There are those in our town that are finding this a tough pill to swallow. Hopefully this will inspire greater thought and more creative thinking on how to solve our school issues without mixing issues such as new ball fields with the construction of a new school.

You, those who wonder where we go from here, tried to do too much, too quickly. Everyone in "your" group supported it, so you thought it was a done deal. It's not. We can't spend more than we have. You could have easily had the teacher raises, but, after building a high school that was supposed to solve our problems, it did not

Fred, you're right. School board members did not learn from their past mistakes in terms of packaging. We do not like when we feel being held hostage. And swallowing 31 million in order to fix our fields was stupid.

We need a new CULTURE on the WSB. Clearly the way they do business is in conflict with the constituents of this town. VOting no on the budget is a trickle-down of warrant #2.

Adding emotion to the stupid way #2 was created killed everything. plain and simple.

No one likes being duped

Now the school board has a pissed off constituency, no resolution to the space issue, high school field that looks like a Beruit summer, and a 1/2 way decent operating budget that got shot down.

Tom let's be honest it is too late. The problem is so big now and the politics are so vitriolic that there is simply no way to fix it. Pelham can no longer find people who even want to run for School Board we are becoming the same kind of town. We have the worst K-8 facilities of any town in Southern NH and the absolute worst athletic facilities. Do you honestly see any hope of fixing those issues. We now went 3 years without a teachers contract what is going to happen to our schools when we start losing teachers?

"Our" future, comrade? Massachusetts is 3 exits down I-93, pards if you don't like frugal NH government. You can pay Commissar Patrick an extra 1/4% on your income tax there, even, if you so desire. (Signed, long-time Windham resident)

BTW-- on the "wealthiest town" canard-- in case you haven't noticed, Windham is mostly working people on a household numbers basis: skilled tradesmen, nurses, cops, white-collar clerks, elderly and unemployed people too. A drive around the edges of our town will reveal modest homes, pickup trucks, and woodpiles, actually used for heating. It's just that there are a few very wealthy people-- aka the Mass. newcomers with some "connections" living on our high hills in the central part of town-- that skew the figures. For real wealth, look at New Castle or Rye. These middle-class voters want to stay in Windham, and not be driven out by the "Beautiful People" and "Pinky Ring Boys". (P.S., middle-class Windham long-time resident).

It's NewCastle... and the school board needs to come up with a better deal and better funding and "Sell" it to all the voters and then it'll pass... Get your facts straight before saying "shame on you" etc... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_locations_by_per_capita_income

This isn't about wealth it's about not having a poor educational environment. We have kicked this can down the road for a decade.

It's about paying for the teachers who are willing to work out of a boiler room and float for a classroom.

Actually Hollis is

Screw! I unkindly voted no. Same reason everyone else did. Read the tea leaves..

chris i dont know where this came from but i not wealthy im not even considered middle class anymore i dont think you can see beyond the fog they put out there think about the dirty politics the guy loses a seat on the bos now he elected to the school board look the town gave him a job to shut him up he knew to much about all the bad things about griffin park he may not want the new school but hes in favor of new soccer feilds why

The people that care about this town showed up... We have one of the best high schools in the state. Just this year we achieved zero drop outs. There is a fancy word for it beginning with rec..., but I can't remember it at the moment.

Denial.

I am blown away. The apathy of the eligible voting public is most shocking to me. 25% turnout?

Disbelief, you can't tell me that every option was explored or weighted equally. Also, you can't tell me it was a wise idea to include the sports fields in the article. Lastly, you can't tell me it was wise to propose this before the states moratorium on funding expires. I am for solving the problem, I just don't think this article was the best/most convincing way to do it.

Fine, no school, better options might exit. But the piece meal alternates that have been proposed so far cost the same in the end and only fix half the problem. I agree about bundling the fields not being a great way to increase the odds of passage.

But what about contracts for the teachers not being passed. Really?

It's all for the children? What about the children you are telling to leave town

Disbelief. Please read your comment again. Do you really think that people should treat others like that, even if you are distaught with the outcome. Many successful people do not have a college diploma, Bill Gates for one. Chuck Hagel finished his degree on VA assistance under the GI Bill. ...and perhaps many of your wealthy friends.

Wow, scorched earth society sounding off LMAO.

