Belmont Readies For Schools Reopening As District Defends Restart Process; A Question of Whose Mandate

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Photo: The elementary schools will be open for business on April 5 … if not sooner.

Days after the state’s education set dates for reopening of elementary schools, the Belmont School District revealed on Tuesday, March 9 its plan that will allow the district’s youngest students to return to full-time in-school classes on Monday, April 6.

Created from recommendations by the Return to In-Person Learning Working Group, the blueprint will provide an educational experience for children in Kindergarten to 4th grade lacking since exactly a year ago this week.

“Our administrators and administrative team at the central office have been working hard on this for over a month and a half and we’re glad we are making progress … and to let our families know that as we try to finish this year as strong as possible, that we are prepared to have a goal of opening [schools] in-person learning next year,” said John Phelan, superintendent of Belmont District Schools as he presented the plan to the School Committee at its regularly scheduled Tuesday meeting.

The new plan was being developed by the Working Group when the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) which oversees public education in Massachusetts, issued an edict requiring districts to replace their hybrid systems in elementary schools with full-day in-school classes.

The plan for in-person schooling at the town’s four elementary schools has been discussed for the past two weeks by the working group, school committee and district with the final recommendations released Tuesday:

  • Students in school 5 days/week with the same timing as our pre-Covid school schedule;
  • Offer academics, specials (art, physical education), lunch, and snacks as part of the school day. Lunch and some electives classes will be made possible by setting up large wedding tents at each elementary school and a pair at the Chenery Middle and Belmont High schools.
  • Include specialized instruction for students with disabilities and students who are English learners; 
  • Provide bus transportation to all student in accordance with DESE guidance;
  • Implement classroom capacity, individual distancing, and quarantining requirements from CDC and DESE guidance.

Parents who’ll choose to have their children attend classes remotely will also attend school five days per week. Yet one “trade-off” of moving to a full-time school day will be the end of live streaming that allowed for in-class and at-home students to learn together. This will likely require many remote students to “loss” their current teachers who will transition to in-class teaching, replaced by remote-only educators.

“These are some of the challenges that we are facing in order to be able to provide these two learning models,” said Phelan.

Parents were sent a survey last week on which learning model they would choose for their students which will, in turn, determine how many teachers would be in the classroom and those teaching online.

More specific information on in-school elementary education can be found in the form of a PowerPoint presentation at the Belmont Public School website which was presented at the Tuesday School Committee meeting.

You can see the March 9 Belmont School Committee meeting at Belmont Media Center here.

Phelan noted DESE is requiring middle schools to follow the elementary schools in full-time in-school learning by April 28. And even though the state has not made any time certain for high school students, Phelan said the Working Group will be moving forward on recommendations for reopening the middle and high school.

Tuesday also provided an opportunity for Phelan to defend the district and school committee’s deliberative approach to reopening the schools to the criticism from many residents who felt the superintendent and committee members were ignoring physical data compiled by parents indicating students could have safely returned to classrooms earlier in the school year.

“Why in person now versus earlier in the school year than in the winter,” Phelan asked as he spoke of the success of the Return to In-Person Learning Working Group in formulating the recommendations using data and information gathered internally. The superintendent pointed out that the following guidance from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that only within the past few weeks had it become the optimum time “about bringing more students back to schools.”

“But back in February and January, that was not the case,” he said.

Whose mandate is it anyways?

In a sidebar to the meeting, a question of who has the mandate to speak for educating Belmont students could preview issues facing the Belmont School Committee after Town Election when new members come on board.

Committee member Mike Crowley chided the emergency mandate from DESE Commissioner (and Belmont High alum) Jeffrey Riley directing children back in the classroom either absent of any guidance on a number of issues including the social distancing for unmasked activities and conflicts with union bargaining agreements or “that “DESE guidance seems to be updated about every five minutes,” said Andrea Prestwich, school committee chair.

“I do not like that DESE has usurped the authority of the school committee to make decisions about these planning efforts. This is work that we asked for,” said Crowley, a sentiment seconded by Prestwich, saying she was “holding my tongue about my feelings about DESE, but you did say it nicely.”

Crowley’s statement is hardly a lone voice in the wilderness as many school committees, teacher unions and associations came out to pan Riley’s seeming overreach into local governance. Phelan joined a large group of nearby superintendents in signing a letter asking DESE to work with school districts to come up with a more concrete plan for a return to school, including joining the effort to vaccinate school staff.

While current members were expressing disappointment with the state, School Committee candidate Jamal Saeh, whose run for office is fueled by a growing populism among a segment of the community critical of what they perceive as unwarranted delays in reopening schools, wasted little time in castigating Crowley for his critical take on the state’s intrusion in the running of local government.

“When I hear a school committee member say that DESE usurped the authority of the school committee, I feel compelled to amplify the voice of those parents’ opinion of the school committee [that it] is not the mandate of the community,” said Saeh.

Saeh’s apparently offhand comment was interesting in so much that an elected school board, by state law, was provided a mandate by voters to run the municipality’s schools including managing its own budget, independent hiring practices, and creating policies on how to educate its students.

