Pelham News : Schools

Superintendent to stay on job

Salem Editor — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:33:00 GMT

Frank Bass is going to stay on as superintendent of schools in Pelham and Windham after apparently working out problems with two School Board members.

Bass had applied to become Manchester’s school superintendent just seven months after coming to SAU 28, the Windham and Pelham school districts. His move prompted Al Letizio Jr., chairman of the Windham School Board, to accuse two of his colleagues, Barbara Coish and Beverly Donovan, of creating a hostile work environment for Bass.

“They made it very unpleasant for him,” he said. After he put out word that Coish and Donovan should resign from the school board, Letizio said, Bass received an outpouring of support from the public and the two women individually approached the superintendent in a conciliatory manner, ironed out their problems and agreed to change their behavior.

At a Thursday, Feb. 7, meeting of the SAU 28 School Board, made up of the School Board members of both communities, Bass announced that he had resolved matters with Coish and Donovan and would stay on the job.

“I’m very excited about it,” said Pelham’s Cindy Kyzer, chairman of the SAU 28 School Board. “I think he’s doing a good job. He has a good vision for the district, and works hard.

Bruce Couture, chairman of the Pelham School Board, said he, too, is glad Bass wants to keep working in the two towns. Couture said previously that problems in Windham can adversely affect the Pelham district.

“They worked a lot of things out, and that meant a lot to both boards,” he said.

Although Letizio had said publicly that Coish and Donovan should step down, he never called on them at a meeting to do so. But they knew he was prepared to do it, Letizio said.

“It was a diplomatic effort to get it resolved,” Letizio said. “I agreed to not call for their resignations in exchange for them to change their behavior. It ended with a peaceful resolution.”

Coish said she had a “very nice” conversation with Bass last week in his office about working together. But she said she doubts that conversation had much of an influence on his decision to stay.

School drug search policy may be revised

Salem Editor — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:44:00 GMT

By Darrell Halen

The School Board may revise its policy on drug searches in Pelham schools after concerns were raised about the magnitude of the searches and disruptions caused to students.

During the board’s Wednesday, Jan. 16 meeting, School Board member Linda Mahoney cited the large number of law enforcement agencies that were used when a search was carried out in April at the high school and middle school.

“A little overkill and it wasn’t for anything they found specific,” Mahoney said. “It was scary for these kids. These kids didn’t know what was going on. And that’s what I don’t want to see happen again. It seems like we’re treating our kids guilty until proven innocent.”

Fourteen agencies, including the Pelham Police Department, carried out the searches. A bottle of vodka was found in the car of a 17-year-old boy who allowed administrators to search his car, and marijuana was discovered in the car of a 16-year-old boy after his father permitted a search.

The high school’s fire alarm sounded before the search began, sending students and employees outside.

Drugs searches are typically conducted every year in which dogs “hit” on places where drugs may be located.

Administrators have the right to search lockers. If a dog hits on a car, administrators ask the student for consent to search the vehicle. If the student or car owner refuses to give consent, the matter is turned over to police, according to Dorothy Mohr, school principal.

Dogs are not used to search students.

Mahoney said she is not blind that drugs may be in the high school but said other alternatives that provide a deterrence should be considered, such as having a police officer walk by lockers with a dog once a month.

Student representative Scott Cloutier said once the April search began, no one was concentrating on their school work that day. Instead, they were concentrating on the dogs they could see being used in the parking lot and were worrying if any of their belongings inside the school had been touched.

“To that magnitude, it was an interruption,” he said.

School Board member Eleanor Burton spoke in defense of the searches.

“I don’t think it hurts in this day and age,” she said. “I think we have to protect all the students. If it’s there, we need to find it. I don’t think it hurts to do it once in a while.”

School Board Chairman Bruce Couture said he believes several dogs are used to make the searches go quicker and because there’s a limit to how long each animal is effective.

“I see both sides of the argument, but I certainly think we should always keep ourselves open,” Couture said. “If something is brewing and they know about it and need that force to do it, then I think we should give ourselves that flexibility.”

Superintendent Frank Bass said he and Roxanne Wilson, the assistant superintendent, will review the policy and try to craft a proposed change that would address the concerns they heard during the meeting.

Budget Committee gives recommendations to school warrants

Salem Editor — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:25:00 GMT

By Darrell Halen

The Pelham Budget Committee voted to support the $3 million purchase of approximately 48 acres for a new high school.

But the panel voted against recommending the construction of the new school and an auditorium.

The nine members attending the committee’s Thursday, Dec. 13, meeting voted unanimously to support the land purchase.

The School Board is putting forward a warrant article at the school district meeting in March to purchase the land, which consists of two parcels off Windham Road.

The purchase, which would be paid for with a five-year bond, needs a 60 percent majority to pass.

The committee voted 5-4 to not recommend a $44,665,000 article to construct the new school and to renovate the current high school into a middle school.

