42 for 42: Chenery Football Ends Season a Success On and Off the Field

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Forty-two students arrived on a sweltering August afternoon to the Chenery Middle School playground for the first day of football practice.

Two-and-a-half months later, 42 now experienced and tested players ended the first season of middle school football in Belmont in several decades with a big win over Watertown, 22-8, played at Victory Field on Nov. 5.

“The big news was that we began and ended the season with the same number of kids,” said Chenery Head Coach James MacIsaac. 

“They showed a lot of dedication and grew as a team after each game,” said MacIsaac.

The season had its ups – playing on Harris Field vs Melrose, winning more games than they lost – and downs – losing at home – but above it all, the players spent the season improved their fundamental football talents on the field and learned life skills on the sidelines.

“I received a great deal of positive feedback and the kids all seemed to have fun,” said MacIsaac.

The 2014 Chenery Middle School football team included:

Ryan Hoffman, Mitchel Pereira, Joe Salvi, Peter O’Connor, Matthew Crisafi, Carlos Osgood, Robert Dolan, Jared Edwards, Frank Castagno Jack Hannibal, Avery Arno, Nareg Stapanian, Tommy Cranson, Tim Starr, Connor Estok, Rhaki Joseph, Sohail Hajri, Jake Parsons, Jason Santos, James Nally, Owen Strakowski, Joseph LaFauci, Brett Westgate, Connor Shea, Michael Alexander, Dijuan Moore, Ryan Santoro, Zachary Hubbard, Willy MacIsaac, Merrill Barnes, Parker Lutz, Emanual Clark, Thomas Brugger, Drew Finn, David Brennan, Joey Hurley, Brendan Noonan, Rafael Alejandre, Aiden Dowling, Demetri Stathadikis, Nathan Rose and Brendan Logan.

The coaching staff included MacIsaac, Robert Walker, Kevin Shea, John Arno and Mike Carew.

A New Belmont High Around the Corner? A ‘Senior Study’ Suggests Good Odds

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Is a “new” Belmont High School just around the corner?

While a decision by the state authority which supplies critical funding which assists municipalities in the construction of school buildings is about a month away, a hint of heightened interest in Belmont’s plan to revamp the increasingly threadbare building on the banks of Clay Pit Pond is an indication, the state is taking a hard look at the Belmont School District’s 2014 Statement of Interest application for a new high school.

And if a letter from a Cape Cod educator is correct, Belmont’s odds of receiving a favorable nod from the state has increased considerably to begin the long process of constructing a 21st century school.

Two days before Halloween, on Oct. 29, a team of architects and engineers associated with the Massachusetts School Building Authority conducted a “senior study” of the 44-year-old brick and concrete structure, asking a lot of questions of school and town officials while poking around the building.

Belmont is one of about two dozen locations around the state where senior studies have been conducted since September, according to the Building Authority’s Facebook account.

“The Building Authority selects applications from within the Statement of Interest ‘bucket’ and choose some for a [senior] study,” Belmont’s superintendent of schools John Phelan told the Belmontonian after the meeting of the Belmont School Committee on Tuesday, Nov. 18.

“We want to review every SOI as part of the review process,” said Massachusetts School Building Authority spokesman Dan Collins. 

While the Authority and District are remaining quiet on the reason Belmont was selected for the study, a letter from the head of another school district seeking the same MSBA funding was more forthcoming.

In a letter to a Brewster town official dated Oct. 27, 2014, Robert Sanborn, the superintendent/director of the Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, said the MSBA conducted a senior study at the Harwich-based school earlier in the month.

“At the meeting, we were informed [by the MSBA] that out of one hundred and eight SIOs submitted, Cape Cod Tech was one of twenty-five (25) schools designated for a senior study,”

“From the 25, a substantial percentage of districts will be recommended to move forward with an invitation into the MSBA eligibility period,” wrote Sanborn.

If the same number of districts, 13, are accepted for reimbursement funding by the MSBA as was in 2013, the odds of Belmont’s SOI being selected has increased considerably.

For more than a decade, the Belmont School District has faithfully submitted a SOI to the MSBA appealing for state funds to begin the renovation of Belmont High School and the construction of a new 35,000 sq.-ft. science wing.

The projected cost of a “new” Belmont High School building is estimated by the district at between $90 and $100 million. For a comparison, the cost for the renovation of and new structures at Winchester High School is $101 million in construction costs (the entire project is pegged at $130 million) with the state providing a grant of $44.5 million.

