Letters to the Editor

Support the Override

Dear Editor,

As elected representatives of the parent/teacher organizations for The Gorman-Fort Banks School, The Arthur T. Cummings School, Winthrop Middle School and Winthrop High School, we are writing to encourage our fellow citizens to vote yes on Question 6 this November 5th in support of the proposition 2.5 override to fund our schools.

We believe strongly that the character of a community is determined by how it cares and provides for its children, and that Winthrop’s students deserve the best and most rigorous education we can give them. This is not only to prepare them to one day enter the workforce, but to help them become well-rounded, skilled, and engaged members of our  community. As organizations that partner with our teachers, we see first-hand the skill, passion, and dedication of our public school teachers and staff. We also see the struggle that teachers and administrators have to provide and maintain even some of the most basic services that we were afforded as school-age children. We strive to provide them with a work environment that offers stability and potential for long-term growth and allows them to continue returning to educate in our town year after year.

The consequences of not passing this override can’t be overstated. Cuts to class offerings, loss of staff, increased class sizes, inability to upgrade and replace outdated technology and instructional materials, loss of outside class time activities (the arts, clubs, sports), new and increased user fees for those activities, and increases in pre-k tuition will have a severely negative impact on our students and their families. This funding is vital for our schools, and maintaining the “status quo” is impossible without it. Our administration has exhausted the extra revenue sources available, and because of the end of COVID-era federal funding programs, coupled with a 43% increase in costs of supplies, capital costs and expenses, out-of-district tuition, and transportation in the 15 years since our last override, we now face a $3.5 million shortfall for the next school year without increased funding. 

Engaged, active students and high-quality schools are good for our community. Our students represent the future healthcare professionals, pharmacists, electricians, plumbers, librarians, and teachers who will be an integral part of our society and the ones taking care of all of us for years to come. In addition to enriching our youth, the district’s rating affects the value of our homes. Good schools improve property value, and help keep families in Winthrop. The same families that will take pride and work to ensure the success of the community that has decidedly shown its support in them. 

Please vote yes on Question 6 on November 5th, for our children, for our town, for our future.

Signed,

The Executive Boards of the Winthrop Public Schools parent/teacher organizations

Embracing a Collaborative Future for Winthrop

Dear Editor,

Winthrop Working Together was founded in the spring of 2024 by residents with a common desire to collaborate, share ideas, and build conversation towards a vibrant and sustainable future for Winthrop.  We aim to create opportunities for people in Winthrop to access resources and information about our most pressing collective issues and to work together to address them.

As founding members of Winthrop Working Together, we are dedicated to fostering a community that is compassionate, inclusive, and pragmatic in addressing the challenges our town faces. Winthrop has a rich history, with families who have deep roots here, and it continues to be enriched by new families making their homes among us. Our town has always been a place where middle- and working-class families can thrive in a small-town within easy reach of Boston.  We are committed to preserving this unique quality of life for all.

We believe in being law-abiding citizens and good partners to our neighboring communities and to  the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In this spirit, we  support compliance with state laws such as the MBTA Communities Act. Legal challenges to  this law are unlikely to succeed and come at great expense to the municipalities pursuing them. Failing to comply will, at best, result in lost eligibility for critical grant funding – particularly for climate resilience – that our town needs while racking up costly legal bills for ourselves, the taxpayers.

At a time when our public schools are facing a $3.5 million cut if we fail to pass a 2.5% property tax override in November, our low lying neighborhoods suffer from persistent coastal flooding, and our public safety buildings need a debt exclusion to continue operating safely, it is irresponsible to put ourselves in any position that would further deteriorate our financial standing or exacerbate our budgetary struggles.

Rather than expending resources on costly legal battles we advocate for compliance with the 3A zoning laws while continuing to proactively improve development outcomes in our town and, in particular, working to develop local measures to increase housing affordability and prevent displacement. We believe the compliance scenario most recently presented during the 8/27 joint Town Council and Planning Board offers an opportunity to maintain our good standing with the state while updating our zoning code to reflect what we have already built or zoned for. 

We invite all residents, including those who may hold differing views, to join in open dialogue through our group, Winthrop Working Together. We can be reached on Facebook or at winthroptogether@gmail.com. While we may disagree on certain issues, we believe there is much more that unites us—such as addressing traffic congestion, flood and climate mitigation, and enhancing (and maintaining) the quality of our schools.

We participate in the initiatives we advocate for and are directly impacted by them. We bring diverse expertise and perspectives to the table, all aimed at benefiting our community.

We encourage our fellow residents and local leaders to engage constructively in shaping the future of Winthrop. Together, we can uphold these qualities that make our town special while embracing opportunities for growth and improvement.

Sincerely,

Brian Martynowicz

Scott Mahoney Wright

Leonora Foley

Cassie Witthaus

Carl Rothenhaus

Representatives of Winthrop Working Together