A need for common sense
To the editor:
On June 11, we were asked to vote for a school board budget. Voter turnout was very poor. Only 656 voters went out to cast their ballot out of five towns. If you are a concerned citizen and want to voice your opinion on what is being spent, then come out and vote. Apparently not many were.
Castle Hill, Chapman and Mapleton were forced by the school district to work their polls from eight to eight. I don’t believe in Castle Hill’s history have they ever been open from eight to eight, not even for a federal election. Did they really think more people would come to vote because of the longer hours? If so, were they ever wrong! Our busiest time in Castle Hill was from four to six. I don’t believe there was anyone who voted before 3 p.m. that couldn’t have come later. We kept a ledger of how many voters voted at any given hour and believe me, there were hours that we saw no voters at all. Being open from three to eight for a school board budget is enough time for people to cast their ballot and if not, you can always vote an absentee ballot. They can be picked up at any town office.
I’m a ballot clerk for Castle Hill, my sister is the warden and my other sister is a ballot clerk in Chapman, as was our mother and grandmother before us and I don’t mind getting paid for 13 hours of work, getting my lunch and supper. But seriously — 13 hours for 36 voters?
I think if you are concerned you should go to a budget meeting or a school board meeting and once the committee passes the budget so be it. The money spent for voting could be used to save a teacher’s job, and if it hadn’t passed, we would have had to do it all over again. Education is one of the most important things we can give our children, the gift of learning. Support them for a job that gets little thanks and next year go out and vote, be concerned citizens.
If you had no trouble reading and understanding this, one person’s opinion, please thank a teacher.
Sheena McHatten
Castle Hill