The group also voted 5-4 to not recommend a $3,116,000 article for an auditorium for the new high school.

Voting against those two articles were committee chairman John Lavallee, Dennis Viger, Robert Sherman, Dan Guimond and Martha Lowe.

Voting to support them were Doug Viger, the Board of Selectmen representative to the committee, Larry Hall, Joe Puddister and Bruce Couture, who was acting as the School Board’s representative to the committee.

Members Phil McColgan and Greg Farris were not present.

“The land is important. We have to have the land. That’s a valuable asset,” Lavallee said after the meeting.

But Lavallee said he believes the town is better off waiting a year to pursue a new high school. He cited the recent 13 percent increase in the town’s property tax rate, which rose from $13.99 to $15.81 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

In March, voters will see a variety of spending requests in addition to the proposed land purchase, school and auditorium, he said. These will include $4.3 million for a new central fire station, a police union contract, a contract for public works and municipal workers, and requests for more teachers and another police officer.

“I want a new high school in this town. I think we need one but I think it needs to be done next year when things calm down,” Lavallee said. “Everything is raining down on us at one time.”

Lavallee said he also wants to see more details on the new school.

“Let us see what we’re really going to get,” he said.

Couture said he was pleased with the committee’s support of the land purchase. The School

Board has been pursuing a four-school model to alleviate overcrowding.

“I think it reflects what most people realize – (there’s) a space problem (in the schools) and the land is the cornerstone stone of the whole project,” he said of the vote on the land.

On the committee’s votes on the school and auditorium, he added: “I’m disappointed obviously. I think, as an overall plan, you want to get the building (approved) the first year. I understand the hesitancy because of the tax bill that was received, but it’s a project that will only get more expensive every year.”

Study committee formation will be on the ballot

Salem Editor — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:08:00 GMT

By Darrell Halen

The Windham and Pelham school districts share employees, resources and costs by belonging to School Administrative Unit 28.

But beginning in March, Windham voters might start the process of pulling their community out of the SAU.

A warrant article on the Windham school district ballot, if passed, would create a planning committee to study the impacts on each town if Windham were to eventually pull out.

“It’s coming to the point that if each had a superintendent for its own district, it would be beneficial,” said Windham School Board member Bruce Anderson.

Although it’s been cost effective for the two districts to share resources, both districts are growing, Anderson said.

Each community is pursuing high school projects. Windham, which currently sends its students to Salem High, is opening its own high school in 2009, while Pelham officials will be asking voters in March to buy land and construct a new high school in their town.

In the past few years, Anderson noted, School Board members made efforts to ease the heavy workload on its staff by bringing on an assistant superintendent in 2005 and giving each district its own business administrator this year.

Anderson acknowledged that Pelham might feel the greater impact if Windham withdraws from the SAU because its office is in a Windham-owned building. Pelham officials would have to find space to place its own SAU staff.

“It’s not spiting anyone,” said Anderson, who initiated the study committee warrant article during an early December Windham board meeting. “It’s what we think is best for both districts.”

The SAU has about a dozen employees, including Superintendent Frank Bass. Beginning in July it will have an annual budget of roughly $1,207,375.

Pelham’s contribution will be $601,199 while Windham will pay $606,176.

How much money each town contributes is based on its equalized property valuation and its number of students.

The communities also share the cost of preschool services.

In past SAU meetings, the subject of splitting up the SAU has been discussed by School Board members.

Eleanor Burton, a Pelham School Board member, said that during a semiannual SAU meeting in October, School Board members from both towns agreed to hold off on putting any warrant articles on their ballots in March and would revisit the issue at their next meeting in May.

Some of her Pelham board colleagues, she said, were unhappy that Windham members later decided to put a warrant article for a planning committee on their district’s March ballot.

“They thought it was unfortunate it was brought up before we met again,” Burton said.

Conrad to step down from School Board

Salem Editor — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:46:00 GMT

By Darrell Halen

One of the biggest proponents of a new high school in Pelham is leaving the School Board.

Michael Conrad, 42, will depart from the board in March, one year before his current term is to expire.

In his letter of resignation to School Board Chairman Bruce Couture, Conrad cited a new job, freelance writing work and the desire to spend more time with his family as reasons for stepping down.

“After many long discussions with my family, I have to do what is right for myself and my family,” he wrote.

Conrad was elected to the school board in 2003 and re-elected in 2006. During his tenure, he was a proponent of Pelham partnering with Windham to build a cooperative high school, a plan that was twice voted down in his town, and currently supports the construction of a new high school in Pelham.

Prior to joining the board, he served two years as president of Pelham Elementary School’s Parent Teacher Association.

He and his wife, Kathleen, have two children, Steven, 13, and Christina, 10.

“In the past five years, there’s been a lot of time taken from them,” Conrad said.