Friday’s Online Trivia Night To Benefit Belmont High’s Performing Arts Company

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Photo: This year’s BHS-PAC Trivia Night poster

There’s nothing trivial about Trivia Night being held this Friday by the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company.

Last year the popular event, hosted by Parents of Performing Arts Students (PATRONS), raised over $3,500 to support the PAC, with the funds going toward expenses such as props, costumes, lighting and sound equipment, theater workshops, student awards, and scholarships.

This year’s edition takes place, once again, online this Friday, March 12, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Individual tickets are $15, and patrons can join teams of up to eight people.

Because there hasn’t been much opportunity for students to socialize, PATRONS is following up the Friday night adults-only competition with a Saturday night, March 13 trivia event just for students. While purchasing tickets, donors will have the option to sponsor a student participant with a $10 donation.

“Trivia Night is always a lot of fun,” said Carolyn Boyle, co-president of PATRONS. “Supporting theater during a pandemic is hard, but the kids work really hard to produce quality shows and it’s worth it. We’re excited that the online format will allow friends and relatives who don’t live in Belmont to participate.” Boyle noted that director Ezra Flam and his team of trivia ringers usually dominate the night.

Sign up at the Performing Arts Company website, www.bhs-pac.org. Top finishers will receive prizes donated by local businesses along with year long bragging rights.

As District Works Towards Full-Time In-School For K-4; Phelan Commits To ‘Fully In-Person Start’ Of ’21 School Year

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Photo: The Belmont School District is working to bring K-4 students back to full-time in-the-classroom instruction by April

Belmont Schools Superintendent John Phelan reiterated his stance from last week that the district is actively working to derive a program to safely send elementary school students back to the classroom full time in April, according to a press release dated Thursday, March 4.

Rather than add in-person hours to the existing hybrid plan for those attending Belmont’s four elementary schools, “we are now developing a plan for a full, in-person option for K-4 students,” said Phelan.

Phelan also used the release to acknowledge the strain the pandemic has had on residents and students for the past year and his personal pledge to “a strong fully in-person start of the school year in September 2021.”

“I am committed to finishing this school year better than we started. I am committed to returning students back to school as safely and quickly as possible starting with our youngest learners at the elementary schools,” he said. “I will be working tirelessly, along with the entire Belmont Public School community, to deliver on these commitments.”

As he stated in his release of Feb. 26, Phelan said the district has shifted its focus following the announcement by Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeff Riley who said on Feb. 23 that he will ask state permission to yank the hybrid option for the state’s youngest students.

In response, the district’s Return to In-Person Learning Working Group – the nearly 30 member group created last month to manage the transition to full-time in-school learning – had shifted its focus to now “building recommendations in subgroups which focused on physical distancing and classroom capacity, lunch and snack, specials and specialized instruction, remote-only options, and transportation,” said Phelan.

Monday, March 8: Working Group meeting and possible recommendations
Tuesday, March 9: Recommendations presented to at School Committee Meeting
Thursday, March 11: Q&A session with school administrators
Friday, March 12: Survey to all K-4 parents asking for remote/in-person choice
Wednesday, March 17: Survey due by 5 p.m.

And as Phelan promised when the group was formed, the working group has begun making “rolling recommendations” to the district on meeting his new goal. After its meeting on Monday, March 1, Phelan along with school principals and central office staff have begun reviewing emerging recommendations focusing on creating guidelines for social distancing in classrooms and non-learning spaces in the four elementary schools.

One of the leading constraints identified last summer hampering a return to full-time in-school learning throughout the district has been the lack of physical learning space required for 100 percent student participation with a required six-foot separation between students.

In addition to social distancing, the working group has also focused on addressing concerns related to the remote-only experience for those students and families that select to remain remote for the rest of the year, and taking stock of current PPE equipment, and make any recommendations so the schools are ready for a return to increased in-person learning.

The Working Group will meet again on Monday, March 8, and could issue recommendations at that time. If there are proposals from the Group, they will be made public at the School Committee the next day, March 9.

In an attempt to have families fully briefed on each learning option – in-person or remote – Phelan said the district will hold a Q&A session with school administrators on Thursday, March 11 at 6:30 p.m. 

The district will send a survey to parents on Friday, March 12, on whether they would like to choose the remote or in-person option for their child.  The survey will be due Wednesday, March 17 and this selection will be binding for the remainder of the school year.

After the Working Group has completed its K-4 recommendations, it will then move into discussions of how to increase in-person learning at the middle and high schools. Initially, the Working Group will start with grade 5 by leveraging their recommendations from the K-4 given the self-contained grade 5 model which is more similar to our elementary schools.

On a personal note, Phelan said he was well aware of the considerable hardship the school community – students, staff, parents – has taken on since the pandemic halted in-school learning in March 2020.

“I want to recognize that this has been a difficult year for students, as well as for parents and families. It has also been the most significant challenge our educators have ever faced. There are no easy answers as we battle COVID-19,” said Phelan.

