Scanlon's Plan Revealed

The Beverly Citizen has just posted details of the plan Mayor Scanlon will present at tonight's School Committee meeting. Some highlights of the report are below:

• The plan saves Cove School, but closes McKeown
• The plan costs $680,000 more than closing both schools.
• The difference would come from trash-fee revenue and increased recycling savings.

School Committee President Annemarie Cesa said she was “flabbergasted” that Scanlon would propose a new plan so late in the budget process.

In an e-mail response to the Citizen, Dr. Hayes stated: “I called the Mayor and he refuses to share his plan with me before Wednesday night’s meeting. Despite my protests that this may lead to a chaotic end of the school year, despite my protests that School Committee members and the Superintendent share in a 'no surprises' rule, there is no desire to work with me prior to the meeting. That is not good for this school system or this community.”

I didn’t want to promise a plan that I might not have been able to deliver on,” Scanlon said. “I wanted to make sure the numbers would work and I just finished working it out.”

You can read the full report here.