Salem Observer : schools

Salem's private kindergartens get ready to regroup

Salem Editor — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:18:00 GMT

Private kindergartens are quietly adjusting for what many see as a significant future drop in their enrollment when state-mandated public kindergartens begin next autumn.

For some private kindergartens, that will mean gearing toward enrolling younger children, for others it may mean downsizing existing programs.

“We’re preparing to take younger children. We’ll take ones younger (than kindergarten), like toddlers,” said Karen Tate, owner of the Create and Discover Learning Center. “Our numbers will drop dramatically. We’ll probably lose about 80 children, which is usually what our kindergarten enrollment is.”

In previous years, kindergarten students at the Salem Christian School have been divided up into two classes with one teacher. This year the students have been put into one class together with an aide. The measure – which will force the school to take less than the usual enrollment of 30 children – comes as a way to keep the school from laying off teachers if the enrollment drops dramatically, according to Tony Long, school principal.

“We’ve been anticipating it for the last two or three years here. We’re fairly well prepared for it,” Long said. “Next year we won’t have to lay off a teacher if enrollment is much lower than it is now. If it doesn’t affect us next year we can reverse that.”

While the Salem Christian School has a strong, 30-year-long relationship with the neighborhood and the community, Long expects kindergarten enrollment to be much lower next year. On average, between a half and three-quarters of all kindergarten students end up transferring to a different school for first grade – a number that Long also estimates will rise in the future.

Despite the probable impact public kindergarten will have on the enrollment numbers of his own school, Long was positive about the 2007 legislation making kindergarten part of the state’s definition of an adequate education.

“I think its a good thing that New Hampshire is finally getting public school kindergarten. It is the only state in the union that has this situation left,” he said. “Of course, because we emphasize Christian values, we would like to have as many students as we could to reflect our philosophy or core values.”

For Tate, the potential for the adverse effects of the legislation will be offset by the benefits to parents and children across the state.

“I think this is a step forward. Every child has the opportunity to attend kindergarten,” she said. “It will impact us negatively, but we need to address that and realize that its best for all the children to get that opportunity.”

Tate said her program would adjust the hours of service depending on whether Salem opted for a full-time or part-time public kindergarten. If Salem moves for a half-day kindergarten, she may be able to tap into the population of parents who work full-time.

At the Littleville Learning Center owner, director and kindergarten teacher Laura Devine said she expects to lose most, if not all, of her 20 or so kindergarten students when the school district begins the public program next year.

“Definitely, it will impact my program,” she said. “I’m very sad. I was hoping they would do vouchers or something for the kindergartens in the area.”

While Salem is leaning toward installing state-funded portable classrooms at each of the six elementary schools to free up space to house the new kindergarten classes, other state funded options included contracting out to private kindergartens in the area for the first three years of the transition.

Devine said that she had begun programs for younger children, like toddlers and infants, but that since her current facility is not equipped for children of that age, she would likely have to move in the future.

She also pointed toward the impact the new public kindergartens – slated to open in the fall of 2009 – will have on the tax rate in Salem. It is a concern that has kept Salem from offering kindergarten classes before and it is one that may have an effect on whether or not the town does adopt the program by the state’s deadline of September 2009, according to Superintendent Michael Delahanty.

“As a Salem resident I’m more concerned about my taxes going up as well,” she said. “It’s not going to be free, and everybody’s taxes are going up.”

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.

Budget Committee won’t recommend warrant on ballot

Salem Editor — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:22:00 GMT

By Darrell Halen

Salem’s Budget Committee decided not to recommend a $1.5 million school district warrant article to fund architectural and engineering plans to renovate Salem High School.

It was one of the decisions the committee made on Friday, Jan. 18, at Town Hall when it cast votes on a dozen warrant articles going to voters this year.

The School Board is asking voters to authorize $1,511,000 for the architectural and engineering work and to use impact fees to cover $250,000 of the cost.

After a lengthy discussion, the committee voted 6-3 to forward the article without recommendation.

One of those six memb

Anners, Ann Marie David, said she wanted to see how the impending departure of Windham students would affect Salem High School: what class sizes and the curriculum would be, how much sports enrollment would change and how the school district would cope with a loss of $5 million in revenue.