You just still don't get it....wanna build a phillips academy? then create a charter school. At the end of the day -it's a public school with the same curriculum as any other school in NH. Plus were still in a real bad economy with no leadership from the president. So those people that at one time could afford this...well time have changed. It's about smart money, value, and still high expectations.

We just do not equate a high quality education with a new building on the side of the hill.

We just need a new culture of collaboration, less entitlement and arrogance in our WSB.

Let's see if they have a different approach next year. In my opinion, this was a huge lost opportunity to get our schools on the right path.

This is for Disbelief. It's people like you that give Windham a bad name. I can't believe you publicly state that Pelham is a Low-End town. Where do you hail from? I'll bet you come from a city outside of Boston, like the rest of us transplants. Did you happen to marry a "rich spouse" and now feel that you are "entitled". The people in Pelham are no different than the people in Windham. They care about their children. Period.

Totally agree. But WSB's actions drew out an emotional response. Basically they voted no on everything, irregardless of the proposals.

It was a decent teacher contract and a decent operating budget.

It just was a casualty of a horrible method the WSB created article #2 and tried ramming it down our throats if we agreed to the specifics or not.

So because of the WSB actions, we have no budget and no high school improvements. Basically that's it.

Agree!

@Celia - if you agree w/Windham, I sure hope you only voted down article 2.
I hope you would look at your own situation and what the District has provided to you and your family and that in return you supported our teachers and school budget.

You have a message, you contact the Board and Administration and don't take it out on the teachers and ultimately the students of Windham.

If you want to be involved in the "specifics", I sure hope that you will take action and get involved to help improve the current state we are in. And, when I say "action", I'm not talking about just a few email complaints. But, a true effort at trying to help solve some of our issues.

If all those that opposed the ballot articles moved out, you would not need any new schools or baseball fields. That is snobby. btw, there some very nice houses and people in Pelham. It takes all of us working together to make the world work.

Stupid, you still don't get it. Most people can afford it. But that's not what really at issue.

Joe, smarten up, you can't spin straw out of gold. We need capacity. What are the options that fix this and when will they appear?

P.S. I don't want my taxes to go up either but I also want the schools in my town to meet basic state curriculum requirements.

Do those other "options" include how to retain teachers without a contract. Let's not forget everything on the ballot was voted down. This is not just about the school!

Keleigh, I personally think if there weren't a $31 million dollar price tag for a new school without exhausting all options on the ballot, the teacher's contract would have been passed.

Joe. You are basically admitting that the teachers contract was reasonable and unrelated to the caustic debate on the school. This is an admission that the voters were acting childish. Sending a message when our children suffer as a result as good teachers vote with their feet is sad. We have a good thing going with the quality of our teaching and that can evaporate quickly. Let's hope that we show some maturity and courage as a community because from the vitriol of the people who claim to be "lifelong Windham Residents" I am not hopeful. 6 years ago I thought I was moving to a much different community than I am seeing here. My hope is that this is just a speed bump.

Facts of life:

there are better options and a collaborative process should open up this new year. Otherwise we will never fix overcrowding

There are thousands of teacher apps coming in for any job opening. They still are paid comparable to other districts. the 15-17 percent uplift for Pelham puts those teachers at par with Windham. Teachers know it. Otherwise they would have left last year. Teacher contract would have been passed if #2 removed the high school field and had a smarter, more value-oriented outcome in the proposal.

OKC, childish? yea, add 'emotional' and 'vote of no confidence'. It's all about trust, open government, value, collaborative with all consituents, and putting a fair proposal on the table which the majority support. None of that was done to the satisfaction of the voters. Plain and simple.

If the WSB doesnt change, I'd suggest they outsource the complete project of solving our space issue. WSB were not successful in the manner they did it this year. plain and simple. It all started a year ago when we shot down the planning article for this. WSB didn't admit fault and didn't change. Now a year later..same result.

@Celia,
"outsource the complete project"?! Can you imagine the cost and complaints people would have if tax dollars were used for that?!

You and Joe seem to believe there are better options that weren't "exhausted". I've been paying attention for years & hope you have some great new ideas you'll bring forth to help solve over crowding!

Hear, Hear. Thank you.

Low end towns have nothing to do with income but rather their willingness to support basic town needs and educational requirements. Towns that cannot or will not do this are low end towns.

Pelham has been unwilling to step up for there educational needs. Now Windham is on on that list.

