The Story
Bedford is buckling down to help refugees in Ukraine, in any way possible.
In case you’re unaware…
Unfortunately, times of global unrest can have impacts on what RBD is able to cover. We always try to keep it local for you, and it shows the scale of conflict that an international issue has bearing on our own sleepy town. In the last month, the Eastern European country of Ukraine has been under military invasion from Russia. This has led to thousands of refugees fleeing to Poland and other surrounding areas.
A quick history lesson
In case you haven’t taken IB History I yet (you’re one lucky duck if you haven’t) here’s our version of Crash Course Ukraine (but unfortunately without John Green). During the Cold War from about 1950-2000, Russia was known as the USSR – Union of Soviet Socialist Republics – and was composed of modern day Russia as well as countries including Latvia, Poland, Albania, Burgaria, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia and Ukraine. When the Soviet Union was broken up in late 1991, those states slowly gained independence as their own nations, and all have gained international recognition as sovereign states since. Officially speaking, Ukraine is no more part of Russia than the United States is.
What does this have to do with Bedford?
Apart from being a representation of the struggle between authoritarian and democratic governments, the conflict between Russia and the United States does have direct impacts on Bedford citizens. For one, the sanctions on Russia imposed by the United States have caused gas prices to skyrocket, as Russia is one of the primary suppliers of gasoline for the United States. It’s no wonder our town wants to take action to aid the refugees in Ukraine, who are facing much worse than expensive fuel.
So what are we doing?
Bedford has banded together to show support for those who are affected by the invasion. Two weeks ago there was a protest to show support for the Ukrainians, and opposition to Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade. There was a carpool initiative as well, and many history teachers decided to pause their curriculum in order to discuss the conflict with students.
Anything Else?
Denise Ricciardi, the founder of Bedford Cares, started a drive to fly in resources to refugees in Poland. They are partnering with Mike Fournier to put donation bins in the schools. A list of the things they are collecting in high demand can be found here. Feel free to bring in one item, or twenty. It’s our obligation as privileged Americans to support those who are not as good off.
The Runaway
Ignorance and inaction are privileges we can’t afford to engage.
What to Say…
When you’re looking for some election results analysis…
Scaling down to Bedford, our school and town elections were held at the high school a couple weeks ago and the results are in. The winner of the very contentious 3-year seat on the school board is…(insert drum roll)…Andrea Campbell! She won the seat with a 1539 vote margin and 57% of the overall votes. Just a quick refresher, with 16 years of teaching experience in Bedford, her platform is based on her belief in public education, prioritizing district wide mental health, and working towards a strong comeback from the pandemic. At the school board meeting last Monday, not only did Campbell attend her first school board meeting as a member but the Board also reorganized its Chair and Vice-Chair seats: Bill Foote and Sue Jennato did a little switch-a-roo with Sue becoming the new Chair and Foote the new Vice-Chair. One last special feature of town elections this season is the write-in votes (for those that don’t know, a write-in candidate’s name does not appear on the ballot but gets voted for by voters physically writing in their name). Some nominations worth mentioning are Donald Duck and Ye West for town moderator and Spongebob for school moderator. Could these beloved characters be more worthy of the seats than our dear community members?
When you don’t believe in miracles…
A disappointing end to a great season. In the championship game, the boys hockey team lost 3-0 to Concord last week. Apparently, the bleached blond hair wasn’t enough luck to get the hockey team a win this year. We guess they’re not superstitious, but just a little stitious. With that tragic end, the winter sports season is officially over and spring sports tryouts start this week, so get ready to cheer on lacrosse, track and field, baseball, and softball. We’re looking forward to the new season of spring sports that comes with the warmer weather.
When you’re dying to apply what you learned in Personal Finance…
The district’s operating budget for Fiscal Year 2023 passed in the local election earlier this month. We know we’ve been relatively quiet about it, but we felt the need to focus on more pressing matters recently. And we know there’s only so much budget talk anyone can take. The budget for next year totals at just under $82 million. That’s a big number – roughly $2 million more than this year’s budget. To put it in perspective, owners of a $500,000 home would see a tax increase of about $285 for the year. Some highlights driving this budget increase include HVAC system updates in multiple schools (seems important considering what we just went through with the whole pandemic thing), sprinkler updates (seems important for, say, safety reasons??) a new 3-year BEA contract, and programs & materials throughout the district. All pretty much essentials for the district to continue to thrive. Now we know funding the school district seems like a large bill to pay, but the cost per student in the BSD is significantly lower than most of the peer and surrounding districts. Who woulda thought?
When you haven’t done enough surveys recently…
The district is conducting the 603 Bright Futures Survey with the NH Department of Education. They want to hear from staff families and community members, but apparently not students. RIP student voices. The survey aims to gather feedback about learning, school environment, family and community engagement, and parental involvement in special education.The goal of the survey is to get a read on successes and challenges of this school year and try to improve for next year. Parents can fill out the survey once for each child, including preschoolers and students who attend private schools. Staff members of both public and private schools can also fill out the survey, as well as other community members. Stay tuned for results.
Things to Know
Time to turn in all of your missing assignments…
Quarter 3 ends this Friday, March 25th.
Sharpen those Number 2 pencils…
Juniors take the SAS test on Tuesday and the SATs on Wednesday. So do them a favor, and please be quiet in the gym hallway.