We watched the community rally years ago for turf fields in our town, hosting Town Meetings that lasted into the wee hours. That was a topic that many stood behind and felt strongly about.
Imagine now, we are hearing about the SPED cuts in our town, the town we all brag about on social media for being stellar, #1, and the perfect place to come raise your family.
I am hoping that the topic of this post is something everyone has heard about by now, whether or not your child(ren) are a part of the SpecEd or General Ed population. I urge my fellow residents to educate themselves on this, sign the petition, and attend the next meeting.
This is about cutting the physical, occupational and speech therapy services in our schools.
>> RELATED: Letter to the Editor: Stop SPED Cuts
I have two children in the General Ed population but feel passionately about why making these cuts would be a poor choice for our town. I have many friends who are SpecEd teachers, both in Hopkinton and outside. They chose this career path for a reason, much like many of us chose ours; They enjoy it. Teachers have a heart and a passion for helping our children, attending to them to ensure they receive the stellar education that we all know Hopkinton has to offer.
I also see friends of mine in tears about their child, trying to get the correct diagnosis, the proper plans in place, the communication in place, and most of all the proper education that these professional teachers can provide, are licensed for, and have a genuine care for. Cutting these positions will not only effect the SpecEd students but also the General Ed students. Teachers will be asked to do more, which means every student will suffer. Parents who are already in tears, frustrated, and spending countless hours trying to obtain the right information to ensure that their child receives the best education can expect more tears and frustration.
Our town is growing by the day and yet we are looking to cut costs in education? Isn’t this why families move to Hopkinton, and we see houses being built all the time and schools being remodeled to accommodate class size? This just doesn’t add up to me.
I ask you to read up on this topic as it is about to go into final votes in two weeks. Taking away from our students and teachers is not the solution.
Heather Smith, 186 Ash Street
