Letter: Rebuild at Rundlett

Published: 12-03-2023 6:00 AM

The Concord School Board will need to weigh in next week about the location of Concord’s new middle school. My hope is that its members will listen carefully to what the residents of Concord and the parents of our students have already told them. And, very importantly, I hope they will carefully consider their choice in light of the future of the generations of students to be educated at this school. What messages are we sending to future generations? Are we choosing yet again to travel the path of least resistance by clearing yet more precious green space, substituting wider boulevards, mown fields and parking lots for nature trails, carbon-sequestering trees, and wildlife habitat? Or can we tell students we’re looking to minimize our impact and help protect what is left of nature among us? Can we tell them nature is precious, and we want to preserve it as climate change bears down on us?

Can we tell them we feel it’s more important to take advantage of existing infrastructure, better transportation options, and nearby fields and learning opportunities than to contribute to urban and suburban sprawl? Can we say that doing so is important for the planet? Granted, the price tag is daunting. But consider that even if it will cost $5 million more to rebuild at Rundlett, huge as that is, it’s less than 3% of the total cost of the project. I hope the school board members will add the costs of developing land we can’t afford to lose onto their ledger sheets as they make this decision.

Millie LaFontaine

Concord

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