School Committee QW: Where Do You Stand on High Stakes Testing?

Photo: The candidates: Bicer, O’Mahoney, Prestwich.
The Question of the Week (QW) for the School Committee candidates:
There is a bill in the legislature (H 340) sponsored by the state’s teachers union to halt statewide student testing, calling for a three-year moratorium on the implementation of PARCC – which Belmont has been a test community – and to remove the “high stakes” nature of the existing MCAS tests, ie. in which high school senior would no longer need to pass MCAS to graduate. Teachers say tests take too much time away from educating and don’t reveal just how much a student has learned. Opponents say removing MCAS and other tests could lead to a return of lack of standards and accountability. As members of the school committee, you may well be asked your opinion on this measure. Question: Where do you stand on high stakes testing?

Andrea Prestwich

The MCAS has been to used fulfill the requirements of the Federal No Child Left Behind act (NCLB). NCLB was enacted with the best of intentions: to use rigorous standardized tests to ensure that all children receive a good education. Tests were used to track individual students progress, evaluate teachers and identify “failing” schools. The stakes were high: schools that did not make sufficient progress were closed, teachers fired, and students prevented from graduating.

Unfortunately, NCLB was a failure. Kids from wealthy families did better on the test than poor kids. Teachers were penalized for working with disadvantaged kids! To improve scores, teachers would focus on test preparation to the extent that other areas of the curriculum suffered. There were reports that struggling high school students were pressured into dropping out to make the average scores better. The tests are extremely stressful for students.

One of the few issues our hideously divided congress could agree on is that NCLB is a failure. Last year congress replaced NCLB with the Every Student Succeeds Act with overwhelming bipartisan support. The ESSA maintains the requirement for states to test, but gives states more freedom to define “school quality” and “accountability”. Given the new responsibilities under ESSA, I support the H340 requirement that the Commonwealth establish a task force to review the use of MCAS or PARCC data. Previous policies have failed, and it is time to re-evaulate what use we make of standardized tests. I also support the moratorium. Test results should not be used for teacher evaluation or student graduation while the task force does its job. To clarify: I fully support standardized testing. Standardized testing is crucial to identify problem areas and measure progress. However, we need to take a break and think about how test data is used in view of the failures of the past decade.

Murat Bicer

I am not generally in favor of standardized testing. Research shows that test results correlate above all to socio-economic conditions and may be unable to parse the quality of education at the individual or classroom level.  Many tests are criticized for being biased and the system of test taking disadvantages students who have difficulties with structured, timed activities. I believe that multiple-choice tests are not a good indicator of how much a student has learned, or whether that student has the qualities that good students should have – like creativity, critical thinking, and curiosity. Any student who is struggling with basic skills should be identified and supported well before a test result points out his deficiencies. It is true, however, that Belmont has in the past used test results to identify areas of relatively weaker performance and make positive changes in those areas.  

The Massachusetts Education Reform Laws of 1993 necessitate “a variety of assessment instruments” whose purpose is to evaluate student performance and to “improve the effectiveness of curriculum and instruction.” Tests have been credited with ensuring a certain quality standard across the state, but they’re imperfect. Unfortunately for all, many of the other “assessment instruments” such as descriptive reporting and subjective, essay-based testing are more difficult to administer and often put additional burden on the teachers, and that’s likely why testing has become the primary “instrument.”  

We can probably all agree that accountability and adherence to a basic standard curriculum is necessary, but that needs to happen on a day to day basis within the school community, not as a result of, or in pursuit of, a test score.

Kimberly O’Mahoney

Personally, I have never been a big fan of standardized tests,  but my only experience has been in the seat of a test-taker.  I never felt that the tests provided the “bigger picture” of my educational experience and abilities. The testing also is narrowed to only include certain subjects, leaving behind the notion that a well-rounded educational experience (including extra-curricular areas) is most beneficial to the children. That being said, there are also benefits to the testing that is being administered. It does help support accountability and possibly identify those areas in the curriculum that may need review and reinforcement. Belmont, though, has always prided itself on the high quality of education that it affords the children in the District. With or without standardized tests, Belmont will keep this a priority. I don’t believe that the high standards that our educators are held to will diminish if this moratorium is put in place. It may allow for greater flexibility in instruction and allow classes to delve further into subject areas without the constraints of focusing on and preparing for the “test material.”

