Hush Money

Amherst Regional High School

The recent settlement with Carolyn Gardner that school officials refuse to release any details about is only the most recent example of tax money paid out to, presumably, right a wrong or make an individual whole again so they can get on with their life.

Somewhere other than the Amherst Regional Public Schools.

Over the past four years the Public Schools have paid their attorney Giny Tate $562,066, or an average of $140,516 per year for legal services.  And "Legal Settlements" cost the taxpayers $821,668 over that same time period or an average of $205,417 per year.

Thus legal activity taken as a whole cost taxpayers an average of $345,933 per year for the past four years.

   Amherst Public Schools Legal Costs by Larry Kelley

The report to the Regional School Committee is dated March 31 so FY15 was three quarters completed (ends June 30), thus the Carolyn Gardner settlement is not included.

 Chart composed by HR Director Kathy Mazur

A few years ago I requested all the (former) employees who were paid a settlement greater than $5,000 and was given a chart showing 13 individuals (between 2006 and 2013) paid a total of $367,427.

The Schools refused to release the names of the individuals or any further details even though the Secretary of State's Public Records Division clearly told them to do so. 

Back then I had figures but no names, today we have a name (Carolyn Gardner) but no figure.

Go figure.

We're #51!

Amherst Regional High School

Ever since websites discovered digital consumers love lists the "Top ten", "Top 100" and every odd number in between has become a standard cliche of publishing.

But for parents who take education seriously, the US News & World Report education ratings has been the gold standard for over a generation now.

Indeed, Amherst Regional High School coming in shy of the top 50 for Massachusetts is cause for concern.  Two other Western Mass schools came in higher, Greenfield (#43) and Palmer  (#49).

And in the most recent financials published by the state Amherst comes in a #35 for average (high) cost per student.

Click to enlarge/read

Educational Merger?

 

Amherst Regional High School

Starting with the school year September, 2018 if all goes according to plan, 7th and 8th graders will be home based in the Amherst Regional High School building while high school seniors will be taking college courses via dual enrollment in the (former) Middle School building located well within walking distance next door.

Kathy Mazur (left) addresses Regional School Committee

Last night an animated Director of Human Resources Kathy Mazur updated the 9 member Regional School Committee about the ambitious plan.  Both buildings are owned by the Region and are bound by the Regional Agreement signed by all four towns:  Amherst, Pelham, Leverett, and Shutesbury.

And according to their attorney Giny Tate, there's nothing in the Regional Agreement that precludes such a reorganization.

Amherst Regional Middle School

The plan involves a major collaboration with  Greenfield Community College, who will use the former Middle School building as a satellite facility in exchange for below market rate rent and offering Amherst Regional School students reduced rate college courses.

And the main niche they would fill is in vocational training.  In the upcoming fiscal year (FY16) the Region will lose 55 students to out of district vocational schools (mainly Smith Vocational in Northampton) at a cost to the Region of $18,000 per student or a total cost of $990,000. 

The High School was renovated/expanded in 1996 when enrollments were at a high water mark so the building is capable of handling 1,725 students.  Current enrollment in both Middle and High School is 1472 and five years from now is projected to be only 1,372. 

In the Fall (2015) Amherst Regional Public Schools will host an "Educational Summit" (facilitated by state Representative Ellen Story) to discuss strategies for dealing with education in 21st century with of course particular emphasis on this collaboration.

   ARPS Merger Memo

It's Only $

Amherst School Committee enduring the gauntlet known as Town Meeting

Considering the venerable Amherst Regional Public School system consumes the lion's share of the town budget, Town Meeting did not spend all that much time in discussion before overwhelmingly passing both the Regional Schools $30,022,840 budget or Elementary School's $21,869,835 budget.

Yeah you would think otherwise, considering $30 million here and $22 million there, pretty soon you're talking real money.

 Vince O'Connor being, well, Vince

Although leave it to Vince O'Connor to unleash the unorthodox by making a "Motion to Refer" the Regional School budget back to the Regional School Committee for further study.

