The Newburyport Blog

I have heard a lot of information recently about the future of our schools in Newburyport. I would first like to discuss the rich history of Newburyport and it’s commitment to education.

I have worked and lived in this community as a social worker for almost 20 years. Many Newburyporters born and raised here have shared with me the importance of their neighborhoods. This has traditionally been a close knit community. Southenders have talked about the Brown School with deep affection. Downtowners have talked with love about the Kelly School. North and Westenders have talked about the warmth of the Bellville School (now known as the Bresnahan). It appears that some of what has knitted this community together is its neighborhoods and the schools where parents meet on the playground waiting for their children.

I know times have changed and the people that have lived here. I’ve been here long enough now that I grieve missing buildings, businesses and people. Nobody likes too much change. We can guarantee this change with the redistribution of children from community schools to city wide schools.

I have a great deal of respect for Dr. Lyons. I know that these changes are due to the lack of financial support on a Federal and State level, not just a community level. I don’t think it is productive to blame any one community group for this.

I also am a graduate of public school education and my son has had the benefit of an incredible education here in Newburyport. I don’t want a private education for my son. I believe some of the most dedicated educators are those in our own community.

I know the teachers purchase the majority of supplies on their incomes. I know that if we averaged the income of those in our community today, they might not reach the income of our teachers. I also believe that part of what makes a community great is its dedication to education.

I recently read a book about Newburyport History, “Newburyport: Stories from the Waterside” by Liz Nelson. I was not aware that in 1843 Newburyport established the first female high school in America. “A newspaper article fifty years later describes….efforts as being “bitterly opposed by the citizens…who could not tolerate…so vulgar a notion” …..The school committee presented a highly favorable report to the town meeting” and it was voted in!

I think that we need to consider as a community what will be said in future generations about us. Will we have established a precedence of caring about education or will it be bitterly opposed? Will we have a close knit community?

I ask you to give citizens of Newburyport the right to vote on the future of our community and its schools. 1) on an override that would only last three years, and 2) if we want a community wide school versus a neighborhood school.

I think that we all should have the right, just as they did in 1843, to decide what our future holds.

Lindamae Lucas
Newburyport

(Editor’s note: The quotation above is from “Newburyport: Stories from the Waterside,” Liz Nelson, Commonwealth Editions, Beverly, MA, 2000, pages 54 and 55.)

When the Newburyport School Committee does vote on Superintendent Kevin Lyons’ restructuring of the Newburyport Kindergarten and Elementary Schools, I imagine that it would be a very emotional vote.

Neighborhood elementary schools have been part of the fabric of Newburyport, MA since, like forever. I imagine it would feel like losing something comforting and familiar. Losing part of the soul of Newburyport, MA.

A very commonsense and pragmatic solution to an incredible conundrum by Superintendent Kevin Lyons. But also a solution that would be painful for many in Newburyport, MA.

If it does happen, that will be a lot for this small seaport city to absorb.

And I think asking residents to also process (in my mind) a large spring override for the Newburyport School system, would be asking way too much.

I think it might be hard enough to drum up support by November.

I know there are a lot of concerned, worried and involved parents who are actively organizing for a spring override. But it is my very strong belief, that the city of Newburyport, MA needs time to absorb all the changes that are before them.

In a time of loss (and I think closing the Kelly School and restructuring Kindergarten and the Newburyport Elementary Schools is a loss) people tend to hold on to their pocketbooks. I think it would be very unwise to ask people to add to their tax burden on top of all of this, especially when the new residential assessments are coming out, and people do not know what their new taxes would be. (And I imagine that they are not going down folks.)

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Sorry folks, now that we have a doable plan from Superintendent Kevin Lyons on the restructuring of our kindergarten and Newburyport elementary schools, I am no longer for a spring override.

I am enormously frustrated by the Newburyport School Committee (and believe me I think they have one of the toughest jobs in Newburyport, MA).

On the issue of an override, it appears to me that the Newburyport School Committee has seemed disjointed and unorganized. And frankly, it’s late in the game. Way too late in the game.

What many of the Newburyport City Councilors have been telling the Newburyport School Committee is true. To convince folks to pony up and raise their taxes takes time. Lots and lots of time, thought and organization, if there is a whiff of a hope of getting an override passed.

To quote in the Newburyport Daily News, March 13, 2007:

“(School Committee member Andrea Jones ) Jones said she believes city councilors’ reluctance to support the School Committee’s override request is driven by their own re-election concerns.