School Committee Drop Religious Holidays from Calendar, Start Year Post Labor Day

Photo: Speaker at the School Committee meeting. Dr. David Alper is at right.

A year after joining most neighboring communities by adding Yom Kippur and keeping Good Friday as school holidays, the Belmont School Committee did a complete “about face” and voted on Tuesday, March 22 to rid the 2016-17 school calendar of all days off for religious observation.

The board voted 5-0 to strip out existing Christian and Jewish observations which were installed on a one-year “pilot” basis. 

The reversal came after the committee and School District heard from a large number of parents – including many first-generation Asian residents – who declared the policy disruptive to the educational process and did not reflect the growing diversity within Belmont’s schools.

“I would hate for the message to be that Belmont hates religion” but rather a vote is a nod to the growing pluralism in the district, said School Committee member Tom Caputo. 

“This is about being respectful and not anti-holiday,” said member Lisa Fiore. “That’s the headline, that we must respect you whether you are 87 percent or three percent of the population,” she said.

“But we also need to make steps towards making it as easy as practically possible to observe religious holidays,” Caputo said, saying the district should now embrace the opportunity to explain why these days are important and why students observe them. 

Before this year, district policy was Jewish students were not “penalized” for taking the High Holidays as an unexcused absence. 

The board also decided, 3-2, to support taking an official day off for the quadrennial Presidential election day including the one this November for “safety concerns” as three elementary schools – Winn Brook, Butler, and Burbank – are home to one of eight precinct polling locations. 

In a separate decision, the committee bowed to parents by rejecting a proposal to start the school year before Labor Day on the last week in August. Sponsored by Belmont Superintendent John Phelan and backed by district teachers and several national studies, starting pre-Labor Day provides an easier transition into the school year by “easing” into educating then having a three-day Labour Day holiday before moving directly into teaching post-Labor Day. But family vacation and summer plans trumped the idea on an online survey.

Residents spoke to keep the current “pilot” schedule including Dr. David Alper, who led the drive last year to recognize Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which is the holiest day of the year in Judaism, which a significant number of students observe.

Alper stressed the nature of the observance, a day of fasting and prayer in Temple and at house, which requires students to miss a day early in the school year – the high holiday occurs between early September to mid-October – and despite assurances from principals, teachers will schedule tests and new work on and after that day.

But for the sizable number of first-generation Asian residents – an unusual step of engagement from a group largely in the background in town politics and policy – who sent statements to the Superintendents office and voted to end all religious observations on an online poll, the issue was educational rather than spiritual. 

Speaking before the committee and after the meeting with the Belmontonian, Jie Lu said what brought Chinese, Korean, and South Asian parents to speak out on the issue was its direct impact on the educational process.

While noting the importance of religion in many person lives, Lu said he is supportive of parents taking children out of school and teachers taking a personal day to celebrate with their family.

“But I don’t agree [to close] the entire system because it’s disruptive and a lot of [a] burden for lots of other families,” said the Concord Avenue resident and parent of children in the district. 

Phelan and some school committee members noted that disruptions could continue these days as a significant number of teachers have expressed a wish to take off on Good Friday and to a lesser extent Yom Kippur. While the remaining students will be in school, it won’t be a “typical” day with no new work or exams and substitute teachers employed.

Other parents spoke of the exclusion of other “not-too-big-groups” that celebrate important religious dates such as Ramadan for Muslims or cultural celebrations like Chinese New Year in which celebrants are expected to stay up all night “which would be hard for children to attend then school the next day.”

