Attached is this week's schedule of Holyoke School Committee Meetings. The Agenda will follow as soon as possible- I am having difficulty scanning it.
Highlights:
Monday’s meeting will offer updated information in a number of areas. HPS Transportation Manager David Wagner provides a written report about the reduction in bus passes resulting from the use of more precise monitoring software. You may note that nearly half of the students at Holyoke High School lost access to free bus passes (note-not free to the city-we pay a monthly fee) when the software discovered many lived within two miles of the High School. A smaller number at Dean also were removed from the list of students entitled to passes. Dean, of course, is in a less central location. Mr. Wagner will answer the Committee’s questions at the meeting. We will also receive more information about the School Lunch Program, and a Mentoring Program newly instituted by the New England Farm Worker’s Counsel.
On Tuesday, at my invitation, Lt. Gov Murray will visit Peck School and get an introduction to the Transitional Opportunity Program. TOP has been an especially effective innovation in our district and I am hopeful that by getting a first hand view of what we do the Patrick administration will be helpful to our efforts in this area.
On Wednesday, Officials from the Massachusetts School Building Authority will visit Lawrence School, which we hope to replace with a new K-8 structure. The agenda package includes a detailed memo from the head of that agency, about the process and the number of district across Massachusetts with which we are competing. You may also be interested in an article in today’s Boston Globe about the sorry state of many High School science labs. Adding a modern science wing is a major priority of Holyoke’s School Building Needs Committee.
For the second year, the Holyoke Rotary Club is sponsoring the delivery of dictionaries to every third grade student in Holyoke, Granby & South Hadley. Rotary Club Members, myself included, will be bringing the dictionaries to many Holyoke Schools this week.
It has been an especially good couple of weeks for the Holyoke Public Schools in the press, thanks to Holyoke High School’s exemplary results in its accreditation review, and the success of EN White, Sullivan & McMahon Schools in improving MCAS results. Let’s all hope this is evidence of positive momentum, rather than a pleasant change of pace.
I have created a website which compiles my previous comments, which can be found if you click here: http://mmoriartyhps.blogspot.com/ . This is a companion to the archive of previous agendas and minutes, which you can always access here: http://www.hps.holyoke.ma.us/sc_agenda_minutes.htm
I will have a Spanish Language version as soon as my schedule allows.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
On Monday we will get details on a visit the US Department of Justice made to the Holyoke Public School Department last week. The information I have so far is that the DOJ has been in several Massachusetts School Districts since last spring, reviewing the services provided to English Language Learners for compliance with Federal regulations on the subject. We are apparently one of the last urban districts in the state to be reviewed. This sort of thing occurs endlessly, and constantly distracts our faculty from focusing on their work.
As you may read from the notes of the 9/19 Finance Sub-committee meeting, we are reviewing the operations of the school lunch program, which has been losing money for an extended period of time. The program is managed by an outside company, Chartwells. We open the program to competing vendors every three years, and last year granted Chartwells a contract that is renewed annual for the three year period. Last year they reimbursed over $75,000.00 in management fees, which exceeded the amount of money we lost that year. However, we are still far in the red from the 2005-2006 school year; when losses were severe. On Monday we will vote whether to renew Chartwells contract for this year. We don’t really have much choice, since replacing them after the start of the year would create a chaotic situation. I have suggested we open their contract to competition a year early, due to the problems we have experienced. That will be discussed more on Monday.
As you may read from the notes of the 9/19 Finance Sub-committee meeting, we are reviewing the operations of the school lunch program, which has been losing money for an extended period of time. The program is managed by an outside company, Chartwells. We open the program to competing vendors every three years, and last year granted Chartwells a contract that is renewed annual for the three year period. Last year they reimbursed over $75,000.00 in management fees, which exceeded the amount of money we lost that year. However, we are still far in the red from the 2005-2006 school year; when losses were severe. On Monday we will vote whether to renew Chartwells contract for this year. We don’t really have much choice, since replacing them after the start of the year would create a chaotic situation. I have suggested we open their contract to competition a year early, due to the problems we have experienced. That will be discussed more on Monday.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Dear Parents and Constituents,
Attached is this week's schedule of Holyoke School Committee Meetings and the agenda for Monday's School Committee Meeting. Please note that agendas are in PDF format, which allows me to provide the package of attachments to the agenda. I have also attached a report from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, which is well worth reading. As explained below, I have also attached the agenda from our August 20 meeting.