“Saying there’s not enough time is just the council’s excuse this week for not supporting the override,” Jones said. “It’s an election year, and anyone who’s running for re-election needs to be very careful how they talk about anything that affects taxes.” ”

It is my opinion that Ms Jones is way off base. This is not a selfish, self-serving Newburyport City Council. And if that quote is accurate, I am disappointed.

The Newburyport School Committee hasn’t even voted on whether or not to endorse Superintendent Kevin Lyon’s restructuring plan. (The Newburyport Daily News, March 13, 2007.)

One would think a vote on that very thoughtful problem solving solution would come first. And then a long and well thought out campaign, involving a well thought out plan, to ask the residents of Newburyport, MA to pony up money for education. Not the rush job that’s in the works now, no matter how well intentioned.

The Newburyport City Council is correct. If this vote fails (and I can tell you, at the moment, I would not vote for an override now), there is little hope of the getting the residents of Newburyport to take the Newburyport School Committee seriously in any way shape or form. This could be a major political blunder.

It seems to me that a leader like Superintendent Kevin Lyons, doesn’t come along very often, and it might be wise for the Newburyport School Committee to follow his lead.

What the Newburyport School Committee has been doing, in my mind, is really, really frustrating.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Our schools. The financial state of our schools. How utterly depressing.

I hope Superintendent Kevin Lyons sticks around, doesn’t get so discouraged about the bleak financial picture that he moves on. Never met the guy, but not to repeat myself, but to repeat myself, he sounds awesome.

To have the school financial picture be so bleak that we will have to let teacher’s go, possibly lose the accreditation for our High School and have class sizes go up. Yikes.

No extra money from the state, rising costs and no extra mula in the city’s coffers. Yikes.

Look folks, when it gets this bleak, I’m all for an override. Come on, we are not talking entitled Taj Mahal Elementary School Building plan here, we are talking losing basics, which hurts everyone’s financial bottom line.

People are not going to want to live in Newburyport, MA if our brand new spanking High School (which hasn’t been remotely paid for yet) loses its accreditation. Oh, good grief.

In 2 months we’ve gone from discussing a Taj Mahal approach to an Elementary School Building plan, to a very commonsense approach by Newburyport Superintendent Kevin Lyons to, at least what I thought was a “brilliant,” problem solving solution to the present overcrowding in the Newburyport Elementary School, to the present utter bleakness.

Oy vey…

This is one of the many, many reasons I would never want to be on the Newburyport School Committee or be the mayor of Newburyport, MA. Much easier to be a blogger.

I would lose an awful lot of sleep at night on this one.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Our new superintendent of the Newburyport school system, Kevin Lyons appears to me as someone who is “wise.”

I’ve never met the man, I’ve just read the papers and heard people speak of him, but he strikes me as a “wise” man.

It’s my own opinion that “wisdom” is a much overlooked quality in our society today and to find it in a leader is rare.

I toddled off to Google (I know, Google might not be equated with “wisdom”) for a definition of “wisdom” and these are a few of the things that I found.

1) “Having experience, knowledge and understanding together with the power of applying all three with prudence, practicality, discretion and common sense;”

2) ” “It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things” (Henry David Thoreau).”

3) “Knowledge with information so thoroughly assimilated as to have produced sagacity, judgment, and insight.”

Wisdom requires experience and yes, time. It is why the young are rarely “wise.” They are many, many other things , thank goodness, but “wise,” is rare.

And it is not enough to have knowledge, it is the application and assimilation of that knowledge that produces “wisdom.”

And it is my experience that “wise” people are often “trusted” people. And it is my impression is that Superintendent Kevin Lyons is already “trusted” by many who have come in contact with him.

Not something to be sneezed at.

One of the dilemmas I see in Newburyport, MA, is that young families feel pitted against the community, and that there is a great deal of resentment towards the young families because of the possibility of raised taxes for all sorts of things, including a huge proposed elementary school building extravaganza.

But Mr. Lyons appears to be “wise,” using his experience to defuse that growing tension and applying his knowledge to better teaching and innate problem solving within (at least at this point) the existing educational structure. Showing, in my mind, incredible “wisdom.”

May this man continue to be the “gem” that he appears to be. “Wise gems,” in my experience, are often few and far between.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

George is a wuss.

George Cushing, from Frog Pond at the Bartlet Mall, the political consultant to the Newburyport Political Blog is a wuss.

George Cushing will not go to the Winter Carnival, this Saturday January 27, 2006, sponsored by the Newburyport Park’s Commission, which will be held yes, you guessed it, at FROG POND at the Bartlet Mall (on High Street from 10AM to 4:30PM.)

And why George, are you being a wuss?

George Cushing being a wuss

Because it’s cold?? The whole point is that it is cold, for goodness sakes. Frog Pond is frozen over so that people can skate.

