WHEN IS A REPRESENTATIVE NOT A REPRESENTATIVE?

I heard a few comments last week after the election that some people were surprised at the number of votes against the AOS (Alternative Organized Structure) "consolidation" for the school district. It surprised me, too, until I heard that some people never receive the brochure that was mailed out. This was particularly true for some residents in Clifton. In a town with a high population of elderly people, many of who do not get out of the house (and therefore would not have gotten to the Public Hearing on October 19th even if they had heard about it) and do not have or know how to operate a computer. Without the brochure, they had no information explaining what the AOS was or would be as compared to the current system. They certainly would never go to the SAD 63 website to read the proposed plan. And without the brochure they would have had no information regarding the Public Hearing. And, No, they don't read this blog. They have friends who do, which is what generated the phone calls.

I discussed this with the Eddington Town Manager and he indicated that he provided mailing addresses for Eddington residents to receive the brochure. I have no idea how the Clifton addresses were (or were not) obtained for mailing purposes. Too bad because every property owner will be paying for the school district, even though, in the end perhaps we are going to be better off than we would have been if we had consolidated with school districts that didn't want to partner with us or would have driven up our local costs with nothing to gain in exchange.

So now, with the addition of an AOS Board to govern the governance of the shared administration and related administrative costs, we resume business pretty much the way we've been doing business all along - with some necessary changes in the wind.

A School Board Member is elected to represent his or her community which, of course, requires that that representative live and reside in the community he or she has been elected to represent. Seems simple but at the moment, it is not the case with one of Eddington's School Board representatives. Last March (2010), Karen Clark ran unopposed in Eddington for her seat on the School Board and she was elected. Since that time, Karen and her family have moved from their residence in Eddington to another community.

While Karen has done an admirable job on the Board, she no longer meets the requirement of being an Eddington resident. Therefore there is a significant question as to her eligibility to be a member of the School Board as one of the three Representatives from Eddington.

At the November 16th Eddington Selectmen's meeting (at 6PM) the matter is expected to be on the Agenda. At that time the Selectmen may be asked to appoint someone to fill Karen's seat on the School Board - someone who resides in Eddington and who is interested in the issues and responsibilities of the schools in (whatever the name will be) SAD 63. While the Eddington Selectmen usually go to one particular individual for appointments relating to school board matters, this appointment cannot involve anyone who is currently employed in any capacity by the school district. It also needs to be someone who will speak up for Eddington's town interests as well as the academic interests of the students and the financial interests of the taxpayers of the property owners who consistently end up significantly paying for the costs of the district. This writer hopes the Selectmen will consider all of these qualifications when they fill the position on the school board.