Since the other three towns (Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury) had already approved the Regional budget it would be a moot point, as per the Regional Agreement any major action does not require unanimous support of all four towns, 3 out of 4 is close enough.

Vince seemed to think Superintendent Maria Geryk, who is appointed rather than elected, has too much power and is not being micromanaged properly by the elected School Committees.

He also expressed concern that the School Committees have not done enough to get payment out of UMass for the 56 students attending ARPS that emanate from UMass tax exempt housing.

His motion failed to get a majority vote by a fair amount.

The real problem with the public schools is two fold:  The exceeding high cost per pupil, averaging about $21,000 per student vs state average of around $15,000.

At $6,000 per student over state average that means the Amherst Public Schools, with 2,638 students, will cost taxpayers in FY16 an "extra" $15,828,000.

Ouch!

And because Amherst has such a high average cost per student when a Charter School attracts them away that is the amount the town is charged for losing a customer.  Sure the state formula is not overly fair, because Choice students are only valued at $5,000.

Thus if an Amherst student attends Hadley's Hopkins Academy we are only assessed $5,000, but if that same student attends the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School a mile away we are charged the full $20,000.

In the FY16 Amherst Public Schools will shoulder the burden for 155 students attending Charter Schools and at the Regional level an additional 55 attending Vocational Schools (at $18,000 each).


School Business Director Sean Mangano told Town Meeting last night that overall cost between Choice, Charter, and Vocational the Amherst Regional Public Schools lose around $2 million. 

Now factor in the 56 students attending Amherst Public Schools who live in UMass tax exempt housing and you have another $1.2 million that is not coming into the system.

 UMass Amherst is the #2 landowner and #1 employer in town

Can you imagine the outcry if there were 56 homes in Amherst each sending a child to the public schools that refused to pay their annual (exceedingly high) property tax bill?

With the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School expanding into a full elementary and secondary High School the costly prospects for losing additional students in the near future is pretty high.

If UMass would kick in their fair share maybe the Amherst Schools could afford programming that would better compete with Charter Schools and keep those valuable students in the ARPS system.

Although, Hopkins Academy -- with an under $12,000 per pupil average cost -- seems to be handling the Charter School exodus quite well.

                            
           

Smoke and Mirrors Savings?

Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee 4/28/15

The Amherst Regional School Committee spent the better part of two hours hearing a presentation and then discussing the financial aspects of expanding the current four town grades 7-12 Region all the way down to pre-Kindergarten.

The presentation assumed all four towns (Amherst, Pelham, Leverett, and Shutesbury) agree to expand the Region, a pretty BIG assumption, and the bottom line savings presented -- a BIG incentive it would seem -- came to $662,113.  Or did it?

 Powerpoint slide presented to RSC

Both the $300,000 in "Medicaid Reimbursement" and the $55,000 in "New Choice-In Revenue" is money that comes to the town of Amherst anyway, so it's not "new" revenue.  

Since the state does not reimburse non-regional entities for transportation costs the $286,695 in "New Transportation Reimbursement"  is indeed "new money." 

Even the $75,800 in "New Bonus Aid" comes with a caveat:  It's only for five years and diminishes over that time:

Year 1 - $75,800 

Year 2 - $60,640
Year 3 - $45,480
Year 4 - $30,320
Year 5 - $15,160

So when all is said and done the real savings in year one of Mega-Region (3,385 students) comes to $307,113 or less than $100 student on an average per pupil cost of over $20,000. Providing of course all goes according to plan and you can avoid Murphy's Law.

Representatives from Pelham and Leverett also presented testimony to the Regional School Committee that painted a desperate picture of their elementary school's current financial condition.

Chair of the Regional Agreement Working Group (and now Amherst Select Board member) Andy Steinberg echoed that gloomy scenario saying he is concerned that someday soon our partners in the current 7-12 Region will choose to support their stand alone elementary schools at the expense of the Region. 

Amherst beware: A major deal based on pity often goes astray. 

Hey UMass!

UMass Amherst:  Massachusetts flagship of higher education

As I pointed out on Friday students enrolled in the Amherst public schools emanating from UMass tax-exempt family housing costs Amherst taxpayers "over $1 million" annually to educate.  

