Mr. Quint a victim of the times

To the editor:
    I attended Houlton High School in the late 1970s. While there was certainly some faculty deadwood roaming the halls at the time, they were thankfully outnumbered by many good, dedicated teachers, who managed to educate my friends and me “despite our best efforts to thwart them.” A few real standouts stick in my mind — Mrs. Wiggin, Mr. Emack, Mr. McKenna, and Mr. Quint.
    Mr. Quint was always upbeat, friendly, and good to every student. He seemed to know us all, and genuinely cared about us. He has that great combination of sense of humor, dedication, respect for the kids, and maybe even craziness that has allowed him to survive, and meaningfully contribute to the education, and upbringing of generations of Houlton students for an amazing 50 years. In a job that can grind down a new teacher’s idealism very quickly, that very rare level of dedication and perseverance is hard to comprehend, or to truly appreciate. Just his Driver’s Ed duties alone would have been far too much for me to take.
    So it saddens me to see an exemplary career wind down in the shadow of controversy. While it may be true that SAD 29 cannot really afford a full-salaried Athletic Director, especially one whose tenure demands the higher pay that goes with it, using his “vacation” as the reason for not renewing his contract seems a little disingenuous. I would hope that Mr. Quint was offered some kind of incentive to retire on his own as several senior teachers have in the last few years. I suspect that his love for, and dedication to HHS and its students, led him to choose to stay on, despite the obvious tide against him in the school board, and school and district administration.
    Perhaps the very qualities that have made him such a beloved fixture of HHS worked against him in this case.
    The realities of these tough economic times, and the likely future consolidation of districts and schools, will surely create more situations like this. I hope that as a community we can celebrate and honor the contributions of fine teachers and citizens like Mr. Quint, and not use any expedient means to reach difficult budget restraints, and the personnel changes that will inevitably accompany them. We should be throwing him a party, and perhaps naming the gymnasium after him, not sullying his reputation trying to get rid of him.
    In closing I’ d just like to say “Thanks Mr. Quint. You’re one of the best of the bunch, but maybe it’s time to move on.” Perhaps you’d consider running for town council.
Kendall Clukey
Houlton