𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 and Its Reflection of Our Future Community
Dear Editor,
I am Leigh Hudson, and I’m running for Portsmouth School Board because I’m concerned that our school district is not exemplifying what we want our future community to look like with respect to inclusivity for those with disabilities.
While our school administrators have good intentions as evidenced by the “Portrait of a Graduate” vision, and our schools mission statement, “… to educate all students by challenging them to become thinking, responsible, contributing citizens …”, I question the depth beyond words when $3.5M1 (43%) of the $8.1M2 needs instruction budget in 2022-2023 was used for out-of-district tuition. These tuition expenditures are a multiplier of the in-district per student cost. Families choose these out-of-district decisions, but many do so because they are tired of having to constantly fight with the district. In addition, the dropout rate for the 2022-2023 school year for children with disabilities rose from 3% the prior school year to 8%3 and has continued to rise in the last 3 years.
My son is one of the 16%+ student demographic with disabilities in Portsmouth. He has MECP2 duplication syndrome, a rare neurogenetic disorder. Our first-year experience was a tangle with administration, unwillingness to provide services, and resulting high legal and advocacy expenditures. Not all families are able to fight nor to pay thousands in extra fees.
I’m not seeking a school board position because I have free time. Further, my child is not even close to graduation. In fact, my child has his entire education ahead and change will take time. Therefore, I want to stand for inclusivity for students with disabilities. I will listen to families since PTA and PTO meetings, or School Board emails aren’t always feasible for parents that have children with disabilities. I will work for the implementation of inclusionary best practices within our schools supported in collaboration with someone like the UNH Institute on Disabilities. These best practices are proven to help the entire student population achieve their highest abilities. Choosing otherwise fails our future larger community by then perpetuating exclusion in areas like employment, skills training, and health services.
When we are not purposefully inclusionary, we are unintentionally exclusionary.
Vote for Leigh Hudson on November 7th!
1 Gen Fund EOY 23 Fin Report.pdf – Google Drive
2 FY 23 Budget Booklet.pdf – Google Drive . (my number is different due to recategorization between budget and financial reporting sources)
Leigh Hudson
Candidate for School Board