Well now I have a more exact figure for number of students and their cost to the town:  56 students at a cost of $1,267,200.

Click to enlarge/read

Notice too that one student (at a cost of $18,200) does not even attend Amherst Public Schools, but that money still comes out of their budget for Charter reimbursement. 

Safe to assume that facts from this memo will be used by the Finance Committee in their report to Amherst Town Meeting concerning the school budget, so perhaps a long overdue discussion will take place about fair reimbursement from UMass for these serious costs.

The Amherst and Regional School Committees should also take a strong stand, and the Amherst Select Board should direct Town Manager Musante to use these figures to get a (much) better deal out of UMass in the next "Strategic Partnership Agreement" -- already almost three years overdue. 

High Cost Of Education (In A College Town)

UMass, with 27,569 total students, is Amherst's largest employer

"If in the future the town builds a new elementary school and vacates Mark's Meadow facility, the town Amherst Elementary Schools, ARPS and the University will negotiate a new agreement in which the University may reimburse the Town for a portion of the net cost of educating students living in University tax-exempt housing."

So declared the 2007 "Five Year Strategic Partnership Agreement" signed by Amherst Town Manager Larry Shaffer, UMass Chancellor John Lombardi and School Superintendent Jere Hochman.

That Strategic Agreement expired June 30, 2012 and a new multi-year contract has yet to be inked, even though Town Manager John Musante told the Select Board well over a year ago it was "very, very close."

The UMass campus generates 20% of Amherst Fire Department total call volume.  This year UMass will continue paying the annual $370,000 for AFD  (total budget $4.5 million) via the expired Strategic Agreement and another $80,000 for much needed extra EMS/fire staffing on weekends when school is in session (aka ambulance drunk runs).

By (embarrassing) comparison the University of Vermont with a total of only 12,000 students -- less than half the size of UMass -- paid Burlington, population 42,284,  $1.2 million in impact fees last year.  Or more than twice as much as UMass pays Amherst, population 38,819.

The town has not yet built a new elementary school -- although we're well on our way.   But we did, however, for budgetary reasons (saving $800,000) close Mark's Meadow Elementary School in 2009 and returned it to UMass. Yes, only two years after signing the 5 year Strategic Agreement that specifically talked about negotiating a new agreement should the town "vacate Mark's Meadow."

 It was even noted in the press release spun by the well funded UMass spinmeister PR department.

 Former Mark's Meadow Elementary School now undergoing major renovation

Currently the average cost of education per child in the Amherst Regional Public School District (grades 7-12) is $20,313 per student and for the towns three elementary schools an average of  $18,597.  State per student average is around $14,000.

 Town owned modular classrooms still sit on UMass property behind former Mark's Meadow school

Currently over 50 students attending Amherst public school system call tax-exempt UMass student housing their home ... or, just over $1 million dollars in educational service costs shouldered by Amherst taxpayers.

Let me repeat that:  JUST OVER ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

The upcoming FY16 Regional School budget, just to maintain "level services," required a $1 million cut resulting in the elimination of the equivalent of 16 full-time positions.

Let me repeat that:  A ONE MILLION DOLLAR CUT!

Do the simple but discouraging math: Time for UMass, our "partner," to pay up.

Do it for the kids.  Your kids!

UMass North Village, described as "family housing," is owned by Commonwealth of Massachusetts with an assessed value of $10.7 million. Thus, it would  pay $220,000 in property taxes this year IF privately owned

Boston Mayor plays hardball

Regionalization: Not Dead Yet

Regional School Committee last night

Unlike the strong skepticism expressed at their meeting two weeks ago, perhaps brought on by the mad rush to seek approval in time for this year's Town Meeting season, last night the Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee expressed optimism over the prospect of regionalizing the current grades 7-12 all the way down to preK through 6th grade.

Amherst School Committee member Rick Hood started off the one-hour discussion saying they should "keep working" on the project (after more than three years of committee work culminating with the Regional Agreement Working Group final report) especially if it allows a future "on ramp" for any town, like Shutesbury, who is not yet ready to make the leap.

