By Barbara Smith,
Blogger and Social Justice Activist,
https://www.facebook.com/HWdemocrats/
A family on my street paid over $900,000 for a house with no garage and a small yard. if I paid almost a million $ … I, too would expect unlimited funding for the schools including turf (not TERF) …. Are these new families the “classists” that Anna is always belittling and accusing to be the moral scum on the planet???
Obviously, parents will be voting for their interests and that interest is the schools until the kids turn 18 and less wealthy families can relocate to an affordable town… At the same time many HW families with the resources have chosen private schools as they watch the culture wars under Coalition control take over the schools to the point where using the term “women” is considered an insult… school rankings slide and Anna Siedzik uses her influence to make parents happy with turf and soccer and a fake social justice political agenda driven by religious fervor and a dark money political lobby….
Do parents even realize that the Hamilton Wenham Human Rights Coalition (HWHRC) is a regional, privately-held, corporate political lobby that is NOT sanctioned by the Town of Hamilton? They present and act as though they are a branch of Hamilton government because they control most town officials. However, they are a political organization that has tricked many people into thinking it is a legitimate Town entity and they have gone to great lengths to hide this from Hamilton citizens. They are NOT working for the best interest of the people of Hamilton. …….. (they answer to god and local religious institutions). Do Hamilton residents know that Anna Siedzik , the chief lobbyist earns income selling low income development that pays no RE taxes because her employer Harborlight Community Partners (a Christian Coalition) is a nonprofit? So- when Anna tells her followers to build , build , build to create housing for homeless families moving in from cities instead of affordable housing for current residents being squeezed out – Anna earns income and taxes rise… anna wants to build regardless of environmental concerns until Hamilton looks like Newburyport… just watch the video. Vote NO, NO , NO on unfettered school funding!
http://hamiltonwenhamliberals.com/../understanding…/
The School Problem in Hamilton/Wenham…..
The District Agreement is so old at 64 years that it is practically dysfunctional…..it’s from 1959!! It does not match up with Mass General State Law (MGL) in many categories. I would preclude all of these Articles until we have some movement in modernizing our ancient, so-last-century, District Agreement…….there are lots of opportunities for Hamilton here…..if we have the right leadership……
Thoughts about the District warrant articles:
Articles 2-5 and 2-6 are companion articles that go together; for technical reasons, these Articles had to be split but they are 2 components that will lead to grants that may free up Hamilton’s land where the Winthrop School is sited.
The Article 2-5, “Schools – reauthorization of Previous Borrowing” is a throw-back to 2020 All Town Meeting (ATM); it would allow a possibility of Hamilton taking back the 14 or so acres that the Town owns, but the Winthrop School sits on it…….Hamilton receives nothing for use of this land by the school district. This Article would open the door to the District consolidating Elementary grades into one school (the Cutler), thus freeing up our precious land across from Patton Park for things like REAL Senior Housing, mixed use/commercial/residential uses that will bring revenue to the Town. This would also enlarge our downtown district by folding it into the commercial zone……This might require a zoning amendment, but we really need to have that land back so Hamilton can use it for the future. This was previously a major initiative on the Financial Committee……and I think that it might be worthwhile to pay for a Feasibility Study that may lead to a construction grant by the State MSBA (MA School Building Authority). Grants are state monies that are given for specific purposes, so it’s our own tax money coming back to us.
Article 2-6, “Schools – Cutler Elementary School Feasibility Study” is part of the funding mechanism in Article 2-5; together, these 2 Articles will provide the District with the initial monies to begin the Feasibility process. Both of these tranches of money could be granted to the District, which means Hamilton/Wenham Schools would be reimbursed by the MSBA. Once a municipality is in the process, the grants are generally disbursed. The FinCom also voted unanimously for this……. David Wanger (former Chair of FinCom) is supporting this…. and he is really smart and knowledgeable ….so I defer to his opinion. Consolidation is more efficient, and getting the land back from the School District is a game-changer for the Town. It’s the only land we have……
Article 3-3, “Schools- Authorization of Stabilization Fund” ……. I see that FinCom has voted unanimously against this Article and for good reason: there is no built-in accountability, and no transparency…..by design. This is why the District Agreement needs to be re-written. This is basically what is known as a “Slush Fund” with no controls. So, definitely vote NO on this one…….it is a recipe for corruption, self-dealing, and there is no transparency. If this passed the political lobby could spend a ton on Anna Siedzik’s “Gender Activism” agenda instead of academics that will move our schools back to top rankings. Vote No to Slush Funds….it is a very very bad practice…….unless strict guardrails are in place and right now, there are no guardrails to protect the taxpayers.