How can our town come together and embrace a popular option for rejuvenating our elementary schools? As a general principle, whatever the solution might be, we should try to take away as little as possible from our townspeople. That includes our schools, our parks, and our pocket books. It seems obvious that when a government decides to commandeer and dismantle cherished entities, or exact an extra tax, or take anything away from its citizens, it should have a solid rationale and overwhelming public support.
The school committee and school building committee don’t have anything close to full public support. On the contrary, they have pursued a path which has led to greater and greater division.
If we review the history of town meetings on this school subject, the only unambiguous position the town has ever assumed was on Oct. 21, 2014, when a required (two-thirds) majority favored the funding of the original Winthrop rebuild.
We had consensus. We had a well-defined grant backed by the solid support of the town, parents, and the teachers. Since then, that voice has been ignored, then divided through a series of contentious reinventions. From that high point of unity, our school leadership has obstinately mapped out a path toward the current state of discord
An effective leadership would have tempered big building interests with more affordable and creative alternatives such as the renovation of both schools. An effective leadership would sought directions which avoid splintering our community into Winthrop, Doyon, and Bialek camps.
Now there is even talk of ignoring the results of our recent special town meeting. If the school committee were to continue on an undeflected path toward a single school at Doyon, it would be a flagrant insult to our system of government. Town meetings are meant to count, not to be circumvented.
Our leadership should be asking how, why and by whom our original consensus was so sadly fractured. They should be questioning the vision and the composition of their boards, not its citizens. We need to embrace a solution which honors everyone in our community, and respects all of our neighborhood cultures.