Highlights:
Monday’s agenda is fairly short, although there are some items that keep the meeting going for a while.
Holyoke High School was kept extremely busy last year preparing for its Accreditation Review. This is an important process that takes place every ten years, involving many labor intensive tasks including faculty self assessment and a review by a Visiting Committee. Attached is the Overview of the Visiting Committee’s report, which is a wonderful recognition of the quality of Holyoke High School. The report glows with this kind of commentary: “Holyoke High School enjoys an exemplary school climate that is safe and orderly and has an instructional program guided by a clear mission”. A copy of the complete report, with numerous detailed commendations and recommendations of the Visiting Committee, can be obtained at Holyoke High School’s Main Office. The entire HHS community has a lot to be proud of.
Wednesday’s Finance Sub-committee meeting will be a continuation of the management of our approximately $2,000,000.00 budget deficit. This situation was brought to the School Committee’s attention during the summer, at the August 3 meeting. The attached agenda for 8/20 contains the minutes of that meeting and the subsequent Finance Sub-committee meeting. Between everything attached you can read all of the discussion that has occurred to date. At some point, hopefully soon, the Committee will receive some concrete recommendations and take action to adjust the budget. While the reasons for not doing so to date are justifiable, the ongoing inaction and uncertainty is vexing and needs to end soon.
The other reason I am sending the agenda from my last message is that you never received my last message. I wrote and send the e-mail for our 8/20 meeting, unaware that the HPS server has moved. The message simply vanished into cyberspace, with no message telling me this had happened.
Also, if you sent me an e-mail to this address: mmoriarty@hps.holyoke.ma.us at any time between 8/20/07 and 9/10/07, when my access to the HPS system was restored, I never received it.
Dear Parents and Constituents,
Attached is this week's schedule of Holyoke School Committee Meetings and the agenda for Monday's School Committee Meeting. Please note that agendas are in PDF format, which allows me to provide the package of attachments to the agenda. I have also attached a report from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, which is well worth reading. As explained below, I have also attached the agenda from our August 20 meeting.
Highlights:
Monday’s agenda is fairly short, although there are some items that keep the meeting going for a while.
Holyoke High School was kept extremely busy last year preparing for its Accreditation Review. This is an important process that takes place every ten years, involving many labor intensive tasks including faculty self assessment and a review by a Visiting Committee. Attached is the Overview of the Visiting Committee’s report, which is a wonderful recognition of the quality of Holyoke High School. The report glows with this kind of commentary: “Holyoke High School enjoys an exemplary school climate that is safe and orderly and has an instructional program guided by a clear mission”. A copy of the complete report, with numerous detailed commendations and recommendations of the Visiting Committee, can be obtained at Holyoke High School’s Main Office. The entire HHS community has a lot to be proud of.
Wednesday’s Finance Sub-committee meeting will be a continuation of the management of our approximately $2,000,000.00 budget deficit. This situation was brought to the School Committee’s attention during the summer, at the August 3 meeting. The attached agenda for 8/20 contains the minutes of that meeting and the subsequent Finance Sub-committee meeting. Between everything attached you can read all of the discussion that has occurred to date. At some point, hopefully soon, the Committee will receive some concrete recommendations and take action to adjust the budget. While the reasons for not doing so to date are justifiable, the ongoing inaction and uncertainty is vexing and needs to end soon.
The other reason I am sending the agenda from my last message is that you never received my last message. I wrote and send the e-mail for our 8/20 meeting, unaware that the HPS server has moved. The message simply vanished into cyberspace, with no message telling me this had happened.
Also, if you sent me an e-mail to this address: mmoriarty@hps.holyoke.ma.us at any time between 8/20/07 and 9/10/07, when my access to the HPS system was restored, I never received it.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
I’m sending this about 15 minutes before I leave for the actual meeting, and the Spanish language version will have to go out tomorrow. I moved my office last weekend, causing all types of issues with the technology I rely in to send you these messages.
The interesting part of tonight’s meeting will probably be the Superintendent’s updates, which are about the budget and our involvement with the DOE and America’s Choice.
Many parents have contacted me, concerned about the elimination of the early morning drop off that was created when we changed to assignment zones. Please review the attached minutes from our August 6 meeting, where the Superintendent reported that most schools will still be open for any children who need to arrive early through the school breakfast program. This should make the buildings accessible for your children as early as 7:30 am. Before relying on this general information, it is highly recommended that you contact your specific school to see if this will in fact be in place.
