Over 400 signatures handed in yesterday afternoon
The Town Clerk's office certified the 200 signature required to bring the $67 million Mega School back to Town Meeting for a second bite at the bitter apple.
The first time around it failed miserably and stands little chance of gaining the two thirds vote it needs to pass, since the meeting will be happening prior to the annual election (March 27) so the exact same Town Meeting membership will be voting on the exact same proposal.
The Select Board will meet Wednesday morning to confirm the Town Meeting date for the single article warrant so it will probably happen a day or two before February 1st.
28 comments:
We really should be focusing on new ideas to fix the schools. I don't see how the same proposal will get 2/3 votes in town meeting. We should be working on another plan.
Anon 625 you do realize it will cost more to renovate the schools then to build 2 new ones. Don't you?
I think it will pass this time
Why?
Myth: If we pass on the money now we'll be able to get right back in right away with only 2 to 3 year delay.
Fact: If we pass on the money now we get back in line with everyone else. The fastest a school district was invited back into the process for a school for the same grade level after turning down money was five years. This means it will take 8 years to get back to where we are now. Do we really want to wait 8 more years?
Myth: Only a small number of teachers want the new co-located schools with grade reconfiguration.
Fact: Over 160 educators from all three ES schools have signed a petition in favor of the proposed co-located schools
Fact: Any teacher with an IQ over 12 will sign any petition that her principal and superintendent ask her to.
This isn't just in Amherst but anywhere, although Amherst is less tolerant of diversity of opinions than most anywhere else.
Fact: This supposedly bifurcated MegaSkool is more asinine than the open-floorplan design of the 1970's. It's going to be a freaking nightmare in multiple dimensions, and we won't even get into how folks plan to get all those buses and MommieMobiles in & out of there...
We need to start over.
The number of school aged children in Amherst is declining.
65 Million (and all additional expenses) is too expensive for a town with little tax support from businesses fora building that is only used for half the year (180 days) In addition, the town has too many projects planned.
Placing first and second graders in two different schools makes no sense (separates materials, books, teachers and peers) and will disrupt reading acquisition for many children.
The planned two winged school really is one mega school (what happens when the fire alarm sounds)
Little outdoor play space (locating a play area in the middle of the bus circle is not a safe solution)
Dr Ed- Hopefully you know that men are elementary school teachers too
Fact: No principal or superintendent asked any teacher to sign any petition. Go away Ed. You don't know what you are talking about. The teachers sought out the petition so they could sign it. Unlike you Ed, I actually live in Amherst and know some of these teachers and know that they were VERY upset at the town meeting vote.
Ed, this has nothing to do with you. You are not an Amherst resident, nor even a Massachusetts resident.
So it's all about the money and getting it now, even though this is a bad proposal which burdens our youngest children with an extra transition, and forces every student to be bussed at some point. If this passes, I predict more children head to charter schools. I certainly will do it.
It's not just that, 8:07 -- there is a good chance the Title I and similar monies will become tied to specific children in the form of vouchers, with the ARSD losing far more than it does now. Two words: Betsy Devos...
The transportation logistics are a nightmare, even if they prohibit parents from picking up their children, which they will likely have to do, and the tragedy of Hunter Circle is why you do not want a double row of buses.
As to the petition, is there any difficulty determining who hasn't signed it?
Of course the teachers sought it out, they aren't stupid.
Now the question I ask is if the teachers are willing to put their money on the line -- are they willing to sign a 40-year contract with no pay increases? No, but they are willing to lock the taxpayers into one.
Folks, this is an asinine plan hatched by a quite incompetent Maria Geryk -- it's Maria's monument to herself. This is "throwing good money after bad" and something which you will be stuck with.
Well, if they head to charter school they won't be walking there.
Just say NO- this grade configuration and school design never gained the support it needs to move forward (red flags and warning signs were apparent over a year ago!)
Remember Chicken Little, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!" Do not be lured into this very bad idea. Worst for kids, next for taxpayers. Very good for complainers and alarmists and for those who do not pay Amherst taxes but choose to work or live here.
Ed is making many very valid points here. Try to listen. Those who seem to despise him for one reason or another, practice what I would believe you preach...TOLERANCE. Or is this just more hypocrisy spewing forth from your mouths (or fingers)?
