I understand that the District is facing a budget shortfall due to rising energy costs; however, I feel using elementary school counselors to “fill-in” while reducing the middle school counselor to part-time is not in the best interest of our students.  This decision is troubling for a number of reasons.

First, middle school-age children are at a critical juncture in their lives.  There are a tremendous number of pressures and alternatives facing these teens including peer pressure, the impact of the information age which places the world (good and bad) at their finger tips, family pressures caused by home and economic issues, and the natural process of moving from being a child to being an adult.  Helping our student’s successfully navigate these decisions requires a consistent adult presence in the middle school guidance position.

Second, middle school-age children are underserved with few programs and assets to help them come-of-age by making appropriate and safe “life decisions.”  This is not unique to MSAD 40; recent news articles have highlighted the problem in Portland, Boston, and other major cities.  Building a program and asset base at our middle school requires a consistent vision led by the guidance counselor.

Third, in the last year, a group of volunteers, under the auspices of the Lincoln County Weed and Seed Coalition and Volunteers of America, has worked to develop resources for this age group including mentoring, self-confidence building, and community service projects.  These advances include a new 5-year middle school program grant administered by Youthlinks from Rockland.  The key to this success and the future growth of middle school programs and activities is an active guidance counselor at the Medomak Middle School.

Fourth, our communities face many challenges today.  Each of them places pressure on families.  These pressures will affect every child, as well as their parents.  Children bring these issues to school just as their parents bring them to the workplace.  In business, we have human relations departments to help employees cope and stay focused on the job.  In our schools, this is the role of a strong consistent guidance counselor.  By moving to a “patch-work” approach of middle school guidance resources, we will not help our children cope with these pressures.  It will affect their education because they will not be focusing on their “job,” staying in school and learning.

The Board’s professional advisors, our Superintendent and Middle School Principal, affirmed these issues.  They stated that Board’s plan would reduce the effectiveness of the guidance program and affect the quality of the overall educational environment at our new and enlarged middle school.

Although I strongly oppose the Board’s current middle school counseling plan, I know it is but one of many issues they face in coping with their budget challenge.  Therefore, I encourage the Board to take the current funding issues back to the people.  Do not delay; the Town’s need cost information prior to releasing their tax commitments.  However, time is available.  I hope the Board will re-evaluate their plans and seek guidance from their legislative body, the people.

John Blamey
Waldoboro