Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Who gets into school ?

The following was sent into the Keene Sentinel to be published in the Reader Opinion section:

Like other towns, Winchester must supply preschool for special education children. We do this at the school. Sometimes there is room for a few extra children.

As a school board member, I started to ask questions about this. Who gets in and how?

The chairwoman of the school board has not been willing to put this issue on the agenda for months. I wonder why? This works out to be about $6000.00 worth of free day care if you're one of the lucky ones picked.

How you're picked is not clear. All residents of Winchester should be told about this and have some chance at it.

It's your school budget and your money. Please help me correct this issue now.

Brian Moser
School Board member
Winchester


So why won't the board's chairperson even discuss this issue with other board members?
Would it have something to do with her job with the State of NH Foster Children Program and a possible conflict of interest with her being on the school board. How many special ed children has she placed in Winchester homes contributing to the rising costs of our school programs?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

This doesn't surprise me at all. We all know favoritism runs high in Winchester in every aspect of town government, why should the school board be any different? This web site has brought to light more issues in it's short life and provided the townspeople more information than anything that has come before it. We have all been given an inside look at exactly what has been transpiring right under our noses for the longest time and now have the opportunity to make informed decisions when we vote, whether it be for warrant articles placed on the ballot or for the re-election of those who's conduct has become questionable and undesirable. There is no doubt in my mind that it is time for change for the betterment of our town.

Anonymous said...

Im a little lost....1 of my children was one of the "chosen ones" and it wasnt free back then we wrote a check every week that was comparable to the check to the babysitter we were using....has it changed?

Anonymous said...

If you don't mind my asking, how long ago was this, who did you write the check to and if you also wouldn't mind, how much was it for? I'm curious as to where the money went and why you were paying for pre-school. Could you also explain to me how your child was chosen, was there criteria he/she met or was it random choosing? I'm sorry to be so nosy but I'm just trying to understand what Mr. Moser's point is/was.

Anonymous said...

Evidently the anonymous poster with the special ed child doesn't wish to provide any answers to your questions Mrs. G. and that's really a shame. It makes you wonder if her statements were true or if she/he was someone attempting to cast doubt on Mr Moser's statements in his article. Knowing who Mr Moser is and his reputation for digging at the truth, I'm inclined to believe he is correct.

Anonymous said...

I was told by a foster parent Ms. Duquette who works for the NH Foster Parent Assoc. has been placing as many special need children as she can in Winchester because of the great sped program we have. Why it so great? Makes sense why Ms. Duquette fought so hard for school article three: To see if the Winchester School will vote to raise and appropriate $150,000 in the Special Education Expendable Trust Fund. This foster parent told me about a women with three foster children and two are special needs children Ms. Duquette is placing in Winchester soon. Here she is chairman of a board that appropriates funding for these children. Talk about conflict of interest.