Salem Observer : school board

Haigh School remains open

Salem Editor — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:45:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

The Walter F. Haigh Elementary School is here to stay.

The School Board voted 4-1 on Oct. 20 to keep the 55-year-old building open and pursue a master facilities plan incorporating all six elementary schools in Salem. The move came after Haigh parents lobbied board members to save the neighborhood school during two public forums earlier this month.

For Annette Carroll, one of several Haigh parents in attendance, the news came as a welcome sigh of relief. The mother of two said she was worried the board would close Haigh and had encouraged fellow parents to come out and show their support.

“I think (the decision) was fantastic,” Carroll said. “Haigh is a great school. We all know each other and the teachers. We were just there making scarecrows a few hours ago … We want the school to stay.”

Haigh was put on the chopping block after officials looked at developing a master plan for renovating the district’s elementary schools. Early estimates had Salem saving more than $1.5 million in one-time construction costs and annual operational costs by closing Haigh.

But board member Peter Morgan argued that the building needs at least $450,000 in renovations anyway unless the district plans to sell it off.

Even if the school was closed, Salem would still pay some heating and electrical bills on Haigh as well as transportation costs associated with busing those students elsewhere, he said. Higher student populations in other elementary schools would also put a strain on classroom space and staff, Morgan said.

“By the time I’m done with this, what I’m going to save the taxpayers by going to five schools is on the order of less than $1 a month for a person that owns a $300,000 home,” he said. “It’s not a cost issue, it’s a cost-effective issue.”

The lone dissenting voice on the board, Bernard Campbell, said he voted against saving Haigh not out of wanting to do away with the school, but because the building could be left as is and used for something other than an elementary school.

With Haigh’s future secure, the question remaining for school officials is whether to place a warrant article funding some portion of the roughly $35 million master plan on the March ballot. That should be decided in November, superintendent Michael Delahanty said.

Master plan may mean one less elementary school

Salem Editor — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:08:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Digging in for a tough fight, parents are mobilizing to save the Walter F. Haigh School as the School Board considers a master plan that could close the elementary school.

No final decision has been made. Estimates predict the district would save more than $1.5 million by closing Haigh. The facilities plan would spend $4 to $7 million renovating the community’s other five elementary schools over several years.

But it’s an unwelcome approach, say parents of Haigh students.

Many parents intentionally bought homes nearby so their children might attend the school, said Jennifer Wilson, Haigh PTA vice president. Though Haigh is more than 50 years old, it has a positive reputation.

“It’s a nice community school. Most of the families all know each other,” Wilson said. “Studies show kids do better in smaller schools than big schools. Salem had these neighborhood schools and it was a draw to buy a home here.”

Despite her support of Haigh, Wilson doesn’t hesitate to list problems at the building, which was built in 1954. Art and music classes are without permanent space and taught from carts of supplies wheeled from room to room. Administration space is cramped, the school lacks a multipurpose room and children are corralled in class during recess on rainy days.

All of that needs to change, Wilson said, but updating the district’s aging elementary schools doesn’t have to mean ending Haigh’s long history in town.

Last Tuesday at the first of two public forums on the school master plan, Haigh parents were vocal about their concerns.

Living a stone’s throw from Haigh, Elaine Ratay said her daughter Allie, 7, “absolutely loves” the school.

In second grade this year, it’s Allie’s first year at Haigh. It didn’t take long for the school to endear itself, Ratay said. “We’ve had a great experience. I love it that it’s a neighborhood school,” she said.

“My first instinct was, ‘I hope it (doesn’t close) until we’re through.’”

Ratay understands expensive renovations are needed and that may push officials to look at closing the school. But if that means larger classes elsewhere, she doesn’t see the advantage.

The 222 children enrolled at Haigh would be split between five elementary schools, but construction of additional classroom space at those schools should offset crowding, according to the plan.

School Board Member Peter Morgan isn’t sure costs don’t outweigh the benefits. It would at the least mean 60 or 70 new names for each principal to learn, he said, and could strain janitorial and support staff.

While Haigh is on the cusp, more concrete financial information will be needed before the board can take a position one way or the other, according to Morgan.

The decision will likely be made in the coming weeks as the board weighs whether to move ahead with elements of the master plan in time for the March ballot.

“Haigh parents have made it clear (closing the school) is not acceptable. It’s worth the money to them to keep it open,” Morgan said.

