Hey. Just a quick note that there’s a full schedule of important meetings this week covering everything from school funding to the town’s budget and an opportunity to have your thoughts on education heard by leaders at the state level. Here’s a rundown:
- Tuesday evening, March 3, 2009 @ 7:30PM : School Committee meeting in the Community Room of the Chenery Middle School. There will be more discussion of the FY 2010 budget. Also listen for details on the negotiations over the Wellington School project and discussion of a possible merger/reallocation of students between the Burbank and Wellington schools (a hot topic right now).
- Wednesday evening, March 4, 2009 @ 7:30PM: Warrant Committee meeting in the Community Room of the Chenery Middle School. This will be a joint Warrant Committee and Board of Selectmen meeting to hash out issues around a possible Prop 2 1/2 override vote. There’s been much discussion about the size and purposes of such an override and when it should be put to voters. The larger the override, the better financial footing Belmont is in if it passes, but this is a very controversial issue. Folks who care about maintaining services or scared by the prospect of teacher firings and curtailed extra curriculars in the town are strongly encouraged to turn out and voice their support for setting Belmont on the path to fiscal stability!!!
- Thursday evening, March 5, 2009 @ 7:00 PM in the High School Auditorium: The Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, Mitchell Chester, will appear in the Belmont High School auditorium to hear input from school committee members and school staff and the general public on the following question: How can the state help local schools maintain education quality in the face of budget cuts without sending more money? Comments will also be offered by Tom Scott, Executive Director of the Masschusetts Association of School Superintendents, and Glenn Koocher, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. The forum has been arranged by Representative Will Brownsberger in collaboration with the Belmont School Committee and the Belmont Citizen Herald.
- Sunday, March 8, 2009 @ 6:30 PM, #5 Scott Road, Belmont. Belmont Stand For Children is hosting an information session to talk about steps that parents can take to support Belmont’s schools. This will be a fun and casual opportunity to meet other people in town who are concerned about education and school funding issues and talk about things we can all do to make a difference now. RSVP to masucci (at) post.harvard.edu by March 6th if you’ll be able to join us.
Please let me know if you have other events that you would like to inform Blogging Belmont’s readers about.