Editor’s note: During the course of a week, issues are covered that might not lend themselves to full editorial comment, but they are worthy of The Sunday Telegraph weighing in – thumbs up, thumbs down or neutral.

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Thumbs Up – To Gov. Chris Sununu on signing into law a bill that sets some of nation’s toughest drinking water standards for a group of toxic chemicals and provides tens of millions of dollars for cleanup cost. The bill includes standards put forth last year by the state Department of Environmental Services for potentially harmful chemicals called perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known collectively as PFAS. The standards limit one chemical to a maximum of 12 parts per trillion and another to 15 parts per trillion, far lower than the 70 parts per trillion the federal Environmental Protection Agency has advised for the chemicals. “We do have a PFAS problem in the state, and we’ve always said we don’t want a problem to become a crisis,” Sununu said.

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Thumbs DOWN – To some students in the Nashua School District for damaging school property, namely Chromebooks that were loaned out for remote learning purposes. School district officials said nearly 500 of the computers were returned damaged, many of which will be out of service for some time. Thumbs down also goes to the parents who let this happen. These tools are vital for our school system, and some will now need replaced if they can not be repaired. With money tight on all fronts, this is absolutely unacceptable. We hope the school system sends out bills for these damages. We also hope that if some remote learning is needed this coming school year that the district can somehow make due with what they have, or find money somewhere in the already-tight budget to purchase more.

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THUMBS UP – Thumbs up to the NEA-NH for noting that school districts need full staffing and funding, a phased reopening plan and health and safety agreements for staff and students when school resumes. Let’s hope officials following their advice.

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