Category Archives: Schools

School budget & OPEB

Posted on January 28, 2015 | 2 comments

This exchange took place under the comments to the post about the MMA annual meeting, and are worthy of more people seeing them –

  1. Charlie | January 22, 2015 at 3:39 pm | Reply | Edit

    Pete-

    I find it absolutely stunning that there is no coverage of school budgets, in particular the relationship of cost to rising and falling student populations. School spending represents, far and away, the largest item in any town or city budget, yet no one seems to want to deal with the issue. Also, I see nothing on the agenda that addresses the massive shortfall in the funding of employee benefits. I note that there’s a session on “Lessons and land mines”. Is this a tutorial to help public officials avoid facing the really important fiscal issues? Very disappointing.

    Sent from my iPad

  2. Selectman Osler “Pete” Peterson | January 28, 2015 at 11:47 am | Reply | Edit

    Charlie,
    Thanks for your comments. i am catching up,so please excuse my delay.

    First, town officials have absolutely no say or control over school budgets, so I would guess that is the reason that there are no MMA seminars on school budgets. The town as a whole can only approve or not the total school budget at the town meeting, but once a budget amount is approved by the town meeting it is then up to the superintendent as to how those monies get spent. While I am exceedingly interested in the school budget issues you raise, please know that i already probably spend about 20 hours a week already just trying to do my volunteer job as a selectman (and i also have a full time job as an attorney), so I have yet to find the extra time to study the school budget issues. Also, those issues really are the purview of the school committee, not the selectmen, despite my interest.

    I see that the school committee meeting to discuss the budget got postponed by the storm, and so i encourage you to go to the re-scheduled meeting to raise your school budget issues with them.

    Second, I certainly did hear about OPEB liabilities again this year at the MMA annual meeting, although I did hear more about it last year. The MMA is seeking to be part of the solution, crafting legislation to improve the OPEB situation. Governor Patrick’s commission on the OPEB issue made recommendations over a year ago, but the MMA opposed them on the basis that they both did not do enough and also what id did do would make things worse for towns. Look at the MMA’s website (www.mma.org) and you should find the action item that the membership voted on this past Saturday morning to ask the legislature to enact OPEB reforms.

 

2 Comments

Posted in Budgets, Financial, Schools

School Committee cancelled tonight

Posted on January 26, 2015 | Comments Off on School Committee cancelled tonight

This from the Superintendent –

Tonight’s School Committee meeting scheduled for 7:30 has been cancelled. The meeting is rescheduled for Tuesday, February 3rd  at 7:30 in the Lowell Mason Auditorium located at MHS. The 2015-2016 Budget Hearing will take place during this meeting.

Sincerely,

Jeff Marsden

Mike Sullivan just called and got my vote to declare an emergency, which allows departments to spend in excess of their budgets he tells me.

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Posted in Schools

Superintendent’s blog

Posted on November 26, 2014 | Comments Off on Superintendent’s blog

The Superintendent of Schools, Jeffrey Marsden, has started a monthly blog, which is now into its second month, and which I highly recommend.  This month Jeff explains the issues behind the changes in the music program at the Dale Street School, which gave me the information I needed to appreciate the issues of the situation and to better understand the solution that has been crafted. I also liked the solution of appointing a citizen and schools committee to study whether the current solution is the right one.

I do not usually get to see the School Committee meetings on Medfield.TV, so I greatly appreciate having Jeff write about what is going on and pushing that information out to me to read on my own schedule, when I am able.  This is exactly how the town should be delivering information to its residents on how their town is being run.

The town government should exist to get its residents the services that they want and are willing to pay to have, but in the process of doing that, those running the town government must figure out exactly which services those are and in which amounts the residents both want the services and are willing to pay for them.  The first step towards accomplishing that goal is by making sure the residents have full information on which to make their decisions, and Jeff’s blog is a great step towards making information available to we residents.

