A weekly recap of key events and items of interest to the Milton community:

Comings and goings

The town had an election and now we have a new Treasurer, James McAuliffe. He waged a good campaign against two worthy adversaries, Charlie McCarthy and Janet Lorden. Gunning was re-elected Assessor despite failing to appear for either debate. Affanato won Park Commissioner, and Andrea Gordon was re-elected as Library Trustee along with Brendan McLaughlin and Barbara Mason. Lee Carey was elected to the housing authority.

Our long serving Town Treasurer has left. Kevin Sorgi was celebrated Friday night for his 28 years of service. Many people had many kind things to say. You can read some of them here.

We also have a new Fire Chief. Brian Linehan, a long serving deputy in the fire department was appointed by the selectmen to replace Malcolm Larsen who will retire in June.

And while he is hardly a new face, John Shields will the the chairman of the Board of Selectmen.

School cuts

The School Administration did two things this past week. They developed a plan to meet the constraints of a non-contingent budget and they communicated that plan to the public ably. Superintendent Gormley made a presenation to the School Committee early in the week that detailed the 45.5 heads that would be cut and where as well as plans for how to manage the French Immersion program The presentation was made pubic. You can find it here. Ms. Gormley also summarized the presentation in a letter to parents, also made public. You can view the letter here. And the Administration together with the School Committee held an open forum for parents and residents to voice concerns and ask questions. Whether the cuts will be required is to be determined. The next chapter will be written this week at Town Meeting.

A pond gets buffed

Members of the Pope’s Pond Neighborhood Association celebrated Green Day and filled up a significant number of trash bags in the process. You can view pictures of their efforts here.

from The Daily News Transcript

There are still four weeks to go before the start of the tournament, but if yesterday was any indication the Walpole High baseball team has found its top arm for the postseason.

In a contest featuring two of the three teams that entered the day tied for first in the Bay State Conference Herget Division, sophomore Tommy Ryan struck out 13 and scattered five hits, pitching the Rebels to a 4-1 win over Milton. (read the full story here.)

This evening, Friday, May1, there was a dinner to commemorate Kevin Sorgi and his 28 years of service as Town Treasurer and Collector. I took a few minutes to walk around the room at Lantana’s and ask people about Kevin. This is what they said:

“Kevin Sorgi is short in stature but a giant of a human being. Everyone in Milton should help him in his next career.”

Brian Walsh, Town Moderator

“Kevin sorgi is one of the most decent people I know . . .honest, sincere, and a great guy and a guy that was great at that job.  .   . he was not, however,  a great softball player.”

Phil Murphy, attorney and bandleader

“Kevin is and always has been a real gentleman, which explains why, even more than his diligent professional efforts, he consistently was the top vote getter in town.”

Senator Brian A. Joyce

“We’re well rid of him <g >. . . [but] he has been a terrific friend to me and a terrific mentor to me and to the town.”

John Shields, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen

“I enjoy him [Kevin] so much.  .  .his incredible wit and dry sense of humor.”

John Phelan, Asst Superintendent, Milton Public Schools

“He’s very kind and a good listener and he absorbs everything you tell him.”

Eleanor Foster, Milton resident and dear friend

Saturday – May 2

Got books? You don’t want that is. Well the Milton Public Library does assuming they are in good shape. From the Friends of the Library: “The Friends will have their first book donation day today , to start filling the shelves of their new bookstore, which is located on the lower level of the Library and accessible by elevator. ” Please no textbooks, condensed books or magazines. The book drop is from 10:00 – 4:00

Green Day – It is green day here in Milton Join your neighbors in cleaning up local parks and public areas. For more information email miltongreenday@gmail.com. Activities begin at 9:00. Need to confirm but likely at Town Hall.

MHS Poetry Jam – Here students read their poetry and perform @ 3:00 in the Milton High School Auditorium. Tickets are $7.00 at the door.

Sunday – May 3

Blue Hills Classic Bicycle Race – The Blue Hills Classic, in its third year, offers racers the opportunity to compete on a challenging 7 mile, rolling rural course for a generous prize pool just a few minutes from Boston. Raced rain or shine, the Blue Hills Classic is now a fixture on the New England spring race calendar. Learn more details here.

This evening the Board of Selectmen announced that they had unanimously elected Deputy Brian Linehan as Milton’s next Fire Chief. He will replace Malcolm Larsen who is leaving the department in June.

