During the public comment period of the April 26 School Committee meeting, Tim Clark raised two questions he had heard through “the rumor mill,” which he said he hoped the committee could put to rest. Clark, who is a member of the Board of Selectmen, noted that he was speaking as a parent rather than as a town official.
Clark’s first question related to staffing issues at the fourth and fifth grades in the Hildreth Elementary School (HES). The fourth grade has an unusually high enrollment, and an extra section was added this year by moving a fifth-grade teacher down. Clark asked if teachers had been consulted about the staffing levels.
Superintendent Thomas Jefferson answered that the process had been complex, including budget issues and changing enrollments. He said that HES Principal Mary Beth Banios had talked with teachers about the decision not to add a new fifth-grade class over the summer.
School Committee Chairman Keith Cheveralls noted that the committee had added $27,000 in funding for extra tutorial help at the fifth grade, in response to parental concerns. “It was probably not an optimal solution,” he said.
Committee member Virginia Justicz added that she had heard similar rumors about preferential treatment. She pointed out that the financial situation had been extremely uncertain in the spring of 2009, with the schools facing the possibility of additional budget cuts.
In his second question, Clark again referred to the rumor mill. “I’m hearing this really unsettling thing, that there is a group of people who are trying to get Mary Beth Banios to move on,” he said. “Do you know of anything related to this?” Cheveralls and committee member Piali De both responded with firm negatives.
Clark, who has children in kindergarten and third grade, complimented the committee, school administration, and faculty for improving curriculum coordination from one grade level to the next, and also for better communication with parents. He sees the value of the curriculum innovations in his children’s improving skills, he said.