In the months ahead, the community as a whole will need to decide what it’s worth. “Is it worth a million and a half, plus operational savings to keep Haigh open?” Morgan asked.

Salem kindergarten plans underway - students signing up

Salem Editor — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:41:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

With funding for Salem’s public kindergarten program now restored to the school district’s operating budget, officials look forward to tying up the administrative details in time for the start of school in the fall.

About 170 kindergarten-aged students had been pre-registered for the program as of earlier this month, according to Superintendent Michael Delahanty, and he expects as many as 300 will be enrolled for kindergarten by the end of this coming summer.

“It is not a bad number, considering we started with 30. There are a number of people who were waiting for some kind of an outcome (on the budget issue) as well,” Delahanty said. “I believe that more people will come forward that the funding has been restored.”

The $1.6 million price tag for the implementation of the town’s first public kindergarten program – stripped from the district’s operating budget in a 5-4 vote by the Budget Committee last month – was overwhelming restored by voters during the Feb. 5 deliberative session.

Delahanty, who has campaigned for providing a public kindergarten to community as the right thing to do, described the response from residents as heartening and encouraging. Going forward, he said the district would wait to see the outcome of the March 10 Town Meeting before meeting with state officials to determine a timeline for when portable classrooms could be installed at each of the town’s neighborhood elementary schools.

The district is planning on hiring 10 kindergarten teachers, five support assistants to help children with special needs and a number of professional support staff – based on the number of students estimated to be enrolled in the program.

With the resources required to run to program already known, Delahanty said administrators could begin purchasing furniture, fixtures and equipment as soon as they begin placing annual orders for the rest of the district’s schools.

“It’s just a matter of hitting go and getting all this done. I’m most confident that we’ll have plenty of time to get up and running in the fall,” he said.

According to School Board Member Bernard Campbell, though the debate over whether or not the town will have a kindergarten program in place to meet the state’s deadline is settled, concerns over funding remain. He pointed to the state’s budget troubles as one cause for worry.

“Whether or not (state) education funding in general is going to be under some sort of cut, how that might impact the kindergarten funding or how that might impact adequate education funding in general, those would be major concerns,” he said.

Budget Committee member Stephen Campbell, who has been a critic of the school board’s decision to include kindergarten funding in the district’s operating budget rather than as a separate warrant article and called on the board to take the state to court over the kindergarten mandate, said the looming issue would be constructing a permanent home for the town’s kindergarten students.

State funding covers the housing costs of the kindergarten program for the first three years, after that it is up to the community to find a permanent location.

Stephen Campbell, who said the district has run into trouble in the past trying to get voters to go along with major construction or renovation projects, predicted the issue will resurface a year or two down the road.

“If they do it next year, I’m not sure that the economy is going to have improved very much between now and next year,” Campbell said. “It’ll be a sizable amount of money and if they continue to ask for 9 percent (budget) increases and then more on top of that they might have trouble. That’s an issue for the future.”

Salem schools could lose $5 million without kindergarten

Salem Editor — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:27:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Superintendent Michael Delahanty worries that the penalty for not starting a kindergarten program could come at the cost of financial aid, though state officials have not made a clear decision on what actions may be taken.

Any of the 11 districts in the state without a kindergarten program by the start of the new school year could potentially face a loss of school approval for failing to put a kindergarten program into place, according to New Hampshire Department of Education Commissioner Lyonel Tracy.

Although Tracy said the state board had not yet arrived at a decision as to whether that would translate into lost state funding for any district that openly defied the legislation mandating kindergarten, Delahanty believes that a partial loss of state adequacy aid – just over $5 million for Salem – is a possibility.

“I believe that the state would realize that the withholding (all) of the money would have devastating consequence in the district and therefore they would not do that. Will they withhold some percentage of the money just to send a message? That’s a more real possibility than the full amount,” Delahanty said. “In our case the law requires us to have kindergarten. It’s on the books. We are obligated to provide kindergarten.”

Another possibility facing the district is the potential for a lawsuit filed by the parents of kindergarten-aged children.Now that the state has included kindergarten in the definition of an adequate education, Delahanty said there is a concern that the district is legally obliged to provide the program and could face a dispute with parents seeking to recoup the costs of sending their children to a private facility.

