The Story
People are trying to stomp on our breathing room. How rude!
Rewind
You remember that abutter development? The developers want to put in 120 apartments behind ex-Shorty’s. On top of that, they want to connect to BHS/RAL’s sewer lines to make the project cheaper. Sadly for the school board, this falls under their jurisdiction. But, it’s got to be a step up from the counselor issue, right?
So what?
The board put it to a vote last week. It was 3-1 yes, despite disgruntled town members’ efforts. But, we’ve got to say, we don’t blame the board. The developers will pay for BHS, RAL, MIS, and the superintendent offices to convert to natural gas, and to straighten Chestnut Drive and add sidewalks. And this doesn’t even include impact fees.
Good deal?
Hell yeah. Townspeople didn’t want the school board to pass anything to try and hinder the development. A lot of people do not want it to happen because of traffic, increased taxes, and increased school enrollment. The only valid complaint is traffic－we’ve already debunked the rest. However, if the town approves it, the developers can build the complex without the school’s sewer lines.
In five year old language?
The development can happen with or without the school’s sewer lines. So, might as well accept the benefits, right? Cindy Chagnon even said that converting the three schools from oil to natural gas will save taxpayers money. Save. Who would’ve thought it?
The Runaway
Finally, the issue is off of the school board’s hands. And now they can move on to the more fun things like budgeting. Whoohooo!
What to say…
When you stopped going to football games because we’ve been crushing everyone…
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Because you have nothing to say for yourself. But you missed out on Saturday. If you haven’t heard, our undefeated football team won the state championship. It was by far our closest game of the season－28-14. Though, we do want to point out that Pinkerton was only able to score after our mistakes; Bedford defense, led by Andrew Twite, kept Pinkerton from completing a sustained drive. Not that it matters. We’ve got to say, there were a lot of people rooting for Pinkerton. There was some talk that we wouldn’t be able to handle their defense. Though, if we’ve learned anything this season, it’s that you can’t stop Ryan Toscano, who we’re naming MVP of the game. They gave him the ball to run more times then they have in any other game, and it worked. We knew it all along－we’ve been fangirling him since the beginning. Despite us having the best running back in the state, the Union Leader athlete of the month, and a history making kicker, Pinkerton were still pretty damn cocky. (We call that delusion. Don’t know if it’s treatable). They went as far to tweet that our mascot is stupid. And that’s coming from the astronauts. The astronauts. There’s a reason they shorten it to Astros. That’s an equivalent to having a hamster as your mascot. But it’s fine. They hate us because they ain’t us.
When the suspense of the bullying task force has been killing you…
Finally! Those 90 days are up! So, is bullying gone forever? Not quite. The task force came up with five recommendations for the school board. The first: notify parents in no more than 48 hours. This may seem similar to the policy before, but that said within 48 hours. We feel like there must be a difference, but we don’t know what it is yet. The next four include defining bullying in a way that everyone understands, introducing practices to reduce bullying, putting resource links on the websites, and having an ongoing committee. So don’t worry, the bullying task force is not ending. Yay! We’re going to call this task force a win. At least, we think? We don’t know what exactly they’ve accomplished, but we feel like everyone has gotten a lot closer since then.
When you were wondering why the school didn’t put in AC this past September…
Dang counselor issue! Last week, the school board released how much the whole thing has cost them so far. We don’t even want to tell you. But we will. Because we’re good samaritans. No matter how much it makes us cringe. $272,600.07. Chip McGee (remember him?) was given $157,000. They paid the investigator that looked into Blaney, Mulcahey, and Mattson $12,000. Negotiations with Blaney while she’s been on leave have cost $19,000. And, outrageously, they’ve spent $104.17 on postage. You guys really need to cut back on that. That’s taxpayer money. Over 100 bucks on stamps! It’s outrageous!
Things to Know
We have three days off for Thanksgiving. What else is there to know?