Budget Review is again on the table for tonight’s School Committee Meeting but there’s no agenda to post yet.  I’m sure there will be cheers about the Meals Tax vote but considering how much of the School Department Budget is based on wishes I don’t see the funds from the meals tax as a bonus – I see it as a band-aid.

I’m not sure I will be able to attend tonight’s meeting but I will certainly be recording it so I can relax and enjoy the long weekend with an iced coffee and hours of scintillating debate over the budget.  Where might I be this fine evening instead of City Hall?  Why I will be at Chuck E Cheese crocheting a blanket while my children spend time with their friends for Golden Hill’s Family Fun Night.  I looked at both events and decided taking the children to enjoy a night out trumped heading to City Hall – especially since we took the children to City Hall on Tuesday.

The School Committee finally posted their goals on the Haverhill Public Schools Website.  I’m not going to comment on all of them and there are some wonderful ideas in this document but a few things stood out:

5. Ensure a stable financial environment with a multi-year budget as presented by the administration.

I don’t know of any administration who can ensure financial stability considering the way schools are currently funded.  Every year the State provides less local aid, reduces the reimbursement for Circuit Breaker funding and debates the matter later and later into the year.  Federal funding is all in the form of grants and stimulus which have strict rules for how the money can be used.  The only guarantee currently out there that I can see is that each year will be worse than the one before it.

6. Create a school system and not a system of schools to ensure that all Haverhill schools operate as one concise, comprehensive system. This goal will result in better coordination, effective expenditure and utilization of human and financial resources.

Whomever wrote that rhetorical little gem about Haverhill being a system of schools and not a school system deserves to stand in the center of town and allow us to throw tomatoes at them.  This is dragged out every time someone talks about our schools and has become meaningless through overuse.  If the School Committee wants Haverhill Public Schools to become a school system then they must foster community and cooperation instead of pitting schools and families against each other for resources in each budget debate.  We need to have more city wide events to bring people together.  We need to stop thinking of ourselves in terms of what separates us and focus instead on the goals we’re all trying to accomplish – bring the best education possible to all of the students in Haverhill Public Schools.

9. Continue efforts to make Haverhill High School, our “Flagship” school, a school of Academic Excellence, with attention to updating Textbooks and educational resources, class size, communication, and discipline issues.

Having seen the budget this goal is unreachable.  With the limited number of classes for each section a greater number of students will be unable to participate at the level of Academic Excellence.  With the decimation of the “encore” programs our Classical Academy is in jeopardy.  With no money for textbooks or resources there will be no updating any time soon.  With the loss of our Resource Officers discipline issues will not improve.  With the class size projections approaching 40 especially at the higher grades I don’t see how that will foster Academic Excellence either.  The only flag on our High School Ship is the white one signaling surrender.

My vacation week did not go at all as planned and so here I sit on the Sunday before we head back to school with a to-do list which will not be finished in a very timely fashion and a cup of coffee in an attempt to make next week more productive.

Speaking of next week – I thought I would start with some upcoming events which I feel are important.

On Tuesday the K-2 students at both Crowell Elementary and Golden Hill Elementary will see the Tanglewood Marionettes perform Arabian Nights.  Last year the students at Crowell saw the Tanglewood Marionettes perform The Dragon King.  The children were not the only people in the room mesmerized by their performance.  After the play there is a Q&A session and materials are provided to teachers should they wish to incorporate anything from the performance into their lessons.

Wednesday, April 28th 2010, is the final Parent Academy of the 2009-2010 school year.  Do you know what your children are doing this summer?  Come to this Parent Academy Presentation for some great information about summer programs and hear helpful hints for getting your children ready for the 2010-2011 school year.  As always the presentation is free and so is the childcare and pizza!

Thursday is Parent Teacher Conferences!

Thursday is a Family Fun Night Fundraiser at Uno Chicago Grill to benefit the Golden Hill Elementary School.  If you’re looking for a dinner out consider chatting up someone from Golden Hill for an official Uno’s paper so that a portion of your bill will be donated to the school.  Remember drinks aren’t included so don’t try and boost your bill with a bar tab!

Thursday is another meeting of the illustrious Haverhill School Committee.  The agenda won’t be available until midweek but I’m betting this one will be just as contentious as the last.  Don’t worry I will be writing about the last meeting but I have a lot to wade through as that meeting was quite long!

Just a small note about the following week.  May 3rd to May 7th is Teacher Appreciation Week.  Regardless of how you may feel about the education system in Haverhill these are the people who are with your child day after day working to educate them despite the horrid economy and equally horrid climate on the School Committee.  If you’re so inclined – this is a great week to say thanks to those who have made a positive impact on your children.

I’m very glad I opted to go to Family Fun Night at Kreuger’s Restaurant to support the Crowell Elementary School instead of sitting in the audience at the School Committee Meeting feeling my blood pressure soar.  I’ve been watching the meeting in my spare moments since I faithfully recorded it on the DVR to watch over the weekend.

Listening to the dozen or so subcommittees assigned at the meeting there should be lots of great information coming before the committee over the next few meetings.  I’m not going to hold my breath.  I checked the board outside the city clerk’s office looking for sub committee meetings and saw none.

Then the committee started arguing about textbooks.  We’ve gotten a few large donations for books and to those who donated I say THANK YOU!  But I think the committee forgets how expensive textbooks really are!  Each book is $60 – $100.  The administration has a plan to purchase books for the students.  Unfortunately, to purchase enough books and materials in one subject each year to keep current on a 5 year rotation requires $1.25 million dollars each year.  So while $70k is a lot of money – its a fraction of the need and should not be overblown in the public’s eye for political posturing.

At one point in the meeting Mr Toohey announced that he and Mr Bevilacqua would be visiting schools to speak with the principals and to see the schools needs firsthand to have a better idea of what’s happening in each school before budget preparation.  Um yay!  But why haven’t they been doing this all along?  Seriously – how does one sit on a committee and oversee a school district and not actually go to the schools and have a working relationship with the principals of said schools?  And is this a one time visit or will the members of the committee actually be cultivating these relationships going forward?  The members of the committee like to bash Dr Buchanan for not getting them enough information to make educated decisions but these people cannot expect to be spoon fed every piece of information they need with no action required on their part.  Communication happens in two directions and the members of the committee must take it upon themselves to seek the information they require instead of merely complaining they don’t have it.

Towards the 9:30pm mark certain members of the committee began commenting on the lateness of the hour.  I dare say they drag these meetings out unnecessarily themselves.  I suggest having a rotation for members to say thank you to the presenters so that we don’t have six people weighing in with their 5 minute dissertation on how wonderful and life affirming their presentation was.  This would save half an hour for every presentation given and help the stenographer greatly!

We’re into February now and so far I don’t see the School Committee having improved in any measurable way.  I’m going to assume they need a settling in period for the new people and hope the meeting on the 11th brings good things.