“Let the dust settle, let Windham leave and revisit this,” she said.

Several others agreed, and said if the article is turned down by voters, school officials might come back with a scaled-back renovation plan.

School Board member Bernie Campbell said the $41 million renovation project would receive 30 percent in state aid, leaving $28 million for the town to pay for.

Budget Committee member Kathy Cote noted that the bond’s highest tax impact of 73 cents translates to about $213 on a $300,000 home – an expense in addition to paying for regular town and school district spending increases.

But others defended the project. School Superintendent Michael Delahanty said that currently about 2,300 students are being educated in the 230,000-square-foot school. A school being built today with that population, he said, would be 424,000 square feet in size and have 18 science labs.

But the school currently has 12 labs and three “glorified classrooms” that are used as labs where teachers bring in materials, Delahanty said.

“To think we have sufficient space is ill conceived,” Delahanty said. “To think we are going to have too much space when Windham leaves is misguided. We’re squeezing kids and staff into that building and it’s taking its toll.”

“The need for the school is absolutely a necessity,” said Budget Committee member Jim Randazzo, later adding: “Bottom line is, if it gets shot down now, it’s going to cost us a lot more money in the future.”

The Budget Committee later voted 5-4 to forward without recommendation an article to establish a capital reserve fund for renovations to the high school and to place $600,000 into the account. The money is a penalty Windham pays to keep its students at the school an extra year.

The article will be null and void if voters approve spending the $1.5 million for architectural and engineering work.

Voters will weigh in on the warrant articles and the proposed 2008-09 operating budget of roughly $53.5 million at the school district’s Thursday, Feb. 7, deliberative session. It will be held at Salem High School and begins at 7 p.m.

During the meeting, Budget Committee member Stephen Campbell complained that town and school officials have been providing too little information to the panel too soon before it cast votes.

“That’s not the way things are supposed to be run,” he said. “We’re suppose to review this stuff and not be a rubber stamp.”

The following budget warrant articles were forwarded by the committee with recommendation:

• Step increases totaling $404,284 and increases in salary and benefits totaling $730,897 in accordance with agreements between the School Board and the Salem Education Association.

• $31,830 in increases in salaries and benefits to secretaries for the second year of a three-year collective bargaining agreement between the School Board and the Salem Educational Personnel Association.

• $29,120 in increases in salaries and benefits for the third year of a three-year collective bargaining agreement with the Salem Association of Food Service Personnel.

• $83,601 in increases in salaries and benefits to aides for the second year of a three-year collective bargaining agreement between the School Board and Salem Educational Support Personnel Association.

• $198,197 to address deficiencies identified in a 2005 facilities audit, which includes replacement of fire panels, roofing, windows, heating ventilation and air conditioning units, and paving.

• $100,000 deficit appropriation for the current budget, representing the cost of special education tuition for out-of-district placements.

These are the other warrant articles that the Budget Committee forwarded without recommendation:

• Putting $30,000 of surplus money into a capital reserve fund for reconstruction or additions to schools. It will be null and void if the $1.5 million for architectural and engineering plans is approved

• $47,233 for increases in salaries and benefits to custodians in the second year of a three-year collective bargaining agreement between the School Board and Salem School Custodian Employees Association.

Budget Committee approves school operating costs

Salem Editor — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 19:40:00 GMT

By Darrell Halen

The Salem Budget Committee approved a proposed 2008-09 operating budget of roughly $53.5 million for the school district.

The panel took its votes on the budget during a public hearing on Thursday, Jan. 3, in Town Hall.

The $53,539,584 spending plan includes $29,707,595 for salaries, $9,412,708 for employee benefits, $2,342,468 for supplies and materials, and $421,730 for equipment, furniture and fixtures.

The budget, and other warrant articles, will be discussed at the school district’s Feb. 7 deliberative session. Voters will decide their fate when they go to the polls in March.

The committee voted 6-3 for the budget. Members who supported it were Ann Marie David, Jim Randazzo, Susan Covey, Chairman Michael Carney Jr., School Board representative Bernard Campbell and selectmen representative Everett McBride.

