Chinese Charter School on Probation

PVCICS:  Charter renewed with conditions

Despite cheerleader like support from 40 to 50 parents, children and staff in the audience--about half of them hoisting supportive signs--the state Board of Education and Secondary Education unanimously voted to support the recommendation of Commissioner Mitchell Chester to renew the five year charter for Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School, but rejected amendments to allow expansion to high school or increased enrollment in the elementary grades by 120 students.

Signs of support (in English)

Although a last minute amendment by Commissioner  Chester grandfathered the seven current eight graders, so they may attend ninth grade but the school cannot solicit any additional students.  And since each additional student represents an average of $13,000 in revenue, a costly sanction indeed.



The lone voice and three minute testimony of the parent of a former student had the undivided attention of the board. The mother of the now 10 year old boy who was banished to a tiny room for seven hours--without parental notification--the day after an alleged shoving match took place in the boys room.


A Department of Children and Families investigation branded two school employees--one of them Principal Kathy Wang--guilty of neglect, and a follow up investigation by the Department of Education found four additional areas of concern:  discipline, special education, governance and leadership.  

Jeff Wulfson, Deputy Commissioner BESE

The mother asked the Board of Education and Secondary Education members four questions:

Why are the two employees who have been found guilty of neglect still working around children?

What pupose does a school's family handbook serve if the board of trustees can unilaterally overturn portions of it as they see fit? 

How can public tax money now be used to pay for the legal appeal of those found guilty of neglect?

Even if the State Ethics board found it legal for a husband and wife to hold the positions of Executive Director and Principal in a charter school, how can it be acceptable?

In closing, she countered the BESEs simple solution of telling the Chinese Charter board of trustees to shape up and provide more governance.  "To have the board of trustees try to correct themselves and be responsible for overseeing school administrators seems like a leap of faith, and high risk."

Paul Reville, Secretary of Ed.  Mitchell Chester, BESE Commissioner

So this morning, once again, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education listened to Commissioner Chester...and if the leaders of the Chinese Charter School were also listening today, they will take seriously Commissioner Chester's  demand to drastically improve governance and leadership by the September 30 deadline.

Maura Banta, Board of Ed Chair sends "clear message"

 David Roach, BESE member

Not that nearby Hatfield will mind if they do not. Hatfield Comment Pvcics 10 2011 Springfield Republican reports (from afar)

Party House brewing?

314 Lincoln Ave, Amherst (note Southwest towers looming in backyard)

Today's Gazette Property Transfer notices contain a brief entry the average reader would barely notice--unless of course you live on Lincoln Avenue in the shadow of our local Juggernaut, UMass.

Marie E. Desch, Richard M Gold, to Comm Properties LLC, 314 Lincoln Ave, Amherst $450,000.

"Comm Properties LLC" is owned by Chad O'Rourke of Hadley who also owns Pipeline Properties, manager of my very first Party House winner.   In fact, at the Zoning Board hearings last September,  Hilda Greenbaum asked Mr. O'Rourke how many properties he owns or manages?  Fifty four (54).  And he was the property manager of 314 Lincoln Avenue before buying it. 

One abutter presented a petition signed by 18 area property owners who asked the ZBA to either require the property revert back to the original "one family," or require it be "owner occupied" for two family.  Numerous other abutters testified to concerns of noise, lousy landscaping and deferred maintenance leading to a less pleasing curb appeal. 

Interestingly the parties involved with the sale submitted a letter of complaint between hearings requesting ZBA member Greenbaum be taken off the case due to a conflict of interest.  Hilda Greenbaum or her family owns approximately 70 rental properties in town; but since she does not own anything near 314 Lincoln Avenue, the complaint was ignored.

Since the property was once a fraternity the previous change to a 2 family (allowing 8 tenants) was deemed less of an impact on the neighborhood than the original fraternity.  Since Mr. O'Rourke is a long time provider of student rental housing, the ZBA approved maintaining "two family" status, and the $450,000 deal was done.

