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The Lowell Citywide Parent Council will hold its School Committee Candidates Forum Monday night at the LHS Little Theatre from 7-9 pm. You can attend the forum in person or watch from home on cable channel 22. If you miss the event live, the program will be replayed during these times. With two hours and only seven candidates for six seats, the forum will offer viewers an opportunity to determine where the candidates stand on the issues and what they see as their role in improving the Lowell Public Schools. As in past years, the forum will include two-minute opening and closing statements, one general question that all will answer, specific questions from panelists and audience members, and opportunities for candidates to “rebut” or comment on each other’s remarks. I know I’m not objective, but the CPC forums are always interesting and informative. Please join us for this important evening of democracy in action. If you’d like to submit questions for the forum, email cpc@yahoo.com lowellcpc@yahoo.com.

Tonight, the Lowell School Committee meets in Council Chambers, beginning at 7 p.m. and televised live on LTC cable station 10. The meeting will include a Spotlight on Excellence regarding the third year of the Summer Reading Program. Participating students read every day this summer and kept a reading journal, resulting in a total of 13,138 books read by Lowell students in grades K-8. The participating students at tonight’s meeting were chosen by raffle to represent their schools and receive a $25 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble. Tonight’s agenda also includes an update from the superintendent on plans to offer early release at elementary and middle schools for professional development, subcommittee reports, as well as two motions by me, one by John Leahy, and one by Jim Leary.

My motions are: 1. Request the Superintendent work with city youth providers to develop ways to collaborate and make use of the Rogers School as a community center. 2. Request the Superintendent make recommendations regarding the use of biodegradable throwaway materials in our school food program, rather than Styrofoam, as well as the potential benefits and drawbacks of switching back to reusable items wherever possible. John Leahy’s motion: “The Superintendent send a letter of appreciation to Brenda Costello from the Committee for all the work she has done over the past few years for the Lowell High School Scholarship Foundation.” And Jim Leary’s motion: “Request the Superintendent and the Curriculum Subcommittee review the School Committee’s policy as it relates to the age students start school. The focus reflects students from outside the Lowell Public School entering our system and are forced to repeat kindergarten or any other grade that have already successfully passed due strictly to the existing age policy.”

Tonight, the Lowell School Committee meets in Council Chambers, beginning at 7 p.m. and televised live on LTC cable station 10. The agenda includes two motions by me and two by Committee Member John Leahy. My motions are: 1. Request the Superintendent provide a report on the use of early-release time at Lowell High School, including specific activities, objectives and measureable results from last year as well as plans for the upcoming year. 2. Request the Superintendent provide a report updating the committee on the status of development of a new instrument for evaluating teachers, including copies of both the proposed and current evaluation instruments in the report.

John Leahy’s motions are: 1. Request that the Committee block off all Wednesdays for School Committee business whether it be a regularly scheduled School Committee meeting or a Subcommittee meeting. 2. Ask the Superintendent to set up a meeting with the appropriate department/departments for discussion on the hiring of a school maintenance position.

In her article today, reporter Jen Myers leads with the Lowell school department’s decision to centralize food preparation at the Rogers School, the new home for central administration. This decision along with reductions in temporary staff will enable about $300,000 in savings for the food service program—a first step toward solvency. What Myers doesn’t mention, however, is that the Rogers School will also house a community precinct for the Lowell Police Department. In a collaborative move, the school committee voted last night to provide space for the police at the former middle school. The space is near the gymnasium and has its own access to the building. This partnership will benefit the city in many ways as the district looks to expand use of the Rogers School to community partners and youth groups, and the police build a positive presence in the neighborhood. (According to this Sun report, the Lowell Police had to close three of its nine precincts due to June budget cuts.) In other news, the committee voted to defer a decision on the early-release program recommended by the superintendent until more information is forthcoming about childcare options and the professional development planned.

