Parents, teachers urge Bridgewater-Raynham leaders to invest in classrooms, criticize reliance on technology
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Summary
Public commenters and an educator told the school committee the district is "struggling," urged more local funding and criticized proposals to rely on AI and technology; one educator said she is considering not sending her child to the district unless conditions improve.
Several parents and educators used the public comment period to press the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School Committee for more funding and to criticize perceived declines in classroom quality.
An unidentified commenter opened saying the district is "struggling" and argued that national and state leaders do not sufficiently value public education, urging electing leaders who would fund schools rather than send their own children to private schools. The speaker said local taxpayers carry the burden when federal and state funds fall short and estimated paying roughly $1,200 a month in property taxes that support schools and town services.
Ashley Mallard, an educator from Grange Park, described classroom pressures including large class sizes and rising demands to use technology; she cited data she said showed the current generation performing lower than the previous generation and raised concerns about proposals to use AI to supplement instruction. Mallard also cited handout figures for tuition sent out of district for school choice (~$1,100,000) and charter tuition (~$800,000) and said she was considering not sending her child to the district if conditions did not improve: "I'm going to do my job, and I'm going to do it the best I can... I am considering not sending my own child to this school district."
State Representative Dennis Gallagher used his three-minute public comment to tell residents the House 2 budget was still a working document, expressed disappointment with Chapter 70 and transportation reimbursement numbers shown on the cherry sheet, and encouraged residents to engage with Ways and Means and DESE. Gallagher noted the sending tuition figure on the cherry sheet was about $430,000 for the district.
Speakers generally urged collaboration between town and school leadership. Mark Lindy, identifying himself as a district council member, said the town council is not the committee's enemy and emphasized the need to balance services such as police, fire and senior services while supporting schools.
The comments set a public tone of urgency and concern ahead of the committee's budget presentations and the UMass review deliverables that officials said would be shared with the community.