Amherst needs to think wisely and rationally about building something like this. It should not be done hastily. Look what has happened with Wildwood and Fort River. Built in the early 70s and to the dismay and warnings of many at the time. I think they each cost only about 7 million. Do we really want to make the same mistakes again.
anon@8:31 PM:
Fort River is well into the queue. If FR is chosen, is there a reason why MSBA would not allow that project to take place at the WW site? The current plan proposed has lots of problems (1) expense (this would be the MOST expensive elementary school project in the entire State) (2) reconfiguation (3) the current building plan is too sprawly, leaving virtually no outside play space (why in the world wasn't 3 levels chosen?)
Why can't we just have two elementary schools (new school at WW site and CF)?
Mr Morris already stated at TM that the co-located plan would probably split kids N and S into each wing (so presumably socioeconomic factors are aligned ok in that split).
If we needed to add a modest wing to CF (2002 addition was 10 classrooms at about $5million), it would still be cheaper than the $64 million current price tag.
Don't bring up the preschool cuz we aren't even filling the current seats there with Amherst kids...
Anon 1157. This has not been done hastily. It was thought about for 3 years.
I ask you are you really willing to tell young families sorry but I don't like the plan so you just have to wait at least 5 years until we get to the same place we are in now. Then it will be another 3 years to build. Oh your child will be on to middle school by then? Sorry about that.
This is not a bad plan. Science labs anyone? Maker spaces? Classrooms filled with sunlight? Energy efficient? And on and on I could go. How about no more splitting up of families because one child has a special need that can only be met at Fort River while that child's sibling goes to Wildwood. Or Crocker. Are you ok with that?
Well, if they head to charter school they won't be walking there.
It's only a matter of time until towns become obligated to provide transportation to charter schools. Towns already are required to do this for Catholic Parochial schools and no one can explain the discrepancy.
And one thing about the MegaSkool -- no one has explained how you are going to have young children (i.e. 2nd Graders) walking into that school, across the path of buses that are turning, circling and whatnot. My guess is that they won't be allowed to.
I can see mandatory busing, and if your kid misses the bus, you're f***ed...
How about no more splitting up of families because one child has a special need that can only be met at Fort River while that child's sibling goes to Wildwood. Or Crocker.
Instead we split up ALL FAMILIES with something like 7 miles between 1st & 2nd Grade. This is not a good idea for a whole bunch of reasons.
1: If we can't juggle enrollment to enable all the children in the family to go to FR, Maria's Minions are even less competent than I thought they were.
2: There is a case to be made that the children should NOT all go to the same school. There is a natural tendenct to expect the siblings to be (unpaid) care providers for the SPED child, and that's wrong. In some cases, the child will benefit from not being in the same building.
Three other things:
1: If you have two "co-located" schools, you are going to have to have two principals -- and their respective staffs. If they truly are to be run as two different schools, you are going to have to duplicate all your support & enrichment staffs.
2: Even if the schools are fully segregated from each other, the children are going to enter & exit through the same doors & hallways. Imagine how much more messy the Aisha Hiza matter would have been if there had been two principals involved?
To which principal is an aggrieved parent supposed to go? Their child's principal, or the other child's principal? And don't think that each principal won't be telling the parents to go see the other one...
3: A building principal is like the captain of a ship, the person who is in charge and who is responsible. You can't have two -- someone has to be in charge.
Hence you are going to have to hire a Deputy Superintendent to supervise the two principals and be the person who makes all the buildingwide decisions -- such as conducting fire drills. And you know that this person is going to have to have a staff, etc...
Folks can claim "two separate schools" all the want, but the first time there is a budget crunch, this duplication will be eliminated to save teachers -- it will become one school.
Any savings in energy efficiency will be offset by the diesel fuel burned in the buses.
"Any savings in energy efficiency will be offset by the diesel fuel burned in the buses."
New in town? Saving (energy or tax payer's money) is not a concern of the Amherst Schools.
So what? Ed has the samd right we all have to post here. How about this: You go away. Ed's posts are far more interesting than your anti Ed screeds. Boring as they are.
Except in about five years all the busses will be electric
And where does the "electric" energy come from?
Exactly 9:57, the whole "Zero Emissions Vehicle" tag is totally false, but a great marketing ploy for these companies to make $$ off the Amherst crowd. On a similar thought, it's incredible the effective rate that the state and fed govt is paying for a kwh of electricity via the solar subsidies they pay out......it is on the order of 6-10 times the market rate for residential power because the energy density of the panels is so low compared to their cost.
If you've paid attention to the debate, the professor who funded SASS to the tune of 5K presented research that the impact of the pollution from the busses would impact rates of asthma; this outcome would be eliminated through the use of electric. The spice of the electric obviously doesn't impact this
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