I was saddened to read the account of Sanford High School’s proposal to reduce their ballooning budget at the expense of the Alternative Learning Program. Maine towns everywhere can relate to this annual fiscal struggle on behalf of burdened taxpayers.
What troubles me most is that the cut being proposed is for a program that is acknowledged as highly effective — perhaps literally lifesaving — for a considerable percentage of the school’s students. Students and families farthest from opportunity are so often the victims of budget cuts; I believe disproportionately so. Less controversy, fewer letters to the editor, and not as many parents demanding one-on-one time with the superintendent.
In contrast, imagine the hue and cry of the more privileged students and parents that would arise if Sanford High School prosed cutting some of its AP course offerings, a varsity sports team and its coach, or jazz band. In spite of it all, those kids would be OK after such losses.
The kids who lose the personalized and attentive instruction by teachers in the Alternative Learning Program? Perhaps not so much.
Craig Kesselheim
Southwest Harbor
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