Category: schools

Stand for Children: supporting Belmont’s schools from the grassroots

Going into 2009 Belmont’s schools are facing a tough budget crunch, and this is a great time for Belmont parents and supporters of the schools to get involved….Stand for Children is in the early stages of establishing a Belmont chapter, and we are looking for committed people to join the chapter and make a difference for Belmont kids.

Meet candidates for new School Superintendent this week!

According to a notice posted on the Town’s Web page (but otherwise not publicized), the four candidates will be available to answer questions in a public forum two days this week and two days next week. This is your best chance to vet the candidates for Superintendent!

School Committee narrows Superintendent search to four

While all the finalists seem to be solid contendors, a couple stand out (at least on paper).

The high costs of doing nothing

The town’s older schools are going to require capital investments that are 10x to 20x greater than the one new school (Chenery) in the next few years…and these are just the repairs that we know about.

Grim projections on school funding in ’10

Forced to reduce School Dept. spending by $2.8m in the next school year, Belmont’s public school system would be forced to make drastic cuts to staffing, materials and programming in 2010, according to a presentation by current Superintendent Dr. Pat Aubin and finance director Gerry Missal.

School Committee weighs budget, other issues

After a long hiatus that included the Thanksgiving holiday and a trip to Moscow, I’m back and sitting in on Tuesday evening’s omnibus School Committee meeting, at which a number of issues are being tackled, including plans for a new…

Update: Important meetings on school budgeting start Tuesday

NOTE: The School Committee Meeting has changed locations. It will be held tonight (Tuesday) at 7:30 PM in the Wellington Elementary Music Room, not the Community Room at the Chenery, as indicated on the SC Web site. Those of you…

Election Night: Question 1 goes down big

It’s shaping up to be a big night for the Democrats, but folks on both sides of the aisle are breathing easier in Massachusetts, as Question 1 went down BIG on election night. While all the votes haven’t been counted,…

Opponents: Question 1 would sap $11.2m from Belmont

One of the interesting revelations…is what a vicious spiral we would find ourselves in, were Question 1 to pass. Why? Because so much of the federal aid we receive is contingent on the level of state aid…As we slash programs to try to shrink our budget, we will also watch federal dollars being sucked out of state and back to Washington D.C., leaving Massachusetts poorer and more desperate than ever.

94% of parents opt for full day kindergarten

This is somewhat old news, but given BloggingBelmont’s long running coverage of the push by parents in town for a  Full Day Kinergarten program, I thought it was worth calling readers’ attention to a little noticed factoid from a recent BCH article…