MHS Bulletin for 04.28.09

  • On Wednesday, April 29, Juniors in Group 11B will meet for their final session of group guidance and on Thursday, April 30, Juniors in Group 11C will meet for their final session.
  • On Thursday, MHS will host a College Mini-Fair for Juniors from 8:45 to 9:18 in the Field House. We are expecting sixty college representatives. The list is available on the Guidance page on Edline and in the guidance office. Thursday is a B Block Day and students must obtain a pass in guidance and have it signed by their B period teacher. Only juniors with signed passes will be admitted to the mini fair.
  • Poetry Club rehearsals will be in 211 all week. All performers must attend.
  • Fashion Show meetings today, Wednesday and Thursday. See Deidre-Ann or Mr. Costa if you cannot make it. If you should choose to miss one of these days, your name will be removed from the roster.
  • Anyone who wants to help backstage during the Fashion Show on May 9, please attend the meeting today after school in Mr. Costa’s room.

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Milton schools to be “seriously diminished” without an override

This evenings school committee meeting was at best a difficult one.

There were a number of items under discussion. First, during Citizens Speak two of the co-chairs of Invest in Milton took the podium to advocate for an override. Julio Valera and Mary Ann Rule both spoke in support of the override to be voted on June 8th. The actual amount of that override will be determined at Town Meeting scheduled for May 4th and 5th (it could run over). The school administration has refined the candidate for school business administrator to two candidates: Samuel Rippen, Director of Finance for the Winchester Public Schools and Matthew Gilles (sp?) of the Carver school system. These two candidates were selected from over 25 applications, 8 of whom were interviewed. Committee Mary Kelly commended the administration on a “a great process and a model that should be continued.”

Next was a discussion on the need to open a job req for the principleship at the Tucker School. This is in light of the letter from the MSBA. Given that letter, the consensus is that school closings are not an option and this open position at Tucker needs to be posted. Chairman Lovely raised the possibility of Cunningham and Collicott sharing a principle while acknowledging it was a “lousy deal.”

By unanimous vote the school committee elected to freeze all non-union salaries in excess of $50K and restrict raises to non-union salaries less than $50K to 1%. Committee member Lynda Lee Sheridan stated it was a “painful decision to make.” Lovely emphasized that the motion would be in force independent of whether or not an override passed.

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04.19.09 – The Week That Was: school woes, trash talk, and a church quietly leaves town

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

School woes

Every town department in every town in Massachusetts is being rocked by the current national financial crisis; but few are laboring under the complex issues as the Milton School Committee. The schools financial woes became much more complicated last week when the Ms. Craven, Director of the Massachusetts School Building Authority sent a letter informing the town that they would seek to recoup the funding provided to build the schools if Milton elected to close one as a means of cutting costs to meet budget constraints. The issue continued to receive coverage this week. You can view a post linking to Patriot Ledger coverage here and to Globe coverage here.

Trash talk

The Board of Selectmen heard a proposal  to modify trash collection here in town. According to the plan, custom trash bags would replace the current sticker system. They would come in two sizes; a 32 gallon size for $3.00 and a smaller 15 gallon size at a reduced fee. Residents would still have the option of obtaining an annual permit for trash barrels. The primary motivation behind the switch is not to generate revenue but to reduce trash. John Thompson, Assistant Town Engineer, said other towns that had implemented the system saw decreases of up to 20%.

A church quietly leaves town

Temple Shalom is not the only house of worship with a declining congregation. As reported in this week’s Milton Times, the First Baptist Church on Edge Hill Road after almost 125 years is closing. The congregation’s 50 members will merge with the First Baptist Church of Norwood.

Pastor Norman Bronson is preparing the property for sale. It is priced at $650,000. Proceeds from the sale will go towards charitable initiatives and strengthening  the success of the new church in Norwood. Pastor Bronson said a business may go in or the church might be converted to condominiums depending on zoning regulations and neighborhood input.

MHS Bulletin for 04.27.09

  • On Wednesday, April 29, Juniors in Group 11B will meet for their final session of group guidance and on Thursday, April 30, Juniors in Group 11C will meet for their final session.
  • Poetry Club rehearsals will be in 211 all week. All performers must attend.
  • GSA members will be selling Skittles this week to support the Day of Silence. Please pay $1 to Nancy Killoran, Bryan Doherty, Ariel Bounas, Rachel Lipton or Betsy Meyer.
  • The Michael Devin Scholarship has just been posted. Please pick up a copy in guidance. A very short essay is required. Deadline: May 1.
  • Seniors: Please remember the deadlines for the following scholarship: Fallon Ambulance EMT Training Scholarship, which is a wonderful opportunity for students entering the health field or who wish to become emergency service personnel (police. fire, etc.,) April 30.