Each year since the early 2000s, Belmont has received only the yearly, “Thanks, try again next year” response from the authority.

But for the first time, the MSBA decided to conduct a more extensive review of not only the SOI but of the existing school building.

A “senior study“ is requested by the MSBA for “some of the district identified priority schools for which a Statement of Interest has been submitted,” according to the authority’s website.

The study allows the authority to perform several types of assessments depending on the school building deficiencies noted in the district’s SOI. The study also includes reviewing the SOI and all supporting documents as well as dig into historical enrollment trends and the educational programs provided at the school.

The visit (which is not a mandatory part of the senior study) includes a tour of the school by experienced architects and engineers who examine both the condition of the building as well as programmatic issues – such as evidence of overcrowding in classrooms and design features – that affect the delivery of the district’s educational program.

Before touring the school, the MSBA team interviews the superintendent, principal, facilities manager and other school personnel on areas such as confirming information about school building deficiencies as stated in the SOI and obtain a close-hand look at the current campus and see how that adversely impacts a student’s education.

“The MSBA’s goal is to collaborate with the district to find the right-sized, most fiscally responsible and educationally appropriate solution to the facility’s problems,” said the website.

“The information acquired during the study will help the MSBA determine the next steps in the process,” said Collins.

Despite dispensing hopeful answers, Collins made clear being selected for a study “certainly doesn’t signal that your SOI will be accepted this cycle.”

With a cap of $250 million per year over the next five years, only one-in-eight SOI’s targeting extensive renovations or a new school are accepted each year, said Collins.

Mrs. Claus is Coming to Belmont’s Annual ‘Turn on the Town’ Dec. 4

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After 23 years arriving alone, Santa is bringing the Mrs. along for this year’s business trip to Belmont.

Mrs. Claus will join Santa at the Belmont Savings Bank on Thursday, Dec. 4 during the Belmont Center Business Association’s 24th annual “Turn on the Town” celebration. The holiday festivities will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. along Leonard Street in Belmont Center.

Santa and Mrs. Claus will arrive and light the tree adjacent the Bellmont Cafe at approximately 6:20 p.m., before riding their sleigh to the bank’s headquarters at 2 Leonard St. to pose for free photos from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

“It is a true pleasure to be again sponsoring Belmont’s Turn on the Town this year, and we look forward to contributing to the continued success of this annual tradition,” said Bob Mahoney, President and CEO of Belmont Savings Bank.

“This year, we are thrilled to be offering free kiddie train rides. They are the latest example of the wonderful ways this event continues to grow and engage with the Belmont community.”

Returning this year, the Bank’s “Santa’s Helper Contest” offers youngsters a chance to ride in the Sleigh with Santa and Mrs. Claus from the tree lighting to the Bank’s Belmont Center branch. The winning family will also be first in line to have their photo taken with Santa and his wife inside the Bank’s branch. Parents may enter their children to win on a landing page on belmontsavings.com/santashelpers.

Outside the branch, Bank employees will be handing out hot chocolate. Inside, the Bank’s executive garage will be a petting zoo.  Additionally, Belmont Savings will be handing out glow sticks inside the branch. There will also be stocking giveaways inside the bank lobby with gift cards and products from Local Rewards partners.

Residents are encouraged to celebrate the season of giving and bring non-perishable food items or unwrapped toys to be donated to the Belmont Food Pantry.

Belmont Fire Log: A Pair of Incidents Where You Could Have Used Too Many Cooks

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Not on the menu
Nov. 10 – A few minutes past 5 p.m., workers at a restaurant on Belmont Street called the Fire Department for a little bit of assistance; the water pump in the establishment’s basement shut down causing sewage to back up in the eatery. The owner told fire personnel he had a similar issue with the pumps in the past. Lucky for everyone, there was no water “or other associated issues” in the basement as the town’s Highway Division of the DPW was called to respond.
Up in smoke
Nov. 12 – A few minutes after 11 a.m., Engine 1 and Ladder 1 took off towards Lexington and Trapelo for a reported motor vehicle fire. Once they arrived, fire crews found a hot and smoldering vehicle owned by the company doing the paving work along Trapelo. Luckily, the driver and passengers go out of the vehicle on their own and a member of the police force extinguished the fire prior to the BFD’s arrival. Engine 1 personnel used a water extinguisher to cool off the remaining hot spots in the engine compartment and under the dashboard.