To me this blog is a huge step in getting me the type of information that I, as both a resident and a parent, want about the schools, delivered in a format that works well for me, and so I applaud Jeff for starting the blog.  Thanks Jeff!  You have made me one happy reader

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Posted in Information, Schools

Boys State & Girls State

Posted on October 31, 2014 | Comments Off on Boys State & Girls State

20141030-legion-boys & girls state At the Legion last night twelve of the seventeen MHS seniors who spent a week last summer at the Legion run Boys State and Girls State, held at Stonehill College in Easton, recounted their experiences to the crowd of over a hundred in attendance at the Legion’s monthly dinner meeting. Each of the dozen students spoke about what the experience had meant to them, and each was remarkably eloquent, poignant, or in turn funny.  The experience had clearly made strong positive impressions on each student, and for some it had been life changing.  More than one student recounted the benefits to them from meeting others from backgrounds so disparate from what they have know in Medfield.

Boys State and Girls State are the Legion run opportunity for high school students to learn about the American political and governing processes by actually taking part in mock government elections and functions, as well as taking courses.  The students are divided amongst separate towns, elect their own leaders from amongst their own members, and deal with legislation.

20141039-Legion-Boys & Girls State-2Last summer the students also got to participate in the actual political process, as some researched and took a position against the then pending legislation in the Massachusetts legislature that would have allowed cell antennae to be located virtually anywhere regardless of local zoning.  The students submitted letters against the legislation to the legislature that Representative Shawn Dooley said last night helped to put a face on the opposition and to defeat that legislation.

Medfield’s Legion sends more students to Boys State and Girls State than any other city or town in the state.    Around 700 students in all participate.  Karl Schwartz, past Legion Commander, recounted that when he took the program on 17 years ago no students were being sent by the Legion to participate, and that the program has been gradually built up over the years.  Today the students compete for the slots, as the demand to participate exceeds the monies  available to send students. 20141039-Legion-Boys & Girls State-3

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Posted in Political, Schools, Teens, Veterans

MAHS on 11/10 at MHS

Posted on October 28, 2014 | Comments Off on MAHS on 11/10 at MHS

Notice today to MHS parents regarding the MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey coming on 11/10.  Extremely useful data is derived from this long running survey –

October 27, 2014
Dear Parent or Guardian,

To make sure we continue to give the best possible education and services to children in Medfield, we want to learn about their attitudes and behaviors with regard to a variety of health-related topics. Inorder to accomplish this, students at Medfield High School are being asked to participate in the MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey. The questions on the survey cover many topics including alcohol, tobacco and other drug use; violence and safety; nutrition and physical activity; sexual behaviors; and mental health.  This project will continue to help our district develop and enhance its health education and prevention services. We will be giving this survey to students in grades 9-12 on Monday, November 10th.

The survey is anonymous, meaning your child will not put his or her name on the survey and no one will know what he or she writes.  There will be no identifying information on any of the surveys.

Completing this survey is volnntary.   Your child’s grades in school will not be affected by whether or not he or she participates.   Your child can also decide not to take the survey or skip any question he or she does not wish to answer.

The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment is a Federal Law that requires us to notify you ahead of time about the survey, and give you the chance to look at it, so you can let us know if you do not want your child to take part. Ifyou would like to see the survey before deciding, a copy will be available in the main office from Thursday, October 30, 2014 through Thursday, November 6, 2014.

If you DO NOT want your child to take part in the survey, please complete the form below return it to the main office secretary by Friday, November 7, 2014.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Susan Cowell, Wellness Content Specialist.

Robert Parga

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Posted in Schools, Teens

Emailed report card

Posted on June 27, 2014 | Comments Off on Emailed report card

Kudos to Medfield High School for emailing the report cards.  Great way for them to get us the information.

