MSAD 75 school board member’s comments offensive, embarrassing
As a resident of Harpswell, a retired teacher, and sponsor of the Civil Rights Team of Mt. Ararat High school for many years, I am very familiar with the students and families of MSAD 75. I am embarrassed and deeply offended by the comments of Eric Lusk at a recent School Board meeting concerning issues related to re-opening the schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
School Board members are elected — if only by 17 write-in votes as was Mr. Lusk (Press Herald/Times Record 2020/04/08) — by the community to ensure that our children are offered the best educational opportunities we can afford, in an environment that is welcoming, nurturing, and enriching. When a Board member, in his role as a representative of the families of the community, uses inflammatory language to refer to a virus-caused disease that already has a name accepted by the scientific community of the world, he is not only demeaning the children and families of our area, but also modeling the use of racist and inflammatory language. Is this the behavior of a person acting in the best interests of all students and families in our community, no matter their race, gender, ethnic origin, or handicapping condition? It is certainly not the role of a School Board member to demean and divide us.
Perhaps you are familiar with the issues of racism at Bangor High School. While it is very disturbing to hear about the use of racist language and innuendo coming from the students, it is even more alarming to witness it coming from a school board member.
The School Board of MSAD75 must act to ensure that its members will never use divisive inflammatory dog whistles in their roles as representatives of all students and families of our community. Those who cannot accept this have no place on our School Board.
Lexine L. Mainwaring,
Harpswell
Trump won’t cede election if he loses
I’m from D.C. but think Dick Polman’s column right on the mark: A businessman should not be president. One thinks to make money by working for himself, the other thinks to work for the country.
The real surprise was that with so much being known, people still voted for Trump. This is because racism is still alive and well; and few of them would ever vote for a woman-and they didn’t.
Trump will pull out all the stops to get re-elected.
In response to Biden’s Vice President, he will find somebody like Ambassador Rice (black, a woman) to run if needed. Or will find a younger white male for his supporters. Or will work on the fringe suburban counties that decide most elections, or, God forbid, start a war, with all it’s powers. He is supporting the reduction in numbers of those who would oppose him.
There is no way this man is going to cede this election. He has done some good along with the bad, and has the support of those who will never read this.
All I can suggest is that both young and old get out and vote. As Maine goes, so goes the nation!
Peter Hutchinson,
Phippsburg and Montgomery County Maryland
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