No burning around the house

Nov. 14 – A bit past 8 a.m., Engine 1 was sent to a Moraine Street house for a reported fire against the building. The crew discovered a contractor burning wood in a barrel. He was told to put it out.

Very, very, very well done

Nov. 15 – A quarter past 6 p.m., the entire Belmont Fire company was sent to an apartment building at the corner of Trapelo and Mill Street for a reported smoke and possible fire. There was, in fact, a fire but it was restricted to a tenant’s failed attempt to cook dinner.

A neighborly gesture

Nov. 15 – At half past 7 p.m., a fire crew was sent to a house on Walnut Street after the homeowner locked themselves out. Happily, a neighbor had a second set of keys so there was no need to climb ladders or break a window.

Almost famous last words: “Let’s go out to eat instead”

Nov. 15 – At a quarter ’til 9 p.m., all companies were dispatched to a two-family on Lewis Road after a call came in of smoke in the structure. Sure enough, the Engine 1 crew found heavy smoke on the first floor with several alarms sounding. Knocking in the front door, they quickly located the smokey source; the remanent of a dinner on the stovetop. Apparently, someone forgot the first rule of cooking; remember that you’re cooking something. The stovetop was shut down, the burnt pots removed from the building and Ladder 1 and Rescue 1 ventilated the place with two big exhaust fans. Then guess who showed up? Our forgetful tenant! Tom was told to notify the landlord about that broken front door.

Letter to the Editor: Online Donations to Help a ‘Great Community Partner’

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To the editor:
Several weeks ago, Gerry Dickhault, proprietor of Champions Sporting Goods in Belmont Center, lost his home to a fire and is now living in a temporary home while his house is being renovated. David High, a generous and caring member of the Belmont community, created a crowd-funding site to help people to donate online to help Gerry out at this time.
We welcome donations of any size to help Gerry rebuild his life. He has been a great partner to this community; donates to many fundraising efforts; and invites anyone and everyone to use his store as a cut-through to Belmont Center.
Let us now return the favor and help him out in his time of need.
Erin Lubien

Special Town Meeting Approves $2.8 Million Belmont Center Project

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Photo: Selectmen Chair Andy Rojas presenting the Belmont Center Reconstruction Project to the Special Town Meeting, Monday, Nov. 17.

In the end, Belmont’s Special Town Meeting decided a renovated Belmont Center was worth the $2.8 million price tag, no matter the funding scheme.

After more than three hours of presentation, analysis and debate, the Town Meeting members voted 140 to 63 to approve the project set to improve sidewalks, crosswalks, pavement repairs, allow for the installation of a new parking system and add new lighting in the town’s main business hub.

“It’s time that [the project] was approved,” said Belmont Selectmen Chair Andy Rojas who, with his fellow members, Mark Paolillo and Sami Baghdady, pushed for the vote this fall after nearly five years of studies and reports.

An initial timeline calls for construction to begin in late winter of next year with expected completion on Oct. 31, 2015.

The majority of the approximately 200 members who attended – about 70 percent of the representative members braved the elements on Monday, Nov. 17 to reach the Chenery Middle School – agreed with town’s elected official and staff who sought to finance the project with a one-time $1.3 million lump sum payment from the town’s “free cash” account and paying for a $1.5 million municipal bond out of the same “free cash” line item over the 15-year life of the debt.

Town officials convinced members the project’s financing options were similar to Goldilocks’ choices: at $2.8 million, the project’s financing was “too small” for a typical debt exclusion requiring a town-wide vote, yet was “too big” for the town’s capital budget to take on singlehandedly.

The funding source deemed “just right” was the town’s savings account which has reached historic levels.

“It’s not small but not terribly large,” said Belmont’s Treasurer Floyd Carman.

Free cash is unspent money remaining at the end of the fiscal year including from budget line-items and any greater than expected tax or fee receipts.

Officials turned to free cash that has been increasing steadily over the past five years, from $2.3 million in fiscal 2010 to $7.5 million in the coming fiscal 2016. This year, due to favorable fiscal conditions and other factors, the town received a large one-time injection into free cash of $1.3 million.

Carman said using free cash would not burden the town with new debt when at least $150 million of necessary projects – a new high school, a police station and a new Department of Public Works Yard – are looming down the road a few years.

“This is a balanced approach as we have one-time funds available,” said Carman.

Yet James Williams, Precinct 1, of Glenn Road submitted an amendment to the article requiring to town to finance the entire amount from a traditional sale of a 15-year municipal bond with its funding coming from general funds.