Conrad recently began working as a business development sales manager for HelloDirect, a developer and marketer of desktop telephony products in Nashua.

He also writes a column, “Gotta Have Gadgets,” for West Coast Golfer magazine.

“It’s harder and harder to find time to dedicate to School bBoard matters,” he said. “If I can’t give 100 percent, I’m not going to do it.”

By notifying the board that he’s stepping down in March, a one-year board position can be put on the school district ballot. Linda Mahoney’s seat is also up in 2008.

“Well, I think it’s too bad,” said School Board member Eleanor Burton about Conrad’s departure. “But with his work, he feels he can’t devote the time to it.”

Conrad said one of the things he liked most about his time on the board was starting the Board Buddies program with then-Superintendent Elaine Cutler. The buddies are students who shared stories about their school work with board members.

“That was the best part of the meetings,” he said.

Trying on their future – Internships give hands-on experience in students’ fields of interest

Salem Editor — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:25:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

Several times a week, while dressed in hospital scrubs, Salem High School senior Courtney Morgan is busy helping people at Parkland Medical Center in Derry – preparing rooms, making beds, walking with patients, getting them something to drink.

She’s not getting paid. But Courtney, who watches nurses at work in the hospital’s surgical vascular unit, is earning school credit and learning about the nursing field.

Courtney, who wants to study nursing in college, is one of dozens of area high school students who are interning in the field they are thinking about pursuing a career in.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for the students to see what real nurses do,” said nurse Carol Dabrowski, one of Courtney’s mentors. “Not what you read in a book or see on ‘ER.’ She’s gotten to know what we’re doing on the floor, what our practice is, how we communicate with each other.”

Courtney spends three days a week at Parkland, and two days a week at the special care nursery at Lawrence General Hospital.

Courtney and approximately 73 other Salem High students are currently participating in semester-long internships. So, too, are 10 Pelham High School students.

At Beau Monde, a beauty salon in Salem, junior Shana Vandecasteele is getting a full picture of how the business runs – from cleaning brushes to quarterly tax filings.

That’s important to the Windham teenager, who plans to go to cosmetology school and aspires to open her own salon.

“We’re just trying to incorporate every aspect of cosmetology – as much as we can in that semester,” said co-owner Peggy Stark.

Licensing requirements prevent some interns from getting full hands-on lessons. Shana, for example, can’t work on clients. But she watches the beauticians in action and practices on a pair of mannequin heads.

And she’s doing other tasks, such as booking appointments.

Through their experiences, interns learn the values of teamwork, organization and time management. They learn from their mistakes. They must abide by company rules and act professionally. Some endure first-day jitters.

“We ask the site to treat them as an employee as much as possible,” said Linda Michalczyk, Salem High School’s community liaison.

Salem students are graded on their internships. They must keep journals and maintain time sheets, complete assignments, and are evaluated by their mentors.

Every two weeks they attend a class where they learn about important factors such as safety, confidentiality, work ethics and teamwork.

Sometimes internships can lead to a paying job. That’s what happened to Lynne Resendes, 17, who is interning at Northeast Rehab Outpatient Center in Pelham because she wants to be a physical therapist.

Impressed with the Pelham High senior’s interest and ability to catch on quickly, Clinic Manager Gerriann Samowski hired her as a rehabilitation aide one night a week.

Her tasks when she’s interning include getting hot and cold packs for patients, setting up machines, answering phones and filing.

“It’s really interesting. I’m glad I have this opportunity to do this,” said Lynne. “I’m a hands-on person, so being here has made me learn so much.”

Lynne and other PHS interns must work 135 hours at a site. They have to keep a weekly journal, complete other assignments, write a final reflection paper and be evaluated by their mentors. The school wants them to have at least a 2.5 grade-point average before taking on an internship.

“They are getting a feel for what these people do, what skills are needed in that particular field,” said Louise Paulauskas, Pelham High’s school-to-career coordinator.

Students in the school’s Academy of Finance program work paid summer internships as part of their program.

Companies that bring on interns say they do so not for the free help but to be a good community partner and give opportunities to young people. Many mentors say they wish the same opportunity was available to them when they were in school.

“Bringing a student like this in is like a breath of fresh air for the company because they come in with a lot of enthusiasm,” said Joanne Carbone, office manager at Signature Mortgage Consultants LLC, in Salem.

That’s where Pelham High senior Scott Cloutier is interning. Cloutier, whose tasks include putting together loan packets and updating lists of lenders, wants to study business in college.

“I love coming to a business every day and I love learning how a business works altogether, and learning new things, especially with a computer,” said Cloutier.

Michalczyk said that some of her former interns are now working professionally at the local police and fire departments, and in schools – places where they gained experience as students. It’s evidence, she said, that internships pay off.

Not all interns, however, discover that the field they’re working in is the best fit for them.

