2010 School Board Candidate Nancy Steenson
Nancy Steenson introduces herself at Candidates Night.
Archive for the ‘School Board’
2010 School Board Candidate Jennifer Caruso
Jennifer Caruso introduces herself at Candidates Night.
TRSD School Board Meeting 2/18/10
This is the first postapocalyptic school board meeting. At the budget committee meeting following the deliberative session, Mike Mascola promised to ask the school board to record and broadcast budget committee meetings. He did that and the school board voted unanimously to support the measure with the support of Superintendent La Salle. The meetings won’t be broadcast live, but they will be captured, aired on TEN, and posted on the internet.
The calendar was ontopic as well. Jack Paone told the board that eliminating early dismissals and late starts was common sense. Mr. La Salle countered that the not-yet-funded teacher contracted included the nonteaching days and that the matter could be addressed in the next contract. Mr. Paone asked if the teachers could agree to teach these days and Mr. La Salle promised to ask. I’m not optimistic. I’d like to see the teachers’ union rep testify on the matter. I’ve heard from MANY teachers that they oppose the half days and that it is the administration and the union that insists on the extra days off. Of course, if we fail to fund warrant article three, La Salle and the union may be more flexible.
Vote NO on Article 3.
There was a head scratching presentation by the Pupil Personnel Services team. For some reason, TRSD has 30% more kids in IEPs than the state average. And this number is down 10% from last year. This is being blamed for everything from budget growth to the poor performance of the schools. The question is why and that was not answered. The PPS director and Superintendent La Salle crowed about the quality of our programs, but no member of the school board asked why a model special needs program is spending millions sending kids out of district. PPS needs to be looked at carefully. Evidence suggests we do a poor job mainstreaming marginal students and ship out the difficult cases at great expense to the community.
TRSD School Board Meeting 1/21/10
to create scheduled, sufficient, and sustained time for staff members to carry out the work of the school and collaborative professional learning communities
PLEASE watch this. It’s just 30 minutes. If you watch this, I believe you will…
- vote against the teacher contract
- participate in the deliberative session
- vote your school board representative out off office
All of these things are good. All of these things are necessary if you want to send your kids to good schools.
This year there were FOUR teacher development activities – four days in which our kids were in school long enough to meet the legal requirement but not long enough to learn anything. For next year there was a plan to eliminate these nonteaching days. This was rejected by administrators who INSISTED on four early release days PLUS three DOs — Days Off. I’m going to keep my kids home for these days and urge all parents to do the same. Shame on our School Board for allowing our School In Need of Improvement to cheat the kids out of three days of education.
When Jack Paone wonders why we need so many NONTEACHING DAYS King Richard shrugs, “It’s in the contract.” I asked King Richard to address this matter in the just approved — and not yet funded – contract nearly two years ago. At that time, he said, “That is off the table.” I’m going to vote against the warrant to fund the new contract. If the teachers want more money, they are going to have to teach more.
If education is important to you, contact me. I’m going to organize an educational activity for each of the nonteaching days. I will post notices on DanvilleDelivery.com no later than one week after the NONTEACHING calendar is approved. We won’t be alone. One local newspaper has promised to join us. I will be inviting ALL local and regional news organizations to join us.
Second, I ask you to vote against the warrant that funds this contract. We must vote against all such warrants until the teachers agree to teach.
Please show your support for the children by joining me in voicing disapproval of our school district and its school board! There is no better place to voice disapproval than the deliberative session onThursday, February 4, 2010 at the PAC between the high school and the middle school. Bring signs. Unseal the Minutes is a good sign. Teach 180 Days is a good sign. The school’s camera won’t acknowledge you, but my camera will!
PS The guy that seems to throw up in his mouth everytime someone suggests teachers teach is Scott Strainge. I’m guessing the late starts were his idea. We have sent Scott to Hawaii SEVENTEEN times for the children. How many times has your family been to Hawaii in the last twenty years? For Free?
TRSD School Board Meeting 1/7/10
If you heard Charlie Balanoff express disappointment in the School Board’s dismissal of Budget Committee concerns regarding the bloated default budget and wondered what he was talking about, start watching this meeting at 40:00 minutes.