Several issues are on the agenda for tonight’s Lowell School Committee meeting, but one with an immediate impact on students, families and staff is a proposal by the administration to conduct a pilot allowing four early-release days for K-8 schools through the upcoming academic year. (The proposal will be addressed as part of the Curriculum Subcommittee report.) According to school administrators, the days will occur on the same schedule as the high school, which has had an early-release program for several years, and will provide much-needed time for professional development and collaboration between grade-level teams at the elementary and middle schools. Early release for professional development is a practice used by many neighboring school districts, but due to childcare concerns for working parents and other issues, it has not been an easy option in Lowell. The proposed pilot, which is designed to improve teacher communication and quality of instruction, would reduce students’ time on learning by 7.5 hours, increase parent-teacher conference time by 2.5 hours, and result in a savings of about $40K in substitutes for the year. The proposal calls for students to be released after lunch on four Wednesdays, with exact times varying by school. The first release day is planned for Oct. 28; the second one, on Dec. 16, is slated for parent-teacher conferences across the district.

During reports from the Finance and Safety Subcommittees, the board will also receive updates on savings in the food service program as well as plans for flu shots in the schools this fall. The meeting, which is held in Council Chambers and begins at 7 p.m., will be televised live on cable channel 10.

Yesterday’s Sun has an article about Alison Laraba, the only challenger for a seat on the Lowell School Committee in the upcoming election. I met Alison Laraba through the Friends of Lowell High School (we’re both members) and especially noticed her during school budget hearings last spring. She is an outspoken parent with good ideas and I welcome her to the race for school committee. If you suffered through our budget hearings, you may recall Laraba as the speaker at the June 17 meeting who took issue with four members of the committee leaving council chambers while Sullivan School Principal Edith LeBran spoke about the importance of library media specialists. Laraba impressed me then as someone willing to take a stand for her convictions, and I look forward to an interesting campaign with her involved. Note:This LINK just in from LTC streaming video. (You can fast forward past Principal LeBran’s speech to see Laraba’s brief comments on the absent school committee members, but they are not shown leaving chambers due to the camera’s tight focus on the speakers.)

The number of candidates for school committee has steadily declined over the past six years, and quotes from my colleagues hypothesize why in yesterday’s article. As my earlier post on the issue reveals, “WANTED: Lunatics to run for school committee,” I have a few ideas of my own why more folks aren’t pulling papers for school committee. I also posted here why appointed school boards are not the solution. How do we get candidates interested in running and how do we overcome voter apathy? Given my slanted perspective, education seems key: not only education of our youth, but also consistent education of our community about the importance the board and our public schools play in the success of our city.

Cutting millions of dollars from the school budget is not my idea of a good time, nor is it the reason I ran for school committee. But if there has been a bright glimmer of light in this whole dark process, it has been the people—especially the students—who have come to the podium and spoken so eloquently in support of our schools, staff, and programs. Last night was no exception. When Patrick Chhoy, a recent LHS graduate who will attend UMass on full scholarship, spoke last night, there wasn’t a dry eye in the chambers. Chhoy’s emotional plea was in support of the high school overall, but particularly his guidance counselor who helped him and many of his friends with the college application process. Chhoy’s point about the difference his guidance counselor made in his ability to attend college speaks volumes about how important a good education is to our children, not only for the individual lives that are impacted, but for the future of our community. One caring adult can save a child, and that is the work being done every day in our schools. As school leaders, it is our responsibility to make sure the structure that allows that to happen continues despite tough financial times. The fact that our young people, from current middle school and high school students to alumni, were active members in this process makes me incredibly proud and hopeful. I am proud of their willingness to engage and how well they represented themselves, proud of the people in our schools who gave them the skills and motivation to be involved, and proud of the support network that is our community. In the end, those students keep me hopeful that despite these tough times, this important work will continue.