In order for the educational expansion to happen all four towns via their Town Meeting must approve amending the current 60-year-old Regional Agreement but then one or two could vote not to join at the current time.

 RAWG member Kip Fronsh appeared at Public Comment period to lobby for Regionalization

Mr. Hood cited the $600,000 savings figure saying, "It's a big deal, if it's real."  A sentiment echoed later by other committee members.  Although Shutesbury member Steve Sullivan pointed out that financial projection "was old" and a study should be done for fresher figures.

Governance is still a major stumbling block with members expressing skepticism over a 13 member supersized Regional School Committee (7 from Amherst and 2 from each of the hilltowns).  Rick Hood suggested a RSC of seven member, four from Amherst and one each from Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury.

But other members thought that would be too much work and pressure on a lone town representative to the powerful new committee. 

RSC Chair from Pelham Trevor Baptiste said bringing financial sustainability to the Pelham Elementary School was his main objective but it was "debatable" if the money savings was worth it.  He liked the idea of district wide elections to the new super-committee because it would "reduce factionalism."

Amilcar Shabazz attending his final meeting via "remote participation" said confidently from Rick Hood's Mac computer:  "This can be done."

Committee Chair Baptiste then suggested for RSC meetings over the next year a major bullet point from the Regional Agreement Working Group report be put on the agenda for a 20 minute or so discussion.

And in the near future all three hilltown School Committees be invited in for a discussion. 

Marylou Theilman pointed out from the audience that it had been a good, long-overdue discussion but it was shame Amherst Media was not there to cover it, especially since a major criticism of the project has been the lack of public outreach.

The Chair, who has previously touted his respect for "transparency",  responded that maybe the reason the conversation/discussion went so well is because officials felt more comfortable without the cameras running.

Hmm ... 

Deeper Pockets?

Amherst Regional High School

I was a little surprised last week while perusing the town attorney "litigation update" to the Amherst Select Board at the half-way mark to the fiscal year, which ends July 1st.

A pleasant surprise was the number of litigation's and billable hours cost so far are pretty low. In Amherst when you lose a political fight before a board, committee, or Town Meeting the standard response is to "bring in the lawyers."

The town being named the main culprit in Carolyn Gardner's discrimination lawsuit, however, was an unpleasant surprise. I asked why and was told the town is on the hook because she taught a summer math course for the elementary schools, which come under town jurisdiction rather than the Region (Middle and High School), which is a totally separate legal entity.

Carolyn Gardner MCAD complaint names town first

Because a part-time summer job can't possibly entail the same responsibilities as her full-time job at the Amherst Regional High School, and since no incidents of discrimination are alleged to have occurred during that part-time summer job, it sounds like a stretch to me.

 But then, I'm not a lawyer.

Another unpleasant surprise is the town's insurance will not cover this kerfuffle, meaning both the billable hours for the town attorney or the payoff, err, I mean "settlement" to make the lawsuit go away.

Maybe her lawyers think the town, with its sterling bond rating, is a better target for a bigger payoff.  Since Amherst pays over 80% of the Region's budget maybe not such a big distinction.

Another MCAD complaint, more directly related to the elementary schools and therefor the town, also came as news to me.

Last year when it seems the Amherst schools were in a lockdown-a-day mode of operation, a Crocker Farm employee panicked when someone returned to the elementary school searching for a lost umbrella without signing in.

Now that Mr. Ortiz is running a write-in campaign for Amherst School Committee, perhaps we will hear more.

Although, probably not the best campaign platform.

Regionalization Round Up

Andy Steinberg, Katherine Appy, Alisa Brewer

Maybe it was the snow squall that hit about an hour before the scheduled 6:00 pm start or maybe parents were busy getting dinner on the table, but last night's turnout for the 1st public forum on school regionalization since the Regional Agreement Working Group issued their three-years-in-the-making final report was less than encouraging.  Way less.

In fact Amherst School Committee and wanna be candidates for same and Select Board members outnumbered parents or Amherst Town Meeting members, the main target demographic for the forum.