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Posted in Medfield High School, Schools

School enrollment decline

Posted on June 18, 2014 | Comments Off on School enrollment decline

From the DOE via the Boston Business Journal, via Charlie Glew –

School District    Medfield
Enrollment, 2013-2014    2,674

Enrollment, 2008-2009    3,004
5-year enrollment change    -11%

Enrollment, 2003-2004    3,047
10-year enrollment change    -12%

Enrollment, 1993-1994    2,116
20-year enrollment change    26%

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Posted in Schools

MSBA pays 40% of Wheelock boiler

Posted on June 4, 2014 | Comments Off on MSBA pays 40% of Wheelock boiler

The Superintendent, his management team, and the School Committee got the Mass School Building Authority (MSBA) to pay for 40% of the needed new boiler at Wheelock School.  Congratulations and thank you to them!  This was the email this afternoon from Jeff –

 

Dear Pete,

I wanted to let you know that I have just returned from the Mass School Building Authority (MSBA) board meeting in Boston and they voted to approve our boiler replacement project for the Wheelock School. This project will replace the 45 year old boilers currently in use at the Wheelock School.  As you may remember, I went before the Board of Selectmen in February to ask for your support to apply for this grant program. The School Committee also voted to support this project on January 27,2014. This is an exciting opportunity for us as the MSBA will reimburse the Town of Medfield 40% of the project cost; saving the citizens of Medfield thousands of dollars in capital costs. MSBA will be sending along a project timeline that will outline key dates for the project, including when funds need to be allocated. In addition, the School Committee and I did not submit an application for a new Dale St. School during this round of grants as we believed it would negatively impact the other building project priorities in town. Lastly, I think its important for the Selectmen and you to know that Mike Sullivan was a great help during the Statement of Interest (SOI) process and gave the application his full support.
On behalf of the School Committee, the students and staff of Medfield, I want to thank the entire Board of Selectmen for their continued support.
Best,
Jeff

—
Jeffrey J. Marsden, Ed.D

Superintendent
Medfield Public Schools
508-359-2302

Follow me on Twitter @JeffreyJMarsden

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Posted in Budgets, Schools

Tagged , , ,

MCPE partners with Green & Clear Cleaners

Posted on May 22, 2014 | Comments Off on MCPE partners with Green & Clear Cleaners

This from Susan Maritan for the MCPE –

MCPE and Green & Clear Cleaners Partner Up to Help Medfield Schools

Medfield Coalition for Public Education is pleased to announce a partnership with Green & Clear Cleaners to raise money for the Medfield Public Schools. It’s very easy for the public to get involved. Here’s how the program works: mention MCPE and get 10% off your personal cleaning order for that visit. For every subsequent visit, Green & Clear Cleaners will donate 10% of the total order to MCPE! Please note, business shirts, specialty items and alterations are not included in the 10% donation.

This is a great opportunity for people to be eco-friendly AND help the Medfield public schools at the same time.

Green & Clear Cleaners is located at 258 Main Street in Medfield in the Donut Express Plaza.

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Posted in Business, Charity, MCPE - Medfield Coalition for Public Education, Schools

SCHOOL FUNDING REVIEW PANEL

Posted on May 21, 2014 | Comments Off on SCHOOL FUNDING REVIEW PANEL

This from John Nunnari, Medfield’s eyes on the state legislature –

COALITION SEES OPENING FOR SCHOOL FUNDING REVIEW PANEL: The House this year agreed in its budget to establish a commission to examine the allocation of education aid from the state, which supplements local property tax revenues to provide the basis of K-12 education financing.  The decision has raised the hopes of local officials who claim a review of the state’s Chapter 70 formula is long overdue since its current roots date back to the 1993 education reform law and much has changed since then.   “The equity of the formula and the ability of a non-expert to understand it have often been called into question,” the Suburban Coalition, a statewide group of local elected officials that advocates on education issues, wrote in an email circulated Tuesday morning.    Coalition vice president Dorothy Presser said the Senate has several times voted to establish a Foundation Budget Review Commission but the House has never agreed to it, until this year.   Ahead of Wednesday’s launch of Senate budget deliberations, coalition officials are urging senators to support a commission amendment sponsored by Education Committee Co-chair Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz of Jamaica Plain.  “A formula that accurately reflects the cost of education and that is equitable and understandable would be a great step forward for our communities,” Presser wrote in her email.    The Chang-Diaz amendment has 21 cosponsors so its passage appears assured.  Under her plan, the Education Committee co-chairs would co-chair the commission, which would also include top state education officials and others, and the panel would be charged with making recommendations and a final report by June 15, 2015

 

John Nunnari, Assoc AIA
Executive Director, AIA MA

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Posted in Budgets, Schools