Yes a candidates education, or lack of, should matter in general. It some how seems like you would look or hope for it for a school board member.

I would characterize Article #2 as 'basic town needs' when most people believe that their dollar could have been better invested with alternative solutions.

Candidates education? We have one doctor, and the three new members all have a minimum bachelors. All that withstanding, they still got a black eye for pissing off the voters.

Dennis cannot do anything until the other four depart. Our kids deserve better than the arrogance of the School Board the past five years. They are fully to blame.

Publius, do you even know what Dennis' "plan" involves? He supports the Facilities Master Plan which is a 45million dollar investment over ten years. Surprise!

What is wrong with the FMP? Have the voters had a chance to vote on it yet? With the current SB, we never will. Get it?

Let's see FMP problems, ten year implementation requiring higher interest rates and failure to control class sizes in a reasonable time frame, no plan for what to do with the children while renovating existing schools, no plan for future enrollment increases (if you think enrollments are decreasing please call Golden Brook and ask how many children have already registered for 1st grade), no plan for issues surrounding road access and traffic... I could go on but space is limited.

Wow now I feel like I should have voted for the new school - 20 years ago so you could have been better educated.

First mom I've heard of that woke up sleeping children!!! Mom usually tries to get some rest.

Apologized? really? LMFAO LMFAO

Wow. That seems a little extreme...

At Tara,

How dare you vilinize people who were not in favor.. The plan was not well thought out..thats it.. Your kids will be fine...

DUH, it couldn't be because the public step salaries are higher than NH. It's been that way forever......

And if you equate the quality of education to teachers salaries, overall I agree with that.

But then given what you know, why would you put your kid in an NH public school? Go private like I do with my kids. I can't change the pay scale, and people dont like building the taj majal to solve a basic space need.

So what does that leave you. Fight the fights you can win.....

No one likes to be duped. it generates a negative emotional response.

Oh and by the way, some of us still remember the WEA hijacking us last year. Remember that? At the expense of special ed for our children, the WEA hijacks the deliberative session, with actual people acting like children, pushing an unrealistic amendment. What about that.

I maintain that the WSB's actions on #2 AND the horrific WEA unions actions have pissed off us voters so much that we'd even vote down a budget that took away money from the teachers.

I asked for a new WEA state representative, new WEA negotiating team, a full public apology. Still that hasn't happened.

> we'd even vote down a budget that took away money from the teachers.

And that's real smart, huh? We're mad as hell, and we're not going to accept a good deal if it's gift-wrapped and dropped in our laps!

I'd like to think that voters can differentiate on the issues. These were very different, disparate articles. You don't like an article, fine, vote it down. The proper word for the rest of the actions is "spite", and that's not getting anybody anywhere...

Where MA schools are number 1 in the nation!

Grand school system. Why not just settle for a good school system. Our kids deserve at least that much and attitudes like this are not only selfish but ignorant. I think most Americans would sacrifice today for their children's future. That is the America I defended for 20 years. We collectively pay to educate our children. I will be damned if I allow that to be called socialism. Yes the economy is not good but it did not prevent the reelection of a President who continues to steal from our children so that we don't upset today's voters.

Very interesting article, and a long journey for Finland, filled with learning experiences. Statistic of 62,000 educators (teachers and assistants) in 3500 schools is an average of just over 17 students per teacher. However, some teachers only have 7 or 8 students. meaning some have more than 20. Good use of assistants seems to be important, as well as being innovative. It is not a one shoe fits all as far as technique and curriculum. The same should be in place here, not necessarily "...meet NH standards for...". We are doing okay. Let's pay the teachers. Make sure we don't break the system we have.

Talk to any home owner in Salem, Londonderry, Derry, Manchester or Nashua, you'll hear them say that their per/$1000.00 assessed household tax rates are higher today than prior to their period of explosive commercial/retail/wholesale business build outs. While your at it also ask them about their upwardly trending crime rates, and their ever increasing infrastructure costs required to support the commercial business growth. Never mind the eye sore of all the commercial buildings. Yea that what I want for Windham.

@Dollars,

I'm really glad Letizio doesn't share your perspective. There is a responsible way to do it. I don't want big box stores either but if one was over on the Rte. 28 section of town why is that an issue? Coming through 111 you can have business that looks attractive without a whole lot of "neon" and I think what they've done so far looks nice. And since when does commercial business bring in crime....you're reaching. If Letizio can unlock the $5-$7M in commercial tax revenue he was talking about all of our tax rates will drop $2 - $4 per $1000 and that's a bad thing?

