Scanlon's Got a Secret Plan

It was another night of impassioned speaking at tonight's public hearing at Beverly High. Most speakers spoke against the Superintendent's plan, and in favor of the override.

After the public spoke, several School Committee members made brief statements, with at least three (Maria Decker, Paul Manzo, and Karen Fogarty) strongly supporting the override. Manzo also came the closest of all the members to indicating that he may vote against the Superintendent's proposal.

Mayor Scanlon then made the unexpected announcement that on Wednesday night he will "Put forward a proposal, which, if approved, will still be painful, but less painful than the proposal on the table" There were no details given, even when challenged by Committee President Annemarie Cesa, who told the Mayor that if they were to vote on Wednesday night as planned, they would need to know more details of his proposal before then.

Scanlon's refusal to provide any details of his plan before Wednesday's vote was also met with some heckling by the crowd.

5/13 UPDATE: The Salem News has a wrapup of the meeting and Scanlon's "eleventh hour" plan. They also list the School Committee members' public positons on the override:

• David Manzi, Ward 1: No
  
• Paul Manzo, Ward 2: Yes
  
• Jim Latter, Ward 3: No public position
  
• Karen Fogarty, Ward 4: Yes
  
• Annemarie Cesa, Ward 5: Yes
  
• Maria Decker, Ward 6: Yes

Hayes has also stated his support of the measure "For one reason — class size."