Judi Hamparian said by adding one religion’s observation, such as Good Friday, it would “be opening a Pandor’s box” if the district would attempt to be as inclusive as it should, noting the Armenian Genocide is an important historical event that many in Belmont observe as a solemn occasion.

“Why not also a day [for recognizing the geneocide]?” she said. 

After the vote outside the meeting, Lu and Alper discussed their positions.

“We are not trying to argue should we have holiday or [not]. The important thing is how do we observe the religious and how do we let the children know there are different religions, and everyone should respect them,” said Lu. 

“The major concern is that we will have soon too many religious celebrations and that we disrupt the education,” he said. 

While there will be a break in the teaching with children and students out, Alper believes religious observations “is an opportunity for educating these kids that will last a lifetime.”  

“I don’t mind seeing [Yom Kippur] not observed as long as “the school committee and superintendent follow through by acknowledging these holidays and especially in the elementary schools that these children are taught that David and Rachel are not here today because they need to be in temple and fast and Mr. Lu’s children will not be in school because they are celebrating New Year,” said Alper, who said he will be vigilant that the committee follows through on its promise. 

“I agree that if the kids learn then they can tell their parents. That’s how I know about Yom Kippur, my kids told me because their teacher told them,” said Lu. 

“We need to make this less a calendar change and make it a teachable moment,” said Alper. 

Future of Cushing Village On Boards’ Agenda Tuesday Night, 969 Days After Town’s OK

Photo: After 969 days, still nothing built at the proposed Cushing Village development.

In his 1953 groundbreaking book on sending men to Mars, German/American rocket scientist Werner von Braun estimated it would take 969 days for a spaceship to venture between the two planets, a time span von Braun dubbed “at the breaking point of [human] endurance.”

And it appears Belmont has reached its “breaking point” as tonight, Tuesday, March 22, the Board of Selectmen and Planning Board in joint session will decide whether to extend a purchase and sales arrangement for a municipal parking lot to the Cushing Village’s development team.

The long-troubled residential/retail/parking project headed by developer, Chris Starr’s Smith Legacy Partners, has yet to show any progress towards building the 115 units of housing, 38,000 sq.-ft. of stores and approximately 200 parking spaces since the town approved a special permit and a design and site plan review for the $80 million development on July 27, 2013, 969 days ago.

With no indication that Starr has been able to put together a fairly standard financial package by meeting minimal project requirements from lenders since the selectmen last met two weeks ago, it’s likely the two boards will follow the sentiment of the boards expressed over the past six weeks the status quo is unlikely to change.

“It would be very difficult for us to approve an extension … unless the developer comes back with … something that gives us absolute security that [the] project will proceed and go forward and not lag for years and months,” said Selectmen Chair Sami Baghdady at the board’s Monday, March 14 meeting.

While Starr did announce early in February a new mid-level “mezzanine” lender and that he was close to securing in a large, national retail tenant to fill the majority of the store footage, no announcements have been forthcoming from the Bedford-based company in the last month, as he has cancelled his latest appearances before the boards this month.                                                                                                                              

Representatives of the two boards with direct involvement with the project – the Selectmen must approve a sale of town-owned property and the Planning Board with oversight over design and massing – met a month earlier along with the Town Counsel, George Hall, Town Treasurer Floyd Carman and Town Administrator David Kale, to prepare a shared game plan on the fast approaching late March deadline when the two-year purchase and sale agreement with Starr for the parking lot adjacent Trapelo Road and Starbuck expires.

While no announcement was made at the time, subsequent statements by both boards expressed a lack of patience with three months of missed “drop dead” milestones the development team said they would meet, which included buying the lot, demolishing the site and the beginning of laying foundations, all promised by mid-January. 

The small lot is the lynchpin parcel for the entire project as it will be the easiest to construct and open. The two parcels Starr currently owns – the former CVS building at Common and Belmont and the building at the intersection of Trapelo and Common that once housed the S.S. Pierce store – will require a considerable amount of excavation for the underground parking facilities and a costly buildout.

