Division, Dearstyne said, has been part of our nation since its founding. In 1776, John Adams said that a third of the colonists wanted independence, a third did not, and a third were undecided. “And yet we came together,” said Dearstyne, noting cyclical divisions in our nation’s history, most notably the Civil War, but also in the 1890s, the 1930s, and the 1960s.

A planning board has to attend to details to insure the greater public good. The job can be an unpopular one but it is essential to good governance.

Rather than the somber tone of those long-ago post-defeat meetings, the school board session on May 29 felt more like a pep rally. The audience of parents, students, and school supporters largely commended the board members and applauded their decisions. There was no reckoning. Rather, there was outright denial there had been a budget defeat.