Would be nice to spend our money at a nice Windham restaurant or other business than spending the time to head elsewhere.

TonyM stated elsewhere on these comments the same thing. Get after these planning and zoning people. Otherwise, more kids move in, there's more cost, the budget keeps creeping up, the tax rate keeps rising, you still have no money to add capacity, rinse and repeat.

What about responsibility for community, society, country?

Please don't burden the good citizen's with Franklin's attitude.

Man oh Man. Some folks just can't keep themselves from insulting references to fine people in places they don't really understand. Sigh.

Monty - you are talking about the same group of voters. Why do you think the School side failed so miserably? There are five reasons: Anderson, Rekart, Joanis, Farrell and Wimmer. Once they depart, we can get back on track.

Publius. Now that is a mature attitude. Who voted them into office in the first place. I am not happy with the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue but I do not think that everyone should be punished while we wait for November 6, 2016. Keep rejecting the new schools but don't reject the teachers contract and the school budget. That is what a mature voter would do. I certainly would make due with an old dump truck and invest in our teachers.

Comes right back to the "got to have vs. the want to have" principle. Problem is that nobody in town stood up to these equipment requests and said we don't need them right now. I can't say that anybody I've talked to in Town actually believed that we NEEDED these new toys. I would have far preferred to have spent the several hundred thousand dollars these new Toys cost us on our school system. Lets through the Windham Town Office's new TOY COMPUTERS & NETWORK SYSTEM HARDWARE in to the same frivolousness spending bucket while we're at it. :)

Instead of barking in disbelief, figure out why we sh-canned all the articles.......

Here's a secret - 80% of Windham voters want to solve the space issue. 100% want good schools. 90% want better HS fields. 70+% hate the way the WSB conducts the business of creating, packaging, and selling large capital projects. High school project was the same!

My ask: Outsource this completely to a 3rd party. WSB struck out twice on implementing large CIP projects. Have professionals run this.....

It seems like everything at Shaw's now costs a buck more, and the economy really sucks. Despite that uncertainty, I'd vote for more school space if we all agree with the solution before the warrant is created. I'd vote for it even though my kids will be going to a private high school. I believe good schools benefits us all!

I am personally close enough to the situation to tell you that teachers are EMOTIONALLY DISTRAUGHT that the town expenditures for the "toys" passed with ease but their very reasonable contract was voted down. (A contract that was hard-negotiated with the same WSB that so many seem to despise-- the teachers are not the same thing as the school board, people!). It really is a slap to the face, and a damned shame, regardless of the voter "logic" behind it.

@Glenn W, I agree w/you fully.
So embarrassed to be lumped into a population that didn't support the teachers or the budget. Used to hold my head high when I said I was from Windham.

Like a baby...........

Democracy in action. Nite Nite!

I would like to thank you for such a beautiful stance. It is very tiring reading finger pointing, name calling and all the other derogatory comments going in both directions. We all need to work together and as noted above and teach our children how to cohesively come to solutions rather than belittle and blame. Would you let your children say even a portion of the rude comments stated in these blogs to their peers, strangers and their educators?

Thank you! It is teachers like you that have helped my 3 wonderful girls grow into incredible young adults. It is a shame that the politics of finance will prevent you from getting a little more of what you so richly deserve. I hope that the voters realize how lucky they are to have such dedicated professionals teaching in our schools. Ultimately it will be their children that care for them and support them in their old age and I hope they don't live to regret their decisions today. Our country is 7th in literacy, 22nd in Science and 27th in Math. The first step in fixing a problem is realizing we have one and I don't believe the voters have reached that realization yet. I hope they do before it is too late.

Thank you for your service, and continued support. I know that educators in Texas are faced with the same conditions and glue, paper, markers problem. Today is the first day of finding a positive route to the best education for our children.

Were your doing as well as you say you are......please feel free to write a check out for the amount of all your unneeded portfolio dividends to the Windham School System. By the way you're probably one of the few people I've met who probably checks that box on your Federal Tax Return every year that says you'd be happy to pay more than your normal share of Federal Income Tax. Just checking.....you do actually send an extra check don't you?

