Hayes Announces Plans to Retire

Dr. James Hayes, who has served as Beverly Superintendent for the past five years, told the School Committee last night that he will retire when his current contract expires next June. Today's Salem News has the story here, and the Citizen, here.

School Committee Races Shaping Up

Kris Silverstein, a Briscoe and North Beverly parent, PTO member, and co-founder of the Beverly chapter of Stand for Children, has taken out papers to to run for the Ward 3 School Committee slot. Silverstein was active in last Spring's budget and override debate that ended in the closing of McKeown school, and she occasionally contributed to this site during that time.

You can read her press release on the Salem News' Heard in Beverly blog.

The Ward 3 seat became open following Jim Latter's decision to run for the City Council seat being vacated by John Burke, who is challenging Mayor Scanlon.

So far, the only contested seat is in Ward 4, where Gail Burke, who led Citizens for Financial Responsibility (CFR-the group that opposed last Spring's override, and tried to derail the high school construction this past fall), will challenge Karen Fogerty, who is in her first term as Ward 4 rep.

On the City Council side, outspoken school supporter Pat Grimes (who was the only Council member to publicly support the override), and Mike Cahill, (who, as a private citizen spoke out at several of last Spring budget hearings), along with current rep Bill Coughlin, former Council President Paul Guinci, and Eliot Margolis, (the other leader of CFR), are running for the three Councilor at Large seats. The top vote-getter automatically becomes Council President.

CFR is also running candidates in several of the Ward contests.

Today's Salem News has a rundown on all the races

More Old Schools

The previous post got us thinking about the rich history of old school buildings in Beverly. The Beverly Public Library has a great collection of old postcards on Flickr showing many of these buildings (as well as some old class photos). It's interesting to note as we get ready to tear down the 1960's era high school that both of its predecessors are still very much alive, (as Briscoe Middle School, and the Oceanview senior living facility on Essex Street). The site is interesting viewing for anyone interested in the history of Beverly schools.

Something Old and Something New

Both the city's oldest and newest school buildings were the focus of attention this past week.

Briscoe Middle School, built in 1923, and originally the city's high school, received some much needed landscaping attention, thanks to a volunteer effort led by Briscoe parent Kathy Whitehair.

Whitehair, and dozens of volunteers of all ages spent Saturday muching, planting, weeding, and watering. In addition to the volunteers working in the field, many others donated toward the trees, shrubs, and plants the were used in the project.

Yesterday's Salem News had details on the effort.

The landscape mirrors the original design plans from when the school was built in 1923, said mother Kathy Whitehair, one of the volunteers leading the effort. Through fundraisers and donations, they were able to plant everything from Virginia sweetspire shrubs, which turn a deep scarlet in the fall; to Kousa Dogwood trees, which bloom creamy white flowers in the summer; to hardy, dark green boxwood bushes.

The highlight, Whitehair said, are six American elm trees planted along Colon Street. They were each donated by all five of the elementary schools and McKeown, which closed last year as an elementary school and reopened as an alternative secondary school. The line of trees has been named "Elementary Way."

The next step is to bring in new granite planters, benches and more attractive trash cans, and to install nicer-looking bike racks. The landscaping project is only the beginning.

"It will build spirit and pride," Whitehair said. "And people can take ownership in their middle school."

Meanwhile, up the road a ways, the new Beverly High School reachced a milestone on Monday. The final beam of the new structure was put into place before a small crowd of onlookers. It was painted white and signed by high school class officers. On the right flew an American flag, to symbolize good luck, and on the left balanced a small pine tree, to symbolize that nobody was injured during the construction.

Today's Salem News reports on this milestone in the $80 million project:

"This is so much better than putting the shovel in the ground in the beginning," said Tim Liporto, director of buildings and grounds. "Now, you see something."

School Committee member Karen Fogarty said when you have such a large project, it's important to acknowledge each small step as it takes place.

"It's a chunk that's now done," she said.

