Blogging Belmont » schools

Game on: Scharfman Picks Up Selectman Nomination Papers

bloggingbelmont — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:12:15 +0000

School Committee member Dan Scharfman is the latest to pick up papers to run for a seat on the Board of Selectmen, following the decision by current member Angelo Firenze not to seek re-election. Scharfman is the third person to step forward after Matt Sullivan of the Board of Library Trustees and Andy Rojas of the Planning Board.

Read all the news on the Patch here:

Scharfman Picks Up Selectman Nomination Papers – Belmont, MA Patch.

PTO/PTA: Race to Nowhere Screening tomorrow evening

Paul Roberts — Wed, 04 May 2011 18:12:08 +0000

Just a note that the Belmont PTA/PTO will be screening Race To Nowhere: The Dark Side of America’s Achievement Culture tomorrow evening (Thursday) at the Belmont Studio Cinema, with half the price of admission donated to Belmont’s Public Schools.PTO/PTA’s! The film takes on the “culture of hollow achievement and pressure to perform that has invaded Americaʼs schools. It is destroying our childrenʼs love of learning and feeding an epidemic of unprepared, disengaged, and unhealthy students.

“This remarkable new film shines a light on the price our kids pay for this “race to nowhere.” Cheating is commonplace, stress-related illness, depression and burnout are rampant, and ironically, young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired. Featuring the heartbreaking stories of young people who have been pushed to the brink and educators who are burned out and worried that students arenʼt developing the skills needed for the global economy, RACE TO NOWHERE points to the silent epidemic running rampant in our schools.”

The film screens in Belmont on May 5

Read more details about the event below.

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The Belmont PTA/PTO’s are proud to present a special screening of the critically acclaimed documentary film:

RACE TO NOWHERE

(Directed by Vicki Abeles)

Thursday, May 5th at 7:00pm at Belmont Studio Cinema

Film will be followed by a discussion with author Alfie Kohn and student success expert Cal Newport.

Tickets are available for $10 online at http://rtnbelmontstudiocinemas55.eventbrite.com/
Or $15 at the door.

Half the price of each ticket sold will be donated to Belmont’s Public Schools.PTO/PTA’s.

Event Information:

There has been a groundswell of interest in this film across the country. 800 people attended the screening at Belmont High School and a recent screening at the Belmont Studio Cinema sold out. This special one-night event hosted by all the Belmont PTA/PTO’s is a fundraiser for our schools, which are facing dire budget cuts. The evening includes a post-screening discussion led by noted local authors Alfie Kohn and Cal Newport. Alfie Kohn is the author of twelve books, including NO GRADES + NO HOMEWORK =BETTER LEARNING.

Cal Newport created Study Hacks, the Internet’s most visited student advice blog and is the author of three books of student advice. His latest, HOW TO BE A HIGH SCHOOL SUPERSTAR, argues that it’s possible to do well in the college process without becoming overloaded or over-stressed.
Film Synopsis:

A concerned mother turned filmmaker aims her camera at the high-stakes, high-pressure culture that has invaded our schools and our children’s lives. Race to Nowhere points to the silent epidemic in our schools: cheating has become commonplace; students are disengaged; stress-related illness and depression are rampant; and many young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired. Race to Nowhere is a call to action for families, educators, and policy makers to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens.

For questions about the May 5th Belmont event, contact Benita Gold at benita@benitagoldpr.com or Argelis Roman at roman.argelis@gmail.com.

We hope to see you on May 5th! This is a great way to come together to support our schools and to join in the national dialogue on student stress and wellbeing.

Belmont: Middle of the pack for per resident school spending

Paul Roberts — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 20:57:26 +0000

There are three zillion different ways you can slice the school spending pie and analyze the numbers, and none of them are particularly satisfying. One way, however, is to look at how much each town spends per resident on its schools, and by that matter Belmont is in the middle of the pack state wide – spending just above the state average per resident, and less than Winchester (BCH Editor Tony Schinella’s model district) but nowhere near as much as peer districts like Lexington, Concord/Carlisle. The data is from 2009 and appears in today’s Globe West. You can also check it out online here.

