Letter: Retired? Kids Grown? Did Your Children Benefit from Amherst-Pelham Regional Public Schools? We Need Your Help!

by Rachel Hall and 18 others

Amherst schools are struggling to hold on to a regional school system that we are proud of, that attracts young families, and that meets the needs of our current students. We have already lost so many programs that used to be vibrant beacons of pride in our schools including languages, music programs, special education, and many others.

As the parents and guardians of young children, we worry that other community members are not aware that the quality of our schools has declined since the days when they were among the top ranked schools in the state.  We worry that our Town Council members, very few of whom have recent experience with our schools, and some of whom have expressed a lack of concern, don’t fully appreciate the situation our schools are in or the impact that declining schools will have on our community as a whole. We fear that our children, and the incoming preschool age children in our community, will be left with schools that have been stripped of the robust offerings Amherst used to be known for. This isn’t about fancy new technologies, buildings, or sports equipment…. This is about maintaining paraprofessionals to support kids with disabilities, maintaining our music program which so many families cherish, benefit from, and which helps our schools compete with neighboring schools. This includes administrative staff providing crucial support, and of course our valued educators – whose positions continue to be cut, leaving our classrooms overcrowded and our children without the support they need to learn. We know dozens and dozens of families who have already left our school system and our community. We want that to stop.

Please help our schools return to being a source of pride and excellence, so that our children might have access to the same quality of education as the generations of Amherst children who came before them. We are not naive: we understand the fiscal pressures our town government is under AND we deeply believe that prioritizing the needs of our schools both reflects our values and is to our long-term economic benefit. Please ask the School Committees to vote on budgets that preserve essential positions and services, reflecting the needs of our students and educators.

Showing up and speaking at either (or both) of these meetings will be very powerful:

• Regional Schools (ARMS & ARHS) – Wednesday 2/26 6:30 p.m., ARHS Library
• Elementary School – Thursday 2/27 6:30 p.m., ARHS Library, or virtually via Google Meet (meet.google.com/fbb-fwur-odp)

Can’t attend? Leave a public comment voicemail by 3:00 p.m. on the date of the forum by calling 413-362-1891. Voicemails are played aloud at the forums so they have more impact than writing.

• Send written public comment by 3:00 on the date of the forum by emailing SCpubliccomment@arps.org
  

Marlow Bull, Karen Kurczynski, Rachel Hall, Nina Mankin, Katie Dixon-Gordon, Sharyn Routh, Brian Fitzgerald, Meghan Fitzgerald,  Venuta Carulli, Alexander Lopez, Cora Fernandez Anderson, Lynnette Arnold, Angelica Bernal, Cassandra Golding, Michelle Marinelli Prindle, Daniel Prindle, Jennifer Curiale Kyle Busacker, and Davida Hall