To the editor,

As a resident of Raymond with a child in the elementary school, I write to express my concern about the priorities represented in the draft school budget for fiscal year 2006. In particular, it is my understanding that the position of Early Intervention Specialist, who is charged with reaching out to the families of pre-schoolers and identifying those youngsters who are at risk for not succeeding when they start school or who may need some extra support, is being eliminated. It seems to me that this cut is short sighted and has the potential to impact negatively many budgets to come, as the system struggles to address the needs of at-risk or delayed students that could have been identified and addressed prior to their even entering school.

Identifying youngsters with challenges to their success in school and beginning to address those challenges at the earliest opportunity ought to be a philosophical and financial priority for the Raymond system. If, as I understand, the responsibilities charged to this position are to be combined with those of another top-level administrator, it hardly seems worth saying that given the pressing needs of the children already in the system there will not be sufficient time to address the needs of children not yet in the school; and the opportunity, perhaps, to change a child’s entire future will be lost.

Instead of maintaining this critical program, I believe that the budget plans to increase the salary for the current superintendent of the Raymond School System to keep that salary on par with that of her peers in Cumberland County. While equitable in theory, the very idea behind the proposed increase is flawed. Several, if not most, of the other systems in the county meet the educational needs of more than 600 children divided between two schools. If the salaries of any employees within this system lag behind those of their peers and ought to be brought more inline with a countywide norm, it is those of the teachers who are responsible daily for teaching our children, fostering in them their innate intellectual curiosity, and inspiring them to lives of learning and inquiry. These dedicated professionals rise to this challenge every day with warmth and enthusiasm, and they do so in the present political climate burdened with not one but two systems of bureaucratic accountability that absorb their time and attempt, in many ways, to eliminate the unpredictable occasions for learning that arise in classrooms, excite teachers and students, and create the shared experiences that help to bond educators and learners.

In short, the Raymond School System has a well-deserved reputation for excellence and for honoring the student in the process of education. The fiscal 2006 budget, as it is currently envisioned, focuses not on the needs of the students and families of Raymond but on a misguided emphasis on bureaucracy and status.

September 11, 2001. Does everyone remember that day? I’m sure most of you do. But how much do you think of it now in 2005? My family and I think of it everyday. You see we lost my husband’s brother on that day. He was at his duty station in the Pentagon when the plane hit.

Our children were at school that day, our son was at Gray-New Gloucester High School just starting his freshman year and our daughter was at Jordan Small Middle School starting her first year there. They didn’t know anything that day or the next. We wanted to let them sleep well and be okay in school with their friends, because we knew that once everyone knew, their lives would change.

When the news came out that their uncle was among the missing at the Pentagon both schools called and told us not to worry that they would keep an eye on the kids. We new our son would be okay because he is like his dad and his uncles. Our daughter however is like me. All I can say is if it wasn’t for school social worker Suzanne Cobleigh our daughter might not be the person she is today. Following that day of 9/11 Becky was with Mrs. Cobleigh more than in class. If she had to get away from everyone we knew, she could go to Mrs. Cobleigh. This was the only reason she kept going to school. Her friends were her support and Mrs. Cobleigh was her rock. I could go to work and know that my “little” girl was gong to be okay while she was away from me. She was safe at Jordan Small. The people there watched out for her and I was called if anything seemed out of place.

Most of us have gone back to our normal routines and remember that day once a year or maybe more. Mrs. Cobleigh was there after we came home from Washington, D.C., she was there on the one month, two month, one year, etc. anniversaries. That brought back the memories. She is still there…but for how long? They want to drop her down to 1.5 days of work. What would I have done if this were all the hours she could of worked in 2001? She is needed at that school for all of the students. Granted our family needed her for a little more than just problems at school, but she has touched so many of the kids at that school. My daughter and her friends always know that if they have a problem, whether personal or academic, they can go see Mrs. Cobleigh. So why in God’s name would we want to take one of the few things the kids really need, want and love out of the school? I’m sure the money can be cut somewhere else. Our children are our future; please let them be all that they can be.

Deb Schlegel

Raymond