While Starr could likely come up with the long-agreed to $850,000 asking price for the lot, it doesn’t appear he was able to demonstrate to the selectmen he had construction financing in place which the board has demanded as part of the public parking deal. 

In the past two years, the selectmen have required Starr to pay what was first a $20,000 and now is a $30,000 “fine” for each month he could not close on the lot. The penalty has reached more than $650,000 (although half of the amount will go back to Starr as part of the closing cost).

Baghdady said if Starr does come to the board with a positive development such as a check for $850,000, it is likely the boards will no extend purchase and sale agreement and retain ownership of the parcel.

Then it would be back to square one for the town in redeveloping the parcels since it is unlikely the expired P&S agreement could be revived for a new development team unless the town issues a new request for proposal for the municipal parking lot. That would trigger a reopening of the Special Permit process which took 18 months to craft for Smith Legacy.

Starr will still hold the rights to the two parcels with an option on the parking lot but if was unable to find financing for a simple commercial deal, it’s highly unlikely he could convince a bank or financing company to invest in a smaller building with less of an upside. 

But Starr does hold the development rights to the sites, which likely has value to a developer wishing to skip the grind of shaping a new Special Permit and just build. 

If there is a developer waiting in the wings, the next week in Town Hall could be a whirl of agreements, payments and meetings as the town and a “white knight” secure a new deal before the P&S expires.

Letter to the Editor: Rickter Brings Commitment, Passion to Authority

Photo: Paul Rickter
To the editor:
I know Paul Rickter as a vocal, engaged Town Meeting Member and a supporter of and volunteer for a number of campaigns here in Belmont. These include hands’ on contributions to the building of Joey’s Park, work on last year’s override which provided essential funding to meet town and school needs, as well as support for a range of environmental initiatives and social justice causes.
I also have come to know him as someone with years of experience as a member and chair of non-profit boards similar to that of the BHA. Paul has the planning and budgetary expertise needed to provide fiduciary oversight of the many units of rental housing managed by the BHA. He has experience working with board members and other agencies to come up with innovative solutions to meet the needs of those they serve.
Even more importantly I know, that along with these professional skills and his experience, Paul will bring commitment and passion to ensure that current tenants of properties managed by the BHA are not only living in safe and secure housing but that the future housing needs of the most vulnerable in our community are met with fairness, equity and dignity.
I urge you to join me in supporting Paul Rickter for the three-year seat on the Belmont Housing Authority.
Laurie Graham
Warwick Road

Why Wait? Vote Now for Town Election Via Absentee Ballot

Photo: Absentee voting starts … now!

Don’t miss out voting in the annual Town Election – just 15 days away! – since Tuesday’s are “date” night or because you can’t find a sitter for your pet beagle.

Absentee voting for the April 5 election is now available in the Town Clerk’s Office, located on the ground floor of Town Hall. Anyone wishing to vote absentee should visit the Clerk’s office during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) up until noon on Monday, April 4.

Questions? Contact the Town Clerk at 617-993-2600 or e-mail townclerk@belmont-ma.gov

Letter to the Editor: Housing Authority Could Use Rickter’s Non-Profit Expertise

Photo:

Letter to the Editor:

I’m writing to endorse Paul Rickter for the Belmont Housing Authority. 

For more than ten years, I worked as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Belmont Housing Trust, a non-profit affordable housing developer serving Belmont.  Through that work, I got to know both the mission of the Housing Authority and the ins-and-outs of the Belmont Housing Authority quite well. 

The skills needed to succeed as a member of the Housing Authority do not lie in the arena of building and financing affordable housing. Instead, the Housing Authority acts as the owner/manager of hundreds of units of rental housing in Belmont. Indeed, the Housing Authority is Belmont’s largest landlord.  

The Housing Authority is stressed by decreasing state assistance. The Housing Authority must meet the immediate needs of tenants and plan for the future needs of maintaining the physical infrastructure where people can live and thrive. What is needed, therefore, is a person who brings not merely an interest in the Housing Authority, but exceptional professional skills in management and innovation.

