Pay attention to steering committee meetings
To the editor,
There is a process underway to potentially reconfigure the way elementary schools are structured and used in South Portland. The effort has been led by superintendent Tim Matheney with the creation of a Boundaries and Configurations Steering Committee in early 2023.
The steering committee meetings are open to the public and a schedule of those, as well as the community input meetings, can be found at /www.spsd.org/page/bc.
All residents of South Portland, whether they have children in public school or not, would be very interested in decisions being made about how to best structure and resource our largest driver of education and prosperity: our public schools.
I am writing today to urge residents to pay attention to this process that will have a great impact on all of us. As over 62 percent of our local taxes are used in the support of public schools, this process deserves our attention, support, and talents. Please attend a meeting or submit your comments directly to the committee using their website.
All of us need to pay attention to this important work. How these valuable assets – our school buildings, buses, teachers and students – are utilized and supported will impact our community for decades.
Melinda Hull
South Portland
So. Portland council should ensure special election
To the editor,
I am writing to express concern regarding the South Portland City Council’s decision to not notify Gov. Mills of the vacancy for House District 122. By not notifying Gov. Mills, our city’s representatives have prevented her from issuing a proclamation calling for a special election to fill the vacant position following the passing of State Rep. Lois Reckitt.
I’m disappointed that they deemed it unnecessary to have someone represent the eastern portion of the City of South Portland for the upcoming legislative session. While they apparently believe leaving the seat vacant for the upcoming months is not important, I vehemently disagree. Based on precedent over the years, the end of a legislative session is when many of the important issues are voted on.
Why would our city’s leaders deprive thousands of our city residents of a voice in the legislature? Holding a special election on March 5, the date of the presidential primary, would cost the City of South Portland virtually nothing. Additionally, because there’s a presidential primary, there will likely be a large turnout of voters.
I strongly request that the city council schedule a special election for March 5.
Richard Rottkov
South Portland
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