What? Perhaps you are content to express yourself with all the skill of a fourth-grader but I'd prefer that my children receive a quality education. This is one reason I'm sorely disappointed in the results of this election.

My comment was sarcastic, intended to convey the irony in someone paying $1,000 for coffee (Starbucks five times a week for 48 weeks) but refusing to pay a fraction of that for quality facilities and educators.

As for checking "that box on your Federal Tax Return every year that says you'd be happy to pay more than your normal share", are you referring to the Presidential Election fund? That's the only "box" I'm aware of which allows taxpayers to "pay more than your normal share". Incidentally, the amount elected by that option is $3. If you are complaining about the option to pay an additional $3 to help offset the costs of a presidential election, I'm afraid I can't help you.

So......then you're not willing to write a check out for the amount of all your un-needed portfolio dividends and donate them to the Windham School System? Let’s just agree that in this economy some of our Windham family’s might be doing a little better than others. Those of us, who don’t have unneeded dividend checks coming in, might be working a little harder to cover our household’s day to day living expenses. Glad to hear you’re doing as well as you are.

Unfortunately, due to WSB and WEA actions alike, teachers are stuck in the middle. And they are the most affected by this. Truly unfair!

@Celia
Think you can accept some of the blame yourself. Always on the public boards spreading your negativity and cynicism. Take, take, take from a system and offer negative bashing in return. Thanks for nothing.

No 012017TPP you won't wake up and find the "free" new school option you and other no voters believe exist.

You'll take your tax savings and drop them off at Dunkin Donuts, just like the other "fiscally" responsible citizens that voted down the school, contracts and budget.

You'll still need to chip in a little more because your daily savings won't entirely pay for your coffee.

@Disbelief, Who said anything about free? How about the new developments in town pay their fair share with appropriately calculated impact fees? How about we plan for capital improvement needs by calculating that into impact fees? Windham has NEVER included future development costs into their impact fees thus disproportionately shifting capital improvement costs necessitated by those new developments to those already living here. There is a term for new people who come to town and do not pay their fair share and are looking for a free ride; it is called carpetbagger.

Ask our town leadership why impact fees have never been calculated to include future capital improvement projects as afforded under NH state law; ask them why they never planned for the growth they knew was coming.

Wrong. This is about voters tired of not being listened to by the School Board. Not too long ago, Windham rubber stamped everything on the School side. Everything. And then Anderson decided he no longer cared what the voters thought (think colors and mascot). The entire Board must go. Immediately. Only then can we begin to fix the underlying problems on the School side. SCUBA tanks and Dump trucks get approved on the Town side. Take a moment and think about why that is.

Publius, could you take a moment and enlighten me as to why SCUBA tanks and dump trucks are approved but our teachers aren't compensated fairly?

Also, it was momentarily interesting when Pink Floyd did it 20 years ago but that time has long since passed...

Problem is, with this "everyone must go", "vote NO on everything" backlash you just may have overplayed your hand. But I'm sure a new guard can straighten all of this out, within a decade or two....

Publius. And I am taking my football and going home too. We pay for a damn dump truck yet kick our teachers and kids in the face by rejecting the contract and the budget. Such a collective fit is disgusting and indefensible. The people voted the school board in didn't they. They are not appointed last time I checked. A group of responsible and mature people would have restricted their voting message to the darn school. As I said these results in total are indefensible.

Who are you blaming for tonight's results on the School side? The voters? Dig a bit deeper. THE SAME VOTERS VOTE ON THE SCHOOL SIDE AND THE TOWN SIDE. What is it about the School side that has so pissed off the voters? Could it be they have reached the breaking point because the School Board presented the new school concept two years in a row after a sound defeat last year? Hopefully this is rock bottom.

@JSEV,
Actually if you look at you are incorrect. I am not a New school proponent if you follow my comments here. But I do realize that renovations/build and capacity has to be added to fulfill the needs of the town for the next 15-20 years (until built out). Having said that, my observation when I went to vote was 'nervousness' as there seemed to be more "young people" with children than "old people"....to the point that I though the new building would pass. And the population is much more 'educated' and 'younger' in family composition than 10-15-20 years ago. (older parents, with young kids so I don't know if there is a term for that).

Someone made the statement that I know your kids have graduated all I ask is that you provide an environment as good as your kids. What they are losing sight of is the fact that the environment today is similar or better than when my kids went through the lower grades. This was BEFORE the additions to WCS and WMS.