Whether Salem would have a kindergarten program in place to meet the state’s deadline was called into question earlier this month after the Budget Committee voted 5-4 to remove the program’s funding from the district’s operating budget. The School Board is hoping that voters will restore the $1.6 million during a Feb. 5 deliberative session.

If the funding were not restored, Delahanty has warned that the board may have to make tough decisions as to what programs they would need to cut from the budget to start up the new class, not just to avoid sanctions from the state, but to do the right thing, he said.

“It’s unfortunate that it has come to this, and we’re now mandated by the state. I believe it’s simply the right thing to do,” Delahanty said. “I would prefer to have had the community support a public program many years ago.”

Restoring kindergarten money to be discussed in Salem

Salem Editor — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:11:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Voters will have the chance to either restore funding for the state-mandated kindergarten program to the budget or leave it by the wayside at the deliberative session of the School District meeting on Feb. 5.

The school district’s proposed operating budget – roughly $54.7 million after the Budget Committee removed the $1.6 million planned for next year’s kindergarten program and a further $400,000 in staff costs – tops a list of 10 warrant articles headed before voters in March.

If the money for the kindergarten is not restored, Superintendent Michael Delahanty has warned that the district may have to make cuts elsewhere to comply with state legislation changing the state’s definition of an adequate education to include kindergarten.

Without the kindergarten money, the school district’s operating budget still represents a proposed tax rate increase of about 6.6 percent or about a $128 increase for an average homeowner with a house worth $300,000.

Were kindergarten and the staff funding restored, the operating budget impact on the tax rate would be 9.3 percent or about $181 more per the average $300,000 homeowner.

Salary increases
The district is also proposing to raise $411,642 to fund a step increase in salaries for teachers, nurses and student services specialists for the 2009-10 fiscal year. The 3 percent pay raise represents a 27-cent rise in the tax rate and is a result of the collective bargaining agreement reached between the School Board and the Salem Education Association.

The district is asking for a further appropriation of $37,353 to fund a 2 percent bump in wages and benefits for secretaries, representing an 8-cent impact to the tax rate.

Custodians, aides and food service personnel are also looking at potential salary increases if voters approve each of the three separate warrant articles up for deliberation. The district is asking for $87,910 for a 3 percent wage increase with a tax rate impact of 2 cents for aides and $45,319 for a 2.75 percent raise – with a 10-cent impact to the tax rate – for custodians. The district is asking voters for a further $21,954 to fund a 2.75 percent salary increase for food service personnel.

Residents will also have the chance to decide whether a warrant article that will direct the School Board to cap any increase of their annual budget to any increase in revenue from the previous annual budget. The warrant article – put forward by petition – would also limit the School Board to increasing the annual budget up to the rate of inflation as determined by the National Consumer Price Index.

The deliberative session is set for Thursday, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m., at Salem High School.

Salem school officials disappointed by decision to remove kindergarten from budget

Salem Editor — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:10:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

A Budget Committee decision to remove kindergarten from the school district’s proposed budget for next year has made starting the program more difficult, but not impossible, say officials.

According to Superintendent Michael Delahanty, the School Board could create a separate warrant article to put in front of voters in March, ask voters to restore the funding for the program at a Feb. 5 deliberative session or make cuts elsewhere in the budget to cover the kindergarten program’s expenses to comply with the state’s mandate.

Salem is one of 12 communities that have been directed to put a kindergarten program into place after the state redefined the definition of an adequate education to include the kindergarten year. Despite a 5-4 vote on Jan. 8 by the Budget Committee to remove the program’s funding from the school budget, Delahanty said the district would begin compiling a list of eligible 4-year-olds in the community in preparation of formally enrolling next year’s kindergarten class.

“Right now I would say without the funds it would be quite a challenge to have kindergarten, though it’s not impossible,” Delahanty said. “Without the specific funds appropriated, we could still try to make kindergarten happen and that would be even without a separate warrant article and even without the restoration article.”

Set to discuss their remaining options on Tuesday, Jan. 13, Delahanty said he believed that the board would attempt to restore the program into the operating budget by way of next month’s deliberative session. Otherwise, were voters to turn down a separate warrant article in March and the district to implement kindergarten anyway, the board would have to make a “very hard decision” on what long-standing programs to eliminate, Delahanty said.

Michael Carney, a member of the Budget Committee, said his vote to remove kindergarten from the operating budget was made out of principle.