Also, there was some discussion about establishing more after (and perhaps before) school services for a fee. As the minutes show, fee based services are a real problem in a community like ours, and unlike most school districts in Massachusetts we have made great effort to avoid going down that path. However, access to programs at school can make a huge difference for working families. Also, charging for after school programming is nothing new. This will be discussed further, in all likelihood tonight.
I’m sending this about 15 minutes before I leave for the actual meeting, and the Spanish language version will have to go out tomorrow. I moved my office last weekend, causing all types of issues with the technology I rely in to send you these messages.
The interesting part of tonight’s meeting will probably be the Superintendent’s updates, which are about the budget and our involvement with the DOE and America’s Choice.
Many parents have contacted me, concerned about the elimination of the early morning drop off that was created when we changed to assignment zones. Please review the attached minutes from our August 6 meeting, where the Superintendent reported that most schools will still be open for any children who need to arrive early through the school breakfast program. This should make the buildings accessible for your children as early as 7:30 am. Before relying on this general information, it is highly recommended that you contact your specific school to see if this will in fact be in place.
Also, there was some discussion about establishing more after (and perhaps before) school services for a fee. As the minutes show, fee based services are a real problem in a community like ours, and unlike most school districts in Massachusetts we have made great effort to avoid going down that path. However, access to programs at school can make a huge difference for working families. Also, charging for after school programming is nothing new. This will be discussed further, in all likelihood tonight.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Dear Parents and Constituents,
Attached is this week’s schedule of Holyoke School Committee Meetings. The agenda for Monday’s School Committee Meeting can be viewed by clicking this link http://www.hps.holyoke.ma.us/pdf/sc_agendas/Agenda_08-06-07.pdf . Please note that agendas are in PDF format, which allows me to provide the package of attachments to the agenda.
Highlights:
As usual, there were no regular meetings of the school committee in July, although a special meeting to ratify two collective bargaining agreements did take place. Also, the Building Needs Committee has been active in July, addressing pending deadlines for projects to improve Holyoke High School and McMahon, and possibly replace Lawrence School.
There will be a finance committee meeting on Wednesday, which will review information comparing the cost of School Buses vs PVTA passes. On Monday, the Superintendent will update the Committee on the status of the budget for 2007-2008 Fiscal Year, which is on a deficit. The Finance Meeting is likely to have some work to do following up on the information received on Monday. In addition to the budget update, the Superintendent will advise us on the effect of budget cuts on before and after school programs.
On Friday Night, the Summer String Program wrapped up with a very well received performance at the Yellow Barn Music Festival in Amherst. The students presented themselves very well, putting the Holyoke Public Schools in a positive light. There were many comments from people impressed with the children and the work that is being done. It was a great example of how the entire community benefits when the Public Schools remain committed to the fine arts and a full comprehensive curriculum in every school.
I have attached the agenda in pdf format in addition to providing a link, as I had trouble making the link work. Hopefully the technical issue can be resolved tomorrow.
Dear Parents and Constituents,
Attached is this week’s schedule of Holyoke School Committee Meetings. The agenda for Monday’s School Committee Meeting can be viewed by clicking this link http://www.hps.holyoke.ma.us/pdf/sc_agendas/Agenda_08-06-07.pdf . Please note that agendas are in PDF format, which allows me to provide the package of attachments to the agenda.
Highlights:
As usual, there were no regular meetings of the school committee in July, although a special meeting to ratify two collective bargaining agreements did take place. Also, the Building Needs Committee has been active in July, addressing pending deadlines for projects to improve Holyoke High School and McMahon, and possibly replace Lawrence School.
There will be a finance committee meeting on Wednesday, which will review information comparing the cost of School Buses vs PVTA passes. On Monday, the Superintendent will update the Committee on the status of the budget for 2007-2008 Fiscal Year, which is on a deficit. The Finance Meeting is likely to have some work to do following up on the information received on Monday. In addition to the budget update, the Superintendent will advise us on the effect of budget cuts on before and after school programs.
On Friday Night, the Summer String Program wrapped up with a very well received performance at the Yellow Barn Music Festival in Amherst. The students presented themselves very well, putting the Holyoke Public Schools in a positive light. There were many comments from people impressed with the children and the work that is being done. It was a great example of how the entire community benefits when the Public Schools remain committed to the fine arts and a full comprehensive curriculum in every school.