Believe it or not, the 'new school proposal' or the 'additions proposal' will happen and people will vote for one or the other....but we are not 166-199% over capacity and going to lose accreditation. And for some, it is the complete 20 year picture and the steps to get there.

What is sad is the teachers contract - go to the WINS sight how much education was going on there on that topic?

We collectively took the eye off the ball and what holds the school system together.

Sorry but only 37% of the registered voters cast their ballots and 35% of them voted for Article 2 so the reality is 25% of my neighbors sent a message. The other 75% either voted for it or didn't vote at all. I do agree with your belief that Mr. Sinabaldi will be an asset to the school board and help us find a reasonable answer to this crisis.

I get it, I will need to be the one who moves if a quality education for my children matters.

It's not just the new school, i think we can probably survive the overcrowding and lacking curriculum, but to slap the teachers in the face and not pass the budget is inexcusable.

Yes, education matters or maybe in Windham it doesn't. I'm sure Mr. Senibaldi is smart and I appreciate his contribution and enthusiasm to help. But the solution he proposes is not well thought out and does not save any money over the next decade. It only defers action to a time when we might not have historically low bond rates and we will have suffered through the problem longer than needed.

We will pay the same, get less and won't get anytime soon.

That doesn't seem like an educated or smart decision to me.

The town has spoken, I just think it is short sighted, problematic and will cost much more in the long run, but certainly their right. Just like it is Pelham's right.

Get it?

Disbelief - perhaps tonight's result had nothing to do with money.

Comes right back to the "got to have vs. the want to have" principle. Problem is that nobody in town stood up to these equipment requests and said we don't need them right now. I can't say that anybody I've talked to in Town actually believed that we NEEDED these new toys. I would have far preferred to have spent the several hundred thousand dollars these new Toys cost us on our school system. All of these expenditures fall right into that frivolous spending bucket, and we can thank our Town Manager for agreeing to these requests and allowing them to be presented on the ballet. I wonder what his household budget looks like? He must have one of those Obama money printing presses in his basement.

> It is a shame that the voters seem to have lumped all the school ballot items together and refused to give the teachers what they deserve. I think that was a big mistake.

Understatement of the night but nonetheless a good observation. From the official vote totals I do see that approximately 450 voters were able to differentiate Article 2 from Article 3 and I do give those people credit, for at least thinking in an independent manner (no matter what you thought of Article 2).

We have to take care of our teachers!

Sad, isn't it. But it is what it is because at the end of the day, all we have is our vote.

It is sad, the attitude of "When not IF" and a complete lack of listening to people in this town and belittling and marginalizing them at meetings is to blame here. This should not have been a shock to anyone, there should have been no gasps as the results were read, this is exactly what this type of leadership gets, whether it be the WSB the Selectmen or the Planning board; we have failed leadership, if we didn't this mess would not be here.

Ask all of our town leadership why impact fees do not include cost calculations of our capital improvement needs. Ask them why they never did their jobs as laid out in town documentation and under NH State law.

Didn't you expand your business in Windham with help from federal grants?

Jane A, as one who had a business employing over 40 people (located in Salem because space in Windham was too expensive), I don't know anyone who expanded their business with a govenrment grant. I have heard stories, just don't know any personally. Most of us expanded by depriving/defering our families of any luxuries until we could afford it. My business was high tech, but my experience relates to contractors, service providers, investment firms, and many more. "You didn't build that..." doesn't apply here in Windham.

Well said Debbie, I completely agree with you. Remember the first Windham High School design proposal? I fondly referred to it as the Star Fish design, talk about impractical. The then WSB and its building committee smartened up and helped to spearhead the construction of the award winning Taj Mahal we now have up on top of the rocky knob. As beautify as our HS is, just think about the number of additional classrooms that were sacrificed to make room for and pay for our imported marble tiled vaulted entry foyer. But then again it’s for the children. Or was it for our own bragging rights?????
I went to an elementary school, middle school and high school that were rectangular multi-story brick buildings. I applied myself to my studies, attained very respectable grades and paid my own way through a well know Boston Engineering Collage (no federal handouts, just paid for by my own sweet equity).
When I see the WSB come up with a Middle School expansion plan what is fiscally conservative and is TRULY focused on our children’s educational needs (instead of trying to win another architectural award) then I’ll gladly vote for it.
Perhaps we could look to some of our surrounding towns, and duplicate the merged Middle School/High School concepts that they have so successfully built. (Bedford, Epping, etc..)

