle. We are already living with a school funding formula that few are happy with - we don't need to make it any worse.
-Ginger Kozlowski

We are very grateful for all the expressions of support from our patrons and for the recognition of the importance of the library to the town, not just as a place to find the latest fiction, the answer to your reference questions and audio books to pass the time while you sit in gridlock on Route 3, but also as a gathering place for many community activities and organizations.

We want to thank Paul Machos of Granite State Copy for his generous donation of paper and copying for our informative flyers.

While it was interesting to watch the party hosted and paid for by the Yale University research team, we believe that the increased turnout had less to do with the party and more that the voters were educated about the importance of the issues and knew that it was important to have a voice in the decisions about how their town would function for the next year. Thanks again for your support!

Some children have had a hard winter. Things may be easier for them now that they can spend more time outdoors. No more heavy clothes with long sleeves for a while. Child abuse is more obvious during warm weather. School staff often see its results in unexplained bruises and marks on a child. These kids may need to be placed in foster care.

May is foster care month. If you know a foster parent ask them about fostering and thank them for the good work they do. Then find out how you can help. Call your local Concord DCYF foster care worker at (800) 322- 9191.

After ranting in the Banner for months against the school budget, the town budget and Article 4 to use the Village School for town offices and a community center, it turns out that Dave Ross wants the use of the building for his own private, Christian school for his own kids. The heck with the budget for other people's kids. No problem that town employees are packed like sardines. Too bad that more than half of voters last week were willing to spend the money and the time to work toward a community center. He wants what he wants because it's good for his own family. Period.

I have no problem with private schools - I have one child in private school now with another set to apply soon. I have no problem with religion of any kind - both of my kids attend religious school, too, and I hope that they grow to be tolerant and respectful adults. I also hope they learn to recognize hypocrisy.

I have a great deal of respect for thoughtful differences of opinion, constructive criticism and spirited debate. I have virtually no respect for dishonest, disingenuous, self-righteous, hypocritical people, especially those who fling mud at community volunteers and public servants and wrap themselves in the mantle of Christian piety, all the while hiding their true ambitions.

If Dave Ross had really been honest and transparent about his intentions, he should have explained his proposal for using Village School for Mount Zion to voters up front; his letters to the editor should have tried to sell that alternative to the public based on its own merits, and the sign he held at the polls should have said, "We need it (the building) for the Mount Zion School."

Now that he has employed a slash and burn approach to the effort and the people behind Article 4, he wants to waltz into the void and be handed the taxpayer-owned building on a silver platter.

This Article would have enabled our inadequate and overcrowded town offices to move to the site of the former Village School. It would also have enabled the launching of an effort to raise $500,000 in private funding to develop a community center. This center would have benefited thousands of Hooksett residents.

In one of his many letters to the editor, David Ross wrote, "If people want a community center, let the community that wants it pay for it." Apparently he was unaware that the community center portion of the Village School would have been completed with private donations. Hooksett Kiwanis had already committed to a donation of $15,000 to $20,000 to launch this effort.

When I went to the polls on May 10, I saw Mr. Ross standing there with a sign encouraging voters to defeat Article 4. I asked myself, "How could someone feel so opposed to this article that he would stand for hours holding a sign?" Although the majority of voters supported Article 4, the 60 percent required majority fell short by 70 votes. Perhaps Mr. Ross's efforts at the polls swayed just enough voters to ensure defeat. This means that Hooksett must wait for at least another year or two for its much-needed new town offices and community center.

My questions about Mr. Ross. efforts were answered two days later. I was surprised to read in the Union Leader that one day after the defeat of Article 4, Mr. Ross showed up at the town council to ask the town to consider leasing (or selling?) the Village School to Mount Zion Christian School. We find that he is on that school's search committee.

I must credit him with a brilliant strategy. If he could get Article 4 defeated, he could quickly move on his proposal to occupy the Village School with his private religious school.

This could be a blessing in disguise. Let's allow Mt. Zion to occupy the Village School with a one- or two-year non-renewable lease, provided that the Mt. Zion School spends about $1,000,000 to bring the building up to code (removal of hazardous materials, new HVAC, fire protection, ADA compliance, etc.). This will enable us to go back to the voters next year with a much smaller number to move the town offices and create a community center. That number could be only a half million, rather than the $1.5 million proposed this year.

The bantering over how not to answer my question was humorous at first but eventually became thoroughly annoying. They finally officially refused to allow me to tour the building.

