School district initiatives are needed

To the editor,

I’m writing in response to Jameson Davis’ full-page resignation letter in the recent Post. I respect her decision. Having known many school board members over the years, I know it’s not an easy job. I thank her for her service and I honestly wish her well. But in her resignation letter she says that the “district is more concerned with DEI than with traditional education.”

I’m not entirely sure what she means by “traditional education” but putting that aside for the moment, I’d like to point out that the DEI initiatives were implemented after a string of racist and other hate-based incidents involving students, a (now former) teacher, some parents, and, most recently, one of Ms. Davis’ (now former) fellow board members.

The point of many of these DEI initiatives is to try to combat this kind of behavior. While I’m sure not all DEI initiatives are perfect — and some may be seriously flawed — it seems to me that they, or something like them, is certainly needed given the district’s recent history. I keep hearing about people being “anti-DEI.” But DEI stands for “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” So I can’t help but wonder, if you’re anti-DEI, then what exactly are you in favor of?

Ian Durham
Kennebunk

Time to listen to one another

To the editor,

I am writing in response to Jameson Davis’s resignation letter from the RSU 21 board, published in last week’s Kennebunk Post.

I find it sad that good people like Ms. Davis volunteer their valuable time and resources to take on a corrupt system – and are met with bullying, stonewalling, and name calling. While there are many, many wonderful teachers out there, our government-run education system has been hijacked by extremists, who push radical theories about race, gender and sexuality while ignoring parents’ rights.

Children are being led to believe society groups them as either victims or oppressors, which has harmful effects on a child’s sense of self-worth. All of this while the percentage of elementary and middle school children reading at grade-level proficiency is less than 30 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Bullying students, teachers, parents, and school board members does nothing to improve this system – it is outrageous and destructive. It is time we listen to one another, especially to thoughtful and open-minded people like Ms. Davis.

Christine Savage

Kennebunkport

Ad is a disservice to voters

To the editor,

Disdainful? Back-handed? Discourteous? Just plain obvious? This is some of what came to mind after reading Jameson Davis’s expensive resignation ad in the Post last week. With terms and wording thrown around as if extracted straight from the extremist group Moms For Liberty playbook, this ad serves not so much as a resignation, but ultimately a disservice to the voters of Kennebunkport.

The author’s father, Tim Spang, ran for Kennebunkport’s open RSU21 board seat and lost. Now, with this resignation, a seat opens on the board, a seat that gets filled by the town’s select board for the remainder of her term rather than by election. How convenient. It seems to me this is a back-door way to circumvent the system and I would have a hard time believing it wasn’t Plan B after he lost the election.

I hope there are others in Kennebunkport interested and willing to put their name in for this empty seat on the RSU 21 board, to serve the remaining two years of the three-year term. We need to show that it can’t be that easy to achieve the opposite for which the town voted.

Leslie Trentalange

Kennebunk

Appreciate efforts of board, administration

To the editor,

Last week a member of the RSU 21 School Board resigned. In the process, they made a series of vile and unfounded accusations about sitting school board members and the administration. Members of the RSU 21 School Board consistently demonstrate commitment to the position they were elected to by their constituents. They make evident their comprehension of the seriousness of that responsibility by their actions to include rational and informed participation
in: school board meetings, school board committee meetings, research, document drafting and review, listening, working with administration, and thoughtful decision making.

We are fortunate, indeed, to have members with strong and diverse talents, as well as integrity. All school board meetings and committee meetings are open to the public, live-streamed, and archived for viewing by anyone who wishes. Meeting minutes, policies, and other significant documents are all available to the public.

The RSU 21 School Board’s focus is to make public education in our three towns strong and resilient – that is traditional education. Our school board reliably makes decisions to create an environment where every student feels supported, educated, and loved, and has the opportunity to flourish.

I appreciate members of the RSU 21 School Board and the RSU 21 administration for their diligence and dedication to the students of our district.

Marie Louise St. Onge
Kennebunk

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