High Cost of Education

ARPS administration costs last year: 60% over state average

Amherst schools consume the lion's share of town tax money with the vast majority of that funding labor costs.  The Region's salary database shown below does not include paras, clerical or AFSCME staff members, all of whom are paid hourly.  The salaries shown also do not include associated costs of employee benefits.

With Amherst officials on a head long rush to regionalize with our Hilltown partners all the way down to kindergarten (currently only the high school and middle school are in the region) the key question for Amherst taxpayers is, will this lower our education system's high average cost per student, or drive it even higher?

And the corresponding key question for the Hilltowns is, will giving up your autonomy also increase your current cost to educate children in your stand alone current system.

 2011

Amherst Elementary Schools Average cost per student $17,116 vs state average $13,361. Admin cost per student $735 vs state average $447

Leverett Elementary School: Average cost per student $15,382 vs state average $13,361. Admin cost per student $710 vs state average $447

Pelham Elementary School: Average cost per student $14,926 vs state average $13,361 Admin cost per student $478 vs state average $447

Shutesbury Elementary School: Average cost per student $15,612 vs state average $13,361. Admin cost per student $767 vs state average $447

ARPS payroll using Google Docs

ARPSPayInformationFY13_9-12

Public Safety First

Celebrate Amherst Block Party banner, also in the downtown

In the past 24 hours I've received two emergency  reverse 911 calls, one from the town health department warning residents to stay indoors after dark, and just now from School Superintendent Maria Geryk cancelling all after school sports until October 1st,  all because Amherst is at "high risk" for mosquito-borne illness.

UMass/Amherst has also just now cancelled all nighttime outdoor activities.
  
So it really makes no sense for the town and Business Improvement District to move forward with the "Celebrate Amherst Block Party" scheduled for tomorrow night 6:00 PM until 10:00 PM outdoors, in the downtown, on a warm late summer evening.

Since the reverse 911 calls have probably reached a majority of households in the region (the schools encompass Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury) attendance will surely suffer. And if anybody should contract a mosquito borne disease after attending the event, a lawsuit could be costly.

And that's nothing to celebrate.

Public Safety Pressured

 Ambulance runs account for the vast majority of calls for help

Amherst Police and Fire Department's are swamped on weekends as the returning students have brought with them a boatload of work for our first responders.  Both departments will have extra personnel on weekends for the rest of the month (although for APD the weekend starts with "Thirsty Thursdays").

Last weekend, in spite of having 11 full time professional firefighters on duty so all five ambulances could be staffed (up from the normal weekday number of seven firefighters, three ambulances), we still needed to call for mutual aid very early Saturday morning because of the high number of ETOH (alcohol poisoning) cases at our institutes of higher education.

Not only did AFD require reinforcements for an ETOH UMass student via mutual aid ambulance, they also required a second mutual aid ambulance for a serious fiery car accident on South Pleasant street that injured two occupants at 12:36 AM Saturday morning.

That's the problem with these nuisance ETOH babysitting runs to Cooley Dickinson Hospital:  they tie up local  resources so that when a sudden serious life threatening emergency occurs, valuable time is lost awaiting a mutual aid ambulance from another town. 

AFD 9:7:12 Weekend

Scenes From A Sad Day

The Lord Jeff Inn had a commemorative flag at half staff
Dump Truck loaded with flags parked in front of Town Hall all day

A flag bearing all the names of casualties that day

APD and AFD come to attention for the ringing of the bells

Town officials, Ellen Story, and just regular folks

Had to get a second angle, with town flag at half staff in background

Amazing Grace.  Republican Photographer Michael Beswick did not start work officially till 4:00 PM, but came to cover 9:45 AM fire department ceremony

Caravan of trucks, jeeps, Harley Davidson's all with flags flying roared thru town repeatedly in the late afternoon, doing a circuit between downtown and UMass

Last year, on the 10th anniversary, another Springfield MassLive photographer, Greg Saulmon, came and took this photo

This morning, 9/12, the Lord Jeff went back to their pre-9/11 no flag status.  To polarizing I guess Fellow

Amherst resident and blogger Tom Porter's take

Remember

 Commemorative flag and state flag on Amherst Town Hall

Despite the Amherst Select Board ignoring my plea last night to allow the 25 remaining commemorative flags to fly today in the downtown, at least two of the original 29 flags that ended up returning to their perch eleven years ago on a brilliant day much like today, will indeed fly.

