Selectmen Candidates Debate!  (left to right) Rose Collins, Bill Conly, Reid Cutting, Barton Hyte, Tom McNulty, Bob Peck, Bill Purdin and Diane St. Laurent at the Marblehead Middle School Before a sparse crowd, candidates for the Board of Selectmen debated previously announced questions at the PTO Candidates Night. The main question concerned support for Article 75 on the Town Warrant which if passed will require a general override of proposition 2.5 sometime in early June of $870,000. Favoring the override were: McNulty, Peck, Purdin, Hyte and Cutting. Opposed were Conly and Collins. St. Laurent stated she would not oppose the override but needed more time to study the contract provisions. In the most thorough presentation on the question, Selectman Bill Purdin stated that although his wife is a teacher at the Glover School and his daughter is an honor student at the Middle School, he was supporting the override simply because it "Is a great deal for the Town," as he put it. He listed the five reasons for that conclusion: (1) Increased instructional time, which is the most important educational improvement any system can introduce. The contract extends the school year by 8 days to the longest school year in the Commonwealth. (2) Curriculum enhancements by requiring teachers to spend specific times planning and learning new strategies, and it pays them for it. (3) Incentivizing teachers to offer dramatic improvements and educational ideas by an intrepreneurial remuneration program based on individual effort and initiative. (4) The new pay schedule allows the Marblehead Public Schools to hire from "the front of the line" instead of losing new hires and experienced teachers to surrounding systems that pay siginificantly more. And (5) the one-time early retirement provisions of the contract will allow the system to retire up to 10 senior teachers again increasing hiring flexibility and implementation options for other desireable changes. Conly criticized the cost of the override (42¢ per $1000 of residential assessed value, i.e., an assessed residential property of $300,000 would have an extra $31.50 per quarterly tax bill.) Peck, while supportive, questioned whether or not the override would pass. McNulty stated, "This will improve the quality of education and that's one of the reasons people live here and stay here." Cutting stated, "I don't feel everyone can easily afford a $100 a year ... but we need to support the quality of our schools." Collins was not supporting the override, stating the starting salary increases "won't get us where we want to be." The next debate is Monday, April 29th at the High School Library, 7:30 PM, sponsored by the League Of Women voters. Candidates Night At The League of Women Voters.   (Left to right) Diane St. Laurent, Bill Purdin, Bob Peck, Tom McNulty, Barton Hyte, Reid Cutting, Bill Conly, and Rose Collins Before a crowd of fifty people the candidates met again on April 29th in the High School Library. Questions were: The Teachers Contract: For Cutting, Hyte, McNulty, Peck and Purdin; against: Conly and Collins; Non-commital: St. Laurent ("Because of some serious questions that still concern me, I can't support this, nor do I oppose it.") Other questions concerned the Town Adminstrator, only Collins raised questions about the position, and Cutting admitted he just didn't know enough to answer the question; the downtown Parking problem and apathy in the Marblehead. Yawn! Police to Begin Bike Patrols  The Police department has received a grant to purchase two new police bicycles and to outfit them for two officers, James Hazell and Ken Berg, to take out on patrol. They are currently waiting for the special uniforms and to schedule training needed. Hopefully, the patrol will begin by the end of May, around Memorial Day. Info on the bikes Spring Is In The Air...Just Look At The Signs...!        More
to come...?Signs for incumbents and challengers are appearing all over Town... true signs of spring. Every year the Marblehead Board of Selectmen face reelections. This year is no different. We'll keep you up to date as more signs appear. Suddenly The Lighthouse Is 100 Years Old. It came upon the Town suddenly and unexpectedly, actually it hit us so fast no one knew what was happening. It was a quiet night on the Selectmen's agenda when out of nowehere, like a light in the darkness, the Marblehead Lighthouse at HCnadler Hovey Park turned 100 years old. William Healey, a postman at the Marblehead Post Ofcie, came across the anniversary date after climbing to the top of the lighthouse last year. With the help of Selectman Bill Conly, the exact date was discovered and presented to the Board of Selectmen. April 17, 1896 it was turned on, according to Conly and Healey. The Post Office will issue of special cancellation which will be available beginning August 12th. Anyone who brings mail to the Marblehead Yacht Club will be able to have a special postal clerk there cancelled a letter or post card with the special cancellation: "Marblehead Light: A Friend At Sea For 100 Years. Light Tower Station, August 12, 1996. Hearing Held On Underground Utility Wires  Tom