“Since this is a long-term project, it should be paid with long-term funds; I can’t understand doing it any other way,” said Williams, who voice the concerns of several members who felt queasy dipping into an account that previous town administrators and elected officials have been reluctant to use.

Williams said the funds could be better used “repairing the inaction of the past” in areas such as unfunded pension and retirement obligations leaving the town on shaky financial footings.

But town officials pushed back against the claims, calling the use of pension in the debate “a red herring.”

In addition, Carman said by going Williams’ route, the annual cost to the town would be $321,000 as opposed to $169,000 under the town’s proposal.

“Under Mr. Williams’ plan, we would need to either cut services or use free cash” to make up the difference, said Carman.

While several residents expressed support for the amendment, it was soundly defeated 153 to 49.

When the article with the town’s payment plan was brought up for debate, the discussion was a lively one, including how the project will not help in solving the traffic congestion that occurs during the morning and afternoon commutes.

Johanna Swift Hart, Precinct 4, Hull Street, said she “takes no pleasure” voting against the article. “[Belmont Center] is not a blighted neighborhood,” she said, noting the town has so many needs that officials should seek alternative sources to fund the project.

Belmont Center business owner Jeanne Widmer, Precinct 5, Gilbert Road, echoed others who contend that an upgraded Belmont Center will be a boom to the town’s economic future. She said surrounding towns such as Winchester, Lexington, Reading and Arlington have all made improvements to their downtowns to great acclaim.

“This is a modest plan,” said Widmer.

 

Blake-West Powers Belmont to Second in Div. 2 Swimming Championships

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During the MIAA Division 2 State Swimming and Diving Championships held Sunday, Nov. 16 at Harvard’s Blodgett Pool, Belmont High School long-time head coach Ev Crosscup would tap his chest with his fist when greeting his squad poolside.

“Our message was that we had worked well together as a team. We’re focused, worked hard together; we’ve supported each other. I told them that we were going to take it to the next level that we, as a team, we’re one collective heartbeat today,” said Crosscup.

On the night of a record and a slew of season best times, Belmont finished second to Attleboro’s Bishop Feehan, 270 to 239, a margin of a mere 29 points.

“I could not be more pleased in the effort from everybody; they all had best times from the week before [at the North Sectionals where Belmont finished third] when they had best times. That’s almost unheard of,” said Crosscup.

“We battled all the way to the end. We gave Bishop Feehan a good run, but we didn’t quite have enough to pull it out. But second doesn’t takeaway all what we accomplished today. I couldn’t have expected anymore,” he said.

Leading the way for the Marauders was junior star Jessie Blake-West who took returned to Belmont with three state championships – all obtained within a 40-minute time period – a feat matched only by Newton North’s Amanda Graf in the Division 1 championships held earlier Sunday.

“It’s great, it’s so great,” said Blake-West, who now has five state swimming championship titles in her trophy case.

“I’m just glad I could be here to celebrate it with the coaches and the team,” she told the Belmontonian.

The highlight of the night was Blake-West’s third victory in her specialty, the 100-yard butterfly. Taking on a talented field, Blake-West opened with a 25.71 second first 50 yards to win in a state championship record time of 56.28, winning by a full two seconds over freshman Alyvia Petrozza of Central Catholic.

Blake-West was the only individual swimmer in either division to break a championship meet record Sunday.

“Setting the meet record was one of my goals this season. Ideally I would have liked to have my best time here,” she said, disappointed that she didn’t reach her target of finishing in the low 55 second range which would have given her National High School All-American status.

“But I’m very happy how I swam. I couldn’t have asked for a better meet,” said Blake-West.

Equally impressive was Blake-West’s other individual victory in the 200 individual medley. In an event demanding proficiency in each stroke – butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle – Blake-West took a one second lead after the butterfly leg and stretched her margin to win by more than three seconds, 2:08.26 to 2:11.40, over Petrozza in a personal best time.

Blake-West started the night’s action joining senior backstroke and co-captain Maya Nagashima, junior breaststroke Emily Quinn and freshman freestyle Alison Sawyer to propel the favorite Belmont 200 medley relay to victory over Bishop Stang and Bishop Feehan. Blake-West’s 25.27 for the butterfly leg distanced the other teams during the third leg.

But it was Blake-West’s final event, as anchor on the 100 freestyle relay with Sawyer, fellow freshman Ophelie Loblack and junior Solvay Metelmann that demonstrated just how dominating her performance was at Harvard. Her 24.13 leg was the fastest 50 yard freestyle not only in the event but would have won the open 50 freestyle event by .05 seconds, and pushed Belmont from sixth to fourth in 1:43.72, behind victorious Westwood in 1:41.42.