 Empty chairs outnumbered spectators

Amherst School Committee Chair Katherine Appy extolled the virtue of an "aligned" curriculum.  Currently when the elementary students from Leverett and Shutesbury hit the Regional Middle School at 7th grade it reportedly takes months "to get them on the same page".

Although Ms. Appy was careful to say they were not less fit as students.

Currently Superintendent Maria Geryk has to prepare reports/budgets for three different school districts:  Amherst and Pelham elementary grades and the Region grades 7-12.

Each district requires 110 reports or 330 total.  Blending them all into one region would reduce those state mandated reports by two-thirds.

The 7-12 Region is comprised of four independent towns -- Amherst, Pelham, Leverett, Shutesbury -- all of them proud of their non-aligned elementary schools.  Thus they are like Greek city states prior to the Persian invasion.  Happy with their ethnocentric independence.

Andy Steinberg presented the economic argument which he described as "A lot harder to explain."  The first year of full regionalization would only see a 2% savings and that's probably a best case scenario.

Savings come from state regional transportation reimbursement and two towns -- Leverett and Shutesbury -- breaking free of their current Union alliances with other districts.  But those savings are pretty much offset by teacher pay increases for bringing their elementary teachers up to the current pay scale of the Amherst Region.

Steinberg worries that with revenues not keeping pace with expenditures, two of the partner towns may someday vote down their assessment for the Regional 7-12 budget in order to help fund their elementary operations.  The Regional Agreement requires 3 of 4 towns approval to pass the budget.  

The Regional Agreement also requires unanimous approval in order to amend it.  All four Town Meetings would need to approve the newly expanded Region, after the Regional School Committee has supported the idea with a two-thirds vote.

Shutesbury has already all but declared a "NO" vote, which alone kills the idea.  Since they could vote yes to allowing the region but then vote no to joining it, why would they spoil the parade for other three towns?

Probably because they fear the newly expanded Region would not be as cost effective as advertised and would lead to an increase in their grades 7-12 assessment, which is hard enough to pay under current conditions.

Last night Katherine Appy was vague as to whether the Regional School Committee would even come to an official vote at their upcoming March 10 meeting.

And with their next scheduled meeting after that not until April 14 -- too late to get the issue on  Town Meeting warrants in all four towns -- March 10 is pretty much do or die.

Or I should say, do or delay.  

Can You Hear Me Now?

Amilcar Shabazz remotely peering over Maria Geryk's shoulder

The Amherst Regional School Committee is starting to get it when it comes to all things digital. 

Last month they voted unanimously to allow legal notice of meetings with agendas to be posted to the district website rather than the clunky physically post by hand in all four towns. 

And last night the RSC also voted unanimously to allow "remote participation" so lame duck member Amilcar Shabazz could participate and vote in the surprisingly newsworthy meeting. 

Like the posting to the website, it is a blanket vote that will allow any member to use remote participation from now on as long as they give the Chair some advance notice.

Surprisingly for a town dominated by committees, boards, and working groups, remote participation has not been used.  These days Skype, Facetime , or Google+ Hangout is just as good as being there.  Well, almost.

The Jones Library Trustees did use it once, sort of, for Carol Gray four years ago when she was in Egypt.  But it was prior to the Attorney General ruling it okay, so she was not allowed to participate in the meeting or vote, just observe.

Regionalization Train Wreck

Amherst Regional School Committee all 9 members (including one by remote participation)

Even before the Amherst Regional School Committee could get to the official agenda item scheduled for 6:20 to discuss the 3.5 years in the making Regional Agreement Working Group report, RAWG member Michael DeChiara dropped a bombshell during "public comment", telling the committee he would not support the proposal and would be telling his Shutesbury constituents to vote it down.

Michael DeChiara, Maria Geryk (Amilcar Shabazz above her), Michael Morris

All four towns in the Region -- Amherst, Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury -- must vote yes in order to change the 50+ year old Regional Agreement, to allow for the region to extend from the current 7-12 all the way down to include elementary level pre-K through 6th grades.