[Project Manager Al] Calcagno said work will now focus on the interior of the building. They'll finish the floors and walls and continue with the plumbing and electrical infrastructure. The building is scheduled to be complete by the fall of 2010.

Help Green Up Briscoe Tomorrow

Community Green-Up Day
Saturday, May 16th, 2009
9:00 - 4:00 (Rain Date Sunday, May 17)

Green-Up Day at Briscoe is a coordinated effort to implement a formal and sustainable landscaping design to best enhance Briscoe's classic architecture and make the grounds as inviting as possible, while meeting true middle school needs. Thoughtful modifications will accentuate the unique details of the engravings, veterans’ memorials and façade of this 86 year old landmark. Already, 9 new trees have been donated to the effort, including American Elms given by our elementary schools and individual families. Many more items remain on the wish list

Anyone who is interested in rolling up their sleeves and lending a hand is welcomed to join in. We have in place a very clear landscaping and grounds improvement plan but we need YOUR help to make it a reality!

Bring your kids, your friends, your gloves, your water bottle and your LABELED yard tools. Get ready to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty to make Briscoe as beautiful as possible! Stay for an hour or for the whole day. Drop in and out between sporting and other commitments.

Want to help but can’t be on site? Consider making a contribution to be used towards fulfilling the improvement plan’s specific wish list. We will gladly accept checks or gift certificates to local greenhouses such as Leonard’s, Sweeney’s, Ward’s, Chapman’s, Corliss, Northeast Nursery, or where ever you shop. Send to

Briscoe PTO,
7 Sohier Road,
Attn.”Grounds”
(checks payable to Briscoe PTO, “Grounds” in memo). !

Some wish list items :
Junipers ($100 each),
assorted trees ($200 each),
classic trash receptacle ($250),
bench ($400),
or any amount toward a wish list item!

ALL YARD WORK SKILLS LEVELS ARE WELCOME!

Questions contact Kathy Whitehair (978-922-4508)

Parents Speak Out on FY10 Budget

With little of the drama of last year's budget process, parents spoke out about the FY10 budget Wednesday night at North Beverly School.

While relieved that the process seems to be going much smoother this year, parents still had their concerns.

Parent Julie DeSilva, former president of the now closed McKeown school, spoke for many. "Compared to last year, do a few big classes look as bad as losing a school? No. But it's a bad trend. All the numbers are going in the wrong direction."

Yesterday's Salem News had details from the meeting.

Class sizes were the primary focus of their concern. A proposed first-grade classroom of 24 students and a fifth-grade classroom of 29 are each just one student away from the maximum set by the School Committee.

Parents urged [Superintendent Jim] Hayes to rethink those classes, saying, even if they're not yet over the maximum, it still puts a strain on teachers.

"The demands on your average teacher have increased," DeSilva said.

Mother Corinne Eanes said her daughter would be in the crowded fifth-grade class.

"All it takes is that one child who needs that extra attention to pull away from the other 28 kids," she said. "I really believe 29, and 24 for the first-graders, is way too many."

Among the positive developments, according to Hayes were "plans to reinstate the instrumental music program in the elementary schools, to add a part-time reading specialist at Cove Elementary School, to add a nurse assistant so the nurse supervisor can focus on professional medical development, which has become more of a need in the school system, and to expand technology support roles."

Public Hearing on FY10 Budget

Dr. Hayes has presented a final draft budget to the School Committee, and scheduled a public hearing for Tuesday May 12th. The latest budget shows only a $158,330 shortfall, but there is still some uncertainty on the funding from the state, and on some expenses. Dr Hayes explains some of this in the following note from the Admin website. We will add any further explanation, as we get it:

For those who are interested in the district budget for next year, the latest information has been added to the Administration webpage. Presented to the School Committee on April 29th, the Draft Budget reflects a shortfall of $158,330. A copy of the budget may also be obtained at the Superintendent's Office in the Memorial Building.