Paulauskas recalls a couple of students who interned in physical therapy but decided that wasn’t the career they wanted after discovering how much math and science is involved.

Michalczyk said it’s better for the students to discover now that a particular field isn’t right for them than when they’re juniors in college.

For some students, their internship is boosting their career interest. Cloutier is excited about going into business. Hilary Barlow, who is interning at Landry Architects in Salem, is enthusiastic about studying architecture.

“I think I’ve learned a lot here that will help me,” said Barlow, a Salem High senior. “Getting hands on experience like this has been awesome.”

Her mentor, senior architect Thomas Duff, has welcomed several interns over the years and is happy to give them more responsibilities as they work through the program.

“I gave them every freedom,” Duff said. “They have access to all our resources. They can ask anyone here questions. If they’re really serious about the field, then the sky’s the limit in terms of what they can do here.”

$995 chair too much?

Salem Editor — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 19:32:00 GMT

School Board divided on superintendent’s office purchase

BY DARRELL HALEN

The purchase of an executive desk chair by School Superintendent Frank Bass that cost Pelham and Windham taxpayers $995 has drawn criticism from several School Board members.

But Bass defends the purchase as a reasonable one and is being supported by a pair of Windham School Board members.

The black leather chair was purchased from the budget of School Administrative Unit 28, which is made up of the Pelham and Windham school districts.

Several board members said they were caught by surprise when the purchase came up during an early October meeting of the SAU School Board, which consists of the members from the two towns.

“I think there are more important places to put our money,” said Pelham’s Eleanor Burton. “I just think it might be the courteous thing to do – to consult (us) on a purchase of that nature. I think it’s extravagant.”

Bass said he purchased the chair in late August. The chair he inherited when he became superintendent on July 1, he said, was very uncomfortable and adjustments he made to improve it didn’t work.

“It’s very standard looking,” Bass said. “It should last me a good many years. I don’t want to purchase a chair every two or three years.”

Bass said the price of the chair is reasonable, given that prices of executive desk chairs can run as high as around $3,000.

“If you look at figures, $500 to $600 to thousands, I don’t think $900 is out of range,” Bass said. “I don’t think it’s an outlandish purchase. It’s a very typical chair you find in offices. I think it falls into an acceptable range that chairs go for.”

Al Letizio Jr., the chairman of the Windham School Board, said he’s not bothered by the purchase. The $995 price, he said, is actually on the low end.

“For a superintendent, $900 (for a chair) is not out of the ordinary,” Letizio said.

“I was embarrassed to be sitting with a group of people who criticized the superintendent for what he spent,” Letizio said, referring to the SAU meeting.

Letizio, who refers to Bass as the chief executive officer of the school district, said the purchase was appropriate for Bass’ position.

“You want to see a professional (office) setting,” he said. “I have to say I have full confidence in Dr. Bass, in the professional skills he has and the ethics we’ve seen him employ so far,” said Windham School Board member Beth Valentine. “I have full confidence he makes responsible, fiscal decisions.” Yet others think the purchase was excessive.

“It’s outrageous to spend that amount of money on a chair,” said Barbara Coish, a member of the Windham School Board. “You can be the CEO of a company and sit in a Wal-Mart chair.”

Another Windham board member, Beverly Donovan, said the price of the chair seems extravagant given that the school district faces other expenses, such as school repairs.

“There’s a lot going on, and to me, it’s a lot of money,” she said. “We need to be careful what we’re spending money on.”

Pelham School Board member Cindy Kyzer said she, too, thinks the amount spent was too much. And she’s concerned about the message it sends to taxpayers.

Kyzer said that Pelham School Board members scrutinize their own budgets and make cuts to them before they are sent to the Budget Committee in their town.

“I think some in town think we spend money just to spend money, but the reality is we are careful about what we spend,” Kyzer said.

Bass said that he has never been characterized as a spendthrift in his career, and that the chair and his office in the SAU building are not ostentatious.

“I have to take it as a valid concern,” Bass said of School Board members who raised eyebrows over the purchase. “I understand that. I appreciate that. They have a right to say it’s too expensive. They have to respond to their constituents. But there’s nothing outlandish about it.”

Thinking pink to fight cancer

Salem Editor — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:00:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

The sales of pink bracelets and freshly baked cookies during a school fundraiser may not bring in a lot of money, but for Taryn Kayo it’s a way to support the fight against *** cancer – a disease that struck her grandmother nine years ago.

“It’s a serious issue for me,” said Taryn, 16, a member of the Future Business Leaders of America chapter at Pelham High School. “I want people to understand it’s a serious thing.”

During lunch periods in the school cafeteria on Tuesday, Oct. 9, and Thursday, Oct. 11, FBLA members are selling chocolate cookies with pink candy-coated pieces for 50 cents each, and pink bracelets for $1 each.

