Letters to the Editor

Readers write regarding recall

To the editor,

Regional School Unit 21 has been fortunate to attract high caliber and devoted school board members.

In the absence of dereliction of duty (which has simply not existed in this case), there is just no reason we should have to resort to this type of divisive recall. We have incredibly dedicated all-volunteer school members who commit endless hours to a thankless job. They give this job their all on behalf of our students, our teachers and our taxpayers. You may not agree with every position they take or every vote they cast. But I hope you will agree that they do not deserve to be treated this way.

The recall leader said he met twice with our superintendent. I find it upsetting that he seems to think that because his concerns were not addressed after two meetings (he has not specified what requests he made), he felt he had no other option.

The originator could have chosen other options than the path he chose — which has caused such unnecessary distraction, pain and expense to our community and board members.

While I believe the discontent among some who support the recall movement is genuine, I ask them to consider whether replacing one board member three months before his term expires will really bring about the change they seek.

Is the cost to our community, in discord, in discouraging future candidates from subjecting themselves to such treatment, and in the division it has sown worth what it is costing us?

My fear is that a successful recall will begin a never-ending cycle of endless future recalls. I cannot imagine anything worse for our district, our kids, or our community.

Please let’s put an end to these types of tactics finally. Vote no on the recall through early voting, absentee ballot or on March 29. Our school board members deserve better.

Brenda Robinson

Kennebunk

To the editor,

Please oppose the recall of Tim Stentiford. I first met Tim in the wake of news breaking that a former RSU 21 employee had been the victim of race-based harassment and then whistleblower retaliation. Tim was one of the first community members to not only express dismay but to actively start working for change, including working to create the Kennebunk Inclusion Project and eventually running for school board. He is a champion of ensuring every kid will feel welcome and safe in our schools.

Only the board chair can speak for the board, and only the full board can make a decision, which is why I’m writing this as an individual, not in my board capacity. That is also exactly why there are no grounds to recall Tim for any particular decision of the full board or the administration.

The continued effort to give him all the blame – or credit – for decisions made while he’s been on the board is ridiculous and at times sexist as well, since he’s being given credit – or blame – for the leadership of the superintendent and the work of fellow board members, including some terrific women.

Tim and I don’t agree on everything and we never will. That’s not how it works. But he’s put over a thousand unpaid volunteer hours to support and build RSU 21 into the school district our communities and our kids deserve. He’s pushed for higher pay for teachers, equity in pay and benefits for teachers and staff, systems to make supporting staff more efficient, and communications tools to make sure parents and community members are well informed of what’s happening. He is a caring and dedicated public servant. Please vote on March 29 (or before) and vote no on recall.

Megan Michaud

Kennebunkport

To the editor,

In my opinion the recent recall has been used by its proponents like a political crowbar in place of them running for office and offering a vision to voters. Recall efforts can be appropriate to call out specific egregious or illegal behaviors, but when used as a tool to target people, it becomes deeply divisive.

If I understand the process as it presently exists, anyone and everyone who serves can be a target for recall for any reason (or no reason) and no governing body can challenge the truthfulness of a recall’s assertions. Kind of a bad deal, since our town depends upon volunteers, that their tenures can so easily be turned over to chaos.

I can only imagine how difficult it’s been for those that have been targeted. I can equally imagine it’s been difficult for those doing the targeting: the negative feedback they’ve been getting can’t be comfortable either. In a recent gathering with friends in Wells the awkward question came up, ‘What the heck is up with Kennebunk?’ It is evident to me that this kind of divisiveness has a ripple effect and doesn’t reflect well on our town.

With that in mind, I want to thank the community-minded people, elected or appointed, who serve Kennebunk on town boards. They give their evenings to meetings (sometimes contentious) and hours to understanding local and state statutes. They deserve our gratitude and respect. They are all volunteers who have stepped into the sphere of structured public discourse to work for the good of all of us. Thank you.