I’m not sure what this does – except counter the idea that Belmont spends extravagantly on its schools. Indeed, we perform in the top percentile, but spend per resident in the middle of the curve, so that would seem to suggest that our district is over performing. Of course, a look at the top spending districts per resident quickly shows that the correlation between per resident spending and performance doesn’t hold up. While almost all the top performing districts are in the top 100 in per resident school expenditures, its also true that some low performing districts are among the top ranked in per resident school spending.

Entwistle Stepping Down as Superintendent

Paul Roberts — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 20:32:04 +0000

This letter is from the School Committee Chairwoman, Ann Rittenburg to Members of the Belmont Public Schools Community. It follows the announcement that Belmont Public Schools Superintendent George Entwistle has decided to step down after two years on the job, citing “personal, family reasons.” Entwistle will be taking a position as Superintendent of the Scarborough, ME, school district. The Patch has written about it here.

I am writing to share the news with you that Dr. Entwistle, Superintendent of Schools, has informed the School Committee of his intent to leave the Belmont Public Schools at the close of this current school year; noting that he is compelled to return to Maine for personal, family reasons. On March 17^th the School Board for the town of Scarborough, ME will appoint him to lead their school district effective July 1, 2011.

We have been extremely fortunate to have the benefit of Dr. Entwistle’s leadership during the past two years and regret, but understand and support, his need to return to Maine. He has, without question, added enormous value to the Belmont Public Schools organization and to our community. The work he has done to simultaneously build and strengthen the Strategic Leadership Team of the Belmont Public Schools, while working in partnership with them to engineer the BPS organization for high performance, high efficiency, and greatest return-on-investment leaves us in very good stead, going forward into the future.

The School Committee and overall Strategic Leadership Team will continue to work in seamless partnership with Dr. Entwistle for the remainder of the school year, maintaining our relentless focus on creating the very best possible outcomes for our students and our school community. We will also be engaging in a thoughtful, thorough, and inclusive process with respect to planning for both short-term and long-term transition of district leadership and will keep you apprised of those plans as they evolve.

Best,

Ann Rittenburg

School Committee Chair

Questioning the Development=Kids Equation

bloggingbelmont — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 03:32:08 +0000

by Roger Colton, Town Meeting Member

People may have read the Guest Opinion in today’s Citizen-Herald about the new Library. I want to set aside the arguments against the Library and address a comment toward the end of that opinion piece that is just plain wrong, both factually and with the policy implications implied.

The writer complains (yes, I took it as a “complaint”) that the O’Neil and Cushing Square developments will send more than 200 new children to our schools. Without giving you MY perspective, let me just give you the findings out of the most recent comprehensive study of the connection between new developments, school-age children, and costs to a community.

“Not long ago, one of this report’s co-authors conducted a public meeting in a small, desirable town on the North Shore. Our firm canvassed a variety of planning topics, from open space and riverfronts to traffic, affordable housing and the community’s tax base. Several residents expressed concern about the impact of a large multi-family development on their schools. When asked to estimate the number of children a 200-unit rental development might bring into town, participants replied spontaneously: ’200!’

Needless to say, they questioned our sanity when we said the number might be as low as 12 or as high as 75. “It would be easy for us to argue that new multi-family developments do not generate many school children because often, the statement is accurate and verifiable. In most of the communities we have worked in, from cities to rural areas in Western Massachusetts, we find much lower numbers of school-age children in new townhouses and multi-family units than in single-family homes. However, there are noteworthy exceptions.

“In most cases, multi-family developments built since 1990 have not contributed significantly to the rise in school enrollments that occurred in many communities across the state. New single-family homes and in some towns, a high rate of turnover in older single-family homes, generated a majority of the state’s school enrollment growth. Older multi-family developments with apartments sized for family occupancy continue to house many children, in part because they offer one of the few choices available to lower-income families. “Compared to rates of population and school enrollment growth, local government expenditures for education and community services increased at significantly higher rates overall over the past decade. Many communities incurred additional long-term debt, mainly for three types of public investment: school construction, expansion and modernization projects, water and sewer projects, and acquisitions of land for conservation or municipal purposes. Across the Commonwealth, general fund expenditures for education, public safety, debt service, and employee health insurance increased faster than expenditures for other local government functions. These trends were fueled not only by new growth, but also state-local policies and community preferences. Given the characteristics of households in new multi-family developments and the limited number of multi-family units that were permitted and built during the 1990s, it is very unlikely that new multi-family housing has produced a negative fiscal impact on cities and towns.”

