BOE Members Respond to Mayor's Criticism

Kelly Luxenberg and Neal Leon, Democratic members of the Board of Education, sent the following letter to Manchester Patch Wednesday evening in response to that was highly crtical of the school board for for its inability to develop a long-term plan to maintain the town's schools: 

This letter demonstrates a lack of understanding of the issue our community is facing.

so the full board and community could have a better understanding of what our students face on a daily basis. This is more than a problem with our schools, it's a community problem that needs to be addressed.

The Board of Education did its due diligence in finding out where our areas of concern were so we could come up with a plan – a plan we expect to develop with the Board of Directors, which we called for several times in our meeting on Monday.

For some members of the Board of Directors to accuse the Board of Education of an inability to come up with a long-range plan is an unfair mischaracterization of the issue; in fact, it's counterproductive. The Board of Education recognizes the reality of the state of our buildings and we are prepared to find solutions.

We look forward to working with all interested parties who want to solve the very real problems our schools are facing.

This letter also implies that former members of the Board of Education, including sitting Directors, are to blame.

We cannot kick the can down the road any longer. Our schools need critical repairs and we need to come up with an immediate and long term plan for achieving what is best for our students and community.

We cannot have chemistry classrooms with no gas; we cannot have students learning in classrooms that have curtains for walls; we have a moral obligation to do what is right for our students. We also have a responsibility, which we take seriously, to bring issues forward to the community with transparency even if the truth is painful – which is what happened Monday.

The bedrock of any thriving community is a strong public education system and that's what the Board of Education is committed to achieve – to ensure that Manchester grows and that our students are prepared to be contributing members to a global society.

We should be about finding solutions to the problems we are facing.

We can be reached at any point by anyone in the community to discuss the issues that confront our schools.

Sincerely,

Kelly Luxenberg and Neal Leon
Manchester Board of Education