Kathy Cote, Roland Theberge and Stephen Campbell voted against it.

Stephen Campbell said that the passage of the budget and warrant articles would mean a school tax rate increase of about 10 percent. The Budget Committee cut only four-tenths of 1 percent of the board’s proposed operating budget, not going far enough to produce a budget taxpayers can afford, he said.

“I’m telling you this is crazy,” Campbell said. “I think you’re going to regret asking for a 10 percent increase because things we do need are going to fail.”

He said the proposed spending was unreasonable given that in a year, the district will lose $5 million in revenue with Windham students leaving Salem High School but the School Board isn’t planning to make a proportional cut. He also cited the School Board wants $41 million to renovate the high school.

“I’m going to be voting no, because these increases are just not affordable,” Campbell said. “We can argue about what we need until the cows come home, but they are not affordable by the vast majority of people that I talk to.”

During the hearing, members trimmed the budget by $1,061 in the employee benefits account. Previously, the committee reduced the total budget by $216,415.

Another point of contention during the hearing was whether $74,000 should be included in the school district’s default budget – the budget that goes into effect if the proposed budget is rejected by voters in March – for protection of underground storage tanks.

Superintendent Michael Delahanty and Bernie Campbell said the school district’s attorney told them it is legal to include the money in the default budget.

“We don’t think your interpretation is right,” Stephen Campbell said to Bernie Campbell. “You say district counsel somehow legitimizes it. Well, if I had the money, I could find a lawyer somewhere that would say something entirely different.”

“We don’t know what to anticipate,” Delahanty said later in the hearing. “It’s better to be safe than sorry. My responsibility is to do the best thing for the school district.”

Windham Middle Schoolers Compete in ‘Iron Chef’ Contest

Salem Editor — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:51:00 GMT

By Darrell Halen

Jessica Thibeault, 11, sprinkled colorful confetti on a plate before taking a whiff of a bowl of diced tomatoes and cucumbers mixed with balsamic dressing.

“Smell this,” Lindsay Miller, 11, who had stirred the mixture, said to her. “Doesn’t it smell good?”

Jessica placed paper cupcake holders on the plate and soon each one had a Ritz cracker in it. Some cups had cheese added to them, then were filled with fruit or the vegetable mix.

The five girls who created the snacks – Jessica and Lindsay were joined by Julia Enos, 11, Miranda Cornille, 11, and Mary Garside, 12 – named their creation “DaBomb!”

The girls were one of eight teams of sixth-graders that competed in an “Iron Chef” competition at Windham Middle School on Friday, Nov. 30. A play on the Food Network TV show, the competition challenges the teams to each come up with a nutritious and attractive snack.

For Jessica and her teammates, their hardwork and creativity paid off – they won first place, earning 19.5 points out of a possible 20.

“Good job,” said school nurse Kathy Rawley, one of the judges, as she looked over their dish. “I can’t wait to try them.”

The competition is run by physical education teacher Erin Shirley during her students’ study of basic nutrition.

“I like the creativity and the artistic part of it,” she said before the competition kicked off.

Students are given a fixed amount of time to get their tasks completed. The first order of business was to wash their hands.

“We’re preparing food for other people,” Shirley told them. “We need to be respectful of that.”

The students – those competing in the morning session and those who participated in a separate contest later in the day – were evaluated in five areas: quality of their presentation, taste, teamwork, nutritional value and providing a list of ingredients.

“All the dishes were excellent and well thought out,” teacher Craig Kingsley, another judge, told the students when announcing the winner.

The students were free to decide what toppings and garnishes they wanted to use. But each group had to use Ritz or graham crackers or Triscuits.

One group of students – John Cahoon, Andrew Cook and Isaiah Isaac – used peeled and sliced apples, graham crackers and sour cream to make their creation, “The Apple Crisp.”

Slicing, dicing, cutting and shredding of any ingredients had to be done at home prior to the competition under adult supervision. Students had to read the food labels of the products they used to obtain the nutritional information needed for their assignment.