Today’s Guest Opinion is an example of someone who is wrong, both in her stated facts and in her implied policy consequences. If you would like to read the whole report, you can Google: Housing the Commonwealth’s School Age Children: The Implications of Multi-family Housing Development for Municipal and School Expenditures, Judith Cutler and John Connery, August 2003. Of, you can simply go download the full report and read it.

The Override Playbook: Chill ‘Em then Kill ‘Em

bloggingbelmont — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:50:22 +0000

For the one hundred and fifty-odd Belmont voters who packed the Board of Selectmen’s room on Monday night the goal was clear: send a message to the town’s elected leaders that its time to lift Belmont out of its chronic state of fiscal crisis – which is nearing its first decade.

This year, more than ever, the cuts proposed to our schools and town services are more than just unpalatable – they’re offensive. Offensive to our values as a community, offensive to our long tradition of excellence in public education, and offensive to our commitment to making Belmont a livable, sustainable and nurturing community.

Alas, what those people walked away with was a chilly message from the Selectmen that’s as confusing as it is dispiriting. Despite wide agreement that the town faces a structural budget gap that is in excess of $3 million, the Selectmen claimed that, alas, too little was known about the real size of the gap. They held out the ever tantalizing promise of more money from the State and of other unnamed savings or slush accounts that might close the gap and – as always with such issues in Belmont – stalled for more time. Always more time. More time to analyze, more time to debate, more time to study and look for efficiencies.

Do not believe them. You might be new to the whole budgeting process in Belmont, so I’ll tell you flat out: what’s going on now – the BOS’s pleas for more time to consider and act carefully – are all part of a ploy by the anti override crowd to delay and then sink any Prop 2 1/2 override for the schools, the town or anything else.

In short, the Selectmen are stalling for time in an effort to avoid asking for an override. They’re hoping that the ardor of the Override supporters will fade with those April showers. If that’s not possible, and it may not be, then they want to make it as hard as possible for the voters in town to pass an override by shunting the vote till June, when families are wrapping up the school year and heading out of town, tipping the field to the entrenched “No” forces in town. And, ironically, by pushing for yet another “special election,” the Selectmen are satisfied to, once again, present the town with another bill of some tens of thousands of dollars to carry out the vote. If you’re a progressive and you live in Belmont, think of it this way: if you allow the Selectmen to delay an override vote past April, you’re going to be PAYING EXTRA to get what you DON’T WANT!!

Ask any poll watcher or political consultant in town and they’ll tell you the same thing: voters for special elections tend to be older and more conservative than the town as a whole. Look at how Belmont voted in the 2008 Presidential election, and for Martha Coakley in the Senate Race, and again for Will Brownsberger and Gov. Patrick in the November election compared with how it has voted in special elections – there’s a clear discrepency for what looks, for all intents and purposes, like a left leaning community inclined to support school and town services versus a hard line “no new taxes” pledge. Cynics know it and want to keep that from happening at whatever cost. Shunting off override votes to sparsely attended summer “Special elections” is their preferred method of accomplishing that. Shame on Ralph and Mark for falling for it.

OK – I know – You’ve talked to Will Brownsberger about this and he’s wise and experienced and urges caution, too – says that we can’t pull a campaign together by April or need time to “plan our message.” I love Will, but he’s dead wrong on this. His advice is akin to those Dems who told Barack Obama he should wait his turn – that he was too new or hadn’t earned the cred to run. Shame on them for not being able to see the enthusiasm that was in the air and, later, to read the writing that was on the wall.

Look around, folks: concerned parents and supporters of school and town services have ALREADY ORGANIZED! In a matter of days, we put more than 200 voters in the BOS meeting room to push their issue. When was the last time that happened in Belmont?? Hell, when the seniors turned out a fraction of that number last spring, people practically fell off their chairs– and the BOS fell over itself to heed their cries and save the Council on Aging from even the suggestion of cuts in funding. We turn out 3 times that number and we’re told to quiet down? Be patient? Wait our turn? No way!!