The selectmen acknowledged that they were presented with three fine choices. There were few differences between the candidates and all possessed strong leadership skills; but a decision had to be made. Congratulations Deputy Linehan!

In other business:

• A member of the Board of Health stated that residents seeking information or concered about the swine flu can call the states 211 number. You can find the MA state dept of health’s web page on swine flu here.

• Milton will hold Greenday on May 2. Greenday is an opportunity for residents to band together to help clean up the town. For more information, please send an email to miltongreenday@gmail.com

• Wallace Long spoke to the Selectmen about the possibility of tapping the methan gas in the town dump as a means of offsetting energy costs. Quincy has a similar effort underway at Quary Hills and is receiving approximately 10% of revenue.

• Seniors:  Please remember to give Mrs. Evans in guidance a small envelope (with one 42 cent stamp) addressed to the college you will be attending.  Also, bring in all your acceptance (or rejection) letters for your counselor to copy.  This information is extremely important for the counselors in compiling statistical data.
• Students who are taking an AP Exam and who HAVE NOT yet filled out the Student Pack must report to Mr. Aubert in guidance at 2:19 today.
• The Michael Devin Scholarship deadline is today.  Extra copies are available.
• Students taking the SAT I/II on Saturday must bring two #2 pencils, their admission ticket, a photo ID, and a calculator.  Students will be admitted to the building at 7:45 am.  Please check your admission ticket for the test center.  Some MHS students may have been assigned to test sites other than MHS.
• Poetry Club rehearsals today.

  Read more

Mary Gormley, Superintendent of Schools, has posted her letter to parents regarding the 2009-2010 budget crisis on the school web site. You can read the full text of the Superintendent’s letter to parents here.

The letter outlines for parents the points made in her recent presentation to the school committee regarding the cuts in staff and other measures that will be taken to meet a stringent budget. The presentation is also available online. You can view it here.

In her letter Gormley says:

that if the budget crisis becomes a reality . . .we will be facing a substantial reconfiguring of the system to cope with our limited resources. Drastic cuts will be imposed across the district [and] Educational quality on all thee levels will suffer.

The cuts at the high school will be so significant that the school’s accreditation could be at risk, according to Gormley.

At the middle school the reduction in staff will likely require the dismantling of the “Team model.”  The team model is a system whereby incoming students are assigned to a team of 4 teachers within their grade. It has been a highly successful means of transitioning students from the elementary school into the middle school and preserving the sense of a nurturing, intimate enviroment within a facility that has hundreds of students. According to Gormley it also gives students, “consistent, personalized, rigorous instruction.”

At the elementary level the challenge is managing the logistics of the French Immersion program across 4 schools with reduced staff. The letter outlines two options, a French Immersion Continuum strand and a Partnership strand. Regardless of the option, class sizes for the most part will exceed 30 students.

There is an open forum tonight at 7:30pm in the auditorium of the high school. The school committee and school administration encourage the pubic to attend.

from The Boston Globe

The presentation that Ms. Gormley, Superintendent of Schools, gave to the school committee last Tuesday in now available from the MPS web site. You can view it here. NOTE: The presentation was optimized for Internet Explorer. If you are using a different browser you may experience some display issues.

The presentation itemizes the cuts that will need to be made in the event that the schools need to work with a non-contingent budget (i.e. the budget in place if the town fails to pass an override).

Altogether 45.5 positions will need to be cut.  The head counts to be cut breakdown as follows:

1.5     Administration
9.0     System wide (eg Educational assistants etc  – presentation includes specifics)
12.4   Milton High School
11.5    Pierce Middle School
11.0    Milton Elementary Schools

The presentation details which positions, subject areas will be affected. Class sizes will increase and the elementary schools will need to have their programs reconfigured. There are two options being reviewed in with regard t this: French Partner Strands and French Continuum Strands. The presentation outlines the key characteristics of each.

The administration also has concerns regarding AYP (annual year progress, MCAS) and possible NEASC Accreditation issues.

The School Administration is hopeful of an increase in funding of $1,307,487, which while still less than level funding will only necessitate a reduction of 13 staff: 7 Teachers and 6 Support staff (1 of whom is half time).

The Administration is holding an open forum tomorrow night in the MHS Auditorium, Milton High School, Gile Rd. at 7:30pm.