Was it sweeps week for local newspapers, when the Jan 12, 2017 issue of The Reminder was prepared?

Looking at the front page of your paper, one would think so! Not only was there a color photo of Public Enemy #1 of many Hampden residents; (the Superintendent of Schools) looking “Trumpian”, and a headline that intimates that the Thornton Burgess enrollment is a fait accompli. Did Mr. Dobbs see that? He frequently rails against incorrect reporting. Did the reporter have inside information as to the results of the Executive session that was to take place in the future (Jan. 19th)? Was the reporter there when a resident of Hampden was not allowed to speak in open forum at the last School Committee meeting? Did not see that reported in the article.

I would like to suggest that your reporter try to get information on the following questions.

Which families of Middle School Children received robocalls pertaining to school choice? Did calls go out to all families in the district (Hampden and Wilbraham) or did they go out to a select group?

Why were some faculty members at TWB “transferred” to the Middle School?

Was it suggested to some faculty members at TWB that they should update their resumes?

Why is the Chairman of the School Committee (one of only two Hampden residents on the School Committee) not being a strong voice for the people of Hampden? (The Town spoke loudly with their vote against unification.)

What has the Superintendent and School Committee implemented this year to improve performance at TWB?

This issue is not a battle between the residents of Hampden and those of Wilbraham, but is a request for equal treatment of the students at TWB. To my knowledge there are residents of Wilbraham that feel that Hampden is not being treated fairly in this regard; it would be nice if they would make their feelings known to the Superintendent and School Committee members.

Bob Moreau

Hampden

Dear Mr. Moreau, My name is Chris Goudreau and I’m the reporter that you happened to mention in your letter to the editor.

First of all, thank you for presenting me with these questions. I recently interviewed Superintendent of Schools Albert Ganem Jr. and made sure to pose these questions to him. In most cases, he was able to respond to them with the facts.

You can look for the story in this week’s Hampden and Wilbraham section of The Reminder.

In response to your statement that I did not report that a Hampden resident was not allowed to speak. Yes, this is true. I thought about including the School Committee’s decision to end public comment premature because they were running behind schedule, but thought it would be a better use of my limited time to turn around the story to include more details on the Statement of Interest for the middle schools, which was denied by the MSBA, and a very intriguing resident comment by Wilbraham resident Michael Dane, which was followed up by a response from School Committee member William Bontempi.

Ultimately, I?think that information would have provided a little more color to the story. So, thanks again for your input.

As for my “inside information” – that was simple math. Ganem announced the potential number of students that might be transferred to TWB and I made a phone call the next day to TWB’s principal to find out the number of students in each grade level as well as the number of fifth graders that would be transferred to Green Meadows. That’s how I was able to find out that potentially 44 percent of the school’s population could be transferred, pending that all of the transfer requests are approved.

Mr. Moreau, I hope my response serves you well and I look forward to any and all questions in the future. I try to attend most School Committee meetings. Feel free to say hello. I’m the tall guy with a notepad who usually sits in the front row.