Another Pipeline Party House winner

Party House of the Weekend

186 College St. Amherst

The wild weekend continued over Saturday night into Sunday early morning as the Amherst Police Department responded to 186 College Street  for a report of a young female passed out due to alcohol consumption (ETOH).  Once there they found a bevy of dangerous problems all too typically associated with a Party House:

According to APD logs (12:20 AM early Sunday morning):  

ETOH 18-year-old female located stumbling around yard outside residence. A large crowd was attending a party inside first floor, where the female patient had originated from.  I made contact with RP (reporting party) who stated female was vomiting inside the house and had consumed too much alcohol.  Patient transported to Cooley Dickinson Hospital by AFD.  Large crowd of approximately 200 cleared from residence.  Two tenants issued TBL citation for Nuisance House.  Significant code violations observed while inside, including no smoke detectors, unsecurable front door and an unstable living room floor which was concaved by approximately 12"

Issued $300 ticket for Nuisance House:

David Shamula, 21 Fairway Lane, Ocean, NJ, age 20

Gregory Cantor, 27 Tri Street, Ashland. MA, age 19

Ownership record for 186 College St, Amherst  Stephan Gharabegian

Mr. Gharabegian's other holdings in town.  Yikes!

UPDATE  11:30 AM   Look who came to visit (middle vehicle with blue plate):  AFD

AFD back on the scene

The Daily Collegian Reports

Frisky Friday

72 Curtis Place 

Amherst Police were kept on the go last night all over town to quell loud parties and fighting, issuing five noise warnings all along North Pleasant Street with another four locations ticketed for noise (9 individuals total), nuisance house (8 total) and one underage drinking, for a grand total of eighteen $300 tickets or $5,400.

Perhaps the Perps spent early Friday consuming copious amounts of Red Bull before switching to the cheap beer.

The winner for 'Party House of the Night' goes to 72 Curtis Place as they garnered 4 noise, 4 nuisance house (meaning each resident was hit with $600 in fines) and one underage drinking (also a $300 offense), for hosting a loud event with 300 guests still going strong at 1:30 AM.

Arrested for Noise and Nuisance House violations:

Ross Lapetina, 72 Curtis Place #1, Amherst, Ma, age 21
Gregory Kuhn, 1 Falls Ct, N Attleborough, Ma, age 21
Stefan Valentin, 72 Curtis Place #2, Amherst, Ma, age 20
Mark Salhany, 72 Curtis Place #1, Amherst, Ma, age 21
Alden Michaels, 5 Coltin Drive, Newburyport, Ma, age 20, Possession Liquor under 21

Ownership Card for 72 Curtis Place, Amherst (Hilda and Louis Greenbaum)

51 North East St

 Arrested for Noise and Nuisance: Andrew Bridge, 34 Cook Street, Westborough, Ma, age 21

57 Woodside Ave 

Ticketed for noise: Anna Guigli, Amanda Holt, Elizabeth Wilson, Katherine Zoufaly, all age 21

UPDATE:  Sunday afternoon

AFD, via their Facebook page, reports a hectic Saturday night:  "With only seven people on duty, they handled a total of 17 calls on the overnight. These included: a car accident with entrapment and transport to Baystate Trauma Center, psychiatric evaluation, Stroke, Unconscious patient, Alcohol Overdose, Seizure, Lacerations, Shortness of Breath, Car vs Pedestrian, and several others."

Incendiary Library Debate

After extensive public discussion, one positive Town Meeting vote and two successive Override failures, the fate of Shutesbury's new library is now in the hands of a Superior Court Judge, as proponents of the library/community center refuse to take NO for an answer.

They will, however, learn to do that soon enough.

Interestingly, lead architect of the lawsuit and--questionably--its attorney of record, Michael Pill, makes a good living servicing NIMBY clients shouting NO.

Mr. Pill represented neighbors trying to stop the HAP Butternut Farm low-income project in South Amherst (and failed), the Amherst neighbors on University Drive opposed to rezoning property for senior housing combined with mixed use commercial (and won), and he's representing Amherst Woods neighbors opposed to a solar farm on the old landfill, which he will surely lose.