The Illegal Meeting
On 1/14/2010, the TRSD Budget Committee held a public reading of Mr. La Salle’s warrants. After the reading, three members held a meeting in violation of RSAs. During this meeting they scheduled a meeting for 1/19/2010. This meeting was held in violation of RSAs. I recorded the meeting. The duration was less than a half hour. During that half hour, the committee illegally cancelled another scheduled meeting, approved all of Mr. La Salle’s warrants, and approved an incomplete accounting of the 12/22/2009 meeting.
Most rubberstamped Mr. La Salle’s warrants. Here are the exceptions…
- Operating Budget: Charlie and Len opposed
- Teacher Contract: Len opposed
- Special Meeting to override the will of the voters should the teacher contract warrant fail: Len opposed
- $100,000 to capital reserve fund: none opposed
- Atkinson Kitchen Renovation: Charlie opposed
- Approval of 12/22 minutes: Mrs. Costa abstained and Len opposed
- 1/21/2010 meeting cancellation: Len opposed
- 2/11/2010 meeting cancellation: Mrs. Costa and Len opposed
Click the link to hear the meeting. Let me know if you would like to hear these meetings until such a time as the Budget Committee allows them to be broadcast.
There are seven elected budget committee members. Three want to return control of school budgets to the community. There are two openings. If there is a Scott Brown in Plaistow or Sandown, he or she can stop the bleeding by simply asking to serve. If we can fill both seats, the budget committee can begin to turn our schools around. Additionally, Danville and Plaistow have seats on the ballot in March. Anyone up for a write in campaign.
TRSD School Board Meeting 12/17/09
More budget talk including warrant articles, impact of teacher contract, surpluses, and ’selling’ the taxpayers. The meeting ends with the traditional nonpublic session to protect the reputation of an individual.
TRSD School Board Meeting 12/03/09
This meeting is must see for taxpayers. The teachers’ contract, district budget, and strategic planning are all on topic. Rob Collins, who supported supressing the annual report in order to save the planet, reports on the nextquarterly mailing of official TRSD junk mail. I’m going to mark mine return to sender. You should too.
TRSD School Board Meeting 11/19/09
Tuition Request Sandown resident Mrs. Cheryl Turner requested the school district pay the $6,750 high school tuition (over a two-year period) for her son to attend Pinkerton Academy. She explained that the $6,750 for four-year high school enrollment at PA is considerably less than the anticipated cost to attend the Timberlane Regional High School. The reduced tuition rate is an employment benefit as she is a PA staff member. Additionally, the AFJROTC program at PA would greatly benefit her son who Timberlane Regional School Board Meeting Minutes of November 19, 2009 aspires to become an Eagle Scout.
New Programs Pottery II, Intro to Game Programming, and Advanced Game Programming are among new class offerings.
2010 Budget Presentation
The District’s presentations are the second part of the budget process. In the first part, school board members and budget committee members are invited to tour the schools. These tours highlight recent accomplishments and near term needs. This year, the near term needs were minor. Part two is the budget presentation. The presentation is given on two evenings, is shown on TEN (cable TV), and made available on DanvilleDelivery.com. Key members of the administration and staff present their wish lists for the coming budget. This year, the amount asked for was $2,184,000 (vs $2,019,000 last year). This represents an increase of 8%. I think Mr. La Salle opened by noting that CPI was -3.5%, enrollment was down and projecting lower, and insurance and energy costs were lower than expected. If that is true, they are asking for double digit increases and reappropriated a significant amount of money. As I said, this is only part two. Once the second presentation is complete, the District will come to the Budget Committee with at least three pared down budgets. I expect the final budget will be flat or a little down.
Here are the slides from the two presentations…
Here are the recordings of the sessions…
2010 Budget Presentation Part I: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download 2010 Budget Presentation Part II: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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Concerned parent of two children in the TRSD school system who pays taxes and is not employed by -- or contracted to -- the town or the SAU...one of the Rest of Us