When the contest was over, the students enjoyed eating the snacks. But before each team was allowed to go to the table where the snacks were on display, they had to answer a question posed by Shirley.

Name a nutrient that provides energy, she said. Carbohydrates, one student responded.

Next, Shirley wanted to know the source of Vitamin C other than oranges. Tomatoes, another student told her.

Land deal struck for high school

Salem Editor — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:38:00 GMT

By Darrell Halen

The Pelham School Board announced recently that it has entered into an agreement to buy two parcels totaling approximately 43 acres for $3 million on which to build a new high school.

The announcement was made at the board’s Wednesday, Nov. 28, meeting. The land is located off Windham Road.

The land deal is subject to voter approval in March.

In addition, the school board plans to present voters with a $44,665,000 warrant article to spend $41,411,000 to construct and originally equip the new school and $3,254,000 to renovate the current high school.

A separate warrant article for $3,116,000 would fund the construction of an auditorium at the new school.

During the meeting, architects Frank Marinace and Tobias Farkas reviewed their designs for the new school.

A road would circle the school and there would be three areas for parking with space available for future parking spaces to be build.

Designs include a baseball field, soccer field and two softball fields overlapping a field hockey field.

Testing discovered no soil contamination on the property.

“We’ve been looking at the land for a while, before you made the announcement,” Marinace said. “It’s as good a site as we’ve seen for building a school.”

According to assessing records, one parcel is 8.7 acres and is owned by Richard A. and Karen J. Sutton. It is located at 36 Windham Road and has a log cabin on the property.

The other parcel, 34.5 acres in size, is owned by the heirs of Harry and Carrie Atwood, according to assessing records.

School districts may get reprieve on kindergarten deadline

Salem Editor — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 19:11:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

A legislative committee has voted to recommend giving 11 school districts a one-year extension to start a public kindergarten program in their communities.

That’s welcome news to school officials in Salem, Windham and Pelham – three towns that don’t offer kindergarten and were each faced with a September 2008 deadline to start one.

“We’re all for kindergarten; that’s not the point,” said Roxanne Wilson, the assistant school superintendent for Windham and Pelham. “It’s where are we going to put kindergarten?”

Earlier this year, the New Hampshire Legislature included kindergarten in a definition of an adequate education and gave school districts until the fall of 2008 to offer a half-day program.

Recently, a joint House-Senate panel voted to recommend allowing a one-year extension.

Committee members also supported giving incentives to the school districts: full funding for up to three years to lease and set up portable classrooms; 75 percent in state construction aid; and providing adequacy aid.

The state has estimated that it would cost $305,770 to build and $17,000 to furnish and equip one kindergarten classroom in 2009 and has estimated the cost to prepare a site, and install and lease one portable unit with two portable classrooms for three years beginning in 2008 at $80,000.

A state education official who visited school districts determined that five kindergarten classrooms are required in Pelham and six are needed in Windham.

School Board members in Pelham and Windham decided against putting a kindergarten warrant article on their 2008 ballots.

Bruce Couture, the Pelham board’s chairman, said he and his colleagues believe that if the state mandates a program, it should fund it.

“We’re glad,” he said of the possible extension, which still must be approved by the full Legislature. “We’re not looking for a fight. We have other issues to deal with. We have space problems and we don’t want to compound it by having kindergarten shoved down our throats.”

In Salem, 10 to 14 classrooms would be needed for a kindergarten program, said Superintendent Michael Delahanty.

The number would depend on student enrollment and class size. Ideally, there would be no more than 15 students in a class, he said.

An 80 percent participation rate would mean that 280 students would need to be accommodated, he said.

A kindergarten program could entail other costs, such as bus transportation and additional staffing in addition to kindergarten teachers, Delahanty said.

The possible extension is welcome news, he said, because a program launched in 2008 would have been a slipshod one.

It would have been unfair to the students because it would have been rushed and unfair to the community because it wasn’t well planned, Delahanty said.

By this time next year, he said, he hopes state aid is better defined.

“When we do it, it needs to be done right,” Delahanty said.

Even if the one-year extension is approved, school districts would have to submit a plan of action to the state.

