To the Editor:
I extend my heartfelt condolences to the voters of Jefferson. At the Aug. 19 school board meeting, two things of vital importance to Jefferson were destroyed. One was the possibility of having viable programs in art, music and physical education for the students of Jefferson.
The other was any idea that trust exists between a segment of the school board and the voters who elected them. I use the word “voters” very deliberately, for if you do not vote, you have no legitimate avenue for making your wishes known.
The members of the board who refused to acknowledge that two of their own votes and two subsequent votes of the town had clearly established that the board intended to increase the art, music, and physical education positions this year, and who voted to use that money for a different purpose, should be under no illusion that Jefferson Village School still has viable programs in those disciplines.
Because of their vote, JVS students probably will be spending more time each week going to the bathroom or eating or at recess than they will spend in art, music, or physical education. One 30 or 45 minute class each week does not a program make.
The budget the board passed and submitted to the town increased the “specials” positions to four days a week from 2 1/2 last year. You will find this in line 1, page 2 of the published budget which was passed by the Board 5 – 0. This increase was expressly included to undo the damage done when the board was faced with the reality of dealing with a huge, last-minute cut proposed by Wayne Parlin and passed by the voters.
When the town voted, it did so with the full expectation that the 2014-2015 budget they approved would contain these increases.
Now the town must deal with the reality that their expectation has been circumvented and their implicit trust in the board members they elected has been violated.
The education of the children of Jefferson is of paramount importance and the intellectual value of art, music and physical education in the education of the “whole child” well documented.
Once destroyed, that essential trust between elected officials and those who elect them is almost impossible to regain. Democracy fails if its tenets are violated. When the people speak clearly, and they did speak clearly on this issue, the entire Jefferson Village School Committee should listen.
Anything else, no matter how well meaning, is just plain wrong.
