Part 3: Overcrowding in the Windham School District

The Windham voters are used to making big decisions that have huge tax impacts – especially when it comes to the school district.

It came with the new high school on London Bridge Road, an expensive $50 million pursuit that still bubbles in the minds of some residents.

In 11 days, they will face several of those impact decisions, not the least of which is picking two of the seven school board candidates, all coming from a cornucopia of different backgrounds.

One – Jerome Rekart – is a current educator. He is an associate professor with a duel appointment in the Departments of Education and Psychology at Rivier College in Nashua.

Rekart, like all of the candidates, uses his experience to dictate both his beliefs and problem-solving approaches.

For instance, to the issue of student-to-teacher ratios, which has been one of the hot topics in the overcrowding brouhaha, Rekart has studied the facts.

His belief, first of all, is that instructional aids in kindergarten through eighth grade classrooms cause a misconception to voters that the huge ratio is being helped.

"Instructional aids actually don't affect the ratio," Rekart said. "It's literally just about the primary teacher."

Rekart referenced a study called the Gold Standard Star study, which he said explains that there is no difference in large classes when an aid is present and when they are not.

What the IA's do offer, according to Rekart, is one-on-one services to special education students.

Heather Petro, who like Rekart and many of the other candidates is running for public office for the first time, has been networking in the school system for years, and has three children currently in the district.

Her stance, based on her own research and conversations with her friends who have worked as teacher aids: she agrees with Rekart. 

She also added that should the district go to a default budget with a "no" vote on warrant article 6 this year, IA's are one of the items that will be cut back.

"The minute that aid goes away your teachers have to focus more attention on the kids with (Individualized Education Programs)" Petro said.

But despite the impact of the budget defaulting, Petro said that she voted in favor of the amendment during the Feb. 10 deliberative session to add over half a million dollars to the proposed budget for the purpose of teacher raises.

While she said that she understands people are upset about the amendment and saw it as a "rogue, 11th hour thing," she added that it was "nobody's fault that the budget was the last item on the agenda."

Petro also clarified that in her eyes, a "no" vote on the budget from a voter doesn't mean they are against education.

"I do understand that (those who vote no) are voting against the budget, they are not voting against the teachers," she said.

"I think that we need to give our teachers a lot of credit, Petro added. "I think they are very, very committed to our kids and as committed to our kid's success as parents are."

Fellow candidate Carolyn Therrien completely disagreed with the amendment, calling the teachers "very inconsiderate."

"I was disappointed in their behavior," said Therrien. "It was not professional at all. That just floored me what they did."

Therrien, who has no kids and said that she has no experience in the school district, did say that she can approach the issues facing the school district objectively while bringing her business experience into the fold.

She said that she is entirely against article 2, which calls for $750,000 to fund architectural and engineering fees for a new London Bridge Road school.

"You have to look at the way that it's done out in the real world and it's not done that way," said Therrien.

"We go out for a request for a proposal, and we already know what size we want, so it's not a question of trying to get a fixed price," she added. "You'll never get a fixed price guaranteed because there are too many contingencies."

Therrien added that should article 2 pass but voters later do not approve a bond, money was just wasted to pay for the fees.

She said that she really thinks the high schools and modulars can be used to stymie some of the problems.

To the issue of classroom ratio, Therrien combated the sentiment that sizes will rise, saying that she has looked at numbers that they will drop off.

"The actual projected enrollment, when you look at it, in 2016 it drops way off," said Therrien, "and what are we going to do with this school?"

Shawn Foster, who has five kids but only one currently in the district, is taking a cautious and meticulous approach.

He said that he has spent hundreds of hours trying to "really get a handle" on what people in Windham are thinking, and how things operate.

Foster said he will not vote in favor of article 2, and said that while he is not against paying into a process that prepares the plans for a building, it was not done properly in his mind.

As for what he does want to do should he get voted on the board: he will look to have conversations and get involved with the teachers, parents and administrators to really vet their concerns.

"I bet you it would take my first year just really trying to figure out what's going on," said Foster, who added that it's a process of bringing "all that content you gained from connecting with people to the voters."

Foster also said that he recognizes that a lot of people are serious about not giving the school district a dime, not because they are against education, but because they don't trust that their money will be used efficiently.

One thing that Foster, and most of the candidates can agree on: common sense stuff like portables are a must. 

"Can we go on as we are right now for two years? No," said Foster. "We need something that's going to relieve some of the core space and take some of the burden off."

Rekart also added that for those who plan on voting "no" on every school article, they need to be aware of what that will do.

"What they can't do is vote no all the way down the ballot and think that there won't be a cost to the students," he said.

Mike Joanis, Jim Curtin and Richard Forde are also on the ballot for Windham School Board on March 13. We encourage you to check out our 2012 Town Meeting Guide for more information on all seven candidates.