Community spirit was alive and well on the Amherst town common as a couple hundred folks turned out for the First Day Celebration, a community party commemorating the first day of school tomorrow. Parents seemed happier than their school aged children.
Thursday UPDATE:
Bad start for #Amherst Crocker Farm Elementary School. Unleashed, unidentified dog bites 2 kids on playground. http://t.co/CSTw33A2Dh
— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) August 28, 2014
School Superintendent Maria Geryk introduced all the principals in the Amherst Regional Public School System and Town Manager John Musante welcomed the crowd as part of the new town/schools Amherst Together initiative.
Carol Ross, John Musante, Maria Geryk . All we needed was WHMP radio
Sam The Minuteman greets Ultimate Frisbee members
UMPD mounted patrol brought Miranda
AFD Ladder 1 towers over the Middle School chorus
If I were a child, I wouldn't be at all thrilled about going back to THAT school system. Not unless I was armed and wearing Kevlar.
ReplyDeleteIt's only a matter of time until something really nasty happens.
And as this has now both been filed *and* made the press, I can mention it: Louisiana is SUING the US Dept of ED over Common Core!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/27/bobby-jindal-sues-obama-administration-common-core/14677085/?utm_source=Jindal+Common+Core+PR+Aug+27+2014&utm_campaign=Common+Core+Date+June+26+2014&utm_medium=email
And no riots or arrests? Ed Davis is a miracle worker.
ReplyDeleteIs Masslive compensating you for all the stories they are getting from your blog these days, including the dog at Crocker Farm news?
ReplyDeleteThat Masslive article is a bit of a mess, btw. The first sentence after the headline doesn't even include your name, just referring to you as town meeting member and mentioning this blog.
It is kind of funny that I carry more weight as a "town meeting member" rather than a digital journo.
ReplyDelete"And no riots or arrests? Ed Davis is a miracle worker.'
ReplyDeleteLarry -- I didn't know that the ARHS students were involved in the Barney Blowout....
police were contacted, who, in turn, "actively tried to make contact with the dog owner."
ReplyDeleteUmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......
You have got to be kidding.
We have turned our schools into locked fortresses (or prisons), complete with prison-like "lockdowns" and all the rest.
And yet some unknown person and said unknown person's dog can get close enough for the dog to physically bite two children and the best you can do is have the police try to contact that person afterwards?!?!?!?
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!?!?!?!
If you can get close enough for your dog to bite two kids, you can get close enough to kidnap one child -- or shoot the whole bunch of them.
Now school shootings, while horrific, are quite quite rare. On the other hand, the kidnapping of 4th & 5th Graders -- unfortunately not so rare. That sort of thing does happen enough to have to worry about it.
(Not to mention that dogbites are taken rather serious in Massachusetts, and for good reason. Did the dog have a current Rabies vaccination???)
How the hell can a dog come strolling in to where the children are playing? Don't they have a fence around the playground? Gates that are shut and/or some other sort of access control? I'm not talking Concertina wire and landmines here, but a basic 6 foot chain link fence was considered common sense 40 years ago....
How the hell did the dog get that close to those children?
I know we are dealing with Team Maria, but even still....
How the hell can a dog come strolling in to where the children are playing? Don't they have a fence around the playground?
ReplyDeleteNo, this particular playground is an enormous multi-acre field with soccer fields, playground equipment, basketball courts, etc., that abuts walking trails in the woods and paths to residential neighborhoods. But it seems that the dog is not from the neighborhood. It seems like the dog's owner was not present either but someone else from another part of town maybe was with the dog, but I heard they skedaddled quickly.
The dog appeared out of the woods when my kid's class went out for recess. The dog immediately charged my son. He gave it a few scratches behind the ears, so the dog went over and bit the two girls. You gotta give 'em pets.
...abuts walking trails in the woods..."
ReplyDeleteNow what could possibly go wrong?