Get back to

previous culture

Driving by the high school this week, I noticed the banner that was hung on the first day of school in support of the teachers. That day, the street and school driveway were lined with people shouting words of support. Sadly, the banner is getting pretty tattered. As is, I would think, morale.

It’s always disappointing when common sense doesn’t seem to play into the decision-making process. This seems to be the case with the contract situation here in RSU 21. Our family moved to Kennebunk in 1989 and our three children went through the Kennebunk school system. They, like so many other KHS graduates, are enjoying very successful careers.

My wife and I attribute this, in part, to our children being well prepared for their journey by the teachers they had along the way. Seeing the comparison of the compensation between RSU 21 teachers vs. their Falmouth counterparts was an eye opener. I imagine this was especially demoralizing for our RSU 21 teachers.

Having dealt with various boards and sitting on several over the course of my career, I believe all members have perfectly good intentions when they decide to get involved. Unfortunately there are always a few that get involved because they don’t believe that things are being done “the right way” (i.e., their way) and they look to change the system. These same individuals seem to forget that they are there to represent the people who elected them to serve as their representatives.

When a longtime teacher referred to the culture that existed not too long ago, people newer to our community may not understand what that was like. I’m quite sure that our teachers are still a very dedicated group that wants only the best for their students. We are so fortunate to be living in this beautiful community and it’s a shame that people are at odds over this.

I recently spoke with a friend who taught in South Portland for 40 years and she asked me, “What’s going on in Kennebunk schools?” She went on to say she was surprised by the coverage of the issue in the news because the Kennebunk schools always had such a great reputation.

The number of good teachers/administrators that have left is alarming. Perhaps just as alarming, at least to me, is the way exit interviews are being conducted. From what I’ve been told, these teachers are not getting a real opportunity to clearly communicate why they have decided it’s time to move on.

I retired from a Fortune 500 company and if we had experienced similar exodus numbers, our HR people would have been working hard to determine what the problem was and that problem would be dealt with.

I think I speak for many when I say I hope this can be settled before Christmas so our community can start the process of getting back to that culture we all enjoyed – and perhaps took for granted – not too many years ago.

John Hackett

Kennebunk

Trash talks about

to warm up

This is a busy time of year to be talking trash, however, our contract is coming up and there are different proposals that will increase our carbon footprint and increase our tax rate by millions of dollars. We are now looking at paying for recycling no matter which route we go.

There are certain board members who believe that PAYT must be eliminated even though it has been shown to significantly reduce waste. In addition to the revenue, $678,000, generated by bag purchases would now be put into our taxes raising everyone’s mill rate even higher.

I urge you to come to the Dec. 10 public hearing to voice your concerns.

Lionel Menard

They could just

leave it alone

Why do you suppose it is that some groups in our body politic insist that everyone look and behave like carbon copies of themselves?

A case coming before the Supreme Court, for example (U.S. v. Skrmetti), is challenging a Tennessee law that bans gender affirming care for transgender individuals who are minors. Really? What’s the point?  What good can possibly be served by such an invasion into the most private part of a person’s life?

As we look at the world around us, is transgender the norm? Obviously not, but that does not make it wrong, nor sinful.

It simply is … and if we had an ounce of compassion, we could simply leave it alone.

John Forssen

Kennebunk