McNultyOn April 9th a hearing was held on this project. Chairman Tom McNulty presented in an eloquent and easy to understad way the proposal to bury the overhead wires on State Street, Market Square, Washinton Street to the foot of Abbot Hall Hill, and up Pleasant Street to just beyond the Babtist Church. McNulty presented a slide show depicting the proliferation and intensification of the wires and attempted to engage the imagination of those present with what the area would look like with the the web-like latices of wires and overhead barrels that now congest the visual appearance of the Historic District. The Planning Board voted unanimously to recommended approval of the pertinent articles to Town Meeting on May 6, 1996. See Articles 65 and 66, Town Warrant. Article Asks Town To Pay 2% Extra To Bury Overhead Wires    One of the articles on May's Town Meeting Warrant asks Marblehead residents to pay 2% extra on their telephone bills to fund the burying of overhead wires (telephone, cable, and alarms) in the downtown and historic district. This article is sponsored by the Board of Selectmen.  Old Town Hall
(No wires)FinCom approves $200,000 less than School Superintendent says is absolutely necessary. Approves teachers' override 8 to 1. In a sparesly attended meeting held at 7:30 AM, when most parents could not attend, the Finance Committee met to finally vote on the dollars that will be recommended to Town Meeting in it annual Finance Committee Report, which is delivered by Town employees to every home in Marblehead. Nann Weissenberger, Chairman, outlined the amount FinCom was going to recommend for FY97: $14,519,457, representing a $1 million increase over the FY96 budget appropriation. She stated that $324,974 was to be contingent on passing and override (increase attached to the 2-2% contract) and the remaining $675,026 included the estimate of annual state aid to the schools.  The Superintendent,
Dr. Philip Devaux, stated that the original reductions of $400,000
from the superintendent's requested increase of $1.8 million
would have allowed the school system to maintain it current programs
and to institute some preventive measures aimed at stabilizing
the SPED portion and other elements of the school budget. "With
a $1 million figure," he concluded, "none of that can
be done."Members of the FinCom engaged in a lengthy debate basically dividing into two groups: one that recognized that FY97 SPED costs are increasing $700,000 and that contractual obligations and step increases equal another $700,000 for a total uncontrollable increase of $1.4 million; and one that considered a $1 million increase, plus the potential debt exclusions of school renovations of $1 million and school technology of $600,000 together with FinCom support of the general override for an increase to parody with comparable towns in teacher salaries, to be more than fair. Pat Pollard, Chairman of the School Committee stated that with a $1 million increase in the face of $1.4 million in uncontrollable cost increases, "We are asking the schools, in order to achieve a comparable pay scale, to reduce the number of teachers at a time when we need more teachers not less." Chairman Weissenberger stated, on a positive note, that the Finance Committee is committed to "revisit this budget and to increase it to whatever extent possible" (Salem News quote 4/9/96) prior to Town Meeting when the final budget numbers will be available. When the vote was finally called, the $1 million increase passed, 7 to 2 (Weinstein and Hodgkins-Bell opposed.) The vote to support the general override passed 8 to 1 (Maffei opposed). FinCom Public Hearings Sparsely Attended, Budget Takes Shape, Schools Wary Of Late Funding Additions to the operating budgets of Town Departments recently inserted by the Finance Committee and the Board Of Selectmen are: (1) the new pumper for Franklin Street ($225,000), (2) Workers Compensation shift to MIAI ($40,000, but this item is offset by a reduction in group insurance), and (3) reducing the debt exclusion for drains to $900,000 from $1 million for a total of $325,000 additional to those budgets. Plus, the Town has accepted budgetary responsibility for $450,000 in the current SPED deficit.   (Left) Nann Weissenberger and Milt Bloom, FinCom Chair and Vice Chair, and (right) Patricia Pollard School Committee Chairwoman. The School Committee is requesting $14,750,743 for their FY97 school budget. This is an increase of $1.2 million over FY96 (the current fiscal year). The reason for this request for an increase is two fold. According to School Committee Chairwoman, Patricia Pollard, "First, to fund our contract obligations of $703,4985 and second to fund a special education increase of $727,379 which is necessary to avoid the deficit situation again next year. To cover our costs and just break even," she went on, "would require a $1.4 million increase to our budget. Being aware, however, of the Town's fiscal situation and the nature of the one-time revenue increase we have this year, we have reduced our request to $1.2 million and have trimmed existing staff and programs to accomodate this situation." The town-side budget increases together with the school's requests equal $2,015,500 in new approriations, nearly all of the projected revenue increase of $2.285 million. The remainder is more than taken up by town-side salary increases and contractural