Gail Lynde

Kennebunk

To the editor,

This is the time of year when I encourage family, friends, and neighbors to run for local government office. As next week’s unjust, misguided and divisive recall election against my fellow school board member Tim Stentiford approaches, people have asked me if I would still encourage community members to serve our district — even in this climate of heightened hostility.

The best way I have found to give back to our community is by volunteering time and talent — and the need for that has not changed. We need you.

Tim Stentiford’s contributions alone demonstrate how important it is to fill these positions with hard-working, committed individuals. He lead the initiative to bring RSU 21 into state and federal equal employment opportunity compliance. He led development of an inclusive and compliant superintendent hiring process after a costly failed hire. Tim contributed countless hours to improving human resource management, labor negotiations, and communications in RSU 21. These efforts helped make our schools safe and welcoming for all of our students and employees. You, too, can make our community safe and welcoming by serving in local government.

I am leaving the board as my term ends this June. I commit to advocating in my hometown, Kennebunkport, to improve the recall ordinance that we now know applies to regional school directors. A recall should be reserved for behavior that is egregious and illegal not for false accusations or differing opinion. We can not allow local government to be destabilized by personal vendetta. Kennebunk please vote no on the recall.

Loreta Vallar McDonnell

Kennebunkport

To the editor,

Thank you to our public employees and officials for two years of diligent work to keep our schools and communities informed, safe, and running smoothly during a worldwide pandemic, one of the most difficult times we’ve experienced. Working together got us to this point.

During my 21 years of service on the RSU 21 (and MSAD 71) school board and my 10 years on Kennebunkport’s Growth Planning Committee, I’ve witnessed and participated in countless challenging discussions. Working together, we solved difficult problems. Some were resolved in ways we all supported and others were resolved through collaborations, negotiations and compromises that were acceptable although we might not have agreed with all aspects. Doing what was best for our students and our communities was a major throughline during my 31 years of public service.

Kennebunk’s current recall is not in our best interest. Recalls should be used only for the most egregious, unlawful or immoral behavior of an official. A recall petition based on disagreeing with a board member’s lawful actions will have a chilling effect on recruiting volunteers to serve in these very important local positions. Would you want to volunteer in a community where differences are resolved by rude shouting, bullying, recalls, and lawsuits? Perhaps sowing division is what the petitioners have in mind, but this is not the community I know us to be.

RSU 21 voters elect four new board members each year: two from Kennebunk and one each from Arundel and Kennebunkport. If you disagree with the current board’s management of the RSU, run for office or recruit a candidate to run. Work with the RSU board to solve the issues. Let’s continue to be an example of what working together can accomplish.

Kennebunk voters, please vote no on the recall and vote for Gayle Spofford.

Maureen King

Kennebunkport

To the editor,

When the recall effort in RSU 21 was first announced, I rose during public comment at the school board meeting to remind us of a few important things. First, that we are fortunate to have dedicated community members serving on our school board. All of these folks volunteer their time and give of their expertise, and we are incredibly fortunate to have them, just as we are fortunate to have other community members volunteering with other boards and groups. The spirit of volunteerism for the common good is strong here.

Second, that our school board and administration have taken on hard work during difficult times. They have modernized our human resources function, reviewed and improved our diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, kept the district’s finances strong, and made all of the difficult decisions that the pandemic entailed.

Third, that we have a process for changing our school board membership should anyone wish to do so. That process is our elections, which we have regularly. Anyone can run for a school board position and volunteer their time and expertise, should they succeed in getting elected. Elections are how we express ourselves in a healthy democracy.

The recall process exists not to overturn the results of our elections, but rather to deal with situations where criminal or extremely egregious acts have been committed by someone. This recall, with no evidence of any wrongdoing, attempts to recall a duly elected board member who has worked tirelessly for our district. The recall is damaging to our electoral processes, to our community, and to our strong Maine tradition of democracy. It remains unclear why the recall proponents have taken this path.

