MyTownMatters Commentary

The other night at Town Meeting there were quite a few speakers who said their piece about various articles.

One of them was a Milton High School senior, Siobhán O’Grady, who spoke in support of the contingent or override budget.

We asked her permission to publish it, not because of the position she took, but because of the courage, intelligence and heart it required of her to compose it and deliver it.

This is what Ms. O’Grady said:

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Thank you Mr. Moderator for granting me permission to speak.

My name is Siobhán O’Grady. I live at 9 Oak Road, and I am a senior at Milton High.

Last month, as my A.P. teachers prepared for the final stretch before the May exams, my English teacher assigned our class an essay to work on “writing for an occasion.” She gave us a few situations to choose among, one of which was pretending that we had been asked to make the opening remarks at Senior Awards Night. The following is an excerpt from my essay:

“This is my fourth Senior Awards Night. I have watched both of my older sisters walk across this same stage to accept generous awards from various organizations and as a member of the student government I have acted as a photographer to document other senior recipients. And while each year I never cease to be amazed by the generosity of our wonderful benefactors, I am also amazed by the wonderful accomplishments Milton High School’s students have achieved over their four years at this school. Milton High’s seniors have been leaders of organizations, captains of sports teams, and officers of clubs and musical groups. But we have also completed at least 140 hours each of community service, raised thousands of dollars for charitable organizations and rallied together to support overrides that have preserved not only our own quality of education but also the education of future generations. We have built a real community in the school, a community that reaches out to those in conditions worse than our own, that comes together to cope with loss and struggle, and that works to make all students feel comfortable and welcome. The daily bulletin is overflowing with reminders for club meetings, always encouraging new members to join, and the end-of-school announcements reinforce just how much is going on in our school.”

After writing my essay I went back to proofread the whole thing. I read and re-read that opening paragraph I just shared with you, and I realized that four years from now, a senior will not be able to write an essay like mine. His or her classmates will not be the officers of clubs and musical groups because if this proposed override foils then next year, all after-school music groups are slated to be cut, and the school will not be able to fund stipends for faculty advisors, thus leaving clubs behind. And who knows if in four years there will be sports to captain, as the gap between costs and funding seems to grow each day.

As student representative to the school committee, I’m well-aware of the very real threat this budget deficit presents, and while I do not represent the view of every Milton High School student, I can say with great confidence that I represent the majority view recognizing the desperate need for an override.

I’ve spent the last two weeks organizing students to participate in literature drops, phone banks, and stand-outs for Invest in Milton, the campaign for a “yes” vote this June. And over these two weeks I’ve had people, adults and children alike, ask me: “Why are you doing this? You aren’t even going to be here next year.” Yes, it’s true. I’m a graduating senior who is going to college seven and a half hours away in Pennsylvania. I won’t be in the classroom with 35 other kids. I won’t find an empty instrument closet, an empty music wing, or an empty locker room after school.

But I also never found those empty spaces over my four years at this school. The fact that I got to play sports, play in my jazz and concert bands, and join multiple clubs leaves me with a social responsibility to make sure these programs are offered to the students who are still at Milton High next year. And it leaves the taxpayers of Milton the same responsibility. Someone did it for you, someone did it for me, and we all owe it to Milton’s current and future youth to support this override.

And if you can’t bring yourself to make a connection to these students then think of what else is at stake:
–Your own safety is at stake with the drastic cuts to fire and police, including a change from 6 patrol cars from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. to 2 patrol cars in that time period,
–Your property value is at stake as the amount you will pay in taxes with an override is miniscule compared to the losses in real estate value due to an unaccredited, undesirable high school, and
–Safe and appealing after-school options for teens are at stake with the loss of athletic team practices and drama and music rehearsals.

So I urge Town Meeting to determine an amount for the override that is both realistic for the needs of the town and reasonable for the wallets of the voters. And I urge voters to read the literature they receive on their front porches, and to listen when we call in the next two weeks. And when you go to the polls in June, think of the students who deserve the best education, and invest in them, in your property, and in your town, by voting YES on the override question. Thank you.