Dear Editor,
I am writing in support of the Springfield, Vt. school budget. I have had the pleasure of serving my first year as a school board member, which has provided me an up close view of our schools. I also have a 7 grader in the district. You may have heard that our school is facing immense challenges in implementing special education – to the detriment of some children. I care deeply about our obligations to students with disabilities and take the current problems very seriously. This could be a reason to doubt that our district is properly utilizing our resources. However, I see it differently. We have a new superintendent and ought to give her the chance to address these challenges head on. Our board is dedicated to ensuring that we continue to improve, not only services to the students most in need, but to all students.
Some improvements can be made immediately, while others will take more time to improve local and regional resources. For instance, our newly launched Pre-K program is designed to identify students needing special education services early to provide interventions during early childhood development in order to decrease future continued learning difficulties. The program improves children’s kindergarten readiness, counteracting effects from the pandemic when so many small children were isolated in their homes. This program is also helping to meet a childcare shortage in the region, having lost over 100 slots during the pandemic. This is just one example of how our district is helping to improve our students’ chances for success that we will see long-term.
Both Union Street School and Riverside Middle School received accolades for their work in teaching, learning, and classroom behaviors. These recognitions demonstrate the dedication of our building leaders and teachers to support student learning and to improve overall school culture.
Again, we have our challenges, but I believe we can successfully navigate these and come out stronger. It is something we can do as a community. We do need the resources to continue this work. Please consider voting yes to the budget on March 7. Feel free to contact your board members with any questions about our efforts to improve our district. You can reach me at mkrueger@ssdvt.org.
Sincerely,
Mary Krueger
School Board Director
Springfield, Vt.