I trust our community — to resolve differences with respect, to support our democratic processes, and to reject this recall.

Traci Gere

Kennebunkport

To the editor,

The best way to deal with bullies is to stand up to them. The RSU 21 recalls are just like the classic bullying that you or your kids probably witnessed growing up. A target was picked, and then it started: false rumors were circulated, us versus them talk, trying to get others to join in, and blaming the target for every imagined slight.

At this point it is hard to even keep straight the ever-changing grievances. But the leaders are still all in: just last week they sent a letter to supporters urging them to finish the job. They can’t articulate exactly what their goal is, because it’s only about trying to prove how powerful they are.

We as a community need to stand up right now to stop the bullying of our school board members, or else we are going to have to deal with this behavior over and over again. Kennebunk residents should vote no on the RSU21 recall referendum. Early voting is available at town hall until March 24, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Thursday March 24 from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and on Tuesday March 29 from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

John Costin

Kennebunk

To the editor,

As a former employee of RSU 21 (26 years) there were plenty of times when I felt dissatisfied with decisions and positions taken by the school board. So I write – not to express a blanket defense of the board and their past policies or decisions – but to object to the manner in which this recall effort has been conducted.

It has been pointed out that this recall campaign echoes the many similar efforts being carried out by groups with right-wing political agendas across the country. In addition to this, many problems with this ill-conceived, and worse-managed, local effort have been discussed at length in public forums over the past weeks. One would almost want a scorecard to keep track of the continually-shifting reasons for the recall of a school board director whose term is already scheduled to expire in three months.

There are those who say that this is just the democratic process at work. I would suggest that it actually undermines the democratic process that we already have, where there are regularly-scheduled elections to either re-elect or replace school board members according to the will of the people.

At the end of this month, we will have a referendum/election that is irregular in more than one sense of the word – and this divisive and embarrassing chapter in Kennebunk’s civic history will be concluded, one way or the other.

It is my hope that the result of the vote will affirm the positive and forward-thinking views of the vast majority of Kennebunk citizens.

Tom Berry

West Kennebunk

Learning about Black history

To the editor,

I write to address the fact that some people are trying to block the study of Black history in our schools, claiming that it will make our children feel sad and guilty (Feb. 23, 2022, Washington Post, among other resources). I’ve thought of myself as a fairly enlightened individual, not totally ignorant about Black history or the evils of slavery.

Now, at the age of 70-plus, I am astounded to be learning things I’ve never of heard before. How is it possible that I didn’t know about the Great Migration from 1915-1970, during which six million Black people left the Jim Crow South for the warmth of other suns, permanently affecting the demographics of America? How did I not know about the Tulsa Massacre or the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 or sundowner towns? How did I not know that benefits of the GI Bill were not available to Black veterans? How did I not know that Black women played a key role at NASA in the development of space flight?

I didn’t know that there have been hundreds of inventions by Black people including the potato chip and Vicks vapor rub! I didn’t know that Alexandre Dumas, author of “The Three Musketeers,” was Black.

Through reading and participating in a local group called Many Towns One Circle, I have been educating myself. I recently had the opportunity to travel the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad, by way in Maryland, and to visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., where, among other things I gained a visceral understanding of the agony of slavery and the countless attempts of Black people to gain their freedom.

My reaction to all of this? I am astounded that I didn’t know these things in spite of decades of formal education at some pretty good schools. I am sickened at the cruelty and injustice that Black Americans have suffered. I am grateful that at this late date I am finally learning things that are true and real. It strengthens my resolve to keep learning, and to fight even more strongly for social justice.

A society that is grounded in what’s true and what’s real is much stronger than a society that is built upon a false narrative. Children and young people in our schools need to learn about Black history which is, in fact, American history, and to the extent that they do our society will be stronger and better for it.

A course called Race in America is being taught at Kennebunk High School and Maine has recently passed a law mandating the inclusion of Black history into the curriculum. These are positive steps.