obligations. To accommodate their $1.2 million request, down from $1.8 million as requested by the School Superintendent, the School Committee has eliminated two curriculum directors, one elementary teacher, an ESL tutor, Saturday suspensions, all new equipment requests, and has reduced the professional development travel budget by 21%. These are reductions from current programs, not recommended programs, according to Mrs. Pollard. The schools have also added two teachers at the High School for electives and freshmen enrollment (which is going up), a language-based program teacher at the Middle School, an occupational therapist and a speech and language pathologist, which can offset generate savings in "contracted services" and "out-of-district" placements which make up the vast majority of Special Education overruns. The Finance Committee is offering an $810,000 net increase plus the standard state aid money, this year estimated to be $190,000, for a total of $1 million. If this FinCom increase holds, it will mean additional cuts in the School budget. Mrs. Pollard identified these cuts as: elimination of the kindergarten aides, eliminate the long overdue increase in textbook expenditures, and the system-wide computer technician. "This would be devastating to our schools," she concluded. The Selectmen And Finance Committee Meet In Joint Convention To Approve Over $5 Million For Budgets.  The Board Of Selectmen and Finance Committee in joint convention In a marathon session, Saturday March 30th, the two boards met to approve all Selectmen Budgets with very little change: a new personnel study, assistant dog officer, and the contractual obligations of collective bargaining and the McLaughlin Salary Program. Everyone in attendance felt the meeting was productive and represented a new day in Town Management. Tony Sasso, center in white sweater, led the two boards through the budgets, defending his programs with the full support of the Selectmen. During the meeting Selectman Bob Peck introduced a new program concerning Workers Compensation in Marblehead. The next important meetings on the way to Town Meeting will be held at the Finance Committee's annual public hearings on the Warrant in Abbot Hall, April 1st and 2nd at 7:30 P.M. each night. FinCom Tables Final $200,000 For Schools, Approves $250 For Fire Dept.  In a surpising turn of events, Finance Committee Chairwoman Nann Weissenberger had to backpedal from her motion to approve $200,000 less than Superintendent Philip Devaux was pleading the Finance Committee to give the schools. Her Chairman's motion, made somewhat outside of regular Marblehead committee practices by chairmen, was defeated 5-4 (con: Weinstein, Hodgkins-Bell, Maffei, Coolidge, and Dengenis; pro: Weissenberger, Booth, Bloom, and Gessner). The motion to table was approved. The Chairwoman then stated that it "would be fiscally irresponsible" to approve the $200,000 to the school budget because, "we don't have the money." Two days later, on Thursday, upon hearing a lengthy argument by Selectman Bob Peck, the Finance Committee on the spot approved $225,000 from the operating budget available funds for a new pumper, with a life of twenty years. At the same time the committee approved another piece of firefighting equipment, a "Quint," a combination pumper and ladder truck, to be funded through a debt exclusion override. The School Committee previously had reluctantly approved a $14.7 million budget for FY97, up $1.2 from this year's budget, but down $600,000 from the Superintendent's recommended budget. The schools are faced with a $600,000 increase in special education costs for FY97, and have approved funding for a popular new program of kindergarten aides. The School Committee eliminated the following line items from the Superintendent's recommended budget: two $55,000 per year Curriculum Directors, $52,000 for a district psychologist, $35,000 in administration increases, $21,000 for a half time custodian at the Coffin School, $35,000 for a contracted occupational therapist, $53,000 for a retiring elementary teacher not to be replaced, $38,000 for team teacher grade 7 increases, $27,000 for the high school assistant principal salary account, and $11,000 for an English as a second language tutor. If the school budget is not funded to the extra $200,000 level requested at this meeting, it will mean cutting the kindergarten school aides, the system wide technology technician, and further cuts in the High School. Improvements Suggested For Marblehead Harbor Capital Planning Committee member Jay Michaud suggested the following improvements to the Harbor facilities at a recent meeting of the Board of Selecmen: 1. Construct a breakwater from the ast corner of Parker's Boatyard, running in an easterly direction for 400 feet, then in a southerly direction for another 100 feet. This would provide a "safe harbor" for the commercial fishermand and allow them to fish year round. It would aslo attract other winter fishermen to the harbor during the off season months. 2. Dredge the basin area between the Light Department and Parkers Boatyard to improve the public landing and create new rings for skiffs. 3. Dredge the area around the Commercial Street landing area to allow vessels to use the entire landing at low tide. 4. Dredge the channel to the public ramp at Riverhead beach to allow full use of the ramp at all times. 5. Construct a marina for the fishing fleet at Commercial Street landing. 6. Construct a municipal marina for pleasure craft along the inside of the breakwater. 7. Construct a municipal marina for pleasure craft at the Shipyard property. 8. Create a harbor promenade along the top of the breakwater, and install benches for the public to view the harbor. Funding for these projects, according to Mr. Michaud, could be vastly assisted by the newly authorized Seaport Bond Bill (1996).   Smith & Wesson .40 Caliber