The FBLA chapter sells chocolate chip cookies yearlong to support club activities. But this two-day special fundraiser is part of a program by Otis Spunkmeyer, the chapter’s cookie dough supplier, to support the National *** Cancer Foundation.

“It makes me feel like I’m doing my part,” said Taryn, who is co-chairing the fundraiser with fellow junior Ellisse Goss.

When the company asked business teacher Wendy Dorval, the chapter’s adviser, if the club wanted to get involved in its pink cookies fundraising program, she took the idea to the students.

She was pleasantly surprised when they embraced it.

“I thought the club wouldn’t be interested,” Dorval said. “It’s an older person’s issue and these are teenagers. In reality, they are all affected because of their extended families.”

Like Catherine Byron, an 18-year-old senior, whose grandmother has *** cancer and whose former color guard coach was diagnosed with it, too.

And freshman Frank Santangelo, 14, whose mother was diagnosed last year. She went through chemotherapy, temporarily lost her hair and is now cancer-free, he said.

October is *** Cancer Awareness Month. The students are selling their goods at tables covered with pink table covers. Cookies are served on pink napkins.

“I’m hoping people will think pink and know this is serious,” Byron said.

The bracelets each feature one of four inspirational words: Faith. Hope. Strength. Survivor.

Students who purchase a cookie or bracelet receive a free pink ribbon.

“I like supporting good causes like this,” said Christine Downs, 16, after she bought a cookie.

To Taryn, her grandmother, Jackie Lampert of Salem, is a hero. She was diagnosed in 1998, and learned the cancer had spread six years later.

“She’s been fighting through (this),” Taryn said. “She’s a tough one. She can get through with a smile.”

T-shirts and tactics – Memorial School staff motivates kids toward higher test scores

Salem Editor — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 19:59:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

As Pelham Memorial School students filed into school, the theme song from the movie “Rocky” sounded over the building’s public address system.

Their teachers wore brand-new lime green T-shirts with the words “striving for excellence” printed on them.

It was Tuesday, Oct. 2, the kickoff of four days of New England Common Assessment Program testing and eighth-grade teacher Patty Lamontagne was ready with her pep talk.

“Are we all excited for today? It’s our first day of testing,” she told her class. “I hope you had a good breakfast and some orange juice and have a positive attitude.”

For Cathy Pinsonneault, the school’s principal, the stakes are high.

Memorial School did not make Annual Yearly Progress in reading and math during last year’s tests. Having failed to make AYP in reading for two consecutive years, Memorial was designated as a school in need of improvement by the Department of Education. It’s a mark Pinsonneault wants removed.

The NECAP tests, which determine whether or not students are proficient, were created because of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Now feeling “under the gun,” Pinsonneault launched a campaign to try and get her students psyched up about this year’s tests. It’s not an easy sell.

Older students understand the importance of assessment tests and elementary school students want to please their teachers, she said.

Middle school students, however, are the toughest group.

“It’s very hard to vest them in this,” Pinsonneault said. “Middle school students usually have the attitude, what’s in it for me? It doesn’t affect their grades.”

On top of that, proficiency targets have been raised this year – meaning the school has a higher bar to reach to make AYP.

So prior to the Oct. 2 test kickoff, Pinsonneault visited the school’s 22 homerooms, explaining the tests, and why it’s important students do their best. Everyone counts.

“I want them to understand why I want them to work hard, that it judges us as a school and how well we’re doing,” she said.

The school is “Team Memorial” and Pinsonneault is a cheerleader, telling the kids they can perform well and coming up with gimmicks to boost enthusiasm.

To help kids do well, teachers agreed not to give homework during testing week, hoping that students will give their best effort during the day.

Kids were asked to eat breakfast and come to school well-rested and will have a snack time.

And a different set of tests that measure progress were put off. Pinsonneault believes that last year kids were “tested out” from the two sets of tests.

If the school does achieve AYP, Pinsonneault has promised a springtime celebration, featuring a dunking booth, pie-eating contests and egg tosses. She and Tom Adamakos, the assistant principal, have volunteered to get dunked.

Sixth- and seventh-grade students will be tested in reading and mathematics. Eighth-graders will take tests in those subjects, along with writing.

The staff discussed making accommodations and modifications for special education students, who did not make their required targets in last year’s tests.

Seventh-graders will undergo three days of testing, while other students will be tested over four days. Testing wraps up Oct. 10.

“Students, good luck on the tests,” Pinsonneault said during the Oct. 2 morning announcements over the public address system. “Let’s take it seriously. Let’s earn that celebration in May.”

In preparation for the tests, teachers and students talked about test-taking strategies.

“If it’s multiple choice and you’re not sure what the answer is, how to eliminate and then make an educated guess,” Pinsonneault said. “We’ve talked about not leaving anything blank, just giving it their best shot. We want them to know that everybody’s score counts.”