(I’ve even tried wrapping George Cushing in a scarf, so he won’t be cold. But, no, that won’t do. He doesn’t like any of the scarfs. None of the colors work for him or they’re too scratchy??)

You want to stay here because it’s nice and toasty warm?? But George, this is your beloved Frog Pond. Right?

All your friends and relatives at Frog Pond are estivating?? Oh, good grief, George, what is “estivating?”

Estivating is what I would call hibernating? All your friends and relatives will be hanging around below at the mud at Frog Pond at the Bartlet Mall, so that you won’t have any frogs to frog-on with?

Ok, I give up. You can “estivate” at the Newburyport Political Blog and stay snuggy warm. Happy?

However, just because George Cushing has decided to “estivate” and not go to his beloved Frog Pond at the Bartlet Mall, doesn’t mean that everyone else can’t have a great time at the Winter Canrnival.

The Winter Carnival
Sponsored by the Newburyport Parks Commission
The Bartlet Mall
High Street (near CVS)
10:30AM to 4:30PM
Lots of fun, skating, hay rides, sledding and snowboarding (if there is snow,) games, races and free hot chocolate (courtesy of the White Hen Pantry) to keep everyone toasty warm.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

As a taxpayer I am not willing to spend money on a Taj Mahal approach to Newburyport’s Elementary School building needs, but I sure am willing and want, as a taxpayer, to make sure that our children at least have the basics with which to learn.

I found Superintendent’s Kevin Lyons report (Newburyport Daily News, December 19, 2006) to be professional, thoughtful and full of plain old Yankee common sense.

To quote from the article in the Newburyport Daily News by Nick Pinto:

“Programs at each school level are operating with outdated textbooks and curriculum materials or none at all, according to Lyons. In the elementary schools, the literacy program is 12 years old and makes it difficult for teachers to make use of modern advances in literacy education.

At the middle school, students and teachers are using an older and inferior edition of math textbooks and curriculum.

At the high school, German and Spanish classes have no textbooks or program materials at all.

Lyons also sounded an alarm on the district’s use of technology, once a pride of the system. Cuts in technology integration staff have made it harder for teachers to use new technology, slow connections discourage them from using the Internet and the high school’s computers will outlive their warranty this summer, just as many of them are beginning to fail.”

Yikes!

This is very bad news. And it is something that I as a taxpayer would very much like to remedy.

And I also appreciated this quote:

“Improve communication with parents and the community….”

Better communication with the community is vital for there to be support for our children’s education (not fancy buildings, education.)

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

George Cushing, of the Frog Pond at the Bartlet Mall, the political consultant for the Newburyport Political Blog, is feeling in a holiday mood.

George Cushing
feeling in a holiday mood

This surprised me somewhat, because George Cushing of the Frog Pond at the Bartlet Mall has never struck me as a festive amphibian. Wouldn’t you agree? Those beady little eyes of his, never seemed to indicate to me that he would in anyway be any kind of “party animal.”

Go figure.

The twins, on the other hand, G. C. Cushing and C. G. Cushing of Frog Pond at the Bartlet Mall, the aspiring consultants to the Newburyport Political Blog, well, I can definitely see how they would be full of holiday glee.

The Twins
Aspiring political consultants
to the Newburyport Political Blog

They look so chirpy, they probably still believe Santa Claus exists, for goodness sakes. But if they think just because they are aspiring consultants to the Newburyport Political Blog, good old Santa is going to lavish them with frog presents, they had just better forget all about that one. Good grief.

On a more serious note, George Cushing, and moi, were delighted by the missive from Newburyport School Superintendent, Kevin Lyons, reported in today’s Newburyport Daily News, December 19, 2006.

Wanting funding for better education for our children. How refreshing. So much better than wanting funding for a Tah Majal building scheme for Newburyport’s elementary school needs. (But more on that later.)

Anyway, George and the twins and of course me, wish all Happy Holidays.

So, Cheers!

Mary Eaton
The Editor of the Newburyport Political Blog

(Editor’s note: The Editor of the Newburyport Political Blog, namely me, would like to thank Madame Schwartz for bringing George Cushing and the Twins of Frog Pond at the Bartlet Mall into my life, and of course yours.)

Didn’t I tell you that pretty soon we were going to be seeing adorable pictures of our adorable elementary school children and the “deplorable” conditions in which they have to exist. (Newburyport Daily News, December 13, 2006, front page with picture.)

I’m not buying it.