When I explained a tour was desired to help in drafting a proposal, to see the current condition and size, they chuckled about which one of the many plans they should give me, then requested a formal letter of intent so they could discuss it and decide whether it was feasible. I was told by a member that I could "push as hard as you want, they're never going to buy it." Their stated intent is to move in anyway, quickly. So much for needing $1.5 million!

A round of bidding was done to repair the water damage in the school. This damage was the result of our "trustees" not complying with last year's Article 10 responsibly . maintain the building. It was originally reported as minor damage. The minor $15,000 job was awarded with no advertisements. They learned, after the fact, that the chosen contractor lacked insurance and now they have to start over. They intend to advertise for bids this time, of course.

I guess it's really not a bad deal, they end up with ceilings, paint, drywall, and 1,000 square feet of new carpet this way. "All for a dollar!" When our budget committee chairman questioned the silent bid process, Mr. Jolin said "It's not unusual. We've done this a dozen times before."

"It's not unusual." Yes, he said it more than a couple times. Now I can't get that song out of my head. I wonder how much of our money gets spent quietly?

I was severely reprimanded for not "maintaining proper decorum" because I was silently nodding my head in disbelief. I was also rebuffed for stating that I always get asked for insurance before bidding. It felt like I had stepped through the looking glass.

I.m trying to do a good thing for 152 students, 142 families and the taxpayers of Hooksett. It is not impossible. "We the People" own that building. We elect the school board and the town council. We pass or defeat zoning and spending articles. People, help me, please. Call and write the school board, town council and anyone else you can think of.

Very special thanks also to Peter Farwell! Peter was instrumental in making sure Kids Kaboose received some money this year from the town budget to help rebuild the playground. Kids Kaboose was built 12 years ago with tremendous fundraising efforts and a lot of blood, sweat and tears from many volunteers.

Unfortunately, over the years, due to recent lawsuits, vandalism, natural weathering and safety code issues, we needed the town's help. With this money, the playground will soon have new pre-fab equipment for children to enjoy for many years to come!

In addition, I would like to recognize and thank Mary Farwell as well! We were a team in rallying for Article 8 - for the library and Kids Kaboose. We were able to distribute fliers (copies courtesy of Paul Machos at Granite State Copy here in Hooksett!) and get the word out so everyone would know how important the library and Kids Kaboose are to Hooksett! And you the voters showed us that you care by voting yes to Article 8!

Remember what happened with the town library? They proved that they needed the extra funding in order to restore their full operating hours.

You have said two years in a row that if you were to be given a default budget, that you would have to cut items. Not one thing was cut. You managed to work with what you had. And tell me, would it be the end of the world if the eighth-graders' parents paid for their yearbooks? And I think the parents of kids going on field trips can pony up the money to send them. Why must you finance everything on backs of the Hooksett taxpayer?

Oh, and in case you weren't part of the real world last week, the town budget passed, as well as various other articles that the town council requested. So we are already going to be socked with a property tax increase this fall.

Which brings me to my next thought. I read in the newspaper that the nonunion workers in the town will receive their 4 percent pay increase. Gee, I think we need to vote on that one article again. After all, it only won by five votes. Oh, but that would never happen, because the town got what they wanted.

I think you have an awful lot of nerve asking us to vote on your school budget again. All because you lost by a few votes. If the budget passed on that "snowy" day in March, we would not be voting again.

I'm beginning to wonder - is it the goal of school board and the town council to create another Bedford, Hollis, Amherst or some other expensive town that the middle class can't afford to live in?

Fellow Hooksett residents, I urge you to vote no on May 31. There are a large number of us that can't afford another huge tax increase.

In a 1.5-hour non-public meeting, the Epsom School Board approved a "one-year leave of absence during 2005-06 from her principal duties, during which time she will assume a second-grade teaching position at ECS, and with the stipulation that she advise the school board by their January 2006 business meeting as to her intentions for 2006-07."

The principal was quoted in a recent newspaper article saying, "A few parents have issues. They have a right to their opinion."

How could parents, or anyone else, have stated or exercised an opinion on this matter, when decisions were made without due process? Shouldn't this have gone out as an opening with interviews following for this position? Can an administrator hire herself for a teaching position?

For the 2005-06 school year, Epsom Central School will be administrated under a default budget. If this position had gone out to the public, a new teacher could have been hired at about $25,000 less, saving the district money. How can the school board rationalize to the Epsom voters spending $55,000 on a teacher who hasn't been in a classroom for years, and who never went through an interview process?

People may "have a right to their opinion," it seems, only if their opinions are expressed after the decisions have been made.