LETTER: School Committee Member Becky Lord Urges A ‘YES’ Vote, Shares Perspective As Special Education Consultant, Former Teacher, Mom Of A 3rd Grader, Businesswoman & WPS Graduate

Dear Wilmington,

There is so much conversation about the upcoming school building vote, and I sincerely ask that you join me in voting YES on September 13 and 16. 

Here’s a bit about me to give you a sense of the different perspectives I represent:

– I grew up here in Wilmington and my parents are retired seniors here

– My son attends 3rd grade at the Woburn Street School

– I taught in public education for 11 years and now work as a Math/Special Education Consultant

– I worked in business and finance for 11 years prior to entering education

From all of these perspectives, I am a strong YES. Hopefully I can address some of your questions and concerns, and help us come together with a strong vision for the future of Wilmington.

As someone who grew up here in town and graduated from Wilmington High School back in 1996, I have long hoped Wilmington would build new schools. There is a sense of pride one wants to have in their hometown, and for me, these schools fall short of what I envision for my town. I have long hoped for a return to consolidated elementary schools in a new, modern building and I am very excited this option is finally on the horizon.

As a parent of a child on the North side, I have experienced the school buildings myself, and I don’t want any future children to go through what our children have. Wildwood closed a few months before my son was scheduled to start kindergarten, so we waited to hear what would happen. His class was displaced and spread out at multiple locations throughout the town. At the Woburn Street School they have dealt with leaking roofs that closed classrooms and damaged teachers’ supplies. Many windows no longer open so even when the weather is lovely outside, the classrooms stay hot and stuffy. If this project moves forward, my son will be at the North for 2 years while the new school is built, and will move on to the middle school just as the new school opens. But even though my child won’t attend the new school, I support it so that future children in our community have a better experience. 

As a special education consultant, it is important to understand that we are legally required to offer a free and appropriate education to every child in our community. If we are not able to do so in-house, then parents can file lawsuits and districts are required to pay to send children on IEPs to private schools, which are WAY more expensive than educating them in-district. The private schools I know of are at least $50,000/year and many are $100,000/year or more per student. Add to that the legal fees of handling these lawsuits, in addition to the transportation expenses we are required to cover, and the costs to the district can be exorbitant. 

Our current schools were built in the 1950s and 60s, before the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was enacted in the 1970s. Prior to that only 1 in 5 students with disabilities attended school, which means our schools were not designed with the spaces needed to educate all our students. I regularly go into schools in many local districts and can tell you that space is limited for special education. One of my biggest concerns is that we limit our spending on this new school so significantly that we don’t build a school large enough that can accommodate our current and future needs. When schools don’t have adequate space, teachers end up using storage rooms, closets, and hallways to educate children. 

Speaking from experience, my first special education classroom was a storage room which had no windows and no HVAC – and that was at a lovely school built in the 90s. In my later position as a math coach, I shared space with literacy specialists. Between us, special education, and English learner teachers, we were often splitting spaces and pulling children into busy hallways, none of which are optimal for student learning – and that was in a school built in the 2000s. 

In order to effectively meet the needs of all students, most districts have specialized programs for children with reading and language difficulties, social-emotional needs, those on the autism spectrum, English learners, and more, just to name a few. All of these services require spaces to offer them. When we can’t provide these spaces, we struggle to provide the services that students need. Students then struggle to succeed and the likelihood of expensive out-placements increases.

Some of the No’s mention other better options for schools. Curious about the options myself, I investigated and learned the building committee considered 18 different options, with various locations and grade-level configurations. After being presented with costs, pro’s and con’s for each, they arrived at the decision that building a new preK-5 school at the North was the best option for many reasons. 

Personally, I strongly support building one school with the grades combined. From both an educational and a finance perspective, this is the wisest choice. There are significant educational benefits to students, and pursuing one building project rather than multiple is much more cost-efficient for us. Let’s also keep in mind there are multiple factors that need to be considered when building a large project like this, and the committee worked hard to choose the best option for Wilmington. 