“I think the state has mandated it to us. If it’s a mandate, they should pay for it. If it’s not a mandate, then we should have the right to vote on it and the (public) should vote it up and down,” Carney said. “It’s just the principle, and maybe I’m sticking on them too hard. I believe that it’s a constitutional issue.”

Carney is not the first member of the Budget Committee to question the validity of the state’s mandate. Stephen Campbell, a 14-year committee member, has criticized the School Board for not following the lead of school officials in Hudson by taking the state to court over imposing what he said amounts to an unfunded mandate.

Despite Campbell’s vocal opposition of the mandate, Delahanty said he was surprised and dismayed by the Budget Committee’s decision.

“I understand (the) rationale – I heard it – but it’s no less disappointing,” he said.

Critics say Salem board should fight kindergarten plan

Salem Editor — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 01:22:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

One member of the budget committee has criticized the Salem School Board for not following nearby Hudson in challenging the state’s public kindergarten mandate in court.

“It just annoys me that the School Board is ignoring the law,” said Stephen Campbell, a 14-year member of Salem’s Budget Committee. “The (state) constitution says no unfunded mandates and they’re just going along and not challenging the state. I’m happy that Hudson has decided to stand up and do what is right.”

Though Superintendent Michael Delahanty agreed that implementing the program following legislation that included kindergarten in the definition of an adequate education, he said he is grateful the School Board opted against taking the state to court. He called Hudson’s lawsuit a “no-win case.”

“State level educators are calling for statewide publicly supported kindergarten and to think that there are nine districts without public supported kindergarten is a sad commentary,” he said. “I understand that Hudson doesn’t want to incur this expense, but it’s going to come. Sooner or later, it’s going to have to be done.”

Though the state will be paying the housing costs associated with starting a public kindergarten for the first three years and giving school districts $1,200 per pupil, Delahanty said Salem would be paying for the operational costs, which include hiring 10 new new teachers, additional staff and purchasing books, supplies and other curriculum materials.

The state is also offering to fund 75 percent of the price tag of building a permanent kindergarten facility down the line, according to Delahanty.

Despite the cost – hiring new teachers alone will add about $280,000 to the budget – Delahanty described beginning a kindergarten program as a “social obligation.”

“I believe we have an obligation to provide kindergarten,” he said. “It is the fundamentally the right thing to do. It will make a difference for the kids academically, and I believe we have a social obligation to decide it.”

Campbell is faulting the School Board for not putting the kindergarten program in a separate warrant article, which would allow voters in March to decide whether the town would institute a public program. The program is being rolled into the district’s operational budget.

“For me its a matter of principle,” said Campbell. “It’s an unfunded mandate and we shouldn’t let the state get away with breaking the constitution. Whether you agree with kindergarten or not, the people should be allowed to vote on it,” he said.

“That’s the thing the school board members aren’t doing. Those two things are wrong.”

Voters still have a chance to challenge the school board’s position at a deliberative session for the district’s budget on Thursday, Feb. 5. If enough voters opt to take kindergarten out of the budget, then Salem may have to follow Hudson in taking the state to court, Campbell said. Otherwise, kindergarten-aged students will be heading to school come September of next year.

“What are they afraid of? Let the people vote,” Campbell said.

Salem teens send nude photos by phone

Salem Editor — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:49:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Parents of Salem High School students met with school and law enforcement officials to address the issue of graphic photographs of young women that circulated throughout the student body via cell phones late last week.

Administrators, police and County Attorney Jim Reams scheduled the Monday, Nov. 10, meeting in the high school auditorium after two explicit photographs of several young women in various stages of undress – some completely nude, police said – were turned over to authorities by a student on Thursday, Nov. 6.

“It’s not the same world that we grew up in,” Principal William Hagen told parents. “I don’t know the answers, but we do need to help our kids to responsibly use the power of cyberspace and the Internet.”

Authorities said at least one of the young women is under the age of 16. Two of the girls have been identified by the police as students at the high school. Police believe that the young women had taken some of the photographs by themselves, while others had been taken by a third party.

Several other students came forward following a school assembly with law enforcement and the county attorney last week with more photographs. Hagen told parents that authorities believe the incident involved three or four different images. While the students who possessed or sent the photographs could theoretically have charges brought against them, Reams said prosecution was unlikely.

Though the investigation continues, authorities believe the young women were not victimized. School administrators reached out to parents after the incident when Superintendent Michael Delahanty sent out a letter inviting parents to attend the informational meeting.