“One solution being discussed is moving all full-day kindergarten classes to the Brown School, which will have space to spare next year. By removing one kindergarten class each from the Kelley and the Bresnahan schools, room could be made for the additional class space each school is expected to require next year.” (Newburyport Daily News, December 12, 2006.)

Newburyport City Councilor Audrey McCarthy is very astute (Newburyport Daily News December 13, 2006) if just not downright sensible:

“Councilor Audrey McCarthy isn’t sure that a more aggressive tack by the committee will necessarily produce better results with the City Council.

“In the past I would have said, ‘Sure, they just need to tell the council what they need,’” said McCarthy, who meets regularly with school officials as part of the Joint Education Committee. “But now it’s more like trying to get water from a rock. Coming up with a plan and presenting it to the council would just be wasted time if there isn’t a way to pay for it.”

And my favorite quote from Councilor McCarthy:

“Everybody wants the schools to be as nice as possible, but we can’t sell the public on the Taj Mahal”…

Ms McCarthy goes on to say:

“I’m at a point where I think the plan may need to be changed. All the councilors agree we can’t do more than we can afford, and honestly I don’t know if that includes the West End school.” (The West End School to the tune of more than $20 million — I don’t think so.)

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Although the Mayor and members of the Newburyport City Council appear to be having misgivings about a special election for the Newburyport elementary school $30 million dollar, diamond necklace spending extravaganza (whew), apparently, according to the Newburyport Daily News, December 4, 2006, members of the Newburyport School Committee do not.

I really like and admire the members of the Newburyport School Committee. I cannot think of a more difficult committee to be on in Newburyport, MA. The problems they try to solve are swamp-like and seemingly endless. To me the fact that anyone would volunteer to be on the Newburyport School Committee is amazing.

However, if the Newburyport School Committee persists in pushing this version of the Newburyport Elementary Building School Needs plan, this is what I expect. Cynic that I am.

I fully expect to start reading in all the local (maybe national, who knows) publications how dismal and awful the elementary schools are, with pictures if possible, of how depressing it must be to be a child in these horrible surroundings.

And then a statement about how all the other towns or cities have beautiful new sparkly elementary schools, and it is the poor unfortunate Newburyport elementary school children who are utterly deprived and probably psychologically harmed because of this ghastly state of affairs.

And then an adorable, or most probably a series of adorable, pictures of our absolutely adorable elementary school children. And they are adorable.

How horrible of the taxpayers not to want to cough up $30 million for this particular plan of a new diamond necklace elementary school extravaganza for these adorable children.

This was basically the tactic used to persuade the tax payer that repairs to the Newburyport High School were not nearly as wonderful as the “gut and redo.”

The problem I have with shiny and new, is the building (or buildings) in question has/have no character.

It takes a while to develop character. The thing I like about our elementary schools (and I don’t care if folks start to wail about how all worn out they are) is that they have character. One gets a sense that there were many folks, of all sorts of folks, that were in these buildings, long before the present students started their journey.

And instead of feeling that because of that, these buildings are now all worn down and useless (that’s our superficial culture, aren’t we supposed to be teaching our kids better stuff than that?) I think they have character, a sense of history, personality if you will. Not shallow Paris Hilton superficial culture building kind of stuff.

And I think this is a GOOD thing, maybe even a great thing.

So I’m not buying what I think may be coming next in the “reaching out to the community” thing, in persuading the taxpayers that our school children are in utter misery because of their ghastly, outdated, shabby surroundings.

No, should this come our way, I’m not buying this at all. In fact I’ll be really pissed if folks try to pull that one off.

I keep saying to myself, “it’s time to shut up now Mary, about all this elementary school building stuff.” But it appears that I’ve really gotten my “knickers in a knot.”

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

People have said that they are surprised that I am against the elementary school, $30 million dollar, diamond necklace, spending extravaganza.

I guess people figure me for a “tax and spend” liberal democrat.

Not “tax and spend” to the tune of $30 million dollars. Come on. Not when there are LOTS of other alternatives. Think of me as a “practical” liberal democrat.

I was relieved to read in the Newburyport Daily News, December 4, 2006, that at least Mayor John Moak and members of the Newburyport City Council have concerns about the wisdom of a special election for this Spring.

Whew.

However, I would love for Mayor Moak and members of the Newburyport City Council to urge the School Committee to abandon this “ridiculous” plan altogether and come up with something that makes some “practical,” fiscal, common sense. From the article in the Newburyport Daily News, that didn’t sound like that was going to happen (yet.)

$30 million dollars makes $5 million for a Senior Center (Newburyport Daily News, December 4, 2006) look like a proverbial “walk in the park,” a “real deal,” a “downright bargain” if you will. Good grief.