Another one of the biggest arguments I hear from the No side is about the costs and how it affects seniors. My parents Gary and Nancy Molgard are retired seniors in town, and when I asked my dad why he is a Yes vote, his answer was moving: “We have to invest in the next generation. We won’t all be here forever.” This statement reflects what I have seen my parents model all along: a commitment to caring for children. My parents were a foster family and welcomed into their home over 30 foster children during my life. They were part of founding Abundant Life Christian School in town and sent all of us children to both private and public schools. I learned from them a high standard of values: that life isn’t just about looking out for yourself. It’s about how you use your time, energy, and resources to care for others. It’s God’s love in action, with an incredible amount of trust and faith in God’s ability to provide.

After doing a great deal of research about the school project on their own, my parents are both solid Yes votes. To them this is the clear right step to provide a quality education for children in a much more fiscally responsible way than repairing our current schools. My father is a retired engineer and did his own due diligence to evaluate the costs of each option, determining that given the high costs of renovating the current buildings, it is much more sensible and beneficial to build a new school with larger and more modern facilities, for a very similar amount of money. 

My mother is a retired educator and shared how much better it is for children and families to have multiple grade levels together in one school, and for students with disabilities to be educated in their home community. My oldest brother has an intellectual disability, and when his educational needs increased as a child, he switched from private to public school here in town in order to receive the special education services he required. When there wasn’t an adequate program in the district, however, he had to travel to another local community to attend school, at a cost to Wilmington. 

I recognize that an increase in property taxes will present an additional challenge for some, and as a self-employed, home-owning single mother, I too will shoulder the added expense. But if the challenge is rising costs, the reality is that costs of living and property values will continue to increase, regardless of whether we build a new school. This means that not building a new elementary school for children will not solve the problem for seniors. Instead, I support us coming together to support ALL our community members, children, adults, and seniors alike. 

The question before us right now is how will we care for our children and the next generation. Let’s move forward with a solid YES to build a new school for them. And let’s ALSO come together to care for our seniors, and any in our community who are struggling financially. I would much rather see the No campaign put their energy into finding solutions for how we can care for those who are hard-pressed. This is NOT an EITHER/OR – let’s support solutions for BOTH our children AND our seniors.

Other questions like how this school will be maintained going forward are things we will need to determine together as a community. If we vote down all expenditures, then we will struggle to maintain any buildings. But it’s up to us: What do we want? What is our vision for our community? For our children? Are we willing to work together? Are we willing to prioritize how we use our resources to create a high-quality education system for our next generations?

As we make a decision on this vote, let’s consider what our larger goals are. Is our primary strategy to spend as little money as possible, while watching our community deteriorate? I grew up here in Wilmington and I want more for us. My vision and my hope is that we work together to create a more beautiful future for our children and our community. Public education is one of the most important things we do as a community–we come together and use our resources to take care of the next generation. Our children are our most precious resource and represent our future. I can’t think of a better thing to invest in.

For me, I’m a strong YES. I have found Wilmington to be a very caring community, willing to help each other out. I believe we are able to figure this out together, and I look forward to Wilmington having schools that we can all be proud of.

Last but not least, here’s the details on the upcoming votes if you need them. If you have any questions or concerns, please ask and I will do my best to answer!

Upcoming Votes:

Saturday, September 13 @ 9:00 am = Town Meeting – Must attend and vote IN-PERSON (no absentee voting). This vote is to approve the school building project and requires a ⅔ majority. There will be a presentation, discussion, and an opportunity to comment and ask questions. May last 1, 2 or more hours. CARES is offering free childcare to anyone who needs it.

Tuesday, September 16 @ 8:00 am – 8:00 pm = Ballot Vote – May vote at local precinct or via absentee ballot. This vote is to approve a Debt Exclusion to help fund the costs, which will increase property taxes for 30 years from $11.45/$1,000 to $12.05/$1,000 of assessed value, an increase of $0.60/$1,000. On an average home assessed at $700,000 this will increase taxes by about $400/year or $100/quarterly tax bill.

One thing I have learned in the past few months is that decisions in town are made by who actually shows up to vote. Alone we are each just 1 vote, but together we can be a majority and move our community forward. Let’s do this together! 

With hope and warm regards,

Rebecca Lord