handgun Chief of Police
John PalmerSelectmen met on Thursday 3-21-96 to discuss the capital items in the budgets of the Town departments they oversee. Chief Palmer stated that the guns currently carried by police personnel are either the old .357s or personal guns owned by personnel, and "we have had some failures with these old guns." The police are required to train with their weapons on the firing range periodically, so while there is no gunfire in Marblehead, the practicing takes it toll on the weapons. The new guns will cost around $20,200 plus another $13,421 is budgeted in the replacement salary costs for training. When asked about the training, the Chief stated that this is for 16 hours with the new guns and it is the absolute minimum he could support. Other departments train their personnel for 40 hours with the same weapons.  Figure skating
in Marblehead?New "Think Rink" Organization Starting Elinor Ferguson, with the support of Selectmen Bob Peck, is attempting to revitalize the concept of a Marblehead ice skating rink, location to be named later. In the past the "Think Rink" campaign attempted the same thing without result. Ms. Ferguson stated that she would be seeking help from all quarters. Anyone interested in contributing or assisting the effort should contact Elinor Ferguson at 631-4904. Estimated costs for a new rink are in the $1.5 million range. They're Starting The Tucker's Wharf Project  Tucker's Wharf According The Salem Evening News- the Town is beginning planning to fix the sea and remove the old crane. The Harbor & Waters Board has hired Bourne Consulting of Franklin to "develop repair plans for the property," by the end of July. After approval Bourne will do the permitting and planning for the expenditure of the $425,000 the Town has set aside. The crane is going to auctioned off in the Town's annual surplus equipment auction. New Schools Will be Needed To Be Built, But An Elementary School Or A New High School? Here are the options as laid out by Sid Bowen of Earl R. Flansburgh & Associates, the architectural firm hired by the Marblehead School Committee to begin to address the coming enrollment increases. Option #1: Renovate and add to all exisiting elementary schools, providing a total of 50 classrooms, 13 kindergartens, and two preschool classrooms a cost to Marblehead of $5,525,000. State reimbursement would not apply to this plan. Option #2: Renovate and add to the Coffin School ($1,500,000); renovate Bell School internally ($740,000); renovate the Gerry School ($210,000); and renovate and add to the Glover ($1,320,000); and add to the Eveleth School ($2,250,000). The work at the Eveleth would be 60% reimbursable by the state ($877,000) for a net total for this option to Marblehead of $4,650,000. Option #3: Convert the Glover to alternate use; renovate the Bell ($740,000); renovate the Gerry ($210,000), renovate and add to the Coffin ($1,500,000); build a new 23-classroom K-4 school on the Eveleth or the Sevinor property ($3,200,000). This new school would be reimbursed by the state to the amount of 40% ($2,581,000) for a total for this option of $5,650,000. Option #4: Renovate Bell ($740,000); renovate the Gerry ($210,000); renovate the Coffin ($350,000); build a new 27-classroom K-4 school on the Eveleth or the Sevinor property. Total for this option is $9,770,000, according the Salem News, the Town would pay $3,875,000 and the state would pay $5,175,000. In the middle of the discussion and all the options, Superintendent Phillip Devaux stated that one option which was not yet considered by the architectural study was to build a new high school, move the middle school to the current high school and then redistribute the overcrowded elementary to schools to the current site of the middle school. As he put it, "The flagship school of the district should be its high school." Apparently, the Sevinor land, is not big enough for two schools, based on state standards. With the arrival of the new Recreation and Park building this situation will be exacerbated. As you will recall, the School Committee only a few weeks ago rescinded its decision to give the YMCA a 3+ acre parcel there. Jan Sliwa, A Sixth Grader, Wins The Middle School Spelling Bee 
