The current senior class at Windham High School (WHS) has certainly had the most challenging time of any previous graduating class. I think we can agree that to lose all activities from the spring of your junior year is more than disappointing.
We’d like to thank Ellen Thibodeau for this Op-Ed. If you have an Op-Ed or LTE
you want us to consider, please submit it to Skip@ or steve@granitegrok.com.
The athletes lost their spring seasons, the drama kids lost their spring play, musicians lost their concert, the prom was canceled…the list goes on. One would think that the school administration would bear this in mind for the students returning for their senior year. But let’s take a look at what is going on at WHS.
The fall sports schedule has been abbreviated significantly. For example, the girls’ soccer season has been shortened to 8 games, 4 home and 4 away.
The NHIAA and the Division I Athletic Directors have decided that fans for the away team are forbidden. Keep in mind that you can watch your child play a club sport (or even rec soccer) anywhere in NH, but if your child is on a high school team, you’re out of luck; you are not allowed to go to an away game.
Those who decided that this was such a great idea have forgotten that we could all go to the beach together or even better, we could all go and protest en masse with thousands of others. However, forget standing outside, with plenty of space to avoid human contact, to watch your child play a sport. Does anyone else find this moronic, or am I alone here? We have lost all common sense. Standing outside, in the fresh air, apart from any other human being is verboten if you are not a home team spectator. You cannot make this up.
Where is the school board in this? In fact, where are they with anything? Can they weigh in on anything of substance, or will they let the administration make up all the rules with no one to check them? When does this stop?
As I wrote 3 weeks ago, Salem has all students in grades K-12 back in school. We also know that all parochial schools in New Hampshire are open for full-time face to face instruction for students in grades K-12. Derry and Londonderry schools are open for full-time instruction for grades K-8. How is it that Windham can only accommodate grades K-2 in school on a full-time basis?
Further, has anyone in the administration or on the school board thought to ask someone from Salem (or the Diocese of Manchester) how they accomplished face to face instruction for their students?
Perhaps it’s time to think outside the box, just as teachers in school ask their students to do. Again, the school board initially approved a full-time return to school before they reversed their decision and decided that 50% face to face instruction would suffice for grades 3-12.
As a community, I believe we can do better; we should do better. Our students deserve better. Certainly, they deserve as much as the surrounding towns are providing for their students. For any parent who desires a change to what is happening in our school district, I would encourage you to email the following individuals so that your voice will be heard:
rlanglois@windhamsd.org Richard Langlois, Superintendent
kbecht@windhamsd.org Kori Becht, Assistant Superintendent
ssierpina@windhamsd.org Stephen Sierpina, WHS Principal
bmorrow@windhamsd.org Brenda Morrow, WMS Principal
roconnor@windhamsd.org Rory O’Connor, WCS Principal
chunt@windhamsd.org Christopher Hunt, GBS Principal
dsenibaldi@windhamsd.org Dennis Senibaldi, School Board Member
cfinn@windhamsd.org Cynthia Finn, School Board Member
rbreton@windhamsd.org Rob Breton, School Board Member
sulery@windhamsd.org Shannon Ulery, School Board Member, and Chair
