Windham Taxpayers

October 31, 2008
Pelham-Windham News

Members of the Windham School Board are standing behind the concept of providing laptops to each student attending the new high school when it begins operations next year.

Following a presentation by Assistant School Superintendent Roxanne Wilson and Information Technology Director Terry Bullard, school board members voted unanimously (5 to 0) to approve the one-to-one initiative being proposed, with the stipulation being made that the cost for the first year of the program is to be covered by money remaining in the furniture, fixture and equipment budget set aside for the construction of Windham High School.

“This initiative will enhance the education of all students who attend Windham High School, not only next year, but into the future,” School Superintendent Frank Bass said. “We are seeking to make our high school more rigorous, meaningful and relevant,” Wilson said, citing how much the world has changed in the last 30 years, moving from a largely industrial society to one which is much more service-oriented. “We need to prepare our students for this future,” Wilson said. “This is our mission.”

The “challenge,” Wilson continued, is to determine how best to assure that Windham High School becomes “that exemplary community,” producing students who can compete not only in a regional workplace, but in the global marketplace in which we now exist. “All instruction must be meaningful,” she said.

Wilson cited a quote by John Dewey, made in 1930, during the Great Depression: “If we teach today, as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.” Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer.

If the one-to-one laptop initiative becomes reality, Wilson said, Windham will be the first public high school in New Hampshire to provide such a program to its entire student body. There are only two private schools in the state which currently provide laptops for every student.

Wilson said the goals which staff and administrators will be striving to achieve at Windham High School include the development of life and career skills, creativity and innovative thought, literacy in both information and technology, and skillfulness in all core subjects, including English, mathematics, history, geography, global awareness and financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial endeavors.

A Twenty-First Century classroom must provide both abundant and readily accessible information to students, Wilson said. It must also be ensured that students are actively engaged in the learning process and that individual course material needs to be integrated with other subjects being taught. “This new generation of students needs to be multi-lingual, cross-culturally competent, technologically fluent, economically engaged, artistically expressive, academic life-long learners and democratic citizens,” Wilson said.

IT Director Bullard reiterated much of what Wilson said. “Students need to have 24-7 access to global information,” Bullard said, and instituting a one-to-one laptop initiative is an excellent way of achieving this goal. In researching other school districts nationwide that have used this idea, it has been shown that students who participate, show greater independence, are more engaged in learning, and are more highly motivated. They also earn higher test scores in all core subjects, Bullard said. “The one-to-one laptop initiative is making a difference in student learning,” she told school board members. “In the next five years, this will be the norm in most schools.”

As for the brand of laptop computer being considered, Bullard said several companies were investigated, but she found that the best system is offered by Apple Computers, specifically the MacBook, which can also use Microsoft Windows programs. “Apple is the leader and innovator in educational technology,” Bullard said. “I feel Apple will meet the one-to-one initiative of Windham High School the best.”

Bullard also said that the high quality hardware produced by Apple is designed for student use and if the Windham School District decides to make that purchase, “it will be an investment that will last long-term.” “It’s a one-stop-shop,” she said, where you can buy all equipment and services from just one vendor.

Bullard said a total of 506 laptops will be required for the first year of the program (teachers and students) for a cost of $642,157. Only freshmen and sophomores will be attending Windham High for the 2009-2010 school year. In years two and three, as more students enter the high school, an additional 455 laptops will be needed to implement the one-to-one program. The total cost of the initiative for the first three years of its operation will be $1,142,556.

The first year, the money for the initiative will come from the high school construction budget (furniture, fixtures and equipment). In subsequent years, the money will either need to be included in the annual operating budget or a lease-purchase agreement will need to be enacted.

School board member Beverly Donovan, who said she is currently working on her own Master’s Degree, remarked on how necessary it is now for students to have adequate technological equipment. School board member Bruce Anderson said it’s been demonstrated that most students tend to take very good care of laptops. “This is their life,” he said. “In today’s world, information can be obtained in a matter of minutes. Students must be able to process this information and evaluate it,” Anderson said.

Bullard said she will continue investigating the best methods by which to achieve the one-to-one laptop initiative endorsed by school board members, and will be providing them with regular updates on the progress being made.

October 24, 2008
Pelham-Windham News

The athletic director for Windham High School has proposed the programs he would like to offer during the first year of the new facility’s operation. Windham High School is scheduled to open for the 2009-2010 school year. In the first year, only freshmen and sophomores will attend the new high school. Juniors and seniors will continue to attend Salem High School under a tuition agreement.

Athletic Director Bill Raycraft met with Windham School Board members on Tuesday, October 7, to present the programs he feels will be important to students when the new high school opens next year. Raycraft, who took on the job of high school athletic director this past July 1, said he based his proposals on the level of participation in area athletic youth organizations, at Windham Middle School and at Salem High School. He also said he based his ideas on athletic programs offered at similar high schools in New Hampshire, as well as a student survey he recently conducted. That survey was provided to students who are currently freshmen at Salem High School and will be sophomores at Windham High next year, as well as eighth graders at Windham Middle School, who will be freshmen at Windham High School in 2009-2010.