Hey Black Jack, have a look into impact fees and how they are calculated; or don't if you really do not want to get heated at the way our town is being run.

When you were a kid... seriously they sent like 50 kids to St Mathews. And seriously at that time the town was so concerned with overcrowding of a relatively small number of children that they bused them somewhere else and paid through the nose. We are talking already 700+ kids with another 500 on the way into Windham in the next 10-20 years. And yes I use 700+ because I actually did the calcs myself and state standards do not allow closets and portable to be considered in the capacity numbers. If you want to use 500 currently fine. Where do you suggest we put those extra 1000 children? Do you have a plan?

Keleigh,
I'd redo your math. Your statements/numbers don't comply0 (or over comply depending on how you look at it with state standards. Additionally if you look at actual enrollments and 'rollback' additions put on WMS and WCS around 2000 you will find that we were in a similar situation if not worse than today so some of what Jack is saying is valid.

Ok I will simplify... with portables we are currently 500 kids over for capacity in grades 1-8 (without portable we are 700 over). There are 400-500 house plots left in Windham with projected 0.8 kids per household moving in as these houses get built. 0.8*500=400. 500+400=900 or 700+400=1100. Split the difference =1000 kids over capacity going forward.

@Keleigh McAllister, I think more homes could be built when you consider that some of those lots could actually be duplex or workforce housing in design and actually have a higher population density than the current residential standard here in Windham. Which is EXACTLY why our impact fees should be calculated to account for not only future capital projects, which they never have, AND be proportionately applied to each new development based on that development's proportional impact on capital improvement needs. But that is not what the brain trust that is in Windham leadership even understands let alone does.

Keleigh, 2 parts to this - the 700 figure.

I understand that view, believe one of the problem/faults was promoting the 700 figure without truly educating on the logistics to arrive at that number and THEN coming up with a plan (proposed school) that did not use the same parameters used to derive the 700. The other part is it is very difficult to convince people of some of these initiatives. I will first tell you I believe in the initiatives, but disagree with the FUD that was being spread. Why is it difficult?

I know there are many that have the viewpoint - "all you are asking is for the same 'good education' that 'your children had'." I hate to tell you but my children were instructed from carts, were in classes larger than those from the capacity studies. But, you would never know that from anything presented in the last 2 years. BTW all my children went on to good college educations, have very good paying jobs including teaching.

So how do you think my view point is. Especially when I have 2 teachers in the family and ask questions like - what is your class size, do you have art/music on a cart, how is health taught, do you have an assistant in your classroom.

They have worked/do work in a stable school system preventing 'down sizing'. - answers 23 (low elementary grade), yes, in the classroom, no/on <specific day> (depending on who I ask).

People learn from experiences in life and regardless of accuracy - this didn't equate to people at some level.

I do agree with the wolfman that we should revisit impact fees, but believe that we are 'over capacity' so the horse is somewhat out of the barn. However I want to point out that if the .8 students per 'new house start' is used across "all housing in Windham" we are in a LOT of trouble as this will be about 1300 students over any projection that I've seen. What we have to come up with is a solution that provides the capacity/initiatives but provides a housing environment that MINIMALLY neutralizes the impact of students on real estate transfers. One way of doing this is providing an environment where 'empty nesters' really want to stay.

I can tell you I read the inspiring comment from a teacher above. Although I've donated in the past in another ways and not much since my children have graduated. She is personally getting some funding from our family. Thank you for your work.

Jim, if you're interested, so are many other people. Let me know and we'll see what we can get started. I'll bet we could do it.

Dave, et al
Perhaps we can help through the PTA. Feel free to contact me. Just google Jim Coburn or through Facebook.com/jim.coburn.50

Actually, Kyle, Mr. Murphy is returning to his home district--something he planned to do for a number of years. The opportunity arose sooner than he expected and frankly he was pretty troubled by the decision. Do you have any factual basis for your assessment that Tom is "quite weak as an administrator"? Also, I can't identify a position in your comment. You claim that Tom knows the "inside of the big expensive school is of poor quality", implying that he's leaving because the facility is sub-standard. In your next sentence, though, you claim that Tom is "quite weak". These two seem unrelated at best.

Please do not use the Patch as a pulpit for adult bullying.