The time for an override is April – before the cuts happen, before the pink slips are issued and the best, youngest and most creative faculty in our schools, the most talented IT professionals in our data centers and the most gifted administrators see which way the wind is blowing and startshopping around for a new job (if they haven’t already done so).

We don’t need a weather man to see which way the wind blows in the Town of Homes. We don’t need all the numbers to know that our town is deep down in a fiscal hole. And sitting around waiting for Governor Santa Claus and his 12 reigndeer to swing by Belmont with a sack full of cash is almost laughable. We know we need an override of some size – and voting to give the Town the right to raise taxes more than 2 1/2 percent doesn’t compel them to do so if – by some miracle – funds do materialize. The BOS want you to think that a YES vote ties their hands – it absolutely doesn’t.

Don’t fall for the “Chill ‘em then kill ‘em” ploy – we need to push hard for an override in April lest we find ourselves, once again, outmaneuvered by a vocal and ideologically bent “no” crowd that is happy to see our town and school system eviscerated in the name of “small government.”

Alas, if in the end, there’s no way to avoid a delay – for whatever reason – then I propose NOT ghettoizing the Override vote in an expensive, needless special election. If we can wait until June, then why not until November, or the next town- or state-wide vote, when the whole town can have an opportunity to vote on it in a state-wide election? Ensuring that the broadest swath of Belmont’s voters has a chance to register their wishes will ensure that we get government that reflects the values of the town – not the political smoke and mirror game we have now.

Save Our Schools – Save Our Town Meeting Tonight

bloggingbelmont — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 13:00:42 +0000

Just a heads up that there will be a meeting this evening (Sunday) to start organizing a town-wide effort to raise awareness within Belmont about the cuts facing our schools. Among other things, there’s a need for folks to serve as lead organizer’s for the various school communities (K-12) and for anyone who’s willing and interested in getting involved in the campaign to preserve Belmont’s schools. If you want more information or are interested in attending this meeting, send an e-mail to me and I’ll pass along the details of the Sunday evening meeting.

Important Budget Goings On – Don’t Sleep Through ‘Em!

Paul Roberts — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 05:18:45 +0000

Just a heads up, y’all, that there are a slew of important budget meetings looming, starting this Tuesday evening, January 11, when School Superintendent, Dr. Entwistle will present the proposed FY 2012 budget to the School Committee. This meeting is in the Community Room at Chenery Middle School and will be the public’s first look at the budget for next year. From what I’ve heard, this is a “make the best of a bad situation” budget with some sobering numbers.

The big problem is that those of us who care about preserving Belmont’s tradition of quality public education is that we’re going to have to fight even to get _this_ budget passed, as the Board of Selectmen and Warrant Committee seem in the mood to play hardball with numbers. As Dr. Entwistle told The Patch recently, the target budget – or Available Revenue budget – set out by the Warrant Committee in November – around $40,565,000 — isn’t adequate to support the core mission of the Belmont Public Schools.

“People need to pay attention to what the budget process is now,” Entwistle told Patch in an interview last week. “The Available Revenue budget will not sufficiently supply what we need to give our students,” Entwistle stated.

This week brings two important meetings: Tuesday’s meeting in which Entwistle will formally present the Available Funds Budget to the School Committee. On Wednesday, January 12, Dr. Entwistle will present the Available Funds budget and a separate Level Service budget to the Warrant Committee. The Level Service budget is basically the amount of money that will be needed to preserve the “level of service” in the school system for 2012 as we offered in 2011 and its likely to be larger than the Available Funds budget. (And remember, here, 2011 already brought with it significant cuts, including the end of district sponsored Freshmen athletics, the closure of elementary school libraries and staff and administrative layoffs at almost every level.) Its critical that B2 readers attend one or both of these meetings. I’m definitely going to attend the Jan 12 meeting to show my support for the Level Service budget, but both meetings are important.

Some other dates worth noting:
Jan 11, Tues, 7:30 pm @ Chenery Middle School Community Room (CMS) – Initial budget presentation to School Committee.
Jan 12, Wed, 7:30 pm @ Chenery Middle School Community Room (CMS) – Budget presentation to Warrant Committee
Jan 18, Tues, 7:30 pm @ CMS, budget update to School Committee
(Tentative) Feb 8, Tues, 7:30 pm, budget Q&A discussion with public
(Tentative) Feb 10, Thur, 9:00 am, budget Q&A discussion with public
Feb 15, Tues, 7:30 pm, @ CMS, budget update to School Committee
(Tentative) Mar 5, Sat – all day budget workshop
Mar 15, Tues, 7:30 pm – budget public hearing

Move to Belmont? What’s Your Advice?