Wilson said that one of the issues that the Pelham and Windham school districts face is its growing preschool services.

The joint program, which serves about 90 children, is outgrowing its facilities. Allowing officials to put off kindergarten until 2009 allows the districts to plan for preschool and kindergarten at the same time, rather than take a piecemeal approach, Wilson said.

Grandparents go back to school in Salem

Salem Editor — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 19:52:00 GMT

BY DARRELL HALEN

Sitting behind his grandson, 7-year-old Parker Webb, Enio DiPietro watched the boy work on a sheet about telling time.

Later, DiPietro shared with Parker’s second-grade class and other guests in the room that he and his grandson enjoy cooking together.

It was part of “Grandparents Day – 2007” at Barron School in Salem.

During the morning of Thursday, Sept. 27, students in grades 1 through 5 welcomed their grandparents to their classrooms. It’s an annual event at the school.

“It’s so meaningful to the grandparents to spend some quality time here,” said Principal Anthony DiNardo, adding that the event allows them to see some of the positive things going on inside the school.

Janice Laliberte of Salem came to visit her 7-year-old son, Zachary. He had called her the previous Monday night and invited her to come.

“It was so cute,” Laliberte recalled as she waited for school to start.

Ned and Sylvia Leone came from Methuen, Mass., to see two of their grandchildren, John Leone, a fourth-grader, and Lucia Leone, who is in second grade.

“When they see us, they light up,” Sylvia said.

In teacher Kathy Gibney’s classroom, where Parker is a student, the grandparents got a look at their grandchildren’s school work.

“Kids, you can take some books out of your desk and show your grandparents what kind of math we do,” Gibney told her class.

A few minutes earlier, the students asked the grandparents what school was like when they were children.

Some of the answers seemed to surprise them. They didn’t use backpacks, the grandparents told them, and
many of them did not eat at school but instead went home for lunch.

Ryan Quinlan wanted to know if the grandparents rode a bus to school. Many replied that they walked instead.

What games did they like to play, another student asked. Jump rope and hopscotch were popular, they were told.

What did the grandparents learn in school when they were kids? The answers: the usual subjects like math and spelling, but also how to listen and how to behave.

The grandparents were also invited to talk about a particular hobby they enjoyed.

Mary Ann Manning of Salem told the class that she and grandson Joshua Manning, 7, have fun painting together. She likes to use watercolors and acrylics.

Manning showed two paintings and said another painting hangs in the dining room at Joshua’s home.

Later, as DiPietro, and his wife, Dorothy, left the school, they carried homemade cards that Parker had made for them.

“I love you so much, I am so happy you came,” their grandson had written in each card.

State law is evolving as technology changes

Salem Editor — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 17:14:00 GMT

BY STEVEN ANDREWS

The state’s Right to Know Law grants every citizen the ability to inspect countless public records, nearly every piece of information the towns compile, simply by asking for them.

The information is not limited to what is gathered at the town hall; the schools, police and every other public agency must adhere to the same rules.

These rights are nearly as old as the state itself. When the state’s Constitution was adopted in 1784, Part 1, Article 8, said, “All power residing originally in, and being derived from, the people, all the magistrates and officers of government are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them.”

This has developed into what is known as RSA 91:A, the Right to Know Law, a constantly evolving document that specifically outlines the rights of citizens, defining what records they have access to and how towns must comply.

“Everything about our society is built on openness,” said Rod Doherty, executive editor of Foster’s Daily Democrat newspaper, and an expert on the Right to Know Law. “Without strong laws for the people in regards to public information we’d be a subdued society.”

The law clearly states that any citizen may examine public records during regular business hours of the public body at its place of business. This means that public officials have no right to ask you any personal information or reason for wanting to see the information.

You may also take notes, photographs or request a copy of the document. The office may only charge you the cost of the copy or any other fee required by law.

If the document exists on a computer, the office must print it out for you, as long as it does not reveal any confidential information.

Electronic communication has been one aspect of the law under the most scrutiny and planned revision by legislators recently.

“Using e-mail or text messages makes the jobs of public officers easier, but it also allows them much more communication outside of the public domain,” said Doherty.

