To the Editor:

What's with the fear-mongering by the school department?  

At Tuesday's Budget Committee meeting, they repeatedly used loaded words like "emergency" and "911 calls" and "bomb scare" to scare us into paying for a fancy new phone system. 

How often do life-threatening emergencies actually happen in these schools?

Does each teacher really need a phone in each classroom?

As committee member John Burt pointed out, every student, much less every adult, has a cell phone.

Does every teacher really need a MacBook laptop paid by taxpayers?

Thank you guys for asking the tough questions of the school district folks.  I wanted to stand up and cheer in the Budget Committee meeting when John Hikel asked if new hi-tech phones actually improve educational outcomes.  Well said. 

I wish I had a new laptop.  I wish I had a new digital phone system in my home.  I wish I had a lot of things, but they cost money.  I can't afford all the things I want, much less all the things that a bunch of strangers want, people I don't even know. EVERYBODY needs to cut back.

Thank you, Budget Committee, for doing the right thing to watch out for taxpayers' interest.  We pay the bills, after all.

Regards,

Mark Warden
Goffstown