In response to Emily Guerin’s recent article, “Brunswick school struggles without behavioral program”, we implore this community to put proactive programming in place to assist all children from day one, instead of cobbling together service patches when the predictable happens. The budget overruns we have already seen this year are only a fraction of the cost our schools encounter when adequate numbers of trained staff are not provided. We also lose productivity in the classroom and stretch our staff to the point of exhaustion.

We need qualified, full-time behavioral teachers in every school. When a child’s educational support needs are not being met, these children will sometimes be shipped out of Brunswick to attend a private school at great cost to the district. Wouldn’t it be more cost effective and better for these children to remain supported in their community schools?

When we mainstream children with special needs in regular education classrooms and do not give them the support they need to be successful, the ensuing frustration often boils over into behavioral problems. When children with disabilities have symptoms, which manifest in behavior, they deserve better; and so do the other children trying to learn in the classroom and the teachers that are trying to teach them.

We want to be part of the solution and would welcome the opportunity to partner with the district to find creative answers to these vexing problems.

Shannon Coray, Chesley Flotten, Ginger Taylor,
Emily Umbriaco and Harmony Bisson
Brunswick