After a slew of negative publicity eleven years ago the town commandeered one of the flags and started flying it 24/7, 365 days a year (like the big flag on the town common and police and fire stations) attached to a turrent in Town Hall.

Last week that American flag was joined by a state flag.

And I will be standing in town center with one of the original commemorative flags given to me by the Veterans Agent eleven years ago, the one I flew over Ground Zero on December 1, 2001 and later had flown over the capital building in Boston and Capital Dome in Washington, DC -- one of the targets of the hijackers that awful morning.

However you grieve, grieve for the 2,977 innocent citizens slaughtered that horrible, horrible day.

God and Party Houses

186 College Street owned by Stephen Gharabegian

Threats of a tornado on Saturday night with high winds, rain and generally darker cooler conditions predominating, combined with an urgent sounding "stay indoors" alert from the Amherst Health Department became a "cops best friend" to help somewhat mitigate riotous partying on prime time Saturday night.

Thank God!

It was sooooo quiet, at one point just before midnight,  I had to check my scanner to make sure it was on. 

Based on Friday night's activity, had Saturday presented the same fair weather party conditions this past weekend could have set a new record, perhaps even exceeding the debauchery of the "Blarney Blowout" weekend last spring.

Even so, the party house of the weekend goes to a late Saturday night "storm-be-damned" usual suspect at 186 College Street, scene of an infamous incident only last winter that resulted in the temporary condemning of the building for safety reasons.

According to Amherst Police logs (1:50 AM):

Loud techno music with lights coming from 186 College Street.  Uncooperative party goers verbally abusive to officers.

Arrested for noise:
Newman Galati, 1 old main Rd, N Falmouth, MA, age 20
Alan Momprousse, 237 Cummings Hgw, Roslindale, MA, age 19
Hali Cataldo, 109 Fairmount Ave, Saugus, MA, age 20
Juan Charry-Steevens, 22 Dale St, Peabody, MA, age 21

#####

Sean Micheli, 21 Park St, Malden, MA, age 21 arrested for noise and resisting arrest

And yes folks, that makes five of them cited for noise.  APD usually only cites residents of the household which means the town's unrelated housemates bylaw (limit of four) is also being violated.

Ownership record for 186 College St, Amherst

 175 College Street Friday night 11:30 PM

On Friday night just before midnight in front of 175 College Street (busy route 9),  traffic was brought to a standstill as taxis unloaded students to join other "uninvited guests" by the hundreds crashing a party, broken up by APD, who had to dodge thrown bottles and cans, soon after this photo was taken (wonder what's in the backpack?).

According to Detective Dave Foster, who was on the scene, it required 11 cops a half hour to quell the disturbance.  One of the tenants was issued  noise and nuisance house tickets ($600 total).

 175 College Street, this morning

APD narrative

Meanwhile over on Phillips Street around the same time Friday night:

T-I-M-B-E-R!

The historic old North Amherst trolley barn, compatriot to my next door neighbor, the Amherst DPW and their beloved "barn", did not survive the attempt to offset a recent major tilt and came crashing down like the Flying Wallendas circus pyramid act gone wrong.

Distorted like a giant alien Halloween mask

Conspiracy theorist instantly set to wonder, however, since the owner, Cinda Jones, wished to demolish it a couple years ago but was prevented by a one year "demolition delay" order of the Amherst Historical Commission.

 All that remains is the view

The public safety hazard it presented was the main reason she cited for the demolition, as it could suddenly fall and do collateral damage.  Like this for instance:




That demolition order expired July 28th, thus Ms. Jones was free to demolish it that very day, kind of like what Amherst College did with an old fence around one of their historic houses on college street. Now it will cost even more to dispose of the remaining rubble.

Historic preservation is a worthy, noble endeavor that dates back almost to the founding of our great nation (plus fifty years of course).  But property rights -- "A man's home is his castle"-- dates back to the very day of our founding.

Once the pile is cleared and the area zoning changed, a new mixed use development (commercial and residential), one with a great view, will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes of the old trolley barn.  All aboard!

Original Trolley Barn Cowles Road North Amherst, built 1897.  File Photo July, 2011

Second Trolley Barn, now Amherst DPW, built 1917

A brief history of the local Trolley by Jonathan Tucker