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There are currently 6 responses to “Outrage continues at school committee meeting tonight”

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1. 1 On May 21st, 2009, Kimlmlu said:

   Why would changing the grades that are served at the JG Pyne ever be considered? They are one of a few schools in the city that actually have decent testing scores. Has anyone ever heard of not fixing something that aint broken? The honest reason we even stayed in this city is because we found a school that we thought the kids would be at until 8th grade that had “decent” test scores. End the school lunch program because they only serve proccessed food anyways, cut the number of “cirriculum” development people, cut the number of assistant principals, and start the ax with the under achieving schools. Who was the brain that built a big beautiful school, on contaiminated grounds, in a bad neighborhood, that none of the parents would want to send their kids to? We are voters and poor prior planning will show in the polls.

2. 2 On May 21st, 2009, Jackie said:

   The Pyne option was presented but never recommended as a serious solution for a number of reasons, including the successful K-8 model it represents, the number of students who would be disrupted, and the overall potential savings for the district. In terms of the Stoklosa School, it opened within the last five years since I’ve been on the committee although the planning and building process was in the works for more than a decade. The decision to locate it on Broadway was a collaboration between the city and the school department, which had to do with improving a depressed neighborhood as well as providing a middle school for students at the Murkland Elementary School–another new building funded at 90% reimbursement by the state. (So I’m told. Those decisiones were before my time.)

3. 3 On May 22nd, 2009, Kimlmlu said:

   I just could not understand for the life of me why they would consider changing a very successful school. I Stoklosa was one BIG mistake and most parents are not willing to pay for it. Why is’nt poor performance a factor in school closings or potential closings? I think it would be much more acceptable to residents of they know schools like the Robinson were ranked like 893 out of 900????

4. 4 On May 23rd, 2009, Jackie said:

   Not sure where you get that Robinson ranking or the idea that the Stoklosa is a mistake, but I can tell you both schools have very competent, caring leadership and staff working together to improve student performance, and like the Rogers (and most of our schools), both serve high populations of low-income students with diverse learning needs. It’s horrible to close any school and it sends a ripple of disruption across the district that is felt for years, but the decision of which one to close is based on several factors: primary being displacing least number of students without adversely impacting class sizes and generating the most significant savings. Due to its central location near public transportation and the decent shape of its facility, the Rogers(unfortunately for them) also best meets the criteria for additional savings as a good site to locate school administration offices, the Parent Information Center, adult education, and the Family Literacy Center, bringing the total savings up to $4 million ($3.2 million from closing school plus $800K in rental savings). When you’re looking at a total of $9.5 million in cuts, this option must be considered.

5. 5 On May 29th, 2009, Kimlmlu said:

   The Robinson ranking was for MCAS scores for the state. What a tough position to be in. No one wants to be responsible for upsetting a large group of vulnerable teens. I must say again that the school lunces are aweful and I think they should be made at a central location and delivered to the schools. I would love my daughter to be eating sandwiches over the junk that they are feeding them now. It is all so processed. Would changing the city wide bussing save anything on the budget?

6. 6 On May 29th, 2009, Jackie said:

   We continue to look at savings in transportation by tightening routes and we recently approved extending our contract with the small special educ buses that will save hundreds of thousands (I forget how much off the top of my head, but I think it’s a total of $600,000) over the course of the three-year contract. We are also looking to share transporting special education students out-of-district with nearby towns, as well as developing programs inhouse so less students need to be sent out. Regarding lunches, we’ve made some improvements in the lower grades over the last few years. For instance, now they get carrot and celery sticks, and fresh fruit, but I agree, we still have a way to go to improve food quality. Also, interesting you mention centralized food prep as it one of the other areas we’re looking at for potential cost savings.