Revising the law to reflect which of these communications to make available has caused much debate among the government, the press and citizens, but a resolution has been hard to reach.

“Unlike a lot of legislation, the Right to Know Law is built on the spirit of the law,” said Doherty. “It’s very hard to define some of the vagaries of the language (especially relating to electronic communication).”

If the office is not able to immediately give you the information, they have five days to make it available; deny the request in writing, giving reasons; or give written acknowledgment of the request and how long it will take to grant or deny the request.

“If there is a flaw, it’s that there is no punishment of any consequence for those who do not follow the law,” said Doherty.

There are, of course, pieces of information that towns have every right to keep to themselves. Broadly speaking, anything that would reveal personal information about a resident or town employee is restricted.

These include students’ school records, internal personnel information, medical information and juvenile court records.

Any confidential commercial or financial documents that could harm the town if released prematurely are also off limits.

Police departments also have specific restrictions on the information they can hand out. Obviously, anything that would interfere with enforcement proceedings, reveal a confidential source or harm someone’s right to a fair trial are excluded from dispersal.

If the document would reveal investigative techniques or otherwise endanger the lives of personnel, it can also be kept private.

Arrests, however, are considered public information, as are the daily activities conducted by a police department.

Salem High gym size cut; saves $1 million

Salem Editor — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 19:44:00 GMT

BY MATT HERSH

A proposed plan to build a new athletics facility at Salem High School has been cut back, reducing the size and cost of the project.

At a recent meeting, the school district’s Facilities Committee decided to reduce the size of the facility from 75,000 square feet to 64,000 square feet.

The facility is part of a massive high school renovation project that will cost about $40 million. Voters will be presented with a $2.4 million bond article in March that, if passed, will cover the cost of drafting blueprints and securing the services of Frank P. Marinace Architecture.

Though cost estimates were not thoroughly discussed at the meeting, committee members said the larger facility would have cost about $1 million more.

The committee decided after several hours of debate that the smaller building might stand a better chance of winning voter approval.

The group consented to the cutback, but some said the smaller facility might not cover the needs of the district’s athletic programs and community events.

Still, Superintendent Michael Delahanty said the new building will provide adequate space for all who want to use it.

Throughout the planning stage for the new facility, Delahanty has stressed the importance of community use and accessibility.

“We’re not building this facility so we have less availability for programs,” he said. “In fact, we expect we’ll be able to accommodate more programs.”

The 64,000-square-foot building will feature three regulation-sized basketball courts, an indoor running track, a mini-gym downstairs with a padded floor for gymnastics, a weight room, locker rooms and a training room.

Early plans for the facility call for a catwalk connecting it to the main high school building.

Though 64,000 square feet might sound like a lot of space, and some residents have been critical of the district’s high-cost project, Delahanty said figures can be deceiving.

“We’re gaining space, but it’s not as much as people believe it is,” he said. “People think a 64,000-square-foot facility is grand and that we’re building a palace, but the floor space for athletics is really close to what we have now.”

Delahanty said he’s pleased with how the project is coming along, but there’s still the daunting task of selling the idea to voters.

“I think we still have a long road ahead of us in terms of convincing citizens that this is a good plan and a good idea,” he said. “But this building will allow us to meet all of the need we have with athletics, academics, security, and wear and tear.”

By designating all athletics to the new building, there will be more room for classrooms and an overhaul of the main building can be completed.

Under the new design, the school’s main entrance and administrative offices would switch places with the current library, which faces Geremonty Drive. Science rooms and the auditorium will also be expanded.

The committee is set to meet again on Sept. 10 to discuss more details of the plan and how to convince voters.

If the district’s bond article of approximately $39 million is approved by voters, taxpayers could expect to see bills rise by 65 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. A home valued at $300,000 would see a $200 jump in their bill per year.

If passed, construction could begin as early as 2009 and be completed by the fall of 2011.

Committee member Roland Maher said he’s optimistic about the project, but he realizes that bond articles are hard to pass in Salem.

“We’ll need 60 percent of the community support and unfortunately not much has passed in Salem in the past few years,” he said. “It’s going to be a major hurdle for us.”