With more bad news on the fiscal front and the Lowell Public Schools likely facing $8 million in cuts next year, the Facilities Subcommittee and other members met last night to discuss closing schools to save money. The administration proposed a new plan (Plan B) to close the Rogers Middle School, moving the strand of Portuguese-speaking students and their teachers to the Butler School, and dispersing the remaining students to middle schools throughout the district where space is available. The plan will save the district $3.2 million up front with additional savings in reduced rental fees possible by moving the Family Literacy Center, Adult Education, and portions of Central Office to the vacated Rogers School site. Since some middle schools are currently under enrolled, closing the Rogers School will not have a major impact on class sizes, which typically run about 25 students at the middle-school level. (Previously, the administration had proposed a plan to close the Moody School, sending those elementary students to the Bartlett Community Partnership School while moving the Bartlett middle-school students to the Stoklosa School, and using the old Moody building for administrative offices. That plan would have saved the district about $1.2 million.) According to the administration, Plan B not only saves more money, but it also displaces less students, and provides the district with a better site for offices, family literacy, and adult education as well as a centralized location in the city. The full committee will consider this cost-saving recommendation, among others, during Budget Hearings, which begin May 27 in Council Chambers at 7 pm. Closing the Rogers School—a thriving community of caring educators, students and families—is but one painful step in a long road of recommended cuts required to educate our students with $8 million less in revenue next year.  

Warren Shaw’s op-ed for an appointed school board in yesterday’s Sun claims a failure in our “system of governance” because of the “current crisis on the Lowell School Committee.” That argument is not only flawed and unfair, it’s undemocratic. The radio host, farmer, and former Dracut selectman argues against elected school committees because he claims Lowell’s board is ineffective:  According to Shaw, one member’s alleged criminal actions puts a whole board in crisis. Shaw also claims elected members can’t negotiate well because they may live near their employees, and centralized control is better because it is less adversarial. Perhaps Mr. Shaw would support appointed legislators next? Many state and federal legislators face judicial scrutiny, get elected by their neighbors, and are adversarial. Yes, our system of governance is at times messy, inefficient, contentious and flawed. (How else to explain eight years of Bush?) But to suggest the solution is cutting voters out of the process is wrongheaded and goes against the democratic foundation on which this nation was built. The remedy for good governance is what it has always been: informed, attentive and active citizenry who hold their elected leaders accountable. 

OK, I admit to being easily aggravated on the issue of appointed school boards. Search this blog for “appointed school committee” and you’ll see several posts on the topic. (This one is dated, but still relevant since the state has yet to enact election-day registration; and I like this one too.)  As for Mr. Shaw, he doesn’t even consider the district’s progress around instruction, professional development, curriculum, and safety when discussing board efficacy, and I doubt his children attended the Lowell Public Schools in the last 10 years (or ever). He also seems unaware that the City Manager is a voting member of the school’s negotiating team or that the state determines Lowell’s minimal share of the costs for educating its students. With all due respect, perhaps Mr. Shaw should stick to Dracut issues which one can assume he knows more about.

The Lowell School Committee meeting tonight begins at 7 pm from City Hall and can be watched live on LTC channel 10 if you can’t make it downtown. (You can also get information on replays or on-demand streaming video at LTC’s website.) There are only two motions on for tonight’s meeting and since one is a request for a letter of thanks to DPW, I’m only going to include the other, which is from Mayor Caulfield and reads: “Request a legal opinion from the City Solicitor on the recent RFP approved by the Finance Subcommittee regarding Food Service in Lowell Public Schools.”  If you’ve read the local paper in the last few weeks, you know there’s been some backlash regarding getting this information, and that providing student lunches currently costs about $775,000. Expect to hear from folks on this issue during the public participation portion of the meeting. There will also be a number of reports from subcommittees including Finance, Personnel and Special Education as well as reports from the Superintendent regarding the city’s net school spending compliance, the budget calendar, Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education School reviews, and other initiatives. Lots of change in the air as the school committee and administration attempt to develop a budget that allows continued progress in the quality of education provided to our children within tight revenue guidelines. Also, check out LiL for their take on tonight’s meeting.