St. Patrick’s Day Postcard Party!
What: Postcard party
When: Saturday, March 16, 10 am-noon
Where: Dems HQ, 357 High St, Chestertown
Join us this Saturday for a festive time!
- Come write postcards to Democratic voters in PA about mail-in voting requirements.
- Pick up a packet or two of 10 postcards if you want to write them at home.
- Eat Irish goodies and drink Irish coffee.
- Talk with other committed Dems about Joe Biden’s great State of the Union Address and other good news.
- Take action and do good!
Please join us!
Support State Funding for Kent County Middle School
The plans for rebuilding the Kent County Middle School have been approved, but we’ll need money from the state to complete the project — county funding will not be enough.
A bill is currently in the legislature to increase the amount of money the state will contribute to the KCMS construction. Our state delegates and senator, county commissioners, and Chestertown elected officials all support the passage of this bill.
But it will not pass unless the legislature sees support from the community!
SOS (Support Our Schools) has created an easy form that people can fill out showing support for the bill.
All you have to do is fill out your info, click submit, and a copy will go to all House and Senate committee members. It takes less than a minute!
Thank you for caring about our students and teachers!
KCMS School Construction Background (written by Robbi Behr):
The middle school project is not just important for students and families. It is also a great opportunity for Kent County to attract more families with kids (and maybe some teachers?) with a new, modern flagship facility. It is unlikely to get funded if this bill doesn’t pass. The town and the county are both in support of the project.
Kent County Middle School is crumbling. Built in the late 1940s, it is an old, outdated building with a leaky roof, little ventilation, rooms without windows, and yes, asbestos tiles. The Board of Ed has spent significant time and energy on a plan to rebuild KCMS. This plan has been approved but is highly unlikely to get enough funding from the county to complete, even though the county and the town of Chestertown have voiced their support for the construction.
The state has had a history of helping fund school construction in other counties:
- Caroline County, with 85% low-income students, had 94% of costs covered by the state.
- Wicomico County, with 77% low-income students, had 98% of costs covered by the state.
- Washington County, with 75% low-income students, had 78% covered by the state.
We have 86% low-income students and are only getting 50% covered by the state under the current law.
Our delegates have lobbied to get increased funding for this project for Kent County but the state WILL NOT PASS the bill if they do not see significant support from the community…
…which means we will have to continue to make do with an ancient building that was already old when I attended school there THIRTY YEARS AGO.
We can’t afford to wait another generation for a new opportunity to arise (not to mention the wasted time for a new feasibility study, etc).
Please just fill out the form we’ve put together to send a letter of support to the state committee members.
THANK YOU FOR CARING ABOUT OUR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS!
A Facebook post about this issue can be found here.