Paul brings 25 years of experience and skills in nonprofit management. Budgeting, strategic planning, people management. Paul brings precisely those skills that the Housing Authority needs today to meet the current and future needs of the BHA residents and, by extension, of the larger Belmont community.

I ask you to join me on April 5 in voting for Paul Rickter for Belmont Housing Authority.  

Roger Colton

Warwick Road

Selectmen QW: Belmont’s OPEB Policy and Issuing Pension Obligation Bonds

 

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Through the efforts of Selectman Williams, the town is moving forward with a study of recommendations towards addressing the town’s long-term OPEB (Other post-employment benefits) but many – town officials and the majority of the Board – are reluctant to follow Williams’ call for the issuance of up to $60 million in Pension Obligation Bonds (POBs). Question: Where do you stand on the town’s OPEB policy and would you currently consider the town issuing POBs?

Mark Paolillo 

Pensions and Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) are two different issues and must be viewed separately.  

State law establishes Belmont’s retiree pension obligations.  Belmont’s Retirement Board is authorized to determine how to fund our retirement obligations and to manage investments designed to fund them.  In 2015, the Warrant Committee issued a Pension report analyzing different options for funding our pension liability; the Selectmen have and should continue to discuss this with the Retirement Board.  

  • Extending the amortization period from 2027 to some later date could reduce the contribution pension impact on annual budgets.  
  • Pension Obligation Bonds (POBs) are a bet that pension investments will exceed the cost of borrowing.  Moody’s has indicated that POBs typically create additional risks, including budgetary and default risk.  GFOA recommends that local governments not issue POBs.  I would not subject taxpayers’ money to risks of this type.  

OPEB consists primarily of retiree health care, a benefit provided to Belmont’s retirees.  To date, payments for retiree health care have been manageable because we adopted healthcare reforms allowing us to effectively control health insurance costs — under one percent growth annually for the last three years.  

Working with the Treasurer, the Selectmen adopted an OPEB Funding policy that Moody’s reviewed favorably. It created an OPEB Irrevocable Trust Fund and ensured that a fixed percentage of free cash is deposited in that Fund every year.  

In 2015, the Selectmen established the OPEB Funding Advisory Group.  On Feb. 7, it reported that the actuarial estimate of Belmont’s unfunded liability is likely overstated.  The group was asked to: (1) continue its work and provide us with a more accurate estimate of our unfunded liability based on key cost data; and (2) analyze options to control this liability. This additional information will help the Selectmen to determine the most prudent course of action. 

Alexandra Ruban

Selectman Williams deserves credit for encouraging the town’s government to take a hard look at our unfunded pension obligations. These issues, if left unaddressed, will only get worse. I commend him for insisting that Belmont’s leadership investigate creative solutions for addressing our pension and other postemployment benefits (OPEB) obligations. 

However, Belmont is hardly alone; 254 of the 351 municipalities in Massachusetts have more than $26 billion in unfunded health care liabilities for public retirees and billions more in unfunded pension liabilities. Nineteen cities and towns have unfunded pension liabilities that top $300 million. Belmont’s roughly $59 million in unfunded pensions and $60 million in OPEB liabilities ($4,825 per capita) is in the middle of the pack.  

Mr. Williams’s support for a bond is one solution, but there are other options that would not require a substantial increase in property taxes. 

A decade ago Belmont’s Board of Selectmen adopted an accelerated schedule for meeting the town’s unpaid pension liabilities. We will be paid up ten years earlier than the state requires – with no clear benefit. These payments have been growing slowly but are now set to balloon, rising at a compounded rate of 7 percent annually until 2027. By simply amortizing our payments over the full period permitted by the state and paying off our pension obligations before 2040, the town would substantially decrease the strain on its budget at no cost to taxpayers or risk to its AAA credit rating. 

The town has started examining alternative options to preserve promised benefits while reducing the cost to taxpayers – one example, by working with its employee unions. Should bonding emerge as the most prudent course forward, I’m confident that the Board and the voters will pursue that course, but we should look at all available options before committing ourselves to any course of action. 