The Public Hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, May 12th, at 7 PM at a site to be determined.

The budget extracts all the items and expenses related to revolving accounts. These are identified in the Draft with shaded lines and the revolving account titles below the specific account from which expenses were shifted to a revolving account. By doing this for all revolving accounts, the remaining budget only includes those expenses being paid out of the General Fund, i.e., the City's contribution plus Chapter 70. While this arrangement makes it more complicated in understanding our complete program, it is done so that we comply with proper accounting procedures.

Using the same shaded line with "SPED Stimulus Grant" as a title, we have identified $366,000 of expenses which we will cover using the federal Stimulus money provided for Special Education. This appears to be about the limit of what we can cover using Stimulus funds, including SPED and Title I.

There is still some uncertainty surrounding expenses and revenues. Specifically, we still need to learn more from the state legislature. We also need to learn more about enrollments in the preschool and kindergarten programs as well as projected enrollments in grades 1 through 5. Amounts for entitlement grants such as Special Education and Tile I have not been announced. And we still need some time before it is realistic to estimate any surplus for FY09. Following the Public Hearing, the School Committee will meet again to discuss the budget on Wednesday, May 27th.

11:00 PM UPDATE: For those who have been following the stages of this year's budget, and wonder how the previous estimated shortfall of $931,881 was reduced to $158,330, Dr Hayes explains, as follows:

At the March 25th School Committee Meeting of the Whole, a projected budget was shown with a shortfall of $931,881. That gap has been significantly reduced to $158,330. A small part of that reduction has been achieved by purchasing textbooks this year rather than next for Foreign Language programs in the Middle and High schools. The amount of this cut was $25,000.

The school district has been very fortunate this year in the special education tuition out accounts. Last year, we carried over one Circuit Breaker Payment ($318,811) which offset a portion of Collaborative tuitions for FY09. In addition, not all the private schools increased their tuitions as had been previously expected and budgeted and the district special education student population changed in our favor (i.e., children moving to other states). Also, because of the diligence of the special education department, there were many favorable cost shares negotiated with other agencies which helped to offset costs.

Currently, the projected surplus in special education will be $615,442 (the last two Circuit Breaker payments). This reduction is shown in the Collaborative tuition account SP 860 62910.

Changes in Early Elementary programs and declining elementary enrollments have led to cutting two elementary teacher positions and moving a third salary to a Special Education grant. The net salary reduction is $184,967.

The Latest on the FY10 Budget

We have updated the City Documents list on the left with the FY10 draft budgets that have been released so far, including the most recent, which was presented to the School Committee on March 25th.

Below is a letter from Dr. Hayes that is posted on the Adminstration website that explains the status of the budget in more detail:

For those who are interested in the district budget for next year, the latest information has been added to the Administration webpage. Presented to the School Committee on March 25th, the Draft Budget includes the new estimate for local contribution provided to us by Mayor Scanlon. Thus we now show a shortfall. The budget document is done as a spreadsheet, so if you are looking for explanations of specific accounts, you will need to refer to the Initial Draft, presented February 4th.

The budget extracts all the items and expenses related to revolving accounts. These are identified in the Draft with shaded lines and the revolving account titles below the specific account from which expenses were shifted to a revolving account. By doing this for all revolving accounts, the remaining budget only includes those expenses being paid out of the General Fund, i.e., the City's contribution plus Chapter 70. While this arrangement makes it more complicated in understanding our complete program, it is done so that we comply with proper accounting procedures. You may find it helpful to look at the Revolving Account document before looking at the Draft Budget so that you get a better sense of what this means.

Using the same shaded line with "SPED Stimulus Grant" as a title, we have identified $366,000 of expenses which we will cover using the federal Stimulus money provided for Special Education. This appears to be about the limit of what we can cover using Stimulus funds, including SPED and Title I.