Raycraft said he also obtained feedback from other newer area high schools, including Bedford and Bow, as well as Windham’s own high school athletic committee.

The programs Raycraft hopes to develop with Windham High students include both individual and team sports. “There are a wide range of opportunities” he hopes to offer students, Raycraft said.

During the fall next year, Raycraft hopes to offer the following sports to boys: cross-country, football, golf, and soccer. For the girls next fall, he proposes offering cross-country, field hockey, golf, soccer, cheerleading, and volleyball.

Proposed winter sports for 2009-2010 include the following for boys: basketball, indoor track, ice hockey (co-ed), wrestling, gymnastics, swimming and alpine skiing. If approved by the school board, the girls will be offered the following winter sports next year: basketball, indoor track, ice hockey (co-ed) cheerleading, gymnastics, swimming, and alpine skiing.

In the spring of 2010, Raycraft is proposing the following athletic programs for boys: baseball, outdoor track, lacrosse, and tennis. For girls in the spring of 2010, he hopes to be able to offer softball, outdoor track, lacrosse, and tennis.

Raycraft is recommending that during the first year of operation Windham High School enter the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association (NHIAA) with all programs listed as “sub-varsity. “ “This will allow Windham High School to effectively offer new sports programs at a pace that will properly develop the student athletes using reserve and junior varsity teams,” he said. “Starting with freshmen and sophomores, this will allow our students to participate with opposing players of similar skills and abilities … safely and competitively,” he explained.

Following the initial season of each sport in which Windham High School students participate, Raycraft plans to evaluate each program to determine a recommendation for their status for the following year, based on several criteria, including: available facilities, feasibility, participation level, the safety of participants, the availability of qualified coaches, NHIAA approval, scheduling availability and program sustainability.

It is his goal to move into the varsity level for all sports in the second year of operation, Raycraft said. He also said that it is likely that Windham High School will be listed as Class I, based on projected enrollment numbers. When all four grade levels are in attendance at the new high school, it is anticipated that there will be approximately 700 students.

October 24, 2008
Pelham-Windham News

Windham property owners will be paying higher taxes due to an increase in the 2008 tax rate, which was set by the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Assessment (DRA) earlier this month.

Town Administrator David Sullivan announced the new numbers during the selectmen’s board meeting on Monday, October 20.

According to Sullivan, the 2008 tax rate has been set at $18 per $1,000 of property valuation. This compares with a 2007 tax rate of $16.10, translating into a $1.90 per $1,000 increase over last year’s tax rate.

As for the breakdown on the overall tax rate, the town portion of the 2008 assessment is $3.51 per $1,000 property valuation. The local school portion of the 2008 tax rate is $11.41 per $1,000 property valuation. The State School tax rate for 2008 is $2.20 per $1,000 property valuation. And the county portion of the 2008 tax rate, which saw a slight decrease from last year, is now set at 88 cents per $1,000 property valuation.

Sullivan said that the average home in Windham (approximately $400,000 in value) will see an increased tax burden for 2008 of about $800 over what was paid last year. Based on a $400,000 home, with a tax rate of $18 per $1,000 property valuation, the 2008 tax bill on that property will be about $7,200.

Sullivan said one of the major reasons for the increased tax rate is the fact that there was little increase in revenue this year due largely to the stagnant economy. During 2008, Windham saw only a one percent increase in net revenue. In recent years that increase has been about 4 percent, Sullivan said.

Tax Assessor Rex Norman said that the current equalization rate for Windham is at 105 percent, which indicates that property in Windham is assessed about five percent higher than market value. If the equalization rate were at 100 percent, then the tax assessment and the market value would be the same.

October 21, 2008
Eagle Tribune

WINDHAM — The owner of a typical home in town will see a property tax increase of about $800, or almost 12 percent.

Town Manager Dave Sullivan told the selectmen last night that the state Department of Revenue Administration set the local tax rate at $18 per $1,000 of property valuation compared with the 2007 rate of $16.10.

The increase raised a few eyebrows and drew a few deep breaths when announced to the Board of Selectmen at its meeting.

Sullivan said a small overall gain in assessed valuation, about 1.5 percent, as opposed to the typical increase of about 4 percent, diminished the town’s ability to offset the tax increase.

The school portion of the tax accounted for the largest increase, rising from $9.98 to $11.41. The town rate increased to $3.51 from $3.01 last year.

Meanwhile, the state education property tax rate decreased to $2.20 from last year’s $2.22. And the Rockingham County tax rate dropped a penny to 88 cents.

The town’s median assessment for a home is about $400,000, Sullivan said.

This represents little change from the median assessment two years ago of $404,200.

The state set the town’s rate Friday. Bills are typically due within 30 days of being sent.

No announcement was made on when the bills will be mailed.