[Ed note: My Southborough accepts signed letters to the editor submitted by Southborough residents. Letters may be emailed to mysouthborough@gmail.com.
The following letter is from Becca Dente.]
To the Editor:
I’m in the Southborough Facebook group. I attended the Special Town Meeting in its entirety. I’ve read the letters to the editor and follow-up comments with growing concern – not just about the issues that were raised, but about the condescending tone and divisive framing being used to address a serious topic that affects the entire Southborough community.
One such letter claims to be providing “context” and “facts” about our school facilities, but the real message comes through loud and clear: sit down, be grateful, and don’t expect more. Yes, Southborough has invested in school buildings over the past few decades – but citing a history of past investments doesn’t erase present realities. Facilities age. Educational needs evolve. And our students today are no less deserving of safe, modern, well-equipped learning environments than the students who benefited from those earlier projects.
The defensive reminders that we’re “still paying” for previous investments only underscores the lack of long-term planning. Suggesting that financial obligations from past projects should delay necessary improvements now is not only short-sighted, it’s unfair to the families and children who are left to deal with the consequences.
As someone with over two decades of experience in corporate operations and strategy, I agree that modernization and efficiency are important goals. But let’s be clear: the suggestion that simply automating clerical tasks and consolidating departments will meaningfully help to address Southborough’s fiscal challenges is wildly overstated. While operational improvements may yield some long-term savings, this is not a silver bullet – and certainly not one that comes without its own costs. Implementing modern systems, training staff, managing change, and ensuring continuity of services all require significant upfront investment, strategic planning, and buy-in across departments. It is not a small or simple undertaking. Treating municipal modernization as an easy fix not only underestimates the complexity involved – it distracts from the broader, more difficult budget conversations we need to be having.
In one comment on these letters, a resident goes further, framing parents of school-age children as a minority who must work to win over a larger voting bloc. The comment states that only about 600 residents “would directly benefit” from a facility, as though schools exist only for the direct, short-term use of parents and their children. That perspective fundamentally misunderstands the purpose of public education. Schools are not private amenities. They are cornerstones of a healthy, vibrant, and successful community. Everyone benefits from strong public schools, whether they currently have children enrolled or not.
Even more troubling is the warning that “dismissing, insulting, and denigrating” the broader community is a “singularly poor way to win their support.” Ironically, this entire approach does just that – talking down to families, minimizing their concerns, and reducing civic participation to a transactional numbers game. That’s not community-building. That’s condescension.
We don’t move forward by dividing residents into “Yes” and “No” camps. We move forward by recognizing that we’re all stakeholders – parents, retirees, students, public employees, and lifelong residents alike. Investment in education is not a favor to one group; it’s a shared responsibility and a reflection of our collective values. The reason why my family, and so many others, chose Southborough was that continued investment in our schools and our children.
Southborough deserves a more respectful, inclusive, and constructive conversation about the future of our schools and our town. Let’s elevate the dialogue – not dismiss the concerns of others under the guise of “context.”
Becka Dente
48 Oregon Road
PROUD SOUTH SIDE RESIDENT
