Dear Editor:

To all who care about and have a stake in the quality of our CSD schools:

The purpose of this letter is to let everyone know how much Abby Manahan meant to both the teachers and the students at BRHS and to express our extreme frustration, that by all accounts, Abby’s departure was avoidable. Abby’s resignation from the high school is an enormous loss for both students and teachers. As the technology integrator, she is the only person that worked directly with every single student,and every single staff member in the building. Abby is a dedicated, engaging, and innovative classroom teacher; she inspires students to think critically and creatively in an ever evolving technological landscape. Additionally, she is the main person students go see to get help with their never-ending technology issues.

Abby is a technology specialist who delivers professional development to all staff and provides direct technology support for instruction. In some way, Abby has helped every single teacher in the building. She is a consummate professional, a fantastic problem solver, and someone who simply can be counted on.Unfortunately, the population that will be most affected by Abby’s loss will be the students. It will be nearly impossible to find someone with Abby’s skill set. Some people are adept with technology, some are good at teaching kids, and some are good at teaching adults, but being able to do all three at a high level is extremely rare.

We are worried we won’t find a qualified candidate for this position next fall, let alone in April when she leaves. The best thing that could have been done for both students and staff was to address concerns that would have kept Abby in the CSD. It is discouraging to learn that significant issues within the technology department were not addressed in a timely manner and are still unresolved to this day. We are a small school with an exceptional staff, but in the past two years alone we have lost two irreplaceable teachers. This is a trend that cannot continue; there is not an infinite supply of exceptional teachers willing to come to Boothbay. We need to do everything we can to keep our talented teachers here, teaching our kids.

The BRHS Staff