In order to bring the shortfall under $1 million, I made several cuts to several Special Education tuition accounts, dropping tuition estimates from 4.5% to 3.0% increases, and dropping the SPED contingency from $270,000 to $170,000. While these cuts add more risk for FY10, we think they are prudent given recent patterns and the circumstances with which we are faced.

I have made no other cuts to the proposal. We still need to learn more from the state legislature. We need to learn more about the use of Stimulus funds and how they still might help us reduce our shortfall. And we need another month before it is realistic to estimate any surplus for FY09. The School Committee meets again to discuss the budget on Wednesday, April 29th.

The Greening of Briscoe

The Build a Better Briscoe's Green Team and the entire Beverly community are initiating a revitalization project at the Briscoe grounds this spring.

There will be a Green Team/Phase 1 Effort at Briscoe on Wednesday, April 15th from 3:30-5:00 pm and a day-long community Green Team/Phase 2 Effort at Briscoe on Saturday, May 16th.

Students from 5th grade classrooms throughout Beverly are invited and encouraged to help as part of a fifth grade service effort. In fact, anyone who is interested in rolling up their sleeves and lending a hand is welcomed to join in. Beds will be worked to improve the existing soil and many other environmentally friendly tasks will be addressed.

Trees, shrubs and perennials will be planted once the soil is amended. The City of Beverly supports this effort and will be involved. A landscaping plan is being developed from which the need for specific plantings and supplies for the revitalization will be generated.

We will post these needs as soon as possible. Any individuals and groups who would like to consider making donations of time and tender should contact Kathy Whitehair (978-922-4508) or Caryn Gallagher.

Stay tuned for more information!

FY10 Budget to be Presented

Dr. Hayes will be presenting a revised draft budget for FY10 to the School Committee at its meeting of the Whole scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday) evening. The revenue picture for the City and the School District has altered significantly since the first draft of the proposed budget was presented in November and since it's previous revision in January.

While the district is still awaiting definitive revenue numbers from the Commonwealth, this latest draft of the proposed budget will give everyone some idea of the challenges we expect to have before us.

The meeting will take place at 7:00 p.m. in the conference room in the Memorial Building.

Beverly Launches Stand for Children Chapter

Last week, a group of more than 50 parents, elected officials, and concerned citizens gathered to launch Beverly’s new chapter of Stand for Children, the statewide education advocacy group. Meeting at the Beverly Public Library, the attendees heard from a Stand for Children leader from Gloucester, Roger Garberg, who shared Gloucester’s experiences of advocating for public schools, and Chris Gabrieli, chairman of Mass2020, a nonprofit group leading the initiative for expanded learning time. Gabrieli spoke boldly about the need for change in how we view education and how we fund education.

Garberg struck a chord with the parents in the group when he talked about explaining to his 7-year-old daughter where he was going. “Once again I am going to talk with people who are working to make your school and all schools better,” he told her. A simple message that contains important meaning: “Every child in our town and across Massachusetts has the same right to high quality education. This is not a matter of providing school choice for some. This is a matter of providing choice schools for everyone. This right is only assured by active collaborations among neighbors, friends, school committees, city councils, and state legislators.”

“The children of this generation need to be prepared to compete in a global workforce. They need the skills and technology that will enable them to be part of a world that is bigger than the one we knew as students. In 2003/2004, Massachusetts led the nation in cutting state aid to education. Our schools have never recovered. The more adults stand together for children, the more lawmakers will support programs and reforms that give all kids an equal opportunity for education,” said Kris Silverstein, a leader of the Beverly Stand for Children chapter.

“We need to harness the positive and palpable energy around education in Beverly. . . . Having a Stand chapter means that we will be linked into their network with access to information from other communities, calendars with key dates of happenings at the State House, and opportunities to be involved at the most basic level or in a leadership role. We will have a seat at the table with people who want to help shape the direction of education in Massachusetts and beyond,” said Julie DeSilva, another chapter leader.

