Dear Wilmington Community,
I am in awe.
I am in awe of the support we saw this Saturday. I am in awe of the stories and perspectives shared. I am in awe of the passion residents have for our town. And I am in awe of just how many people came out to support this school.
But this school has not passed yet. It must pass the Ballot Vote this Tuesday (9/16) as well. We are counting on everyone to cast a paper ballot and show up for our town, just like we experienced Saturday.
I’ve been proud to call Wilmington home for the past 7 years, but my family’s roots here run much deeper. Our children are actually the 5th generation to live in Wilmington—their great-grandmother, Charlotte Stewart, moved here with her parents and sister in the early 1930s. She stayed here and raised four rambunctious kids of her own (including my father-in-law), all of whom came up through the Wilmington Schools during the late 50s, 60s, and 70s. Charlotte lived nearly all of her 94 years in this town she adored. She became something of a local legend along the way, earning the town’s “Good Guy” Award in 2012, and even having a space in our library named in her honor.
Wilmington has been part of our family story for nearly a century—and that history drives my deep love for this town.
Therefore, when it came to this elementary school vote, the answer was easy.
We have six aging elementary schools, all built in the late 50s and early 60s. Due to their level of disrepair, lack of accessibility, and limitations in spaces that do not meet today’s codes and safety standards, simply attempting to repair or renovate these schools one by one would not be the fiscally responsible option for our town. Building one new elementary school to replace three schools—with $62 million from the state to help offset the cost—was a no-brainer.
So not only did I fully believe in the value and importance of this project, but I knew I needed to help mobilize support throughout our town.
We assembled a grassroots group of committee volunteers—made up of parents, non-parents, progressives, conservatives, teachers, seniors, community leaders, Northside residents, Westside residents, Wilmington-lifers, and those who newly call our town home. This was a group of individuals whose plates were already packed with work, kids’ activities, community groups, volunteer commitments (and the list goes on and on). Despite having such limited bandwidth, this team worked tirelessly, meeting before work, after kids’ bedtimes, and late into the evenings. We all understood just how critical this was for our community’s future.
We also knew we had to battle the continual slurry of misinformation, disinformation, and intensely heightened emotions. I have deep empathy for the abutters at the North. As an abutter to a current town project and a school parking lot, I know these feelings personally. Our backyard used to look out onto the small rolling green hill in front of the Buzzell Senior Center, but for the past two years we’ve been staring at a rickety red fence, watching a three-story Town Hall being built, with construction sounds ringing through the walls of our home. Do I love living next to a construction site? Nope! But I respect our town’s vote and know how important it is to continue to grow to meet the needs of the next generations of our community. When you’re an abutter to a town project (whether directly adjacent, across the street, or in surrounding neighborhoods), you can feel voiceless and frustrated. It can feel like the whole town is voting on something that impacts only you and your neighbors. And that sense of powerlessness can drive people to say and do anything to prevent this from being built in their backyards.
But the facts are clear—this is the fiscally responsible choice. It is the right choice for our town, and it is the most responsible choice for future generations of this community we all care about.
Even with the majority of residents in town feeling this way, we knew passing this school would be a fight. We had to pass two separate town votes. And at the first vote, we didn’t just need a simple majority—we needed at least 67% to vote yes at a 4-hour+ Saturday morning Special Town Meeting.
We got 85%.
This is due to the tireless effort of so many individuals across town. I cannot thank folks enough—our YES committee, our 92 volunteers, our 100+ individual donors—just a massive outpouring of support. Our team was at countless town events and activities, connecting with residents, listening to their perspectives, and sharing our own. But the most impressive effort of all was that across our committee and supporters, our team knocked on almost 6,000 doors over the last 4 months. And I can tell you that nearly every time we knocked on a door, we were greeted with kindness, curiosity, thoughtful questions, and a community that deeply cares about our children’s futures.
So I repeat, I am in awe. I am in awe of our town’s tenacity, our residents’ passion for our community, and our collective commitment to future generations.
We have one more vote. Please make time to vote in Tuesday’s Ballot Election (even if you already voted this Saturday, we need your vote Tuesday as well). And if you were not able to attend the Special Town Meeting at the High School this weekend, you can still vote Tuesday!
Tuesday September 16th; Special Election
Voting hours: 8am-8pm
Locations: Senior Center [precincts 1, 2, & 3] and Town Hall [precincts 4, 5, & 6]
You can find your precinct here
Please vote YES.
Sincerely,
Hailey (Red) Stewart
Chair of the Yes for Wilmington Schools Committee
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