Strong support for Dover school budget

DOVER — The council chambers and the adjoining conference room were a sea of red and nearing capacity well before the City Council meeting began at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

They were all there for the same reason: to urge the council during a public hearing to pass the $63.9 million budget the School Board ratified in February.

But many of those who spoke — including staff at the city’s public schools who live in Dover, parents of students in the schools and community members — told the council the budget addresses only the most pressing needs of the school district for the coming year. They said there are many more needs in the district and sought for the council to take an in-depth look at the funding challenges of the city's public schools.

Gretchen Lothrop, a second-grade teacher at Woodman Park Elementary School and a Dover resident, spoke of how much teachers use their own money to purchase supplies for the classroom. She said of the 1,000 books in her classroom library, “less than 5 percent have been purchased by the district,” she said.

One of the items included in the school budget is funding for a second school counselor at Horne Street Elementary School. Kaitlyn Geary, a Dover resident and the sole school counselor at the school, told the council the state average for a student-to-counselor ratio is 227 to 1; at Horne Street it is 472 to 1. She said mental health needs to be a priority, and she is concerned about students' mental health needs not being addressed.

Geary noted she has done numerous suicide assessments this year for the young students and reminded the council that two students in the district have died from suicide in the past couple of years. “These feelings of hopelessness don’t come out of nowhere,” Geary said. “Having mental health staff is key to delivering this support. Please consider the immediate needs of the students in our school. It may just save a life.”

Lisa Dillingham, a middle school science teacher and president of the Dover Teachers’ Union, told the council that supplies are running low and daily there are students are asking for a pencil, adding it's not uncommon for students to share pencils. “We can’t even provide basic necessities for our students to learn,” she said.

The council listened intently as 25 people spoke for more than an hour at the beginning of the meeting on Wednesday. Ward one councilor Michelle Muffett-Lipinski said later in the meeting that she appreciated the turnout and the discussion. “It’s been such a respectful conversation,” she said about the school budget process this year. She said the council might want to reexamine the tax cap and why it’s there.

Editor's note: Article updated to correct what subject Lisa Dillingham teaches.