Ok, I know I’m beginning to beat a horse, I don’t know if it’s a “dead horse” yet. But I really, really seem to be worked up about this one.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

I remember when the “Elementary School Building Needs” Committee was first assembled and got to rock and rolling. A large, very committed group (many of whom I greatly admire.)

Yes, they were given an assignment: Come up with the most desirable scenario for the building needs of our elementary school children. The needs apparently included a “gym” which immediately eliminated the Kelly School from the equation, which I always thought was part of the unspoken assignment. Made it very difficult for pro-Kelly School folks on that committee, let me tell you.

And if you read the final recommendations of 2002, which are on the Newburyport School website (and it’s not exactly snappy stuff, good reading if you want to fall asleep quickly at night,) the conclusions almost sound as if they are there to make sure that the Kelly School stays out of the picture.

And I always thought the recommendations were so convoluted that no one in their right mind would actually take this much agonized over document seriously, hence its being stuffed in a “convenient” drawer for all these years.

Ah, but apparently, I was wrong.

The assignment for these hard working folks was not: Come up with a long term elementary school plan that benefits our children and would also fit in with the goals of the larger community.

If that had been the assignment, the convoluted, agonized over document would not be what it is now. We would have had something much more reasonable and thoughtful, because the people who worked on it were reasonable and thoughtful folks.

The root of the problem, as far as I’m concerned — lousy (politically motivated) assignment for hard working committee members.

Time for a new assignment right away, one that requires a realistic view of the Newburyport Schools real estate assets, the needs of our elementary school children (with all those state mandates,) and the overall fiscal picture (which is bleak) of Newburyport, MA.

With that assignment, I think a completely different picture of what could be built (or fixed) for our elementary school children would emerge. And hopefully, it would not take a year or more to accomplish. And hopefully, that picture would be a much easier “sell” to the taxpayer and we would have one of those delightful “win-win” situations.

As it stands now, this is a “lose-lose” proposition. School Committee, go back to the drawing board real quick. Don’t waste our time trying to sell us this incredibly silly, convoluted $30 million diamond necklace elementary school building needs stuff. Please.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Oh, good grief! The Newburyport School Committee is proposing a special election for this Spring to start the ball rolling on the funding for the proposed $30 million dollar elementary school building extravaganza.

First of all the special election would cost the tax payers $17,000 (Newburyport Daily News, November 29, 2006). There is NO money for that. Please.

The push, or the panic button push, or the “our children will be destroyed forever” push, if you will is “overcrowding.”

But, what the School Committee is NOT talking about (or at least that I can find out) is that there is a short term solution to the overcrowding situation that would cost very little money compared to what they are proposing. (Preliminary estimate to new construction at the Bresnahan — $4.3 million, the beginning of the $30 million spending extravaganza.)

Not ideal, but as I understand it, an all full day kindergarten could be out of the Brown Elementary School, thereby freeing up much needed space at the Bresnahan Elementary School.

Money for busing, yes, but a lot less than the proposed $4.3 million. Come on.

The argument against this — not good for our children to have to switch back and forth between neighborhood schools. They could be permanently, irretrievably, emotionally harmed.

Oh, good grief, that is just ridiculous.

At kindergarten and early elementary school ages, one does not need a expensive consultant/researcher to know that this back and forth stuff would NOT cause irrefutable harm to our young Newburyport school children. Good grief again.

Free up the space at the Bresnahan Elementary School and then go back to the drawing board right away and come up with a sensible, realistic, fiscally responsible solution (there are four very valuable pieces of property here, see previous posts) that the taxpayers will support.

Do not waste everyone’s time and valuable money. I’m not even talking compromise here. I’m talking a good dose of downright Yankee commonsense, not pie in the sky, dreamy $30 million dollar building plan.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

A while ago I got a newsletter from the Mayor’s office. It was on bright yellow paper and it was excellent.

Snow Emergency Update, Leaf Pick-up, Crow Lane Landfill Update. All info short and to the point and written by different department heads. I read the whole thing. And I would have read the whole thing even if I wasn’t a blogger, who now reads this kind of stuff.

And a few days later, for some reason, I wandered into the Children’s Room at the Newburyport Library. And low and behold there was another newsletter, the School Committee Newsletter. I used to receive one of those, but since there is no child in the Newburyport School system, I guess, no more newsletter.

But, as a tax payer I would have very much liked to have gotten this particular newsletter (October 2006) because right there in black and white the “Status” of the Long Term Elementary Building Needs. Ah, my…

Note to the Newburyport School Committee: very helpful to send out an abbreviated version of the newsletter to taxpayers, a la what the Mayor’s Office initiated, especially when it comes to spending $30 million plus (Newburyport Daily News, November 17, 2006) of tax payers hard earned money on a diamond necklace approach to our elementary school building stuff. Good grief.

