he Belmont Citizen Herald is reporting that the School Committee has tapped George Entwistle, the Superintendent of Falmouth, Maine, as its choice to head Belmont’s Public School system starting next year. Entwistle was one of two finalists, along with Ashland Superintendent Richard Hoffman, and won unanimous support from School Committee members, who responded especially to Entwistle’s record as a consensus builder in Falmouth, a highly ranked school district in the state that serves around 2,100 students.
Tag: Belmont Public Schools
Who let the dogs out?
Oberdorfer throws a wheelhouse punch at everything that he perceives to be wrong in town. Those include: “so-called liberals,” the Senior Center, town administrators (there are too many of ’em) and, of course, “our beknighted School Department,” “compliant School Committee” and … wait for it… “greedy” parents. Oberdorfer accuses this last troika of a “conspiracy against suffering property owners.”
LeClerc looking for compromise on budget, capital spending
With the town facing a swift economic contraction and the loss of state aid, even as it juggles multiple, competing spending issues, Selectman Dan LeClerc is hoping Belmont will steer a middle path: accepting some cuts in services while supporting important projects such as the construction of a new Wellington Elementary School and the preservation of teacher positions at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
Upcoming events: critical school funding meeting and BSEAC documentary
A couple of notices for the next week that you in the B2 community should put on your calendars: joint School Committee, Warrant Committee and Board of Selectmen meeting on Feb 4 to discuss school funding cuts. And, on Feb 11, the Belmont Special Education Parents Advisory Committee will host a free screening of Including Samuel, a documentary that weaves together stories of five families’ efforts to include their children with disabilities in every facet of their lives.
State aid cuts to town could top $800k
Rep. Will Brownsberger says that pre-release figures from Gov. Deval Patrick’s office suggest that Belmont could be looking at a 10% cut in state aid, totalling more than $800,000. But will the Obama Administration ride to the rescue?
School Budget cuts would mean layoffs and fewer, larger classes
There were no smiling faces and no easy fixes as the School Committee walked through potential cuts, including the elimination of AP courses at the High School level, science instruction at the elementary level JV sports and community service programs.
Stand for Children: supporting Belmont’s schools from the grassroots
Going into 2009 Belmont’s schools are facing a tough budget crunch, and this is a great time for Belmont parents and supporters of the schools to get involved….Stand for Children is in the early stages of establishing a Belmont chapter, and we are looking for committed people to join the chapter and make a difference for Belmont kids.
The high costs of doing nothing
The town’s older schools are going to require capital investments that are 10x to 20x greater than the one new school (Chenery) in the next few years…and these are just the repairs that we know about.
Update: Important meetings on school budgeting start Tuesday
NOTE: The School Committee Meeting has changed locations. It will be held tonight (Tuesday) at 7:30 PM in the Wellington Elementary Music Room, not the Community Room at the Chenery, as indicated on the SC Web site. Those of you…
Whatever happened to Full Day Kindergarten, anyway?
I’ve heard, directly and indirectly, from a couple of parents in the last few days who wanted to know what the status was of Superintendent Holland’s proposal for full day kindergarten, so I thought I’d give the lo-down. If you…