When the Regional Committee then started discussing the RAWG proposal Shutesbury representative Stephen Sullivan echoed DeChiara's concerns and clearly said he would vote no.

Parent and Town Meeting member Janet McGowan told the committee the public outreach on Regionalization has been nonexistent

Amherst representatives were also less than impressed:  Lawrence O'Brien said he "had concerns", Rick Hood said it was "not ready", Kathleen Traphagen did not see any "compelling educational case" and the disembodied voice of Amilcar Shabazz (using remote participation) could not have been any more clear:  "Put a stop on the school attorney from doing any more work on this matter.  Moving in this direction now should be Dead On Arrival."

Kathleen Traphagen

Katherine Appy was the lone member of the entire 9 member Regional School Committee to speak in favor of the idea.  The RSC is scheduled to vote on this Regionalization proposal at their next  meeting, March 10.

Since it involves amending the Regional Agreement it will require a supermajority two-thirds vote.  Had the vote been taken at this meeting it certainly looked like it would be 8-1 against. 

Rick Hood said they should continue to move forward with the public forums (March 3 for Amherst ) but the timeline for all four towns to vote an the agreement should be pushed back until spring, 2016.

It has already been 3.5 years for this particular regionalization agreement and some members mentioned previous attempts date back 40 years or more, so what's another year.  

Not overly crowded audience in attendance

First Amendment Warrior

Calvin Terrell, Social Justice Warrior

Yes I did feel a bit like the school kid squealing to a higher authority about an altercation on the schoolyard that left you fuming, even a couple days later.

The Chair of the Regional School Committee, Trevor Baptiste, did not seem to initially understand my complaint with School Superintendent Maria Geryk.



Obviously she did not pay the woman to snatch my iPhone (last words, "no videotaping" is Maria Geryk) but she did give verbal commands -- before and after the incident -- declaring a ban on videotaping.

And the Superintendent did not seem overly concerned about the physical nature of the altercation brought on by her edict. 

To ban journalists from recording an event should always make you wonder:  what is it they don't want you to know?

Masslive reports (as usual Comments are the best) 

Flashback

Worth Tweeting About?

Amherst Regional Public School Twitter account

One of the sillier ideas floated at last night's Amherst Regional School Committee meeting is to rely on Twitter as an official "repository" for questions and information dissemination concerning the controversial Regionalization effort expanding the current 7th - 12th grade four-town Region all the way down to Pre-K through 6th grade.

Yes, in this digital age two-thirds of Americans use Social Media but only about 16% are on Twitter.  Facebook is still the king, with well over half of all Americans participating.

The Amherst Regional Public School Twitter account, with 261 followers, does not have a stellar following of parents/guardians considering the total enrollment at ARPS is 1,441 students -- over five times that.  (And presumable a fair number of students have two parents or guardians.)

Maria Geryk does not have a Twitter account, but there is a parody account

And unlike Facebook, with Twitter there's a 140 character limit per tweet, which kind of limits complicated discussions.  Although Twitter is absolutely awesome for breaking news.

Interestingly, one of the many complaints the Regional School Committee heard last night during "Public Comment" came from Janet McGowan concerning transparency and public outreach over this important, expensive endeavor, which one RSC hilltown member aptly described now as a "race to Town Meetings."

Regional School Committee Embraces Digital

Amherst Regional School Committee

The Amherst Regional School Committee voted unanimously this evening for the "alternate posting" option allowed under Open Meeting Law for regional entities to post legally required meeting notices on the ARPS regional website rather than individually in all four towns that make up the region.

The RSC has run afoul of the posting requirements having to cancel  meetings at the last minute because they were not properly posted in Pelham where the Town Clerk only works one day per week.

Member Katherine Appy wanted to delay tonight's vote until their next meeting because the Attorney General letter finding the RSC in violation of Open Meeting Law was not included in the packet for tonight's meeting, even though it had been distributed at their 12/8 meeting.

