I am an elementary school teacher and will be voting no on the proposal to build an all-new school. For over 20 years I have been a first- or second-grade classroom teacher in Wellesley and now Sudbury. What makes an elementary school great is strong teachers and dedicated parents. Next comes a good support staff. Way down the list is the physical plant. I have taught in great schools, but never in a classroom as new and as nice as in the main building of Harvard’s existing Hildreth Elementary School (HES).
A new school building is of course nice to have, but at what cost? Our taxes in Harvard are already out of line with other towns. If we drive them up a lot higher by overspending on this school building, will there be enough money left over to fund the teachers and staff? I work in a strong school system and have seen layoffs due to budget constraints.
I also happen to be a member of the Harvard Historical Commission, and so I have been shown many drawings of the proposed new school. Frankly, our current HES is a much more attractive building. The proposed school is not in keeping with our beautiful town center. At our last commission meeting, we voted 6–1 that the school should meet our regulations, and I for one do not think it does.
Daria Swanton
Fairbank Street