At the end of the meet, Blake-West was involved in collecting 110 of Belmont’s 239 total points.

“Jessie’s was remarkable tonight truly remarkable,” said Crosscup.

For the second-year running, Belmont brought the best contingency of breaststrokers to the meet as the Marauders took four of the first nine places in the 100 breaststroke final.

Leading the way was Quinn who stayed with the leaders for the entire distance and crept up a place in the final yards to finish 3rd in 1:08.41, behind upset victor junior Sienna Lapalme of Bishop Stang who defeated Bishop Feehan senior and Costa Rican national swimming member Marisa Reidmeister, 1:07.32 to 1:07.61.

Senior Klaudia Nagrabska finished fifth in 1:09.59, knocking three-and-a-half seconds off her season’s best, and senior Sarah Osborne took 9th in 1:12.86. The surprise for Belmont was sophomore Dervla Moore-Frederick. Swimming in the heat before the final, Moore-Frederick took two-and-a-half seconds off her qualifying time to finish in 1:12.26 in 8th.

The quartet brought Belmont 50 points.

Events where the Marauders also picked up multiple points were in the 500 free with senior co-captain Eunice Lee and juniors Sara Noorouzi (14th, 5:40.61) and Elizabeth Levy (16th, 5:42.17), Nagashima (7th) and Quinn (11th) joined Blake-West in the individual medley and the youngsters Sawyer (12th), Metelmann (14th) and Loblack (16th) in the 50 free sprint.

Crosscup pointed to the “outstanding effort” of Lee in the 200 free (2:05.36 in 15th) and the “marathon” 5o0 free in which she overtook two swimmers in the final 50 yards with a 32.96 second final lap to finish 10th in 5:36.48, an improvement of 13 seconds from her qualifying time.

Swimming her final event wearing a Marauder cap, fellow co-captain Nagashima took home seven points with a 10th (1:02.47) in her speciality, the 100 backstroke, while Loblack was one of only three freshmen in a flight of 22 swimmers to swim the 100 free final, coming in 13th in 57.75.

And those Marauders who didn’t earn points took in the experience of a state championship while bringing down their season bests. Noorouzi and Levy took a second off their 200 free times while sophomores Molly Thomas (50 free and 100 backstroke) and Allie Beecroft (500 free) improved on their qualifiers.

Over at the diving area, amidst the noise and ruckus of the swimmers, Belmont’s junior Cynthia Kelsey stayed in the lead group for the entire meet as she accumulated points with dives that brought 9s and 8 1/2 scores. The school’s record holder placed third with an 11-dive total of 437.20 points.

Interestingly, Kelsey finished behind the event’s repeat winner, junior Hannah Phelan (who broke the meet record this year with 537.05 points). Yet unlike last year when she dove for Walpole High, Phelan earned the 20 points for her new school – and Belmont’s rival – Bishop Feehan.

Despite the great swimming and diving throughout the meet, Belmont trailed Bishop Feehan by two points with the Shamrocks the heavy favorite in the meet’s final event, the 400 free relay.

With Belmont’s quickest swimmers having reached their four-event participation limit and the Marauders sending out three underclassmen (Loblack, Metelmann and Noorouzi) and Lee, the only realistic chance for a Belmont state title would have been from a false start or a disqualification by Bishop Feehan.

That did not occur as Belmont took 11th (in 3:53.25, a five second improvement from their season’s best) and Feehan finished on the top spot for both the relay and the team championship.

Yet the cheers and smiles were just as joyful on the Belmont side of the pool as the team hoisted their runner-up plaque for all to see.

Damaging Winds Blowing Into Belmont for the Afternoon, Night

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The National Weather Service issued this morning a wind advisory for Belmont and the rest of eastern Massachusetts beginning at 3 p.m. and staying in effect until 10 p.m.

The big blow will see gusts up to 55 mph impacting the town during the afternoon, evening and a portion of tonight with sustained winds of 15 to 25 mph.

The expected gusts, accompanied by heavy rain, will be strong enough to knock down trees limbs and power lines, causing isolated power disruptions.

The heavy downpours will also cause isolated flash floods and areas of standing water.

If you experience an outage in Belmont, you are advised to called the town’s utility company, Belmont Light, at its outage line 617-993-2800. Do not call 911 unless it’s a true emergency.