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Marathon champs all, in their hometowns

from The Boston Globe

Geralyn R. Lannon of Braintree was a winner of the Boston Marathon. So was Justin A. Renz of Milton and Barbara Wipf of Cohasset.

No, they didn’t take home any laurel wreaths. The official winners of the 113th race were Deriba Merga of Ethiopia on the men’s side and Salina Kosgei of Kenya for the women.

But these other runners did run the fastest time of anyone from their city or town, so they are unofficial hometown champs. (Read the full story here.)

School closings pose a big risk

Milton is not alone in running somewhat afoul of the Massachusetts School Building Authority. The Boston Globe reports today that both Hingham and Milton received letters from the SBA cautioning them on closing a school.

The school committee here was reviewing closing a school in an attempt to deal with harsh economic realities and the drastic reductions in state aid. While sympathetic, the SBA is clear that closing a school is not without consequences. You can read the letter from Ms. Craven, director of the SBA, to the school committee here.

The Globe quotes Ms. Craven as saying, “When you have to close an older school to have the money to open a new one, it’s a situation SBA doesn’t want to create,” Craven said. “You see it more in towns that lack a broad tax base, like Milton, where there’s not much of a commercial base. That’s a structural problem and they need a long-term solution.”

You can read the full Globe story here.

NOTES:

  1. The version of this story that appears in print is somewhat expanded. In that version Tom Hurley, chairman of the Warrant Committee, notes that he’s not sure the override has voter support. Pay increases account for the lion’s share of the school budget increases for the upcoming year. Hurley is quoted as saying, “The feeback I’ve heard, although it is not a poll by any means, is that the people don’t want to have an override for pay increases.”
  2. There will be school committee meeting tomorrow night at the Milton High School Library @ 7:00 pm to discuss theFY10 budget.

Softball: D-R sinks Milton

from The Sun Chronicle

Tori Rocha, Brittney Noons and Lyndsey Coutourier each stroked a pair of hits as the Dighton-Rehoboth High softball team came away with a hard-earned, 8-2 victory over Milton Saturday in a non-league game. (read the full story here.)

Milton man faces Norfolk charges

from The Sun Chronicle

A Milton man has been arrested on a number of charges stemming from a road rage incident, police reported today.

Wrentham police Wednesday night informed Norfolk police about the incident on Dedham Street (Route 1A) near the town line. (read the full story here.)

Quincy, Milton bank robberies may be linked

from The Patriot Ledger

A Citizens Bank in Milton was robbed Friday, most likely by the same person who robbed a Quincy Citizens Bank on Thursday, police said.

The man walked into the Milton bank at 420 Granite Ave. around 2:30 p.m. and passed the teller a note saying he had a gun and wanted cash in $50 and $20 bills, Milton Deputy Police Chief Paul Nolan said. (Read the full story here.)

Board of Selectmen interview finalists for Fire Chief

The Board of Selectmen interviewed the 3 finalists that have been recommended by the selection committee tasked with identifying qualified candidates for Fire Chief. The current chief, Malcolm Larson is retiring July 1. He has been Milton’s Fire Chief for the last 11 years.

The three candidates are John Foley Jr., John Grant Jr., and Brian Linehan. All three are internal candidates and hold the position of deputy fire chief. Foley is a senior deputy fire chief.

The Board of Selectmen expect to make a decision next week.

You can find Wicked Local coverage of the Selectmen’s interviews here.

Milton Election 2009 Candidate Round Up

This information has been posted elsewhere previously but here it is all in one place.  Note, if the candidate has a web site, then their name will be “hot” (i.e. click on their name to go to their web site).

Treasurer & Collector – Candidates are Janet Lorden, James McAuliffe, and Charlie McCarthy

Note: Mr. McAuliffe did not respond to requests for an interview

Park Commissioner – Candidates are Stephen Affanato and Thomas McCarthy
Library Trustee – Candidates are Raymond P. Czwakiel, Andrea Gordon (incumbent), Barbara A. Mason, Brendan F. McLaughlin, Ingrid L. Shaffer and Tammy D. Vyas (Note: Vote for three)
Assessor – Candidates are Todd Greenwood and Thomas Gunning