School Committee QW: Integrating English As Second Language Students Into Schools

Photo: The candidates for School Committee: (from left) O’Mahony, Prestwich and Bicer.

Here is the Question of the Week (QW) for the School Committee candidates:

The number of students coming into the Belmont school system from outside the US or who speak a language other than English is growing as is the demand for educators to teach ELL students. With the understanding that the committee is a policy-making body, do you have any plans/programs that you believe will help integrate students more efficiently into our schools. 

Kimberly O’Mahony

I am in awe when I think about how diverse our community is; it’s wonderful! This does make it hard, though, for educators to keep all of the children learning at the same pace due to the challenges facing those whose first language is not English. It would be most productive to consider the pressures regarding this issue, prioritize by impact and ability to alleviate, and identify ways to improve the high-risk areas while keeping the best interest of the children and faculty in mind as well as the budget constraints.  

I am not running for School Committee with an agenda, nor am I armed with an arsenal of answers.  Rather, I am running with a vision of working collaboratively with the School Committee and other committees/town departments to identify the best solutions to the problems we are facing with a thoughtful and fiscally-aware approach. Along with that, always keeping in mind that the main driver is to sustain, support, and enhance the high quality of our education system that the faculty and support staff produces in Belmont each and every day.

Andrea Prestwich

The number of students who do not speak English as their native language (English Language Learners or ELL) has increased from 95 to 261 in Belmont over the last six years. These children face unique challenges. The percentage of ELL or kids who were once ELL who graduate from high school is dramatically lower than for native English speakers.  Early intervention to mitigate the disadvantages they face is, therefore, crucial.

My understanding is that Sheltered English Instruction (SEI) is regarded by education professionals as the most effective way to teach ELL. The term “sheltered” dates back to the 1980s when ELL was taught in separate classrooms. Today, SEI refers to teaching techniques that are used to make content accessible to ELLs in a mainstream classroom.  The dual goal is to teach ELL grade-level content while increasing their English proficiency. Strategies include allowing students extra time to formulate answers, simplifying teaching language and using visuals to reinforce the main points of the lesson.  

Implementing SEI in Belmont classrooms requires clustering  ELL into groups or teams.  Another key requirement is to have Belmont teachers become proficient in SEI techniques. It will be necessary for increasing numbers of Belmont teachers to become SEI certified to support these children. As part of the RETELL (Rethinking Equity and Teaching for English Language Learners) initiative, Massachusetts requires that all teachers who have one or more ELL in their classroom attend an SEI Endorsement Course within one year of being assigned the student.

Murat Bicer

Integrating ELL students into our community and schools is important because integration and language mastery often go hand in hand.  If we are able to move students to proficiency more quickly there is less cost to the district and less chance for the student to fall behind academically.

Integration for school-aged children must begin with and include their families. ELL families face challenges everywhere from figuring out how to register for school, to understanding school procedures, to knowing how to participate in Second Soccer. Belmont is fortunate to have an active and engaged parent population, and we can use this resource through the organization of the PTO to establish integration opportunities. For instance, we could work to match new ELL families with English-proficient families of the same first language, giving the newcomers a sympathetic place to ask questions and learn about the workings of the town. Let’s also look to the Recreation Department to target outreach to ELL families. Sports, free play, and other out-of-school activities are fertile times to learn English.

Finally, let’s not overlook the enormous leaps forward in translation technologies. Many are available at little to no cost and could be utilized both in the classroom and with families. Translation services represent a significant portion of the district’s ELL budget. New technologies may allow us gain some savings while at the same time increasing the amount of translated material we are able to produce.

 

Why I’m Running: Mark Paolillo for Board of Selectmen

Photo: Mark Paolillo

With a sense of purpose and a continued desire to serve Belmont, I am seeking re-election to the Board of Selectmen. Six years ago, I ran on a platform of “we can do better.” The record shows that we have. But, there is still unfinished business.