Resident Paul Mastrogiacomo had been thinking about installing software on his computer that would monitor the activities of his children. He said the information presented at the meeting pushed him further in that direction.

“Like any parent, I was very concerned and I’m glad they addressed it. I think its good they brought it to the kids’ attention to let them know how serious this is,” Mastrogiacomo said. “It gives them an opportunity to talk to our kids about it so it gets us involved.”

While resident Tina Doherty applauded the steps school and law enforcement officials took to address the incident, she was critical of the low number of parents in attendance at the meeting.

“It was disappointing in terms of the number of parents attending. I’m very happy that the school addressed it the way they did, but I’m disappointed in the parent turnout,” she said.

Approximately 150 parents were at the meeting.

“It reinforces the things I’ve been doing and saying to my kids so that they understand that it is a big deal,” she said.

Delahanty said the incident was not limited to Salem, but it gave administrators and educators the opportunity to bring that sort of adolescent behavior to the forefront and discuss with parents and law enforcement officials the best way to educate the community’s children on the responsible use of technology.

“Each generation of adolescents takes its own risks, and the behavior itself hasn’t changed over time, but the convenience and the risks have elevated considerably,” he said. "These are the kind of things that your kids are doing and it's time to have a conversation with them to make sure they're aware of the consequences."

Salem may use portables for kindergarten

Salem Editor — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:14:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Under the gun to put in place a public kindergarten by September of next year, School Board members are leaning toward accepting the state’s offer of leasing portable classrooms.

“In order to have something in place by next fall, it appears right now that the board is going to pursue an option to take advantage of the state’s option to pay the cost of leasing temporary classrooms,” said Superintendent Michael Delahunty. “We have a group of people looking at a long-term solution for kindergarten, whether that is renovations and additions to existing schools or some other options. The notion is to use the temporary classrooms for the length of time necessary and within a few years have some more permanent solution.”

The School District’s director of maintenance has surveyed each of the town’s six elementary schools to pinpoint locations for the temporary classrooms, Delahunty said. Over the course of the next few months, officials will begin making plans to ensure the classrooms will be hooked up to the proper utilities.

Leasing portable classrooms to make space available in Salem’s six elementary schools for the influx of new students is just one of several state funded options available to Salem and the other 12 communities – including nearby Windham and Pelham – without public kindergartens state-wide.

The state has also offered to paying the construction costs of a new state-approved school design and 75 percent of the price tag for a custom-designed school. Communities also have the option of contracting with private kindergartens for up to three years as they arrange for their own publicly funded program.

Funding from the state will also cover the first-year operating costs of a new kindergarten program.

In return, the towns not planning on opening a kindergarten by this September – the date set in the original state legislation before the one year extension was granted last month – must have a plan to do so into the state Board of Education by Dec. 1 of this year.

Public support for the new state-mandated kindergarten is mixed, Delahunty said, but he remains optimistic that Salem will have a kindergarten by September of 2009.

“Parents of children coming to 5 years of age are very supportive. The people who tend to be unsupportive are those who have already had their children go through the system and feel that they don’t have an obligation to provide a kindergarten now that the community did not provide then,” he said. “I believe the community is ready to support a public kindergarten. I think having some temporary classrooms paid for by the state and then operating costs paid by the state for the first several years will help minimize the costs and make the community ready.”

Peter Morgan, a member of the School Board, has found public support for a kindergarten as long as the state lends a helping financial hand. The prohibitive cost of beginning a kindergarten program has kept the town’s taxpayers from moving in that direction in the past.

“There are some very motivated people who would like to see kindergarten, but since property tax funds everything, implementing a kindergarten (is) an expensive proposition,” Morgan said. “No one denies that kindergarten is a good thing. Everyone believes kindergarten is a good thing.”

Legislation amending the state’s definition of an adequate public education to include the kindergarten level of schooling came in 2007. For 20 years, New Hampshire had been the only state in the country not to do so, according to Helen Schotanus, curriculum supervisor at the state Board of Education.

“Everywhere else it’s obvious that kids who attend kindergarten do better than kids who don’t. Children who attend public kindergarten do better than kids in private kindergartens,” said Schotanus, who has been an advocate of mandatory publicly funded kindergartens on the state board. “(It is) to do better by our young children. A good kindergarten is a foundation. It is so obvious that kids do better when they have a good kindergarten to go into.”

