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Date: 4/6/2023
LONGMEADOW — The price of preschool in Longmeadow Public Schools is rising to keep pace with costs.
Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Thomas Mazza explained that the cost of Longmeadow’s half-day preschool program for 2022-23 is $2,200 per year. The Finance Subcommittee had proposed a schedule of increases that would set the fee at $2,500 per year for the upcoming 2023-24 school year, $2,750 for 2024-25 and $3,000 in 2025-26.
School Committee member Jaime Hensch said the cost to hire preschool providers has increased. Superintendent M. Martin O’Shea explained that the school department is required by law to provide preschool free of charge to children requiring special education between 2 years and 9 months old and kindergarten. For this reason, the fees paid by general education “peer role models” are not enough to keep the program running and the department subsidizes the program, School Committee member Kevin Shea said.
Hensch said the increased fees will keep the subsidy flat and not force the school department to underfund other school programs. School Committee member Julie Morgan asked what the subsidy rate is, but Mazza said it fluctuates from month-to-month, depending on the enrollment rate. “We believe that this is an appropriate fee for what we’re able to offer,” Mazza stated.
School Committee member Gina Allentuck asked if there was a form of “scholarship” available for families that could not afford the fee. Mazza assured her that a reduced fee application was available in the department’s business office for all department programs.
School Committee member Mary Keane asked about a $100 discount to the price if the fee was paid in full up front. She asked if the department had trouble collecting the fees. Mazza explained that most people pay on time, but he does send letters to families who are late. The program requires a deposit when a child is registered, a payment at the start of the school year and another payment by Feb. 1.
Surrounding departments are also responding to inflationary pressures. In February, East Longmeadow Public Schools raised its preschool fees by $300 to $2,500 for half day sessions and $6,300 for full day sessions for 2023-24.
Curriculum update
The English language arts curriculum for grades K-5 will soon be undergoing a review and update and if new curriculum is adopted, it would be piloted in the 2024-25 school year. Allentuck said the English language arts curriculum in grades 7 and 8 needed to be addressed. Hensch agreed and said Glenbrook and Williams middle schools have different calibers of education, despite using the same curriculum. Assistant Superintendent for Learning Susan Bertrand said the curriculum updates would begin with the youngest grades and “roll up” to the middle and high school levels.
Engineering bridges
Williams Middle School STEAM teacher John McCarthy appeared in a video presentation featuring a hands-on assignment done by students that demonstrates how their classwork ties into the Vision of the Graduate. The Vision of the Graduate is a series of skills or “competencies” that students strive to master by graduation — accountability, independence, problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration and communication.
In the “Longmeadow Pedestrian Bridge” project, McCarthy said, “students were tasked with solving limited pedestrian access over the Connecticut river” from the area of Longmeadow near the town border with Springfield and create “and attractive resource for the area.”
The teams used science, math, engineering, technology and art for the project. They worked out structural forces, intentional loads, created scale models and made a video to accompany the project. The team that was featured in the video, “MAC Engineering,” presented their solution and discussed the factors that went into their project such as span, weight capacity, usefulness to the community and aesthetics.
The students displayed their scale drawing and prototype — a “truss bridge with an arch” — explained the benefits of both styles of bridge and why they combine them. They also added usefulness by including bike racks, a rain roof, drainage and handles, before testing the design. The team explained that the prototype was wobbly at first, but after tweaking, the design became strong enough to support the needed amount of weight.
The teammates said that the project included Vision of the Graduate competencies because the team had to rely on one another while trusting each other to work independently. They had to think critically and understand the architecture of bridges. Communication with each other was key and problems with the bridge design were solved cooperatively by collaborating and compromising in the design phase.
Williams Middle School Principal Elizabeth Nelson praised the way the students spoke about what they had learned. She said the STEAM program gives the middle schoolers opportunities for hands-on learning such as racing solar-powered vehicles they had built and launching rockets with eggs attached. “You know the old-fashioned egg drop they used to do in eighth grade?” she asked, referring to a common physics assignment. “Now, they’re building rockets.” She added that only two eggs cracked.
Several School Committee members called the projects and the students demonstrated learning “impressive.”
Other topics
The committee accepted recommendations by the Finance Subcommittee to add two School Choice seats in grade 1 and two seats in grade 9, For the Metropolitan Educational Council for Opportunity, two seats in kindergarten and two in grade 9 were added. School Choice is a program in which students seeking to attend a different school department enter a lottery. METCO students, also chosen by lottery, are bused from an urban area, such as Springfield, to attend school in a suburban or rural department. The programs are designed to increase student opportunities and department diversity.
O’Shea said the middle school project design enrollment numbers had been finalized. He said that based on the information provided by the department, the MSBA had determined the building would be designed for an enrollment of 665 students, but O’Shea said that is approximately 80% of the school’s final capacity. The next phase of the project is expected to begin in June.
Longmeadow High School would begin using metal eating utensils instead of plastic for a trial period in May. Allentuck expressed concerns about metal knives, but Mazza said the department will hold off on metal knives until they see if there is a need for them. Factors such as an increase in the cost of hot water and detergent will be considered before the change becomes permanent.
Mazza said that four out of six rooms affected by the Center School leak in February are in use again and he said he hoped the remaining two rooms will be operational during the week of April 2. There are no mold issues, he said. Damaged instructional materials are being replaced and a claim will be sent to the department’s insurance company.
Student Representative Deagan Connolly, a senior, announced that he had been accepted to the United States Army Academy at West Point. He thanked his teachers and members of the School Committee for their support.