The AG found found in favor of a Open Meeting Law complaint filed by a former member, Tom Flittie, over the July 14 meeting called by then Vice Chair Trevor Babtiste.  The meeting was legally posted in all four towns but then Amherst pulled down the notice at the request of then RSC Chair Lawrence O'Brien.

Other members pointed out the AG finding the committee in violation due to posting protocol was all the more reason to vote in favor of it now so that the streamlining could begin immediately.

Appy reversed course and said she would vote in favor as long as the RSC took up discussion of the Attorney General's finding at their next meeting.

And Justice For All?

Maria Geryk introduces Calvin Terrell to the crowd of about 100- 125 Middle School parents/guardians and a few hand picked students

No tears were shed, nobody puked and professional counselors were not required as "social justice" speaker extraordinaire Calvin Terrell paid a return visit to the Amherst Regional Middle School -- the scene of the crime -- to "reenact" his October 2nd routine that terrorized far too many impressionable young students.

This time around school officials told parents to keep their children at home, kind of like cops separating two partners in crime during questioning so they can't compare notes.

Although nine ARHS students, all members of IGET (Inter-Generational Equity Team), were trotted out to the front of the room to tell the crowd why they are "warriors".

ARPS Superintendent Maria Geryk, the highest paid public official in Amherst, announced at the outset that no video recording was allowed (while looking directly at me).

 Calvin Terrell displays a t-shirt from a racist group in his home state of Arizona

Over the course of the first two hours the affable Terrell put on a good show that was a cross between a pep rally and a religious tent revival meeting.

 Audience stands for one of many interactive exercises

But the last half hour became a bit more somber as he reenacted the "visualization" exercise that was the most traumatic aspect of his controversial October 2nd presentation.

He told the attentive audience that this would be the "exact same way I did this with your kids."

He asked us to close our eyes and envision heading into our school on a cool October night holding the soft hand of a five year old girl, with our most beloved adult accompanying us, walking on our left.

Suddenly people are running, shots are fired, and we're understandably scared and confused.

A man near us pulls a gun of his own and says he's going to end this, but he's cut down by the shooter who is yelling things indicating he had been bullied.  Another shot rings out, only this time it's the police doing the shooting and the perp is neutralized.

He then pauses ... and you can almost see the Hollywood-like cut to a new scene which he describes as a room in a funeral home with two coffins, one of them for a child.  It's a closed coffin because the child was shot in the face with the resulting damage too great for the mortician to repair.

We then take a brief break and he asks everyone to check on the persons sitting next to them to make sure they are emotionally okay.

But in the October 2nd version I heard from a half-dozen Middle School students (one of them my daughter)  there was a much closer more graphic visualization of the shooter killing the 5-year-old girl and your most beloved adult right in front of you while you helplessly watched in sheer horror.

No wonder they didn't want this talk recorded.

Terrell also made snide remarks about men who dress "in Brooks Brother suits and work in tall buildings" yet he claims the reason he doesn't want his talks recorded is to protect his intellectual property, which generates a decent income.

In this case $38,000 for ten visits to Amherst.  So even if tonight was "free," it was done to protect his $38,000 contract.  Kind of like a restaurant giving you a free meal because the one you paid for previously gave you salmonella.

 Calvin Terrell:  As photogenic as he is smooth talking

As I was taking video at the outset of the meeting (and no, I was not going to video the entire 2.5 hour presentation) a woman sitting behind me suddenly snatched my iPhone, reminding me that it was against the rules.

I was sitting in the front row seat of the PUBLIC Middle School auditorium, the same seat I have occupied over the past 24 years as an Amherst Town Meeting member.  It was well below freezing tonight so keeping the auditorium warm (and lit) cost the taxpayers a few dollars.

And this event was sponsored and promoted by the Amherst PUBLIC schools to try to atone for the October 2nd mishap that was widely covered in the local media.

Social Justice does not trump the First Amendment.




Editor's note: To her credit the woman who grabbed my Iphone did apologize to me; as did Calvin Terrell to the audience late in his reenactment for having upset some students at the original October 2nd presentation and badmouthing the town after the controversy erupted in the media. 

ARPS: Sinking Ship?