Jan SliwaJan Sliwa has won the Middle School spelling bee, beating out all comers including the upperclasses of the seveth and eighth grades. He will now compete in the State spelling bee, and with good fortune there, the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Good Luck, Jan.  Wins coveted Planet Earth Award!  legendinc.com was recently named as one of Planet Earth's Top 100 Sites Of The Planet. This award is given to those sites which represent the best in webmastering, design and entertainment. It is unusual for a site to be given this award after only 8 weeks of existence. Bill Purdin, founder and President of Legend, Inc., the parent company for legendinc.com and Marblehead-Magazine-On-The-Web stated, "We are very excited about moving up to this next level on the Internet. We have received over 13,000 visitors to our site since January 15th. This prestigious award will increase the number of visits to our site astronimically. Obviously, our hard work is paying off. Marblehead Presidential Primary Results  Town Clerk Betty Brown checking the polls at 7:30 A.M. Election Day. - R E P U B L I C A N S - Richard Lugar: 39 Morry Taylor: 2 Phil Gramm: 2 Pat Buchanan: 235  Bob Dole: 1149 Steve Forbes: 348 Lamar Alexander: 124 Alan Keyes: 29 Robert K. Dorman: 4 No Preference: 20 - D E M O C R A T S - Bill Clinton: 446 Lyndon LaRouche: 13 No Preference: 32 Town Warrant For May Town Meeting Now Available On The Internet! Patricia
PollardPat Pollard Annouces She Won't Seek Reelection To School Committee. Husband's Transfer To Connecticut Ends Local Political Career. After only two years on the School Board and her meteoric election as its Chairwoman, Patricia Pollard has announced that due to her husband's transfer to Connecticut she would not be seeking reelection after her terms expires on May 13, 1996. "It is very hard to even consider this situation, let alone allow its reality to sink in," she said. "Serving on the School Committee has been a high privelege and an honor. To participate in developing the educational program for the future of Marblehead's Public Schools has been a highlight of my life. Unfortunately, for me, as for all of us, my family always comes first in the final analysis." Selectman Bill Purdin, present at the announcement stated, "As one member of the Board of Selectmen, I cannot speak for my Board, but I know that I do because I know each of my fellow members. Mrs. Pollard, your service to the Town Of Marblehead has been exemplorary, intelligent, positive and far reaching. Your achievements will continue to serve the Town for years to come and you will be sorely missed. Each member of the School Committee expressed their deep regrets over the Chairwoman's decision, some mentioning that there will be other occasions in the near future when their feelings of affection and appreciation will be given greater opportunity for expression. Jackie Belf-Becker stated, after thanking the Chairwoman for all of her "energy and time," "look out Connecticut!" The School Committee, earlier heard from the consultants on school classroom space and then went on the hear site based committee reports. New Schools Will be Needed To Be Built, But An Elementary School Or A New High School? Here are the options as laid out by Sid Bowen of Earl R. Flansburgh & Associates, the architectural firm hired by the Marblehead School Committee to begin to address the coming enrollment increases. Option #1: Renovate and add to all exisiting elementary schools, providing a total of 50 classrooms, 13 kindergartens, and two preschool classrooms a cost to Marblehead of $5,525,000. State reimbursement would not apply to this plan. Option #2: Renovate and add to the Coffin School ($1,500,000); renovate Bell School internally ($740,000); renovate the Gerry School ($210,000); and renovate and add to the Glover ($1,320,000); and add to the Eveleth School ($2,250,000). The work at the Eveleth would be 60% reimbursable by the state ($877,000) for a net total for this option to Marblehead of $4,650,000. Option #3: Convert the Glover to alternate use; renovate the Bell ($740,000); renovate the Gerry ($210,000), renovate and add to the Coffin ($1,500,000); build a new 23-classroom K-4 school on the Eveleth or the Sevinor property ($3,200,000). This new school would be reimbursed by the state to the amount of 40% ($2,581,000) for a total for this option of $5,650,000. Option #4: Renovate Bell ($740,000); renovate the Gerry ($210,000); renovate the Coffin ($350,000); build a new 27-classroom K-4 school on the Eveleth or the Sevinor property. Total for this option is $9,770,000, according the Salem News, the Town would pay $3,875,000 and the state would pay $5,175,000. In the middle of the discussion and all the options, Superintendent Phillip Devaux stated that one option which was not yet considered by the architectural study was to build a new high school, move the middle school to the current high school and then redistribute the overcrowded elementary to schools to the current site of the middle school. As he put it, "The flagship school of the district should be its high school." Apparently, the Sevinor land, is not big enough for two schools, based on state standards. With the arrival of the new Recreation and Park building this situation will be exacerbated. As you will recall, the School Committee only a few weeks ago rescinded its decision to give the YMCA a 3+ acre parcel there. Gets The Once-Over By George Derringer & The Marblehead Reporter  George Derringer, Bill Purdin & Willy In a somewhat surprising turn of events, George Derringer came over to legendinc.com to report to the readers of The Marblehead Reporter about the pages and aspirations of this new site on the world wide web. As he put it (Marblehead Reporter, 2/22/96 page 3), "Purdin's site, featuring stories, a town organization chart, and tons of photos Purdin takes with his digital camera, a tide chart, a Marblehead Crossword Puzzle, and a news digest, is the second site to join the parade. Mr. Derringers article goes on to chronicle our hits per day at 200 to 300 (and rising) and to give his readers the new <http://www.legendinc.com> address. All in all the article was great. But, there is one staff member at the site who was quite upset with Mr. Derringer. As this staff member put it, "George, I rolled on the floor with you, I let you pet me, and I thought we were pals. How come you didn't mention Willy On The Web?  