So, no, it sounds like, having stumbled on this newsletter in the Newburyport Library, quite by accident, that the Newburyport School Committee has no intention of revamping it’s recommendations to coincide with reality, but instead is deciding on “how to best proceed with implementing this plan.”

Bad idea.

And the reason it would be a good idea for taxpayer to receive (at least an abbreviated version) of the Newburyport School Committee newsletter, is that a) of course it pertains to the taxpayer’s money, and b) taxpayers often have very good insight and perspective that parents who are in the throws of getting their children educated (which usually, in my experience, entails at least some degree of high anxiety) might not yet have.

Having a child go through a whole variety of educational building situations, from very fancy to very un-fancy to large, small and inbetween, my perspective is that it was the schoolmates, the caring parents of schoolmates, and the guardian angels all the way along, who taught, cajoled, prodded and guided that made the huge difference, rather than the bricks and mortar stuff that encased guardian angel wings and other things.

(Boy, I wonder if this is going to piss a lot of people off.)

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

One of the odd things that’s happened to this blogger as a result of blogging now for 10 and a half months is that philosophically, politically I’ve moved from what I would consider a “liberal” bias more towards the “center.” My goodness.

I find this very odd.

As a blogger, I will have to admit, I’ve paid a great deal more attention to civics than I ever did as a regular resident.

Take the elementary school needs for example. Before becoming a bloggett I was all for neighborhood elementary schools, including keeping the Kelly School open.

However, as a bloggett I’ve gone “over to the dark side.”

To quote an astute reader of the Newburyport Political Blog in an email to moi:

“…the only parents that spoke at the recent meeting said that they are less interested in ‘bricks and mortar’ than sound educational programs. Many middle school parents are upset about the abysmal results on the 2006 MCAS tests. About 2/3 of our middle school students are not proficient in math – we did not even match the statewide average, never mind keep up with our peer districts.

The link to those figures is:

http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/home.asp?orgcode=02040000&view=tst”

And also according to the astute reader:

“9 out of 10 girls graduate from Newburyport High School and only 2 out of 3 boys graduate.

These graduation rates are posted on www.SchoolMatters.com (funded by Bill & Melinda Gates):

http://www.schoolmatters.com/app/data/q/stid=22/llid=116/stllid=321/
locid=1009994/catid=814/secid=3504/compid=771/site=pes ”

Not good. The point being that quality education would be the first priority, way before an unbelievably expensive, extensive building extravaganza.

(And let’s not forget the Middle School, that will need an overhaul next.)

So as a bloggett, I find myself looking at a much bigger picture than I did before becoming a bloggett. I find that I am becoming a fiscal conservative, wanting us as a City to live as much as possible within its financial means.

Whereas before I would have said, “Kelly School at all cost, I don’t care what the cost is.” Now the picture to me is that the City has many options open to it because the City owns 4 very expensive pieces of property… the Brown School, the Kelly School, the Bresnahan School and the Cherry Hill property.

If the whole notion of neighborhood schools is taken out of the picture, then fiscally all kinds of practical solutions become an option.

Alas, a female blogging Darth Vader.

I seem to be becoming a practical bloggett, one who hopes (although from reading the Newburyport Daily News today, it may be a hope against hope) that the School Committee would rethink its position on the elementary school building, diamond necklace extravaganza, and take a different approach. An approach that takes the entire community into its equation.

I don’t want to feel railroaded (the way I felt railroaded into voting for the new Newburyport High School) into something that I do not feel is good for Newburyport, MA.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

Editor’s note: (How about that, an editor’s note at the beginning, instead of the end of a post.)

Ellen Chambers came to speak at Newburyport, MA.

This an excerpt from an article in the Boston Globe June 4, 2006 By Matt Gunderson explaining who Ellen Chambers is:

“Chambers considers herself lucky, but hasn’t stopped combating a statewide system that, she claims, pulled her daughter into a downward spiral. In January (2006,) Chambers formed SpEdWatch, Inc., which she says is the state’s first watchdog group on special education across the state.

Advocacy for individual special education students is not new, but a proactive organization tackling systemic issues within special education is, said Chambers.”

Apparently SpEdWatch, Inc. now has representation in over 70 communities consisting of parents, educators and other special education professionals from across the state.

This is a response from Beth Hall to Ellen Chambers’ visit.