Group touts school fixes

Salem Editor — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 17:59:00 GMT

BY CHRISTINE HEISER

Though the price tag attached to proposed renovations to Salem High School has astonished some residents, others are working together to get the word out that the fixes are necessary.

The newly formed Salem High School Renovation Committee is applying for nonprofit status, and Salem residents taking part want others to join them to help inform the public.

“We want people to see not just screaming headlines saying ‘$40 million’ but what would be done to improve the school,” said Tim Bosch, who has just signed up for the new committee.

“Our main goal is to make sure that everyone in Salem understands the needs of the high school, the deficiencies of it, and that the recommendations that the Facilities Committee made are the most cost-effective way to handle it,” he said.

The school district’s Facilities Committee has proposed a $40 million fix for the high school, including a 75,000-square-foot free-standing athletics facility, along with moving the main entrance of the school and making improvements to the library, science rooms and other classrooms.

The advocacy group will meet for the first time in August, said Bosch, and will plan a strategy to convince voters to pay for the needed renovations.

The committee may produce a Web site and a video presentation on Salem Community Televsion, and, as the election approaches, make presentations to small groups of residents, as well as to PTA and civic groups in town.

Addressing the athletic center Bosch said one of the most important things the group wants to get across to voters is that the proposed athletic facility, which some detractors have said is the district’s focus, is really a by-product of other school needs.

School Superintendent Michael Delahanty said the first aspect the district and the Facilities Needs Committee worked on was making the building safe, both to protect students and provide a sense of security for parents sending their children there.

A new entrance at the front of the school on Geremonty Drive is planned.

That, in turn, made changes to the rest of the building necessary, he said. The renovations would create more and better spaces for the science, music, art and special education programs, some of which operate in substandard areas.

“The evolution of our thinking resulted in a free-standing athletic center,” he said.

The center, along with the other improvements, would add to security and save wear and tear on the building, he said.

Currently, the track team is using the halls to run in, and youth sports groups using the building have to travel through the current entrance all the way through the building to the gyms.

Bosch, whose children have all graduated from Salem High, said he signed up for the new group because he’s a concerned citizen who believes the renovations are important to the town.

“Anyone who’s had kids in the school can see that the school has served us well, but it needs work.”

Contact information for the group will be forthcoming in the next several weeks.

Trimming back – $40 million high school plan may be changed to save money

Salem Editor — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:03:00 GMT

BY MATT HERSH

Only a month after Salem school officials announced their $40 million high school renovation plan, they’re already considering scaling it back.

Members of the Budget Committee and the Board of Selectmen recently had their first official look at the plan to overhaul the 40-year-old school.

Superintendent Michael Delahanty said both groups were concerned with the price tag. They expressed concern that voters wouldn’t support the project.

This criticism will be discussed by members of the Facilities Committee when the group meets on July 16. Delahanty said the group will consider making some changes to the preliminary plan.

“I think we need to have a serious discussion,” Delahanty said. “If (the Facilities Committee) comes up with a different recommendation, I think we should consider it.”

Currently, the renovation plan proposes some major changes to the school, which Delahanty hopes will make it last another 40 years.

There are several proposed changes to the school, the largest of which is a new 75,000-square-foot athletic facility to be built close to the school’s existing running track.

The large building would become the school’s only athletic center and would be connected to the main building via an overhead walkway. The two existing gyms would then be used for additional classrooms.

The school’s main entrance and administrative offices would switch places with the current library, which faces
Geremonty Drive. Science rooms and the auditorium will also be expanded.

Delahanty said the two groups were critical of the size of the new athletic facility but he believes it will prove to be a vital improvement for the community.

However, the Facilities Committee will consider reducing the facility’s size, which may cut the price tag by a few million.

Still, Delahanty said he’d like to see the plans stay as they are.

“There is some effort to reduce the size of it but I would rather bring a proposal in front of the town that we believe is the best one,” he said. “My thinking is that we still need to go through with the most prudent and efficient plan for the community.”

Despite Delahanty’s support of the plan, Budget Committee member Stephen Campbell said the new athletic facility is too much to ask for.

