Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
| By Courtney Llewellyn Reminder Assistant Editor EAST LONGMEADOW Four separate Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) resolutions were discussed by the East Longmeadow School Committee at its Sept. 24 meeting, as were updates about the school district. Committee member and MASC delegate Angela Thorpe needed the group's decisions on the resolutions before the official MASC voting in November. The first resolution stated that every charter school must notify nearby public schools of its enrollment so that enrollment numbers would not become skewed. The committee voted to support this resolution. Making special education transport costs eligible for special education funds was the second resolution. A handicapped student representative said he fully supported this because current transportation is adequate, but does not fully cover everyone's needs. The School Committee agreed. The third resolution involved some in depth debate because of the variety of issues it involved. Many of these were past resolutions that were never acted upon. Items one through five, as well as seven, were approved by the School Committee. These items included reaffirming the need for fair funding, an adequate state tax rate, and preservation of the right of the School Committee to manage school finances; the reorganization of the Board of Education (because those who currently serve on a local level cannot also serve on a state level); having Medicaid reimbursements given to the schools, rather than cities and town when applicable; putting a moratorium, or cap, on the number of charter schools until they can be proven successful; restoring a school committee's right to approve, rather than just review, school improvement plans; and giving schools flexibility in how they serve English language learners, bringing it back to the school level instead of the state level. Item six calls for using more than the MCAS test to determine, for example, the criteria for high school graduation and would encourage more research of appropriate assessments for students at risk. The School Committee did not agree with some of the wording of this item. They agreed that the MCAS tests should not be the sole judgement of a student's abilities, but did not like the phrase "appropriate assessments for students at risk." The committee voted that if Thorpe could have the sixth item amended to just the first part, then she should vote in approval of the resolution. If not, she should abstain from voting, rather than vote against the resolution, because the committee approved of all the other parts. The fourth resolution, to establish a foundation budget to cover every school in the state, was also approved. The Commonwealth's 1993 Education Reform Law set up an extensive program of state aid to cities and towns for the operation of K-12 public schools. This program, codified in Chapter 70 of the General Laws, was intended to ensure that every public school system had adequate funding, regardless of the wealth of the local community. Although the Chapter 70 formula for funding is extremely complex, its basic approach can be expressed rather easily set a minimum spending level for each school district, figure out what the local community can afford to contribute and then the state will commit resources to make up the difference. "Everyone acknowledges that the Chapter 70 formula is broken," Superintendent Edward Costa said. "This resolution would fix the link in funding for public education once and for all." The MASC voting will take place Nov. 14 in Hyannis, Mass. Superintendent's Report According to Costa, things are going well for East Longmeadow Public Schools. A preliminary enrollment update states there are 2,940 students enrolled from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, although an official manifest won't be registered until Oct. 1. "The classrooms are pretty full right now," Costa said. "The new classroom construction is done, so now we're focusing on the nitty-gritty." A punchlist 16 pages long was given to Modspace, Inc., the firm that constructed the new classrooms at Meadowbrook Elementary to make sure everything was perfect before they were opened to students. "I expect they'll be absolutely finished in two to three weeks," Costa said, "which will bring class sizes from 26 to 27 students down to 21 to 22." The construction was supposed to be finished Aug. 2, but a number of delays, including Modspace purchasing another company, pushed the finishing date back. "They're on track now," Costa said. A recent Strategic Planning Budget Workshop with the School Committee discussed the "Math Investigations" program, a new math series designed for third through fifth graders. It is currently a pilot program for fifth grade only but the budget should allow for it to expand to all three grades next school year. "By the end of December, we will have the new budget ready," Costa stated. "It will be ready for the town on Jan. 1. That day is a celebration in many ways for me." The next School Committee meeting is scheduled for Oct. 9. |