But there hasn’t been a lot of time to get ready. The staff didn’t learn the school had not achieved AYP until the day before school started in late August – just five weeks before this year’s testing begins.

Pinsonneault knows that in her efforts to drum up enthusiasm she’s taking risks – that kids will be disappointed in the spring if there’s no celebration.

“I’ve got to take that chance,” she said. “I’m putting it all out there, and just hoping this is going to work.”

When teachers arrived at school on the first test day, Pinsonneault handed them the lime green T-shirts she had ordered. A shirt was ordered for everyone at the school.

“A lot of it – and I’ve tried to explain to the teachers – is our mindset,” Pinsonneault said. “We have to be so encouraging and so supporting that these kids feel they can do it. I’m trying to get the teachers hyped up so they will walk in those classrooms and be the cheerleaders in front of those kids.”

Voters to weigh in on teacher contract – Deliberative session is Sept. 25

Salem Editor — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 22:20:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

Pelham voters will soon have their chance to speak on a revised three-year teacher contract.

A deliberative session will begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 25, at Pelham Elementary School.

Voters will debate and discuss a special school district warrant article that calls for an increase of salaries and benefits of $283,514 in 2007-08, $324,437 in 2008-09, and $340,600 in 2009-10.

After voters rejected a proposed contract last March, representatives of the Pelham School District and the Pelham Education Association hammered out a revised contract.

Instead of providing raises averaging 5 percent each year, the revised agreement provides raises averaging 3.5 percent in the first year, and 4 percent in the following two years.

Like the rejected agreement, the revised contract provides a pay increase of 3.5 percent in the first year only for extracurricular positions, but includes approximately nine additional positions.

Currently, the school district contributes 85 percent toward the most expensive health insurance plans.

For cheaper plans, it pays more. The revised agreement calls for teachers to pick up 5 percent of the cost by the third year.

But opponents of the agreement argue that teachers should be contributing more.

While the School Board supports the agreement, the town’s Budget Committee does not.

Voters will go to the polls from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Pelham High School on Tuesday, Oct. 23, to accept or reject the contract.

Rising Star – Pelham alum moving through Milwaukee’s system

Salem Editor — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 20:23:00 GMT

BY SAPNA PATHAK

He thought winning every game he started as a freshman at Pelham High School was a fluke.

But after repeating the feat three more times, former Pythons pitcher Derek Miller couldn’t help but recognize his baseball abilities.

“After my first two seasons at Pelham (High School), I had no losses, but I still didn’t really think anything of it,” said Miller with a laugh. “But then junior and senior year, I didn’t lose either. Somewhere along there I realized this baseball thing could be something I should really go after and see what happens.”

What happened was Miller, then one semester away from graduating with a degree in early childhood education from the University of Vermont, was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers, the first leg of what he hopes is a journey to the Major Leagues.

This season, Miller was promoted to Double-A Huntsville, Ala., where the hurler earned Pitcher of the Week honors during the week of July 30. The UVM standout won both his starts that week, after officially joining the Stars on July 5.

He’s 6-2 following a 4-0 shutout on Sunday, Aug. 26. In that game, Miller fanned six in six innings, allowing three hits and two walks. In the process, he helped Huntsville maintain a three-game lead in the Southern league’s North division.

His rookie season brought Miller to Montana, where he pitched for the Helena Brewers before being promoted to Single-A West Virginia as a member of the Power rotation.

In season two, Miller moved to the Florida State League and the Brevard County Manatees, where the New England native got his first taste of playing ball in the South.

“Oh, man, it was so less stressful,” said Miller about being able to rely on consistent warm weather. “I wouldn’t have to worry about how I was going to get to the gym that day because there was so much snow on the ground. My wife and son even moved down here last year, so we’re able to spend the offseason in Florida this year.”

As much as he looks forward to a sunny offseason, Miller was fast to say winters will be missed. And Miller was just as quick in crediting former Pythons manager Joe Connors, who no longer coaches at PHS, for instilling the confidence and poise Miller now brings to each start.

“You have to keep your head about you,” said Miller. “Back in high school, I didn’t realize it, but playing with coach Connors and having success then helped me learn how to handle it now. I didn’t take myself too seriously back then, and that’s helped me stay relaxed and confident that I do belong here.”

Safety fixes at high school completed

Salem Editor — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 19:54:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

Contractors are winding up their summer-long work at Pelham High School. The changes they’ve made to the building are intended to improve safety for students and staff.

“They should be able to evacuate from the building faster than before,” said Dorothy Mohr, the school’s principal.

The work was done to address some of the problems cited by local and state fire protection officials a year ago.

Last March, voters approved a school district budget that included $395,000 to make the improvements in the building.

Students returning to school will notice three areas of the building that have been changed.