“This plan feeds into the stereotype that at Salem High School, if you’re a jock, you’ll get anything you need,” he said.

“If academics are your number one priority, why isn’t the new building for science or math?”

Campbell called the science room renovations an “afterthought” and said Delahanty shrugged his shoulders about the plan’s focus on athletics.

He also cited that 600 Windham students will leave Salem High School when their own high school is completed and enrollment projections show that elementary school numbers are declining in town.

“If you add space, that’s going to add to capacity,” he said. “We’re going to have a building that is 70-percent occupied. It’s adding to a school that’s already big enough.”

If the plan remains unchanged, the school district will ask voters to approve a $2.4 million bond article in March that will cover the cost of drafting blueprints and securing Frank P. Marinace Architecture.

A $40 million bond would appear before voters in March 2009. If passed, construction would begin in 2009 and be completed by the fall of 2011.

The project would raise taxes by about 65 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. A home valued at $300,000 would see a $200 increase in their bill per year.

Delahanty said he remains confident that voters will see the community’s need and support the project.

“If it fails, I won’t look back and regret my decision,” he said. “I’d rather have that than propose a lower-quality building and in 10 years see that it didn’t work.”

Tech head – New applications manager hired for school district

Salem Editor — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 18:23:00 GMT

BY MATT HERSH

The school district’s push toward revitalizing their technology department recently got a boost with a new hire.

Colleen Moran was hired to fill the new position of applications manager for the district. The $65,000 position was restored to the district’s budget during Town Meeting season despite the objection of some fiscally conservative officials.

Moran is a Salem resident who will begin working with the rest of the district’s technology department in July.

She currently works for the state Department of Environmental Services as a software developer and has more than 20 years of experience in the technology field.

Together, Moran and the staff will try to perform a large upgrade of the district’s technology.

Superintendent Michael Delahanty said Moran will begin her job by assessing the district’s current use of technology. By studying the current system, Moran will be able to see if the district is best using their technology.

“She has a good sense of the advances she can bring that will make our service to the community more optimal,” Delahanty said.

This optimal technology system will allow the district to reduce man-hours spent tending to problems and fixing errors.

Delahanty said he hopes to see an improved system that will allow the students, parents, and community members to better access the district.

In the future, students may be able to choose classes online while parents can pay bills and view grades on the district’s Web site, Delahanty said.

“Within the next year, we need to consider drawing more functionality from our system or consider getting a new one,” he said.

Once Moran has assessed the technology changes that can be made, she will train other staff members in using new applications and better using old applications.

The district also recently hired four elementary school teachers and a guidance counselor.

They are still seeking candidates for a middle school consumer sciences teacher and a high school foreign language teacher.

Well served – New computer technology gives SHS an upgrade

Salem Editor — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:43:00 GMT

BY MATT HERSH

The Salem School District is one step closer to upgrading its information technology department after the purchase of an expensive piece of equipment.

The district recently ordered a new centralized server that cost nearly $100,000. The machine is due to be installed at Salem High School by next month.

The purchase will allow those who are in charge of maintaining the district’s computers to fix problems on any computer or printer without having to leave the high school, said information technology director George Morris.

This easier access to fixing problems will allow IT staff members to focus more on training teachers how to use software and will ultimately save the district time and money, Morris said.

The Hewlett-Packard server is set to arrive in Salem on June 18 and Morris said he hopes to have it up and running by July 9.

Voters approved the $99,736 server in March. It is part of a long-term plan by school officials to upgrade and revamp the information technology department.

Superintendent Michael Delahanty said he envisions an improved use of technology in several areas.

In the future, the Internet will likely be better used to provide access to the school district.

With an enhanced district Web site, students would be able to register for their courses online, check grades and communicate with teachers. Parents could pay bills, view progress reports and find out about new developments within the district.

Delahanty has said he wants to be able to provide information about how students are doing more regularly.

The district also took a major step toward their technology goal when they successfully restored an $80,000 applications manager position to their budget in March.

The position allows the district to make the best use of its existing technology and operate more efficiently, Delahanty said.