Stacey Brown is Ward 5 City Councilor in Concord.
My statements here are my own and not representative of the City Council’s, but as a taxpayer, mother of two Concord school students, former middle school teacher, and elected official, I feel obligated to learn as much as possible about issues impacting Concord residents.
I am proud to support the Concord Concerned Citizen’s group (CoCoCi) that came together as a result of the school board’s decision to relocate the middle school. CoCoCi members include a proud South End grandmother who personally collected over 500 signatures going door-to-door, an IT professional of 40+ years who built a website to promote transparency of city and school issues, a talented musician who first sounded the call with an online petition, lawyers working pro bono, current and former educators, and many more community members advocating for the environment, a healthy economy, education, and equitable access to resources.
After hearing the concerns of the overwhelming majority of Concord residents, I adamantly oppose the decision to relocate the middle school to Broken Ground. I oppose the use of outdated figures, incomplete plans, and missing infrastructure costs to justify a project the community is against. I oppose clear cutting 23 acres of forest, increasing transportation costs, emissions, local traffic, and ignoring long-established Safe Routes to Schools.
Let’s be clear: no one from CoCoCi testified against Building Aid. One member voiced concerns over an autonomous school district inflating the cost of a middle school to more than twice the amount originally proposed. In fact, Concord School District’s plan is over $100 million more than any other school district on the list for State Building Aid.
School board members who campaigned on a promise of rebuilding trust and transparency have a lot of work to do.CoCoCi is collecting signatures to allow voters to decide school location and land sales, I encourage you to join me in signing.