Of course win or lose, Mr. Pill always gets paid.

M.N. Spear Memorial Library, Shutesbury

Two of the eight challenged ballots (that the Board of Registrars allowed) just happen to be Mr. Pill's grown children, ages 28 and 32. And two other challenged ballots (also allowed) had close ties to the Powers That Be in rural Shutesbury:  The 25-year-old son of former town administrator David Dann and the 29-year-old son of Becky Torres the current town administrator who was Chair of the Select Board when the proposed library site was purchased in 2004.

Proposed site for new library

Christopher Buck was the only vote overruled by the Board of Registrars and thrown out because he voluntarily registered to vote in Kentucky shortly before the second Shutesbury Override vote.  And that clearly trumps any previous voting place.

Even the complaint filed by library supporters telegraphs their lack of confidence in throwing out the Paczkowski no votes, as they ask the judge for a remedy:  "Order the defendant Board of Registrars not to count the votes of Richard and Joan Paczkowski, or in the alternative if the Paczkowski votes are to be counted, then order the defendant Board of Registrars to count the vote of Christopher Buck."  Which would approve the Override by a count of 523-522.

Richard and Joan Paczkowski taking the time on 10/14/2011 to reregister in Shutesbury--their hometown for the past 37 years--trumps their previous registration in Florida where, like many folks of retirement age from the northeast, they winter. 

Much is made out of the Paczkowski's taking out a Homestead Declaration on that Florida property. Almost four years ago, however, the Amherst Board of Registrars took up that exact scenario with Anne Awad and Robie Hubley, who had taken out a Homestead Declaration on a house in South Hadley (where they currently reside) but used an empty condo that was up for sale as proof of residency in Amherst to not only vote, but also to hold elected office.

The Amherst Town Clerk testified at the 7/3/08 hearing: "There was no known legislation whereby the signing of a Homestead Declaration for a property in another community could be used to determine that an individual could not be registered to vote in the community in which they consider themselves to be a resident."

The Amherst Board of Trustees voted 3-0 to allow Hubley and Awad to maintain their voting rights in Amherst.  Just as the Board of Registrars did in Shutesbury on January 25 with Joan and Richard Paczkowski. 

Case closed.

 And NO, it will be

Sick stereotype

So yes, I find the Irish Yoga Trucker  Hat--with a  man on all fours puking green shamrocks--doubly offensive:  To the Irish, and anyone who practices yoga.  Doubled down if you are both.  

And to the millions of Americans who struggle daily with an addiction to alcohol. 

Urban Outfitters is an ultra hip, profitable retain clothing chain targeting a younger, impressionable, demographic.  A good corporate citizen doesn't do anything to anger or slight an entire ethnic group --at least not knowingly.  And since an article in Irish Central has now put them on notice about how offensive that image is to a high percentage of viewers (potentially 40 million Irish Americans), it will be interesting to see how Urban Outfitters responds.

Urban Outfitters, Northampton

No Irish Yoga hats, but the Northampton branch did have this t-shirt and "beer briefs"

Ancient Secrets Revealed

Town Records dating back to 1759 stored in a locked vault in the basement of Town Hall

Who would have thought Amherst had to appropriate town money to outfit men serving in the cataclysmic war between the states?

Soon enough anyone will be able to access Annual Town Reports back to 1861 and Town Meeting records to 1759--the founding of our fair town.  Our Information Technology Department has scanned all the old records stored in a walk in Mosler Safe in the basement of Town Hall and will soon upload them to the town website.

Now that ought to increase traffic.

"Military:  Under the vote of May 1, 1861 we have borrowed and expended for the outfit of the soldiers in the Army from this town $535.17 and for soldiers' families to March 1st $1158.29.  Total $1698.46 of which amount $1116.71 is due from the state.  Between 80-90  persons have enlisted in the army from this town, 25 of whom have families, dependent upon them for support, requiring about $200 per month to satisfy their claims."

1861-1863 Annual Town Reports (just to whet your appetite)