While the legislation does not specify a consequence for failing to implement a publicly funded kindergarten, Schotanus said the towns that chose not to do so would have to answer to the board.

“At some point, the community will decide whether it wants publicly funded kindergarten and if people understand the value of formal and public education ... then they’ll agree it’s time the community provided that,” Delahunty said. “Having a program for 5-year-olds is beneficial to the community as a whole.”

N.H. gives towns another year to start kindergarten

Salem Editor — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:37:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

School officials for Salem, Pelham and Windham schools are breathing a sigh of relief now that the state has agreed to extend the deadline for instituting public kindergarten.

In its definition of an adequate education, the state Legislature included public kindergarten as a requirement.

Since then, 12 communities throughout the state currently without kindergarten have been scrambling to find funding, space and project enrollment and costs to establish kindergarten programs by September 2008.

That deadline has now been extended to 2009, a timeline that seems much more attainable, said Salem Superintendent Michael Delahunty.

The state has also included several funding options in their newest plan, something the 12 towns had been asking for, many of them calling the original kindergarten bill an unfunded mandate.

“I think the Legislature just understood the impracticality of expecting school districts without kindergarten to have something in place by the fall of 2008,” Delahunty said.

He added that the final kindergarten legislation – including acceptable funding options – was not complete until most of the towns had completed their budget processes.

“It will give us the chance to prepare a budget that includes the costs associated with implementing public kindergarten,” Delahunty said, including budgeting for supplies and other operating costs.

While the state will not help towns purchase land for kindergarten facilities, they have offered other funding options, including paying for portable classrooms for four years, paying 75 percent of the building costs for a custom school and footing the bill for all of the building costs for a state-approved school design. The state has also agreed to pay operating costs for kindergarten for the first year.

The state has also offered towns the option of being able to contract with private kindergartens for up to three years while they get their own public programs going.

Towns who have not begun a kindergarten for September 2008 have to submit a plan to the state by December outlining their plans to put the program in place.

“I think we’re very appreciative of the House-Senate bill’s change in its format and in its language because it gives us a little more time and a little more leeway,” said Frank Bass, superintendent of Pelham and Windham schools.

Bass said the Pelham and Windham school boards have not made any hard decisions on which avenues to take in terms of funding and facilities, but said those discussions will happen soon.

Delahunty said the Salem School Board is leaning toward installing portable classrooms on existing school grounds, similar to what is now being used at the high school, only the kindergarten portables would be a little smaller.

Bass and Delahunty were both adamantly against the state forcing public kindergarten on towns without providing the funding for it and on such short notice.

The nine other towns currently without public kindergarten are Hudson, Auburn, Mason, Lyndeborough, Mascenic Regional, Milford, Derry, Litchfield and Chester.

Salem secretaries union drops petition for revote

Salem Editor — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:02:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

After renegotiating their contract with the Salem School Board, the Salem Educational Personnel Association has withdrawn its Superior Court petition asking for a judge’s approval for a special meeting and revote on salary increases for the 2008-09 school year.

“The contract was renegotiated with language changes only, none of which affected any new money,” said Jack Brouse, a member of the National Education Association who was representing the school secretaries union. “There’s no new money, and we move on.”

Brouse would not comment on exactly why the union agreed to withdraw the petition, but said they would go forth with a new warrant article in March 2009.

Salem Superintendant Michael Delahanty said the decision to withdraw the petition came about during a conversation among negotiating parties from the union and the School Board on Wednesday, July 9. The School Board was scheduled to vote on ratifying the new agreement at their meeting on Tuesday, July 15, he said.

“I believe that both the secretaries and the board members had some reservations and were second guessing the wisdom of moving forward with a special meeting given the time and the costs involved,” Delahanty said.

In March, voters killed a warrant article asking for 2.5 percent raises for the 2008-09 school year for the 22 secretaries in the union. They also voted down an article that, if passed, would have allowed the Salem School Board to hold a special meeting to reconsider the raises, along with several other warrant articles.

The union filed the petition on Monday, July 7, asking for a judge’s ruling on their plan to insert a ballot question on the Sept. 9 primary ballot for renegotiated 2 percent raises for secretaries for the coming school year.

The union argued in the petition that doing so would not require any spending on the part of the school district on staffing and facilities.

