Letter to the editor from former school committee member Terri Cortvriend:

I am writing to express my strong opposition to the recent budgetary action taken by the Portsmouth Town Council to level fund the school department. What was Mr. Plumb thinking when he made the motion to level fund the school department leaving them with a 1.2 million dollar hole to fill? He said he was “thinking about the taxpayers.” But I have to ask: is Mr. Plumb really speaking for all those taxpayers who attend Friday night PHS football games? Is he speaking for the taxpayers who recently attended music concerts at PMS or PHS? Is he speaking for all the taxpaying parents of children in the Portsmouth school district? Is he speaking for you?

Hasn’t Portsmouth already been down this road? Didn’t we just spent $80,000 on a performance audit two years ago that indicated our school district was managed in a very frugal and efficient manner and was underfunded in multiple areas? What has changed since then? The tax cap shrinks each year, the school department has now closed two schools, the last teacher contract had a zero increase exclusive of steps and the state is leaning toward a funding formula that will cut 2.6 million from Portsmouth because we are deemed to be a community that can afford to pay a larger share of our school funding.

Is this Council prepared to return to Court over this arbitrary cut? Does this Council realize that the School Committee has a legal responsibility to provide a basic education to the students of Portsmouth? Why aren’t we having a conversation about what this cut would do to our town’s vision of education? Eighteen months ago I attend the Future Search where it was extremely clear that the community at large wanted rich education opportunities for all our students, parents and non parents alike. Are the taxpayers of Portsmouth willing to pay an additional $120 - $200 per year to continue toward that goal? What is it worth to you?

I understand that the town that is also dealing with a deficit due to a significant reduction in state aid. But given what we know about our school department the move to level fund when no other department was asked to come back with a zero increase budget was incredibly short sited. In my opinion, this was a politically motivated gesture in an anti-tax election year. I urge the council to rethink. I urge the taxpayers of Portsmouth to let our council members know if Mr. Plumb is representing you.

Need more info - go to www.SOSPortsmouth.com
— Terri Cortvriend