Paul Roberts — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 18:00:17 +0000

OK, so I received an e-mail over the weekend that I’ll excerpt below. Suffice it to say that its the e-mail we, as proud Belmontonians (and homeowners) fear getting, but I think it’s illustrative of where the sentiments of home buyers are right now in what is still very much a buyer’s market. The e-mail also offers a good thought exercise to start off the New Year, namely: what’s your elevator pitch for (or against) the town as a destination for prospective home buyers?

Here’s the e-mail, as I received it. I’ve removed any personally identifiable information, but suffice it to say that this person is a professor at Harvard University with a professional spouse who works full time. They have a four year old and an infant and currently rent in Cambridge. Their short list for towns to move to includes Belmont, Lexington and Newton. Belmont is their first choice, because of its convenience. But, as you can see, they have “reservations.”

Dear Paul,

K——- gave me your email address. We’re in the process of shopping for a house, and we’re very interested in Belmont but have heard some worrying things about the schools. Most of the people I know in Belmont have grown children, so I haven’t been able to get any up-to-date info on this. Would you be willing to have a quick phone chat with me about schools, and living in Belmont generally, sometime?

You can call my cell anytime (617-###-####), or let me know if there’s a convenient time for me to call you.

Thanks in advance!

A—–

I spoke with this person today and will share my thoughts in a subsequent post. But first – to the B2 readership – what would your “elevator pitch” be to this parent who’s looking to make a long term commitment to a town and wants 1) quality schools, 2) a safe community, 3) diversity and 4) location/convenience? (That’s the order I put them in, but I’d bet A’s order would be close to that.

Interested to hear your thoughts.

Belmont: Making Tough Choices

Paul Roberts — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:48:15 +0000

Hey all! Paul here from Bloggingbelmont.com. Just passing along an invitation to a really important event that’s coming up this Sunday: MAKING TOUGH CHOICES: A community conversation about Belmont’s future. Read below to learn more and feel free to contact the event organizers for more information.

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Like all of us who live or work in Belmont, I’m sure you’ve noticed that our Town is facing difficult times: a budget shortfall, a fragmentation of our civil discourse and a waning of trust in local government. This isn’t the first time this has happened, of course, but in many ways the challenges are new. So, just as New England towns have done for centuries, Belmont is convening a meeting in October to begin to sort out, together, how we can best address those challenges. And we invite you to attend.

MAKING TOUGH CHOICES: A community conversation about Belmont’s future

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2010. 1:00PM – 4:00PM

BEECH STREET CENTER, BELMONT

QUESTIONS, MORE INFO, RSVP: www.envision-belmont.org

While many of our challenges are elements of larger trends, Belmont has a long history of coming together to take responsibility for its own solutions. If there are local solutions to be found, we need to find them, and we want to find them together. Our Selectmen, School Committee and town government are eager to consider responsible recommendations from the public in their efforts to make the tough choices ahead.

THE MEETING

Its goals are simple: engage in a constructive, non-partisan, solution-oriented conversation about the challenges facing our town, and inform our town leaders about what is most important to us. The meeting will be open to the public, and all of Belmont’s stakeholders – and points-of-view – are welcome to attend.

More details on the meeting format are on our website at http://envision-belmont.org/makingtoughchoices.

WHY YOU SHOULD ATTEND

In a small town like ours, everyone and everything is interconnected. You and your organization play a crucial role in this dialogue, and your absence would leave a void in the conversation.

I truly hope you or someone from your organization will be able to attend – all are invited. Please RSVP by responding to this message or by filling out the signup form at http://envision-belmont.org/makingtoughchoices. Please pass the word on to your members and staff, and feel free to help us get the word out through Facebook and Twitter.

We know that true solutions will take time and that consensus will be hard-won. But we believe that by taking this step we can embark on a new phase of constructive civic dialogue in Belmont.

Kind regards,

Belmont Board of Selectmen

Belmont Vision 21 Implementation Committee