The Salem Budget Committee was asked to hold an emergency meeting scheduled for Wednesday, July 16, on the subject. Budget Committee member Stephen Campbell said he questioned the legality for holding such a meeting before a Superior Court judge ruled on the petition.

“You’re asking me to vote on something that at the point of July 16th is hypothetical because the judge hasn’t said you can have the meeting yet,” said Budget Committee member Stephen Campbell.

Budget Committee Chairman Susan Covey said she conferred with Town Manager Jonathan Sistare, also a lawyer specializing in municipal law, who said that voting whether or not to recommend a primary ballot warrant article for the raises would be within the confines of the law.

“They were two separate processes. There’s no reason why one shouldn’t be done before the other,” said Covey.

The time constraints associated with preparing for the vote were a major factor in the decision to withdraw the petition, Delahanty said. If carried through, the Superior Court judge’s ruling on the petition would have been expected by the end of July.

The school district would only have until July 28 to post notice for an Aug. 12 deliberative session, which would be just enough time before the Sept. 9 primaries. The school district would spend a lot of effort organizing the deliberative session, getting moderators and notifying the media.

The exact terms of this newest collective bargaining contract have not been disclosed, said both Delahanty and Covey, but both said that there will be no financial implications for the 2008-09 year.

Delahanty said the conversations have been at least congenial since the March vote against the contract, adding both sides were professional and understanding.

Salem school secretaries want vote

Salem Editor — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:56:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

The Salem school secretaries union is just about ready to file a Superior Court petition asking that an item for a vote on renegotiated raises be placed on the September primary ballot.

Jack Brouse of the National Education Association, who is representing the secretaries union in the collective bargaining process, said the petition was to be filed, hopefully, on Monday, July 7.

In March, a warrant article asking voters’ permission to spend a total of $31,830 in raises and benefit cost increases failed by 52 votes.

That amount would have included a 2.5 percent pay increase for the 22 members of the Salem Educational Personnel Association. Since then, the negotiation process was taken up again, and the Salem School Board has approved a contract that includes a pay increase of 2 percent.

In order to get the salary increase in place, the secretaries have to return to the voters. The only option left open at this point is to put the item on the primary ballot, which would cost no more than the price of the ink, Brouse said, because the polls would already be open for voters coming to vote in the primaries.

Voters also turned down a warrant article which, if approved, would have authorized the School Board to call a special meeting to reconsider the raises in the event they and several other articles on the ballot failed in a 2,737-to-2,010 vote.

For that reason, the School Board cannot hold a special town meeting to reconsider the raises, as towns such as Pelham and Hampstead have done in the past, Brouse said.

“This is really kind of uncharted waters,” Brouse said. “We would have to go through all the steps. There would have to be a deliberative session held, and I believe (the contract) would need submission to the Budget Committee at that point,” Brouse said.

After the petition’s submission to Superior Court, a hearing would be scheduled within the next few weeks.

Brouse said the town has always voted favorably on raises for the most part, and said this is the first time secretaries’ raises have been voted down in the town.

A Superior Court decision on whether the extra ballot item would be allowed on the primary ballot should be forthcoming by the end of July.

Salem School Board dumps 8th-grade graduation

Salem Editor — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:18:00 GMT

BY JIM DEVINE

It may be a promotion, completion or accomplishment, but the School Board won’t be callings eighth-graders “graduates” at their June ceremony this year.

On Tuesday, April 15, the School Board unanimously agreed to forego the eighth-grade graduation ceremony in exchange for a less formal way of showing recognition on June 17.

School officials have looked to possibly eliminate the pomp and circumstance of a formal graduation for more than a year while viewing the occasion as more of a celebration of transition rather than accomplishment.

“I think it’s important that we come up with something to recognize all the students. I don’t think it necessarily has to be a graduation ceremony,” said Woodbury Middle School Principal Maura Palmer.

Since the School Board first mentioned plans in November 2006 to change the format of the event, parents have been outspoken on the need for a graduation ceremony.

Last June, about 40 parents turned out to a meeting called to keep the graduation ceremony to recognize accomplishment, Palmer said.

Since then, Palmer said school staff put out a Web survey for parents to give more direction on what to do with the ceremony.

The survey, which received responses from 312 parents of the school’s 1,200 students, received comments that were 61 percent in favor of keeping a graduation ceremony.