Amherst Regional High School dealing with a cold reality

If ever a chart starkly demonstrated the treacherous waters that lay ahead for an education organization, this would be it:

Click to enlarge/read

Now keep in mind when a student is stolen away from a pubic school via Charter or Vocational Schools it costs the District the full amount of their average cost per student, which in Amherst is extraordinarily high.  This current Fiscal Year ARPS broke the $20,000 barrier, compared to state average of $14,000.

Less costly are the students who leave via "choice" for another public school at only $5,000 per student. But add them all up and it comes to a whopping $540,000 carved out of the FY16 $30 million operation budget. Yikes!

 PVCICS Death Star addition

The Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School looms as the Death Star, expanding into a full high school with a gleaming new building to show for it. In just the past two years PVCIC has gone from 68 ARPS students up to 83 for the upcoming FY16 year. Double yikes!

Interestingly before the Chinese Charter School was founded the Amherst Schools had the opportunity to offer their Chinese language curriculum via the same founders who were rejected by public school officials, so they went off and opened their own Charter School.

Amherst Public School officials are now considering a major reorganization by "repurposing" the Middle School building, which currently houses 7th and 8th grade.

 Administration report to Regional School Committee

The Regional Assessment Working Group, who are recommending their own major reorganization by having the four-town Region expand all the way down to pre Kindergarten through 6th grade, spent a lot of time discussing the "repurposing" of a building.

 Amherst Regional Middle School ... mothballed?

The RAWG Final Report states:

"The law is not entirely clear about whether such decisions are matters of educational policy (School Committee domain) or administrative operations (Superintendent).  To the extent that decisions are within the purview of the superintendent, the RAWG recommends that there will be a lengthy and open process before the use of a school is changed." 


Either way let's hope school officials take to heart the concept of a "lengthy and open process," something the RAWG certainly has not demonstrated over their three year tenure. 

Regional School Report Ready (Almost)

Regional Agreement Working Group 7:05 PM

After three l-o-n-g years of mostly under-the-radar meetings, the Regional Agreement Working Group voted unanimously last night (11-0 with 1 absent) to support the draft report to the Regional School Committee outlining the purported benefits of e-x-p-a-n-d-i-n-g the current four town Region (grades 7-12) all the way down to Pre-K through 6.

The 12-page sales pitch extols standardization of curriculum, time savings for the Superintendent who will no longer have to deal with three separate budgets & School Committees, and better efficiency in assigning students to schools without regard to town boundaries.

But cost savings is pretty far down on their list of reasons, citing only a 2% overall savings for the Region as a whole (And that is probably based on everything going perfectly, which things never do).

   RAWG Final Report Draft

A few minor tweaks were voted to this draft

The final report will be discussed at the upcoming January 13 Regional School Committee meeting as RAWG member Trevor Baptiste, who is also Chair of the RSC, said he has set aside 30 minutes on the RSC agenda for the presentation.

School Superintendent Maria Geryk handed out a draft "timeline" that shows the Regional School Committee voting on the matter at their March 10th meeting where it will require a two-thirds vote to pass.

Then it will be up to the four member towns -- Amherst, Pelham, Leverett, and Shutesbury -- to pass at their annual spring Town Meetings two questions:  Should the Regional Agreement be amended to allow for this new expanded Regional entity?  And if this new entity is allowed to form do we wish to join?

Interestingly enough, Amherst, who makes up the vast majority of the Region, will only vote the first question because in the body of the amendment it states that the new Region can only be formed if Amherst and one other town decide in favor.

But if even one of the other three towns votes No to the first question the issue is dead, because to amend the current 50+ year old Regional Agreement all four towns have to vote yes.

The only two Amherst residents in attendence last night both spoke about the lack of transparancy and outreach to the citizens of Amherst over the past three years, and another spectator, Dan Hayes from Shutesbury, complained, "I've had no information or input over the years, even though I requested it -- and I'm a school committee member!"

It is odd of course that this process has dragged on for over three years with little to no public relations efforts and yet now they want it voted up-or-down within the next four months.  

Regional Agreement Working Group 9:45 PM