Letter to the Editor: Thanks, Everyone – Gerry

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To the editor:

My house caught on fire Oct  21, at 7 a.m. According to the fire marshall, the fire was caused by an old fan that ignited while running in the basement as I was trying to dry out my rug that was wet due to a burst water heater the day before.

I thought I could put it out, as I ran back downstairs the second time with a bucket of water the fire was blazing and had consumed my couch, the wall and was burning on the ceiling. I decided to just get out! I was very lucky!

I ran upstairs, called 911 and then ran out the door with only the clothes on my back.

Since then, I have been overwhelmed by kindness and generosity by the Belmont community. Everyone from past and present employees, all the town sport leagues and great customers have offered to help.

My house has been gutted and everything has been thrown out as the soot from the fire gets into everything. After living in a hotel for 10 days, I’ve moved into a mobile home on my front lawn for the next five months while repairs are being done. The donations have gone to purchase new clothes, towels, blankets, dishes, sheets, pillows, shoes, food and much more.

I wanted to thank everyone who kept me in their prayers, stopped by to give me a hug, dropped off blankets, made me dinner and asked if they could do anything for me and for the generous donations. What a great community!

Please take the time to check your smoke detectors to make sure they’re working properly,

Thanks so much,

Gerry Dickhaut

Champions Sporting Goods

Belmont Center

Tom Caputo Named to Fill Vacancy on Belmont School Committee

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Photo: Newly-appointed School Committee member Thomas Caputo (right) is congratulated by Belmont School District Asst. Superintendent Janice Darias. Belmont Superintendent John Phelan is in the center of the photo. 

Technology expert Thomas Caputo was appointed to the Belmont School Committee this morning, Monday, Nov. 17 to fill the vacancy created when Kevin Cunningham resigned from the six-member board last month.

“This is a great honor and I’m proud to have been selected,” said Caputo, who has been for the past two years the Chief Product Officer at FIKSU, a technology start up providing mobile marketing technology to app developers, game publishers and advertisers.

Caputo will serve on the committee until the Belmont Town Election in April 2015 when he can seek to fill the remaining two-years of Cunningham’s term.

The Richmond Road resident – who has lived in Belmont with his wife, Sarah and their eight-year-old, third grade twin daughters for the past seven years – was selected by a joint committee of the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee from eight candidates who had applied for the position.

What guided the majority of the Selectmen and School Committee to Caputo was his experience in finance and technology.

“I think the entrepreneurial and tech specialization along with the venture capital … [is the type of] analytical study of these important issues, particularly around enrollment, [is] critical for the school committee,” said Selectmen Chair Andy Rojas.

“It is the nexus of the technology and business solutions that really spoke to me,” said Laurie Slap, school committee chair.

A dual major (graduating with a BA in computer science and biophysical chemistry) while matriculating at Dartmouth, Caputo also has a MBA from Stanford.

After working in finance in Boston and London, Caputo became a group product manager at Microsoft’s main office in Redmond, Wash. for four years. He come back east to work in venture capital, product management for a software startup in New York before joining the senior execution team at Boston-based FIKSU.

“There is an incredible wave of really interesting start ups as well as established companies that are bringing new education technologies to the market that are … helping school districts across the country to find more efficient and effective ways to educate students,” Caputo told the Belmontonian.

“I do believe that, much the way we’ve seen technology disruptions shaping a lot of industries … Belmont needs to be on the forefront of finding ways to pick the best technology programs, bring them into the school system, train the teachers and administrators to use them effectively and executing all that for the benefit of the students,” said Caputo, who looks the part of the tech pro; wearing a smart blazer over a tie-less pattern shirt, skinny jeans and nifty shoes to the joint meeting.

But Caputo told the Belmontonian that bringing technology to the classroom is not simply “supplying everyone an iPad.”

“It’s great to have the infrastructure but that alone will not solve the issues we’re facing. It’s really about … the iPad and its integration into the curriculum, the selection of the right application and tools and the manner in which it’s all used,” he said.

Caputo pointed to his background in start ups as a plus when the committee faces the challenges of finding adequate funding to maintain the district’s first-rate education reputation.

“What start ups are able to do is find efficient, creative solutions to addressing otherwise challenging problems. I will bring a little bit of that culture to the school committee; to find ways to collaborate, to identify solutions and to look at things in, maybe, a little different way,” he said.

“It won’t be easy. It will require contributions from many different groups and constituents from across the town to make that effective. I hope I can contribute in that way,” Caputo said.