In the math area, a narrow dead-end hallway has been eliminated. Now, there is a 12-foot-wide hallway that extends from the school’s main corridor to an exit at the back of the building.

The area previously had five classrooms. Now there are three large classrooms and each one is accessible from the new hallway. Previously, all classroom doors swung into the narrow hallway, interfering with the ability to leave the area.

Combustible paneling that was around a storage closet has been removed.

Two of the new classrooms are a little more than 1,000 square feet each. One room is a little less than 1,000 square feet. The new hallway has two new fire extinguishers and each classroom has a fire detector.

In the English area, a new 28-foot corridor was created to link one of the school’s main hallways to an existing exit.

The exit was once inside a classroom, which has been reduced to 522 square feet.

“We had to make that (exit) accessible from the hallway,” Mohr said.

Because it is small, the room’s only storage space will be one bookcase.

“We’ll have to use this room,” Mohr said. “It will be a little crowded.”

Featured in the new corridor is a new fire extinguisher, a new safety light and a fire detector.

In a front quadrant of the building, where there were classes for world languages, science, art and health, the number of classrooms have been reduced from eight to seven.

Previously, classroom 5B could only be accessed by walking through another room, 5A. Classroom 5A is gone.

Now there is a large open area with a new building exit that Mohr refers to as a gallery.

Combustible plywood walls have been covered with flame retardant material, and a vent has been eliminated.

Smoke could have traveled through the vent and air coming through it could have accelerated a fire, Mohr said.

Double doors leading to the area will automatically shut when the school’s fire alarm sounds, keeping smoke from moving to other parts of the school.

To improve safety, school officials closed six classrooms in the building and rented six portable classrooms last winter. Those portables will continue to be used.

“In the grand scheme of things, we’re up three classrooms,” Mohr said.

Fire Chief Michael Walker said he’s pleased with the changes undertaken by school officials.

“I think they’ve cooperated with us. For us, it’s a milestone,” Walker said. “It’s dramatically safer than it had been.”

One of the issues raised by the fire department was the lack of protection to gas piping in the science department.

Many of the gas pipes are located in a storage room and could easily be damaged or broken causing a gas leak at the school, it was noted.

Walker said school officials had the area cleaned up, and said it’s important that the number of people going into the storage room is minimized to ensure nothing tips over and breaks a pipe.

Special election – Voters to decide fate of revised Pelham teachers’ contract

Salem Editor — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 18:15:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

Pelham voters will go to the polls in October to approve or reject a revised teachers’ contract.

A Superior Court judge granted permission to the Pelham School District to hold a special election on Tuesday, Oct. 23.

“All parties are very excited by the decision and look forward to the special session,” School Superintendent Frank Bass said at Hillsborough County Superior Court in Nashua after a brief hearing.

When voters went to the polls in March, they rejected, in a 1,491 to 1,187 vote, a three-year contract between the district and the Pelham Education Association that among its provisions provided raises averaging 5 percent each year.

Following the defeat, representatives of the union and the school district hammered out a new contract. It is roughly $250,000 lower than the one voters rejected.

“It’s a significant decrease from the original agreement,” said Bruce Couture, chairman of Pelham School Board.

The revised agreement will be the subject of discussion and debate at a deliberative session on Sept. 25.

It calls for salary increases averaging 3.5 percent in 2007-08; 4 percent in 2008-09; and 4 percent in 2009-10.

Teachers would receive increases of $1,760 in the first year, $1,840 in the second year, and $1,920 in the third year.

Those figures are lower than the increases proposed in the contract turned down in March: $2,430 in 2007-08, $2,340 in 2008-09, and $2,455 in 2009-10.

Under the revised agreement, a first-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree will earn $32,100 in 2007-08.

Under the rejected contract, the salary in the same year would have been $32,770.

Like the rejected contract, the revised one calls for stipends for extracurricular positions – such as athletic coaches and club advisors – to increase 3.5 percent during the first year but remain steady during the following two years.

The revised contract, however, adds approximately nine new positions over the life of the contract.

The revised agreement retains a change in cost sharing for health insurance that was in the rejected contract: The school district will contribute 83 percent in the first year, 82 percent in the second year and 80 percent in the third year of the most expensive health care plan.

Those contributions are constant, regardless of which plan a teacher selects.

Currently, it is a 85/15 percent split.

The total cost of the contract that was turned down would have cost taxpayers $392,033 in 2007-08; $396,307 in 2008-09, and $413,038 in 2009-10.

The new version will cost $283,514 in 2007-08; $324,437 in 2008-09; and $340,600 in 2009-10.

Leading up to the March vote, some opponents of the contract argued the raises were too high and teachers should be contributing more toward their health insurance premiums.

A majority of the Budget committee opposed the contract. The group will review and take a position on the revised agreement.

Sue Harden, president of the teacher’s union, hopes that residents will approve it this fall. She has said that the community needs to retain and attract good teachers.

