The time has come to do something about the
educational system in Southbridge.
For almost thirteen years the district has been
identified by the state as performing well below acceptable standards.
Residents know that the problems with the system
have persisted even longer than that.
For a period, under the leadership of Superintendent
Dr. Dale Hanley, the district was making progress in improving its performance.
However, with her retirement from the superintendent’s
role in 2010, the district once again fell into decline.
Since 2010 the district has seen an unprecedented
level of turmoil and personnel turnover.
While the current leadership of the school committee
has repeatedly claimed that it is correcting the mistakes of its predecessor, it
is hard to accept such claims given that several key members were party to the
initial missteps in 2010.
These feelings are added to by the lip service that
the current chair initially gave to the state prior to subsequently insulting
its record of assistance and labelling their representative as a “hack”. They
are further compounded by his willful misrepresentation of facts that led to
the election of the McLoughlin/Donovan regime. The final blow has come with the
increasing belligerence the committee has demonstrated in its effort to alter
the structure of the middle/high school and put a new superintendent in place
before the state could act.
In response the DESE has altered its agenda for the
January 26th meeting from merely holding a discussion of the
Southbridge situation to holding a discussion and possible vote on the
Commissioner’s request that the town be labelled Level 5 and placed under
receivership.
Toward that end a public hearing will be held
starting at 4:30 PM Monday night in the old high school auditorium at 25 Cole
Ave.
It is now incumbent upon citizens who feel as I do
to speak out. Now is the time for which you have waited. The state has proven
its mettle in dealing with problems that have shown themselves to be beyond
the reach of local officials in Lawrence and before that in Chelsea.
Even more so, it is the time for the parents of
children who are in the system or who are about to be, to be heard.
It is those students who are the most vulnerable to
the ongoing chaos in the Southbridge school system. It is those students who
are most likely to benefit from a focused and concentrated program by the state
to improve conditions.
Now is your chance, possibly your last chance, to
speak out. Now is the time to create a sense of urgency that will compel the
DESE Board to vote for receivership the next day, rather than waiting until
next month.
Don’t let the opportunity pass you by.
Opportunity to be heard by the
Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Regarding the Future
of the Southbridge Public Schools
Date: Monday, January 25, 2016
Time: 4:30 - 7:30 PM
Location: Cole Avenue Auditorium, Southbridge Public Schools
25 Cole Avenue, Southbridge, MA 01550
The Southbridge community is invited to address the
Board as it considers whether to designate Southbridge a “Level 5” or
chronically underperforming district.
Some issues participants may choose to address include:
What is going well in the Southbridge
schools?
What needs improvement?
What is your vision for the future of
the Southbridge Public Schools?
The Board’s primary goal is to hear from as many Southbridge
residents and officials as possible. Participants will register to publicly
comment upon arrival and will be given 3 minutes to speak within the time
allotted; Southbridge community members will be given priority. If submitting written comments, please
provide 15 copies if possible. Interested parties are also encouraged to submit
written comments in advance to: boe@doe.mass.edu.
Supervised childcare will be provided by the district.
Fecha: lunes 25 de enero
del 2016
Hora: 4:30 a 7:30 PM
Dirección: Cole Avenue Auditorium, Southbridge Public Schools
25 Cole Avenue, Southbridge, MA 01550
La comunidad de Southbridge está
invitada a dialogar con el Consejo en cuanto al tema de otorgar a las escuelas públicas
de Southbridge el “Nivel 5” que es considerado un distrito de rendimiento
inferior persistente. Algunos temas que los participantes podrían abordar son:
¿Qué es lo bueno que están haciendo las escuelas
de Southbridge?
¿Qué se podría mejorar?
¿Cuál es su visión
para el futuro de las escuelas publicas de Southbridge?
La meta del Consejo es primeramente escuchar a
tantos residentes y oficiales de Southbridge como sea posible. Los
participantes que deseen hacer comentarios públicos se registraran al llegar a
la reunión y tendrán un tiempo limite de 3 minutos para hablar. Los miembros
de la comunidad de Southbridge tendrán prioridad. Si usted prefiere presentar sus comentarios por escrito, por
favor provea por los menos 15 copias. Las personas que estén interesadas en
exponer sus opiniones por adelantado, pueden mandar sus comentarios a boe@doe.mass.edu.
El distrito proporcionará cuidado supervisado de niños.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments subject to moderation. All commenters must use their own name or a screen name. No comments labelled as "Anonymous" will be published. To use your name or a screen name select "Name/URL" from the drop down menu. Insert you name in the "Name" space and leave the "URL" space blank.