As Selectman, I drove the creation of the Financial Task Force which developed a multi-year financial plan that will serve as our blueprint for building a sound financial future. It set the stage for the first successful override in 13 years. The override provided financial stability for our school and town budgets and increased our capital budget to help finance our capital improvement needs. During my tenure, we established a more effective and collaborative annual budget process. We improved Town infrastructure by approving the construction of a new Electric Light Substation that will meet peak electricity demand well into the future. The historic 100-year old Underwood Pool was replaced with a beautiful new pool. Lastly, we dramatically improved our communication and transparency by directing town employees to be responsive to all resident inquiries and by redesigning our town website to make it easier for residents to find information such as budgets, policies, and meeting minutes.

Yet there is still more to do. We must complete the excellent work of the Financial Task Force and implement key recommendations, including maximizing non-tax revenue and exploring regionalization with neighboring communities. We have major building projects to address, including the Belmont High School, the Police Station, the Library, the DPW Facility and the Skating Rink.  Finally, we must address the need for a Community Path.

I love this town. I have been honored to serve as your Selectman. I ask for your vote on Tuesday, April 5th.  Please feel free to contact me at 617-489-6517, vote@ElectMarkPaolillo.com, or  www.ElectMarkPaolillo.com.

Here Come [More] Sun: Solar Installation Exceeds Year Goal in Three Months

Photo: The logo and challenge of Belmont Goes Solar.

For supporters of solar power in Belmont, the past six months has been heady times as the popularity of the alternative energy source has gone through the roof.

Or, more appropriately, going ONTO the roofs of Belmont homeowners.

Since the implementation of a solar power policy for homeowners and small commercial businesses on Sept. 30, 2015 and the efforts of a newly-established volunteers group, the number of homes that have and are in the process of installing solar arrays has increased fivefold, according to Roger Colton, the co-chair of the town’s Energy Committee, told the Light Board on Monday, March 14.

The Light Board, which oversees the town’s electrical utility, is made up of the Board of Selectmen.

Capitalizing on a 30 percent federal investment tax credit, a discount from installer Direct Energy Solar, the establishment of a stable tariff that provided solar companies “a level of financial certainty” and the efforts of the two-month-old Belmont Goes Solar campaign, the number of homes with solar panels has shot up from 25 on Oct. 1, to 125 qualified and ready for solar installation, already exceeding the goal of 100 homes for 2016 in just 10 weeks.

“Demand is going up, day after day,” said Colton, who heads the Belmont Goes Solar Initiative.

Producing a map of installations, Colton, said the homes with solar power panels is literally everywhere in Belmont, and, which Colton said in the parlance of young people, “that’s ‘very cool’.” 

The Goes Solar campaign is supported by Belmont Light, the Belmont Public Schools, the Board of Selectmen, Sustainable Belmont, and the local chapter of Mothers Out Front. 

“It shows that when the community works together, programs to improve the community work,” said Colton. 

Since it reached its goal of 100 households going solar, Direct Energy Solar is donating $25,000 to the town towards a solar system on a Belmont school or a municipal building.

Due to the rapid number of residents seeking to install solar arrays, the Light Board – with a nod of approval from the town’s electrical utility, Belmont Light, and the Temporary Net Metering Working Group that created Belmont’s solar policy – has lifted the 1,000 kW ceiling on capacity as Belmont residents have already exceeded the amount.

While supportive of suspending the cap, Roy Epstein, the working group’s chair, said he wanted a date specific in the fall when to revisit establishing a new limit.

Colton encourages Belmont residents to sign-up for a free solar evaluation of their home. More than 70 percent of the homes that have signed-up for an assessment thus far, he notes, “qualified” for the installation of solar panels. 

The next opportunity for residents to meet and talk personally with Belmont Goes Solar volunteers and Direct Energy Solar staff will be Saturday, April 2 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at a “Meet the Installer” event at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. The presentation will also address the particular circumstances of condo owners. 

Belmont homeowners can sign-up for a free solar assessment here