“We’ll probably mount a public campaign to get our message out,” she said. “It’s a lot of work and not a lot of time to do it.”

Athletics director says fields not ready

Salem Editor — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 17:05:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

Concerned that athletic fields at Pelham High School won’t be ready in time for fall teams to practice, the school’s athletics director has urged its landscaping company to take immediate action.

“As it stands right now, the conditions of the fields is unacceptable and needs to be addressed immediately,” Tim

Powers wrote in a July 2 letter to Santastic Landscaping.

“With the start of fall sports just around the corner, getting the fields in the best playing condition is of the utmost importance,” he wrote.

According to his letter, football practice starts on Aug. 8, and other fall teams begin practice five days later.

But the fields are in no condition to handle the athletic season, Powers wrote. Most of the field hockey field is burned and has divots in it that make it dangerous to play on, and soccer and football areas are not in the shape they should be in, according to his letter.

“With the addition of the portable classrooms, there will be changes in practice and game spaces,” Powers wrote, referring to the modular unit that opened on school grounds earlier this year. “We will need to be flexible with the limited space that we have.”

Last spring, Santastic was awarded a three-year contract by the Pelham School Board and the town’s selectmen to provide landscaping at town and school grounds.

At their July 11 meeting, School Board members were told by Superintendent Frank Bass that he believes the problems will be addressed.

“We anticipate that things will move appropriately and we look forward to a smooth opening of our athletic fields and programs,” he told the board.

Ready for school – Bass starts as new superintendent

Salem Editor — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:20:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

Frank Bass considers himself more of an education leader than a manager.

“I’m very upfront, out there,” said Bass, 55, the new superintendent of the Windham and Pelham school districts.

“You’re not going to find me at the desk all that often. At least I hope not. I like to be out and about, roll up my sleeves and be involved. I want to know what’s going on.”

Bass succeeds Elaine Cutler, who served the communities for four years and is retiring this summer.

He brings to the job, which he started July 2, roughly 30 years of experience working in education. He spent the last six years as the assistant superintendent for middle and secondary schools in Manchester.

His new job comes with a unique opportunity: to build a high school in Windham from the ground up – hiring its staff and bringing in comprehensive, state-of-the-art programming.

“We now have the opportunity to look at public high school like we’ve never had before ... I think the potential for us in Windham for this new school is extraordinary.”

The school is scheduled to open in the fall of 2009.

“When this high school is said and done, it will be one of the best in the state of New Hampshire, if not the best,” said Bass.

Bass grew up in North Haven, Conn., and received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of New Hampshire in English literature in 1974.

He earned a master’s degree in the same subject at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vt., and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from Boston College.

He has held a variety of positions through his career, including seven years teaching English at Memorial High School in Manchester, three years as dean of academic affairs at Westford Academy, and six years as principal of Hollis Brookline High School.

When Bass worked in Manchester, the city undertook a $105 million renovation and construction project for its schools.While Windham is building its new school, Pelham School Board members are pursuing a plan to build a new high school on a new site in their town.

Bass’ experience working in secondary education was cited when he was chosen by school board members in the two towns to succeed Cutler.

“We liked the fact he had a lot of high school experience,” said Windham School Board member Bruce Anderson. “That was an important factor for Pelham and Windham right now.”

As superintendent, Bass will oversee a pair of school districts that together have more than 4,000 students and spend roughly $53 million a year.

He has a three-year contract. His starting salary is $115,000.

Bass describes himself as a “people person,” someone who can get people to trust him, is a catalyst for change, works quickly, and likes to get things done.

“I think I consider myself something of a lightning rod,” Bass said. “I like to take on a lot of responsibility. I like it to come through me. I can then take that responsibility and ferry it out to the appropriate people or resources to make it happen.”

He said he likes to look out for new and exciting opportunities for students and believes in building good relationships with people to achieve success.

“You can’t just present things, you have to have people buy into them,” he said. “There has to be an ownership, a sense of community and commitment.”

Bass and his wife, Judy, live in Manchester. They have two children: Steve, who recently graduated from Central High School in Manchester where he was valedictorian of his class, and Laura, who works at Brown Brothers Harriman, a private bank in Boston that offers international investment services.

Bass said he is excited about his new position, but admits to feeling a bit anxious, too.

“There is always a certain amount of anxiety coming into a new job,” he said. “You don’t know what to expect.”

To become familiar with the communities he will be serving, Bass went to the Firemen’s Ball in Windham in March.

Cutler had invited him, and it was an opportunity to meet local officials from the two towns.

Cutler is spending two weeks with Bass before she departs.

“I’m trying to absorb as much as I can,” Bass said. “Going around to the schools, talking with the principals, getting information from them. The (school) boards will be very helpful. What’s also nice is, we’re in the summer months, so July and August will be a great opportunity to come up to speed.”