Southbridge School Committee Candidates - June 6, 2016

Southbridge School Committee Agenda - April 26, 2016

School Committee Meeting

MacKinnon Council Chambers

April 26, 2016

7 PM


Agenda

Southbridge School Committee Meeting - March 22, 2016

Southbridge School Committee Agenda - March 22, 2016

School Committee Meeting

MacKinnon Council Chambers

March 22, 2016

7 PM



Agenda

Southbridge School Committee Meeting - February 24, 2016

Southbridge School Committee Agenda - February 24, 2016

School Committee Meeting

MacKinnon Council Chambers

February 24, 2016

7 PM




Agenda

Southbridge School Committee Meeting - January 26, 2016

Southbridge School Committee Agenda - January 26, 2016

School Committee Meeting

MacKinnon Council Chambers

January 26, 2016

7 PM




Agenda

Southbridge Superintendent Candidate Interviews

Telegram Reports On Superintendent Candidate Interviews

Writing in the Worcester Telegram, Brian Lee reported on Wednesday’s interviews of candidates by the Southbridge School Committee.

Sheryl Stanton, Southbridge's assistant superintendent; Richard D’Agostino, a retired Warwick, Rhode Island, superintendent; and Amy McKinstry, Northbridge director of curriculum, were interviewed by committee members Scott Lazo, Dr. Raymond Page, Jill Congdon, William Bishop and Amelia Peloquin.

Why The Delay?

Mitchell Chester

The DESE will hold a public hearing on whether or not the public school district in Southbridge will be taken over by the state. It will hold that meeting next Monday starting at 4:30 in the auditorium at the old high school.

The following day the Board of Directors of the DESE will hold its regularly scheduled monthly meeting at Roxbury Community College. On the agenda is a discussion  of the Southbridge case. However, Commissioner Chester has indicated that he does not expect a vote to be held until the Board’s next regularly scheduled meeting on February 23^rd. 

Selective Memory At Work

Today’s Worcester Telegram contains an article titled “Southbridge superintendent interviews planned Wednesday”.

In that article Southbridge School Committee Chairman Scott Lazo lashes out at the State DESE, local legislators and the previous school committee.

We have criticized Mr. Lazo and others in the past for overlooking the fact that in 2010 as members of the school committee they dissolved the search committee and went ahead without them. The “process” resulted in the selection of Eric Ely as Superintendent whose troubled term ended with his dismissal.

What’s The Point?

Shortly after the DESE Commissioner announced his recommendation that the Southbridge School District be placed in receivership the Southbridge School Committee's agenda to interview candidates for Superintendent appeared on the town's website.

One has to ask in all earnestness, what’s the point?

On January 12^th the Worcester Telegram reported that George P. King Jr., the assistant superintendent of the Bolton-based Nashoba Regional School District, withdrew his candidacy for superintendent. 

Southbridge Special School Committee Meeting Agenda - January 20, 2016

Special School Committee Meeting

MacKinnon Council Chambers

January 20, 2016

6 PM

AGENDA

I. Call to Order/Roll Call

II. Welcome and Pledge of Allegiance

Who Do We Believe ?

-

Southbridge School Committee Meeting - January 12, 2016

Olivo Announces Resignation From School Committee

Citing changes in his personal life as well as needs related to his military commitments, school committee member Christopher Olivo announced his resignation from that body. He stated his ongoing support for the committee and its ongoing efforts.

As with prior recent resignations, his successor will be appointed by a joint meeting of the school committee and the town council.

Also, during the Chairman's Announcements segment of the meeting, Mr. Lazo announced that a public hearing on whether the state should exercise its authority to place Southbridge schools into receivership would be held in the old high school auditorium on January 25th.

Process Be Damned

Arrogance and ego apparently still prevail on the Southbridge School Committee.

Over the weekend interim Superintendent Connors announced his plan to treat the middle/high school as two separate facilities in one building. He stated that he intended to present the proposal to tonight's meeting of the school committee.

During the interview he specifically used the phrase “as originally planned” in reference to having two principals and two separate schools in one building.

The fact is clear that he is parroting one of the favorite refrains of current committee Chair Scott Lazo. Anyone who has followed the matter will recognize not only the phraseology but the vehemence with which it was presented. 

Southbridge School Committee Agenda - January 12, 2016

School Committee Meeting

MacKinnon Council Chambers

January 12, 2016

7 PM


Agenda

DESE Commissioner: “No comment” On Southbridge School Committee Action

Mitchell Chester

Ken O'Brien

On December 28 the Southbridge School Committee held an emergency special meeting to discuss a letter from DESE Commissioner Mitchell Chester. In his letter the Commissioner advised that the committee suspend its search for a permanent Superintendent pending the Board of Education’s decision on receivership for the district.

After emerging from executive session, the committee voted five to zero to continue its search.

The following day I contacted the Commissioner’s office to determine if he had any response to that action