Windham already has a Rock-Star; his name is Sully Erna.

You're right

Ha, now that was funny!

Nickjo

So sorry for your loss...How could possibly think that the plan would pass.. It was crushed..... Dont blame me ...blame the people who put together a plan that was rediculous... Your kids are not suffering stop being so dramatic...

I know what will be money well spent... I will pay out of pocket for the moving van if you move out of Windham.. Stop complaining ,,its sickening... The football field impacts such a small % of the people of Windham... You have to think what is best for everyone in Windham not just the few parents that have to bring lawn chairs to a game instead of sitting in stands...If anybody falls down that hill hopefully it will knock some sense into them .....

It is better than average. I suspect smaller schools cost more than large schools. Pinkerton Academy in Derry has a class size of 28 students per class, starts at 7:15, until 2:30. Faculty is ~280, with 3060 students, Student to teacher ratio is ~12:1. Campus is 170 acres. Tuition for regular education is $10,292.49. ...and they have pretty good ball fields. They follow a zero-based budget process. Union Leader 11/27/12

Kickjo,

If you could point me to where we spend $50K on re-sodding in the budget i'd appreciate it. You do realize that you will have to show a cost or benefit to overcome a figure larger than that to "turf a field". I'm not against it, but it is odd that people seem to think if you "turf it" everything is free and it lasts forever.

The most I could find was $16k for all field maintenance.

What I find odd is that my own experience has been quite the opposite. You've never attended a football game outside Windham on grass. Every high school football game I attend is on grass.

The local high school where I grew up and the one that I attended both don't have turf fields...despite having/playing the sport since before 1900. Both schools are larger than Windham and in reality have much more money than this town to "invest". Oh btw each of them won the state 'super bowl' last year.

So since it will have lighting/stands I would have vote for it....and it would take a long time before you can justify another turf field.

I would prefer that it was on the hill with a new track and just leave the current field as a practice field. Heck let the Windham Wolverines start fundraising to help donate for the turfing that (practice) field...surely the will be paying a good amount more to be playing on a turf field. Think of it as 'free field rental for perpetuity'.

But, where I believe we NEED additional capacity at the schools this is a WANT in my eyes.

While most think "friday night football" with the lighting. It really comes down to 'how many times can this field be used during the year' to justify the huge cost. If those lights are only used for night football games and not 2-3 practices a day and 'rentals' for other sports/teams then it really isn't possible to justify the cost. (stands needed for any event/rental). So this is the key component to this.

I agree with you - as I believe with the schools "once we spend $30M it will be a long time before we spend significantly again" (and leave GBS, etc in same state). Once this field is 'turfed' I don't think there will be a track nor another stadium in this town for as long as I'm here. I'm of the mindset that a proper proposal should be put on the table, justified on its own and voted on ... on its own.

The 'rental' part will be interesting as well as practice schedules. What will happen is that some teams will end up rotating or end up in a fixed 'late practice' slot and others that probably use the field for "free" will/should end up paying for use. Last
coaching staffs will have to evaluate the lost art of "turf management" during practice times...meaning not overusing sections of the field. Where you end up with dirt, broken down grass today...you could end up with expensive turf breakdown tomorrow. The last comments are from conversations with 2 AD's one at end of life on a turf field and another justifying the addition. (both public institutions)

Nickjo, Please don't go down the liability path. This most likely will result in the removal of sports from the program as opposed to cost justifying better facilities.

I would not take heart in the $50,000 costs and at the same time realize that $50,000 per year is not that much when looking at spending $700-900k on a synthetic surface that needs yearly maintenance itself and needs to be replaced after 20 years. Having said that, the problem seems to be trying to appease the need for multiple uses of a single field on a daily basis during the school year...so if it can be used 3 times a day every school day...it most likely can be cost justified.

The other part of this:

1. Don't bank on "$ from chamionship games" (even though you would have to sell more hotdogs than you can imagine). The NHIAA has been trying to move all chamionship games to a neutral site.

2. Don't bank on making money on rental to 'public entities' - Manchester case in point has turf fields that were not used last year since their charge back ($1k??) was too high in comparison to the 'competition' (other turf alternatives in the state). There was an article on how expensive the electric bill for the lights and the reason for the chargeback.

Rolling this back into overall costs, we probably should factor in the cost of lighting this field for X hours a day.