The School Committee has tacked on an extra meeting onto its calendar to address the pressing issue of funding Freshman Athletics at Belmont High School. The meeting will be held on Monday, July 12, 2010 between 6:00pm and 10:00pm in the Community Room at Chenery. Are we seeing the beginning of a grass roots revolution in public education…or just middle class parents with their backs to the wall? Time will tell.
Category: budget
First the anger, now the cuts
Clearly there was a lot of anger out there – and maybe the “YES” campaign misread it, or maybe there was nothing to be done. In an environment in which so many private sector employees are losing their jobs, maybe some folks will find it cathartic to fire some public sector employees, so their families can suffer, too. That’s a mean sentiment, but I don’t doubt it exists. As for the services those employees provide…there will be fewer of them. Like what, you ask? Well, school for one — Belmont High is shortening extracurricular courses from full year to half year — part of a trend that has seen BHS eliminate 19 class sections in just the last two years to try to live within budget constraints.
More town meeting liveblog
OK – I’ve been here for almost an hour so – just to catch you up: we’re moving through Article 4: the Budget appropriation after something of a slow wind up as the various committee and board heads provided preludes…
Town Meeting live blogging…
Getting up to speed… Well, its budget night at Town Meeting at long last. And, as any family who has sat down to do their books in the last year can attest – budgeting in the middle of a recession…
How we get over(ride)…meeting tonight
With a vote on a proposition 2 1/2 override due on the ballot on June 14, its time to get organized and make sure that the override passes. There’s an important meeting of the Warrant Committee, School Committee and Board of Selectman on Wednesday and an organizational meeting tonight for those interested in joining the campaign in support of a Proposition 2 1/2 override vote. Check it out!
Upcoming events: Community Dialog and state budget talk
Two events to put on your calendar: an October 13 chat with Massachusetts House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Murphy on the state of the State’s budget. Then set aside the evening of October 27 for an important Community Dialog on the future direction of the public schools.
Progress on P.I.L.O.Ts Monday Evening
The Board of Selectmen will hear a proposal from the Board of Assessors tomorrow night (Sept. 14) at 7:45pm regarding the Town’s tentative plans to seek Payment in lieu of Taxes (P.I.L.O.T) agreements from the many, large non profits that are located in Belmont.
Comparing stimulus plans: Great Depression vs. Great Recession
$38 million in federal stimulus funds for Belmont? You betcha! That was the value, in today’s dollars, of a town plan, approved by the federal government, to rapidly modernize Belmont after World War II.
Proposed MBTA service cuts could hit Belmont
Courtesy of Rep. Will Brownsberger’s Web site: The MBTA’s 72 and 78 bus routes could be discontinued and weekday and weekend service cut in half on remaining routes to help the agency balance its books. The T will hold public hearings to discuss possible service cuts in the coming weeks.
Proposed cuts from House, Senate would hit education hard
Proposed cuts to local aid and a variety of programs supporting public education programs could hit Belmont, and other towns, hard.