Hi Mary,

Thrilled does not begin to describe how I felt when I discovered Ellen Chambers’ SpEdWatch. I was one of roughly 30 people that attended the SpEdWatch meeting lead by Ellen Chambers in Newburyport a couple of weeks ago.

362 or 15% of Newburyport students have some type of learning disability. Raising awareness of what it is like for the children and families that face different types of learning issues is important for many reasons.

The fact is that 98% of children that have been diagnosed with a learning disability have as much potential to succeed and be productive as kids without disabilities.

Thank you to Ellen Chambers for coming to Newburyport to present informative facts. And thank you to everyone who came to that meeting as well as those who show their continued support for children with learning disabilities.

Beth Tremblay Hall
Newburyport

Alas alack, my computer crashed, it’s come back from computer hospital, hopefully, whatever ailed it, it will aspire to keep it and other stuff at bay.

Ah, and yes, I high-tailed it to New York City, the place of my birth (no I’m not a native of Newburyport, anyone who has heard me lapse into a New Yawk ackcent knows I’m not a borner.)

I went to see my son, most favorite son, open first time ever, just out of college in an off (off) Broadway production of Shakespeare no less. The romantic prince in “The Winter’s Tale.”

The prince falls in love with a lowly shepherdess, who turns out happily, to be a true princess and “alls well that ends well.” Luckily for my son’s handsomest character.

(Now this “alls well that ends well” business — only in Shakespeare, only with an amazing amount of faith, complete oblivion, or an ability to be totally out of touch with reality. In my youth of course I would have an answer to that question right away. In my middle age, I have no clue.)

And for all those wonderful teachers all through the Newburyport Public School system who would say to my son, “remember me when…(you get to the Oscars, you get to Broadway, you get to whatever…) you can go see good old Hal Fickett in his role as the handsome love-interest.

He has been embraced by The Hipgnosis Theatre Company. (”Hip” meaning, “hip” as in slang “hip.” “Gnosis” meaning “journey towards enlightenment through self-knowledge and personal exploration.” So nice to have “depth” in a superficial world.) Website and ticket information: www.hipgnosistheatre.org.

The play and its amazing talented cast, director and crew, runs from November 2-November 19 at the Access Theatre 380 Broadway, NYC. Run, do not walk. And tickets are actually reasonable, even by Newburyport standards.

So all of those parents who despair about the Newburyport Public School system, here is a young man who manage “toot suit” (that’s mangled French for “right away”) to land an off (off) Broadway role with a very cool company.

And please don’t say to me “Oh, but it was so much different when YOUR child was in school. ” Well frankly, my child was one of those “sacrifice children,” the ones who scrunched into the Middle School during those very important High School years so that others might have the delight of the spanking new sparkling High School facility. So don’t “complain to me Argentina.”

And herein lies my unending point, that it is NOT the facility that is of greatest importance (although nice), but the PEOPLE who guide, teach, exhort within.

My son’s many guardian angles at the Newburyport High School helped make this ongoing, going event, eventful. And for them I am deeply grateful.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport

After reading yesterday’s Newburyport Daily News it appears that there is the possibility that the Newburyport School Committee would not feel it needed to ask for a ballot override. The question appears to be still very much up in the air.

But the fact that this issue of a ballot override for teachers (which is still a question mark,) even at the beginning of a possible process, is so emotionally charged, intrigues me. It begs the question, why should those of us who are older 20-95 and everything in between care about the education of the children in Newburyport Massachusetts?

The bottom line for many, and frankly for most of us, is “What’s in it for me?”

And I’ve thought about that question a lot.

What’s in it for all of us is that the children of today will be taking care of us in the not too distant future. They will be our doctors, lawyers, politicians, sanitation workers.

There comes an unnerving time in one’s life when one day you realize that your doctor is younger than you are.

It also begins to dawn on one that the politicians representing you are starting to be made up of a whole other younger generation.

All of a sudden one day the “blue collar worker” who used to be your uncle’s age, is now your nephew’s age.

And you start to feel very old. And you also hope they know what the heck they are doing.

And that’s why education is so important from Kindergarten to High School in all municipalities.

I want my doctor to know what she or he is doing. I want the person at the UN who may have started to learn languages early in Middle School to get their translation right. I want the reporter to have an understanding of both the English language and a host of other things so that she or he can report the news correctly. Obviously the list is endless.

Educating our children well is vital. So if you are a law maker on Capital Hill or a taxpayer who doesn’t want to dig into their pocket, remember, when you are sitting in a doctor’s office, you probably would want the children of today to have had a first rate education so that when it’s their turn, they can make the right diagnosis and possibly save your life.

