Portsmouth Herald
To the Editor:
As a concerned parent, taxpayer, and citizen, I have watched with increasing disappointment as the public discourse on issues related to SAU 16 have become political and divisive – from both sides of the spectrum. If you dare to question the decision-making of the SAU administration or elected officials, you are labeled as anti-school, anti-teacher - or worse. If you express support for the administration or elected officials, you are labeled a mindless sheep, liberal snowflake – or worse.
One reason for this apparent “us versus them” mentality is that, right or wrong, the perception is that those in power have not truly listened to or acknowledged the feedback from concerned parents, coupled with a sense that decisions are being made without transparency. I have personally devoted countless hours to Zoom board meetings this year, often walking away from a four-hour meeting with a sense that important questions go unanswered and key decisio
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EXETER Several area parents have started an online petition calling on the SAU 16 administration to “commit to an action plan” to bring back middle and high school students to in-person learning full-time.
Parents Melissa Hanlon and Susan Shanelaris along with other SAU 16 parents have circulated the Change.org petition that quickly garnered more than 500 signatures.
The petition calls on the administration and the Exeter Region Cooperative School Board to commit to following the state of New Hampshire’s guidelines for reopening schools, as opposed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It also calls on SAU 16 to commit to allowing for 3 feet of indoor social distancing, instead of the CDC recommended 6 feet.