George, how quickly
you forget."Longer Terms For The Board Of Selectmen? If Don Flynn has his way, the Town Moderator will appoint a committee to study whether or not the longer terms (3-year rotating terms) will be better for the Town. Town Meeting will vote on this warrant article. The Marblehead Reporter in a recent editorial authored by George Derringer, stated, "Let's Keep One-Year Term For Selectmen." The article went on to make the case that: - For 367 years its been working - No reason to change except for the convenience of the Selectmen - Present every year election allows voters to "throw the bums out" if they so desire - If the race is between two Selectmen and a candidate, instead of The Board of Selectmen vs. all comers, the race will become "against" specific Selectmen instead of a positive run for the Board. The campaigns will become negative. - A three year term would reduce the number of candidates and reduce the turnout. - The current system is "grassroots" democracy, like Town Meeting and should not be tampered with.  Selectman Bob PeckIn an interview with the Reporter, Bob Peck explained his support of three-year terms: "It provides a greater opportunity, for a new member, to estabish a basis for evaluating his or her performance. To find oneself, six months into a term, thnking about reelection is not the efficient way to go." Peck stated that three-year terms would allow the people to focus on one or two selectmen at a time and better evaluate their performance. Plus he stated, "When everybody is up for reelection at the same time, it leaves the potential to cause controversial matters to get postponed until May or June." Bill Purdin feels that there is merit on both sides of the argument but worries that without the single year term the Town would lose the opportunity to vote out office Selectmen who were disruptive. He has stated that many times people run for the Board because they are mad or upset about soemthing. "In that first year, knowing that the first reelection is the most difficult certainly causes a Selectman, who expects to serve the Town Of Marblehead for the long run, to spend more time listening and learning than championing his or her personal agenda. A three-year term would achieve the opposite in such a case. Purdin is quoted in the Reporter as saying, "I'm going to watch the debate on this issue and, right now, I'm supporting the study proposed on the Town Warrant.  Diane St. LaurentDiane St. Laurent supports the three-year term as the best alternative in the interest of good government. She feels that the first year is all about learning and listening and it is just not long enough for a Selectman to achieve anything for the Town. Tom McNulty and Bill Conly both unequivocally support the one-year term. "The three-year term is not needed in Marblehead... at all," McNulty stated. The one year term gives Marblehead direct control and an immediate solution if a rogue Selectman arises. [Webmaster Note: Marblehead_News-Digest is preparing a full-color page on the Town Warrant, the schedule of meetings surrounding preparation for Town Meeting, and background information on everything. Stay tuned: target date: March 15th.]  Marblehead
High SchoolHigh School Council Sets 15-Step Plan To Enhance School The Marblehead High School Council, through its various subcommittees, has set a program to enhance the high school over the next three years. The first 15-steps will take place in FY97:  Addition of more one-semester
academic alternatives which may include one or more courses in
all disciplinesLimit study periods to one
per semester per student to prepare for state mandates on time
and learning.Propose an increase in graduation
requirements for the class of 2000.Add department heads as part
of the proposed reorganizationProvide additional professional
development funds and timeEvaluate use of facilities
for improvement.Determine leadership of guidance
department and create appropriate case loads.Introduce an alternative program
for disinterested and disruptive studentsReview health curriculum and
schedulingStudy SAT scoresResearch grant funding for
new or enhanced programsOver the following two years.... New 9th grade curriculumEvaluating and revising curriculum
for grade 10 and 11Eliminate free periodsIntroduce a two-year language
requirementA language-based program for
Special EducationProvide professional planning
time for the new curricula[Digest of Daily Evening Item, 12/13/96, page 9.] |