I have attached the agenda in pdf format in addition to providing a link, as I had trouble making the link work. Hopefully the technical issue can be resolved tomorrow.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Friday, June 1, 2007
Dear Parents and Constituents,
Attached is this week’s schedule of Holyoke School Committee Meetings. The agenda for Monday’s School Committee Meeting can be viewed by clicking this link http://www.hps.holyoke.ma.us/pdf/sc_agendas/Agenda_06-04-07.pdf . Please note that agendas are in PDF format, which allows me to provide the package of attachments to the agenda.
Highlights:
This is the time of year where a lot more is happening in the subcommittees than in the regular meetings. We still have ongoing collective bargaining negotiations, which will be taken up in a executive session before Monday’s regular meeting. We will consider approval of next year’s calendar, approve minutes and review some travel requests, which appears to be about it for the regular meeting.
However, on Wednesday, we will continue budget discussions. We need to reduce about $5,000,000.00 of expenses to balance the budget, and a number of choices were presented last Wednesday. More options will be shown this week, and we will then begin to make choices for presentation at a public hearing later this month. Some of the limited options included percentage cuts at each school, elimination of the Freshmen Academies and TOP programs, and consolidation of the middle schools. All of those choices together more than cover the total cuts we need to make. The clear preference at the last meeting was to avoid cuts in any schools. The Freshmen Academies are reported to be less effective than we had hoped, so they may go regardless of budget issues. Based on a report in Yesterday’s Springfield Republican, there may be some additional resources coming from the State Department of Education. We’ll see.
The Building Needs Committee has been hard at work, and will convene for the second week in a row to move forward with projects at Holyoke High, McMahon and Lawrence.
There was a lot of concern about comments made at the recent Massachusetts Board of Education meeting in Malden, resulting in some unduly negative press about the Holyoke Schools. The comments were without substance and are needlessly demoralizing. They were not based on any new information or planning. It was really little more than loose chatter, in contrast to the supportive comments made by Department of Education officials who have actually been here and know how many positive things go on in our schools. Please know that no decisions of any kind were made by the Board of Education affecting the operations of our schools- Holyoke wasn’t even on their agenda. There is no reason this school year should be ending on anything but a positive note for the students and faculty of the Holyoke Public Schools.
Dear Parents and Constituents,
Attached is this week’s schedule of Holyoke School Committee Meetings. The agenda for Monday’s School Committee Meeting can be viewed by clicking this link http://www.hps.holyoke.ma.us/pdf/sc_agendas/Agenda_06-04-07.pdf . Please note that agendas are in PDF format, which allows me to provide the package of attachments to the agenda.
Highlights:
This is the time of year where a lot more is happening in the subcommittees than in the regular meetings. We still have ongoing collective bargaining negotiations, which will be taken up in a executive session before Monday’s regular meeting. We will consider approval of next year’s calendar, approve minutes and review some travel requests, which appears to be about it for the regular meeting.
However, on Wednesday, we will continue budget discussions. We need to reduce about $5,000,000.00 of expenses to balance the budget, and a number of choices were presented last Wednesday. More options will be shown this week, and we will then begin to make choices for presentation at a public hearing later this month. Some of the limited options included percentage cuts at each school, elimination of the Freshmen Academies and TOP programs, and consolidation of the middle schools. All of those choices together more than cover the total cuts we need to make. The clear preference at the last meeting was to avoid cuts in any schools. The Freshmen Academies are reported to be less effective than we had hoped, so they may go regardless of budget issues. Based on a report in Yesterday’s Springfield Republican, there may be some additional resources coming from the State Department of Education. We’ll see.
The Building Needs Committee has been hard at work, and will convene for the second week in a row to move forward with projects at Holyoke High, McMahon and Lawrence.
There was a lot of concern about comments made at the recent Massachusetts Board of Education meeting in Malden, resulting in some unduly negative press about the Holyoke Schools. The comments were without substance and are needlessly demoralizing. They were not based on any new information or planning. It was really little more than loose chatter, in contrast to the supportive comments made by Department of Education officials who have actually been here and know how many positive things go on in our schools. Please know that no decisions of any kind were made by the Board of Education affecting the operations of our schools- Holyoke wasn’t even on their agenda. There is no reason this school year should be ending on anything but a positive note for the students and faculty of the Holyoke Public Schools.
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