Oh what a mess! And unfortunately, it is of our own making, and it has the potential to seriously affect Harvard—at least our school system.
I did not attend the June 17 Board of Selectmen meeting. However, several days later I saw a TV replay, and what I saw disturbed me greatly. There, for all to see, was Keith Cheveralls, newly elected School Committee member, at another town body’s meeting, leveling charges against his own committee’s chairman, Stu Sklar. Not very intelligent. Not professional. Not likely to build cohesion and cooperation within the School Committee itself. Now how does that benefit Harvard and our school population?
I won’t go into details of Cheveralls’ complaint. It was not loud and raucus, but I can say, after serving more than 25 years in Harvard in elective office, I have never seen a more petulant, querulous, or nasty performance by one town official toward another. Cheveralls says he was speaking as a “resident,” not an elected official. Hogwash. How does an elected official do this in such a setting? I detected an element of personal animosity toward other School Committee members in Cheveralls’ charges—which I hope is an incorrect assessment on my part. Otherwise, we have a very bad mix here.
Statewide and beyond, Harvard is viewed as a well-run town—honest government, financially sound, development under control, protected open space, and an excellent school system. I am proud of our town. We have an excellent, hard-working School Committee, buttressed by an outstanding school superintendent. I want none of this threatened.
Bill Ashe
Myrick Lane