Mary Eaton, Newburyport

The Newburyport School Committee’s efforts in conjunction with administration has always been to try and do what is best for the children, to provide continuity and stability and prevent crisis.

That is our ethical, and primary responsibility within all of our dealings with the community. And we are entrusted, by vote, to do this to the best of our ability.

Administrative positions in the Newburyport schools have been looked at, have been cut, and while we have maintained small class size, we have made lean our supervision ratio.

In FY ‘06 there was a total cut to administration of 1.6 FTE to save $107,500. But at what cost?

The supervision ratio between administrator / supervisor to teachers today, in the Newburyport district could be 8 : 1 ? 10 : 1 ? or 20 : 1.

However, it is not. Instead it is: 30 : 1, and 34 : 1.

Administration is related to the supervision of teachers. Cuts to administration has tremendous impact on the climate and culture of our schools, but especially on the supervision and evaluation of staff, curriculum and instruction, as well as the organization and administration of MCAS.

Dean of Student life equates to “Assistant Principal” at the high school. Dean of Student services has the role of working closely with guidance, and with all of our students, including those with special needs, to see that their educational plans are properly implemented.

The Curriculum Coordinator works closely with building administration and teaching staff to ensure that the curriculum is well aligned and that efforts in curriculum and instruction are effective.

One type of administrator is the Curriculum Director. These administrators are closely involved with K-12 support and monitoring of curriculum, instruction and assessment practices, oversight of the continuity of all instruction, helping to provide professional development opportunities, and more.

The Student Services person at the Middle School, actually heads up all special education, as Special Education Director in our school system. A key position, which when slippage occurs, can be very costly. I believe this is one area that has hurt Pentucket in the last year, resulting in special education costs failing to be reimbursed.

Special Education costs and programs are well managed in Newburyport, providing appropriate services, which prevent students from needing to go out of district for these services, which would end up costing the district more.

The two House Coordinators at the Middle School are analogous to two assistant principals, one for grades 5 & 6, and the other for grades 7 & 8. The separation of these two groups is essential in our middle school model, and was recognized as very innovative in this state when the Middle School first opened in 1972 - it was one of the first middle schools.

As a member of the Newburyport School Committee I look forward to opportunities to increase the value of public education in Newburyport, so that it is a win-win for all involved, the children and the community. I am thankful to the citizens of Newburyport who have supported improvements to our schools. And yes, there is still work to be done, and personally, I want to be a part of that.

Steven Cole
Vice Chairman, Newburyport School Committee

(Editor’s note: A longer version of this post can be found on Around the North Shore Blog.)

Many people have expressed concern about what the Newburyport School Committee has done in terms of reducing expenses.

We have supported our school district administration’s effort in this regard. The administration has acted prudently and in good faith, and has reduced expenses.

First, the school district has had a spending freeze since October 17, 2005, on all discretionary expenses, and those not related to student needs. Yes, that is most of the school year.

The administration has implemented energy conservation efforts, to include shutting down all of the school buildings during winter vacation periods, and turning down the thermostats during those periods, as well as on weekends, to 55 degrees.

School administration also asked, and received cooperation from custodial staff to use vacation time during these periods, and the staff were graciously supportive, and participated with this plan.

By doing all of this, Newburyport has maximized the number of days to save dollars, which has led to more dollars being saved. There are some cities in this state that did not make these efforts in as timely of a way, and now they are looking at huge shortfalls, or have had to lay off personnel in January of ‘06, as a result.

As a School Committee member, I was pleased to learn today, that Mayor Moak has been able to add approximately $100,000 more of an appropriation for the schools in the budget that he presented to the City Council. And I hope that the Massachusetts State Senate can add more dollars to Chapter 70, and I have lobbied legislators in regard to this, as recently as April 26, 2006, joining Mayor John Moak at the State House.

We hope to get more dollars for extraordinary relief from the Special Education Circuit Breaker account, perhaps as much as $100,000. And there is the possibility of attracting “Choice” tuition students to our schools. We especially have room in next year’s grades 5, 7, & 9, with limited availability in other grades — especially limited in our elementary schools.

Students who enroll as “Choice” in grades 5, 7, & 9 will not threaten class size guidelines, as there are desks to fill, in each one of these grades.

To summarize, efforts by the administration to save dollars have been prudent, and done in good faith, especially with the expectation of increasing utility costs, and done with the idea that the more that can be saved today, the less that will require reduction, or cuts, later.

At the expense of this year’s canceled Winter Carnival, Mother Nature’s help with a pretty mild January and February certainly is something to be thankful for, as well.

Steven P. Cole
Vice Chairman, Newburyport School Committee