“We all agree, our kids get one shot at being a first grader, or a third grader, or an eighth grader and we want that year to be all that it should be,” said chapter leader Deb Ploszay. She ended the evening with a quote from President Obama: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

Stand for Children is a statewide voice for children, with active members in more than 70 communities in Massachusetts. Group members will gather on Tuesday, March 24 for a State House rally. Click here to get involved or to learn more about the rally.

Stand for Children

Significant, positive, and lasting change in education and education funding will not happen at the local level. There are many like-minded and energized folks in Beverly who are frustrated about their ability to stay informed and make a difference.

To that end many Beverly citizens have attended different Stand for Children events over the past four years, most recently a Stand conference held in Reading a few weeks ago. Stand for Children is a grassroots organization dedicated to lasting change in education in Massachusetts and across the country.

We are interested in creating a Stand for Children chapter here in Beverly to give our kids—who have no voice and no vote—a big Beverly voice at the State House and beyond.

On Thursday, March 12 at 7 pm there will be a Stand for Children presentation titled What’s Next? Advocating for Education in Beverly and Beyond in The Sohier Room at the Beverly Public Library.

Speakers will include Chris Gabrieli, former gubernatorial candidate, and chairman of Massachusetts 2020, a group dedicated to expanding the economic and educational opportunities for children and families across Massachusetts.

Leaders from other Stand for Children chapters in Massachusetts will also speak.

There is power in numbers. The events of the last year show that there is a large group of citizens in Beverly who can organize and act on behalf of our kids and future generations’ kids. Please join in this conversation. We need to make sure that we keep the momentum going after last year’s difficult but community-building series of events.

For more information please contact Julie DeSilva.

3/5 UPDATE: Today's Salem News has the story.

Schools Hanging On

City education leaders last night night presented the State of the Schools address at Briscoe auditorium. While acknowledging the"tumultuous"period of the last few years that have seen the closing of two schools, and tremendous uncertainty ahead in terms of state and city finances, the message was still somewhat positive.

Dr Hayes and School Committee President Annemarie Cesa said that the schools have managed to preserve more programs than our neighbors, make steady progress on increasing test scores, and have broken ground on a new state-of-the-art high school. Hayes also pointed to the positive effects of partnerships and donations from local businesses and individuals.

In spite of it all, the city still delivers a quality, and "progressive" education, he said.

The Superintendent also asked for patience in developing next years budget, saying that most of the expenses are known, but state funding and any affects from the federal stimulus package are still in flux.

Today's Salem News has more details.

State of the Schools Reminder

Just a reminder that on Thursday, January 29th the Citywide PTO will sponsor the annual State of the Schools Address at the Briscoe Middle School. The evening will begin with a coffee at 6:30 p.m. followed by speeches and presentations at 7:30. All are welcome to attend. (Snow date is 2-5-09)

Elementaries Get Smart

State of the art smartboards have begun to be installed in every classroom in all five elementary schools this week, thanks to the overwhelming generosity of Beverly resident and BHS grad Mike Pascucci.

Pascucci, a 1980 BHS grad, and former football team captain, is also the man behind the Pascucci computer lab at Centerville, the Briscoe Middle School computer lab, and last year's donation of laptops for foreign language and reading classes at Briscoe.

The gift was detailed at last week's School Committee meeting, which one member called "the best School Committee meeting ever" and is also the subject of a story in today's Salem News:

The boards are a relatively new touch-screen technology that teachers can connect to their computers. They come with pens so teachers can write on them like a regular whiteboard, but they also have software that converts writing into text, interacts with students by having them touch the screen and pull up maps or graphs, and saves everything.

"It engages students more," [technology director Judy] Miller said. "Students who are visual learners will benefit tremendously, and it gives teachers the ability to save lessons and digitalize materials."

That's just the basics, Miller said. Teachers will go through a general training program during the school year and will have the option to do more rigorous training over the summer. The boards are capable of a tremendous amount and will have an enormous impact on education, she said.

"In my wildest dreams, I never thought I would be here talking about smart boards in every classroom," Miller said.