“It’s difficult to read into the results because who’s responding?” Palmer said, recognizing that both parents in a single household could sway the survey results.

“I don’t think anyone disagrees that there should be some ceremony of accomplishment,” Superintendent Michael Delahanty said.

Delahanty advised that an informal gathering for breakfast and a recognition ceremony would be more appropriate.

“Having an eighth-grade graduation, having a diploma is a very dated concept,” he said.

“You need to have something different from a normal ceremony and an outing at Cedardale,” board member Robert Bryant said, speaking of the increase in glamorous outfits students and family were wearing to the events.

Charter reform may be in Salem’s future

Salem Editor — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:52:00 GMT

BY JIM DEVINE

Selectmen voted to create a charter reform committee but plans for the panel have yet to be nailed down.

In a unanimous vote on Monday, April 14, selectmen approved a proposal by Selectman Michael Lyons to create a seven- person panel to investigate the town’s governing charter while assessing other possible options.

Four seats of the committee will be made up of representatives of the Board of Selectmen, the Budget Committee, the School Board and the Capital Improvement Plan Committee. Selectmen will appoint three citizens who are not currently serving on other major boards or committees to make up the remaining spots on the panel, selectmen said.

While the charter committee was originally proposed to have only five members with one citizen- at-large position, the number was boosted to assist in the large task of researching the town’s government to recommend improvements. The only decision put off by selectmen were the definitive directions in three areas where the Charter Reform Committee would investigate.

The first may be to correct the questioned status of the Municipal Budget Committee, which Town Manager Jonathan Sistare said may not be sanctioned under the state statute that provides Salem’s charter.

Sistare said he was awaiting further direction from the state Deptartment of Revenue Administration for recommendation on the Budget Committee clarification and any suggested areas to improve the charter.

The second purpose, supported by Lyons, is to lower the bond approval threshold from two-thirds to a three-fifths majority. Lyons said he would not hide his intentions to help the town address needed capital improvements and infrastructure demands. “We have serious infrastructure problems that we are not addressing. I’ll make no bones about it,” Lyons said.

In four years, two police station bond articles and a bond article for town-wide bridge repairs were rejected by voters because majority approval did not reach 67 percent.

Selectmen may also direct the charter reform committee to consider the presentation of formally elected charter commission that may take the town’s government in any direction.

Patrick McDougall, of 11 Tiffany Road, pleaded to selectmen to not direct the town to a city form of government.

A former resident of Methuen, Mass., McDougall said he moved to Salem five years ago to live in a town where voters had a greater say in the government.

“If this town becomes a city, I will pack up my things and move my family out of town and will encourage others to do so,” he said.

Final directions for the charter committee are to be determined at the board’s next meeting on April 28.

Five candidates file for two selectman seats

Salem Editor — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:32:00 GMT

By Darrell Halen

If Everett McBride Jr. and Michael Lyons return to the Salem Board of Selectmen in March, it will not have been without a fight.

Two seats on the board are available this year, and three other candidates – Ron Giordano, John J. Manning and Roland Theberge – have also filed to run. The positions are for three years.

Another contested race features three candidates vying to succeed retiring Town Clerk Barbara Lessard. William Carter, Betty Oldeman and Susan Wall are seeking the three-year job.

There are three contested races for land-use boards.

Two three-year seats are available on the Planning Board and four men are running: Ronald J. Belanger, Jeffrey M. Gray, Robert J. Campbell and Thomas Campbell.

A pair of three-year seats on the Zoning Board of Adjustment are available and three candidates have filed: Jeffrey M. Gray, Jeffrey S. Hatch and Christopher Sousa.

Meanwhile, four people are running for a single two-year ZBA seat: Jeanette Mompo, Diana Seifert, Edward Suffern and Robert T. Uttley.

Other candidates don’t face opposition:

Cheryl-Ann Bolouk, tax collector, three years; John Sytek, treasurer, three years; Michael J. Carney Jr. and Peter Rayno, Budget Committee, two seats, three years; Sally Gilman, library trustee, three years; Michael K. Garofalo, trustee of trust funds, three years; Christopher B. Goodnow, moderator, two years; Janice Habib, supervisor of the checklist, six years.

The school district ballot features only one candidate for one position. Incumbent Bernard H. Campbell is unopposed for another three-year term on the School Board.

Voters will go to the polls on Tuesday, March 11, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.