In the March 1 election, we should all support Jamie McCallum and Joanna Doria in the race for Addison Central School Board. In my opinion, closing small rural schools that want to remain open, and not considering the needs of all students, will not advance our students, teachers and communities. Ironically, it’s not even cost-effective in the end, which is supposedly the reason these things are done.

If we close rural schools, we simply increase the pressure on the remaining schools, which will entail more extensive and expensive building and renovation plans and the hiring of more staff to take on the additional burden. It also adds to the time and money spent on transporting our youngest schoolchildren to schools that are far from their homes. That is time lost from learning. Not only that, small towns cannot thrive without accessible primary schools. And, finally, too many resources have been spent on expensive and extensive curricular innovations that help only the most talented students, while leaving the others behind. We need our schools to help all young people flourish.

Our students and teachers have struggled during the pandemic and they need our support. We especially need school board members who think broadly in terms of the needs of all students so that they can succeed, and our communities will be stronger. For these reasons, I strongly support Jamie McCallum and Joanna Doria for school board. Both of them have the background and experience to think broadly about these issues, and that is the kind of thinking we’ll need to improve education in our district.

Ellen Oxfeld

Middlebury