WINCHESTER — The town’s high school students would not have the same opportunities if Winchester withdraws its students from Keene High School and reopens Thayer High School, according to a handful of speakers at a public hearing Thursday.
On the school warrant this year is an article submitted by petition asking voters to create a committee to study withdrawing from Keene and $5,000 to study the cost of reopening Thayer, which closed in 2005.
The town pays tuition to send its high schoolers to Keene, at a rate of $11,793 per student for about 100 regular education students and $22,847 per student for about 60 special education students.
School board Chairwoman Colleen M. Duquette, who was on the committee that studied closing Thayer and sending kids to Keene, said similar articles have come up in previous years and were voted down.
“The town isn’t capable of offering what Keene does,” said Andrew Wallace, a Keene graduate from Winchester, in terms of elective classes, sports and after-school clubs.
Joan Franklin, a teacher at Winchester School, said Thayer closed because the community wasn’t willing to maintain the building, which is how the school lost its accreditation.
“They did not support the school just like how now the budget is being cut,” she said, referring to the $2.3 million in cuts the town’s budget committee has proposed for the school district.
“This is how we got to Keene, because the community didn’t support the school... I’m confused. I’m really confused by this.”
Another woman suggested the school board survey Winchester parents and students at Keene High School on whether they would like to leave.
The idea did have some support at public hearing.
“We can’t say to Keene you’re charging too much until we find out how much it would cost to bring them here,” said Richard Horton, a member of the budget committee. Tuition to Keene will continue to increase, he said, adding there may be more than just a financial benefit to bringing Winchester students back.
“There’s a social problem. ... There are kids that feel misplaced. They lose their identity; they’re not part of the community that they grew up in all the way to 8th grade,” he said.
Kevan Whippie, a school board member, said his student at Keene High School has missed out on classes and suggested Winchester students get lost in the 1,600-student school.
“It’s a big student factory and we’re cash input.”
Abby Spegman can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1409, or aspegman@keenesentinel.com.
On the school warrant this year is an article submitted by petition asking voters to create a committee to study withdrawing from Keene and $5,000 to study the cost of reopening Thayer, which closed in 2005.
The town pays tuition to send its high schoolers to Keene, at a rate of $11,793 per student for about 100 regular education students and $22,847 per student for about 60 special education students.
School board Chairwoman Colleen M. Duquette, who was on the committee that studied closing Thayer and sending kids to Keene, said similar articles have come up in previous years and were voted down.
“The town isn’t capable of offering what Keene does,” said Andrew Wallace, a Keene graduate from Winchester, in terms of elective classes, sports and after-school clubs.
Joan Franklin, a teacher at Winchester School, said Thayer closed because the community wasn’t willing to maintain the building, which is how the school lost its accreditation.
“They did not support the school just like how now the budget is being cut,” she said, referring to the $2.3 million in cuts the town’s budget committee has proposed for the school district.
“This is how we got to Keene, because the community didn’t support the school... I’m confused. I’m really confused by this.”
Another woman suggested the school board survey Winchester parents and students at Keene High School on whether they would like to leave.
The idea did have some support at public hearing.
“We can’t say to Keene you’re charging too much until we find out how much it would cost to bring them here,” said Richard Horton, a member of the budget committee. Tuition to Keene will continue to increase, he said, adding there may be more than just a financial benefit to bringing Winchester students back.
“There’s a social problem. ... There are kids that feel misplaced. They lose their identity; they’re not part of the community that they grew up in all the way to 8th grade,” he said.
Kevan Whippie, a school board member, said his student at Keene High School has missed out on classes and suggested Winchester students get lost in the 1,600-student school.
“It’s a big student factory and we’re cash input.”
Abby Spegman can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1409, or aspegman@keenesentinel.com.
12 comments:
If we leave the Keene School System the sucking sound will be people leaving Winchester. Property value will fall even further. So will your investment in your homes. We do not have money to fix up the high school. We spend 3.5 million already. How much more can we spend of money we do not have.
We must renegotiate the Keene contract because bringing the kids back here is not a good option. Getting our teenagers out of this ignorant backwards town is the best chance they have of breaking this cycle Winchester has been stuck in fore ever.
Has anyone who is in favor of bringing the HS back ever even seen what KHS has to offer. The class choices are amazing. We could never offer them that. A high school diploma does not guarantee a job any more. KHS has an amazing career center for our kids that helps them to develop a trade. Everything from culinary school, mechanics, machine tooling, cosmetology, carpentry, education, nursing, sports and the arts. The list goes on and on. We want our kids to be exposed to as much as possible in terms of classes and opportunities.
I am helping my child do the scheduling now with the help of Winchester's guidance counselor. I wish I had that many options when I was in high school. It is truly unbelievable. I am so happy my child will be going to KHS.
The 9:14AM post-- Couldn't have said it better.
Perhaps Mr. Whippie should do his job as a school board member and make certain that our students are prepared academically and socially for Keene High. That might mean even dismissing non-performing teachers.It has been over seven years and our students are still under performing on the tests. There should be no excuse for this as all teachers have access to the state standards.
The best thing we could do is send all of the kids to Keene, every single one of them deserves the best education possible and they sure aren't getting it here in Winchester. Every year our school budget goes up while the quality of their education has stagnated and many more are designated special ed because the teachers we have simply can not teach. My son tells me there are too many distractions in his classroom, too many people talking all at once with all the paras helps other students. This is not acceptable. How long must all of our children suffer because of the whims of the school board members and this Mr. Dassau? How many of us will be forced to cut back on the things that our children really need in order to pay for their education. If they were all passing it would be one thing; but they are not and neither are we if we allow this to continue.
Actually we scored the same as Keene in writing and math.
As much as many of us have many great memories of the old Thayer High, it doesn't make much sense to open it back up. Keene High just has too much to offer. About the only plus to reopen would be, that it would lessen the standards coming out of Middle School so that it would shield the sub standard scores from surfacing. If the students aren't performing now, what do you think will happen when they don't leave town?
Another person who has little faith in our children. I bet this is one of those parents that feels as though learning ends when the school bell rings.
We the voters are what shapes the minds of our youth. We create a community for them... instead you are abandoning them and telling them that here is nothing good for you here.... go to Keene its a better place....
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. You are reinforcing the mindset that they are not equal. That the reason they dont perform well in test scores is because of where they are from.
How about making them accountable. How about making yourself accountable.
It's not that we have no faith in our children, it's no faith in our well paid educators that's the problem and people like you spouting all this rah rah, "it's the voters" crap "that shapes the minds of our youth",. What hogwash, are you for real? I'll be you're one of those overpaid, cheerleaders working at the school bleeding us dry so you can live a life of Riley without a care sending your kids to private school. Stuff it !
What we really need to do is to renegotiate the contract with Keene, abolish this new SAU, send all students grades 7 - 12 to Keene so that they all get the best education they can and have access to everything Keene has to offer. That would save us millions and provide the best choices for our kids. We could eliminate nearly half the school budget and still give all of our kids a quality education without all the baggage.
To the poster at 6:21 perhaps this is where the budget committee was headed. They understood that this budget is "padded". This board has no idea what their real costs are other than Dassau says they need it. Even factoring in the bond payment we would save money sending 7-12 to Keene. We would at least know that those students had quality educators and not those that tell our students that the smart boards are going to be used as coat racks and all of the SPED teachers are going to be fired.
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