“I appreciate and acknowledge that change can be disruptive and that these plans will be met with happiness by some and concern by others. I look forward to working together to deliver on three big commitments: finish the year better than we started; return more students to in-person learning this spring, and focus on a full in-person start to the year in the fall.”

“I … want to thank the families of Belmont for the grace they have shown–and continue to show–as we work through this devastating public health crisis,” said Phelan.

Breaking: Belmont Preparing For April Return Of Full-Time In-Person Classes For Elementary Students

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Photo: Belmont will offer full-time learning for K-5 in April

The Belmont School District will announce next month two learning options for its youngest students one of which will be full-time, in-person learning beginning in April, according to a press release from Belmont Superintendent John Phelan released on Friday, Feb. 26.

The statement marks the first time the district has announced it would move to all-day in-person learning during the current school year.

Yet still to be answered as the district heads to a return of “normal” school days are issues that have existed since the summer: the existing space limitations at the four elementary schools and the need to negotiate all changes of staffing levels and scheduling with the teachers union.

The impetus for the move came as the state is forcing Belmont’s – and many other school districts – hand when Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Commissioner Jeff Riley announced Tuesday, Feb. 23 he will ask the DESE Board to vote on March 22 on giving him the authority to eliminate all hybrid learning options in the elementary grades statewide.

Belmont is currently working in separate hybrid programs for elementary, middle and high schools.

“With COVID cases and hospitalizations continuing to decline and vaccines well underway, it is time to set our sights on eliminating remote learning by April, starting with elementary schools,” said Gov. Charlie Baker at a news conference on Tuesday.

If the board OKs the authorization, Phelan said Riley will then direct districts to provide elementary school students with one of two learning models: full in-person or a return to or continuation of remote learning. 

Riley said his goal is to require all districts starting on Monday, April 5 to have an in-person, full-time option for students in kindergarten through 5th grade.

In his response to Riley’s announcement, Phelan said Belmont is ahead of where the state stands in moving towards in-person reopening for all students, pointing to the recently formed Return to In-Person Learning Working Group (RIPLWG) with its “goal of providing more in-school time for students who want it.”

“Because Commissioner Riley’s goal of increasing live instructional time for students is very much in line with our own goals, we will not wait until March 22 to begin the important work of considering the implications of this change,” said Phelan.

“We will continue to plan thoughtfully and thoroughly so that we are ready to adjust to any changes that may be mandated,” said Phelan. “We await the Commissioner’s plan and updated guidance to ensure our work is directed toward the intended goal.”

As soon as the district gets a clearer picture of what the two models will look like in Belmont, it will survey families “so you can make an informed decision” on which plan to accept. The survey will also be determining staffing levels in the schools and remote.

“It is important that families have a full picture of what either model will be before committing,” said Phelan.

That process begins next week as “[w]e intend to be very public and transparent about our work, and will share all of the materials and data we are using with the entire community,” said Phelan. Those resources will include classroom enrollment data, room capacity measurements, and other information, most of which can be found on the Return to In-Person Learning webpage.

Phelan said the next communication with the community will be on Tuesday, March 1, after the next RIPLWG meeting.

“There will be many details to come in the weeks to follow that we will need to discuss and operationalize for this next step to take place successfully,” said Phelan.

But there remain several questions that have been left unanswered. The first that has plagued the district is the lack of space in the four elementary schools to provide 6-feet social distancing to allow the full capacity of students to attend. There is also the issue of incorporating one grade at the Chenery Middle School into the full-time schedule. Along with expected expenses is the knowledge that all significant changes the district will need to put forth to accomplish the mandate are required to take to collective bargaining with the Belmont Education Association, the local teachers union. It is not known if Riley has the ability to waive state labor laws when he sets forth his agenda.

At this time, Phelan said he is moving towards the goal of in-class learning.

“The Belmont Public Schools is committed to more in-person learning for students, whether the mandate is handed down or not. We will continue working to provide greater in-school time to those students who want it, while also maintaining a remote option,” said Phelan.

“We will do this work as we always do: thoroughly, thoughtfully, and in conjunction with all stakeholders – students, families, and educators,” said Phelan.

With The Pressure On, School District Introduces Group To Lead Belmont Back To In-Person Learning

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Photo: A working group has been created to facilitate to return students back to school full time.

With pressure increasing to bring back students to the classroom, the Belmont Schools District announced this week the formation of a working group whose charge is to create a roadmap to quickly reopen the district to in-school learning.

“It is our full intention. as a district, to identify the challenges and … to see where we can look for opportunities and also anticipate some updated guidance,” said Belmont Superintendent John Phelan before the Belmont School Committee on Tuesday, Feb. 2 as he introduced the “Return to In-Person Learning Group” which will hold its first meeting on Monday, Feb. 22.

The district is running under a hybrid school day which provides a limited amount of in-school instruction.

Unlike past committees and groups that produced a final summery that “lies gathering dust,” Phelan said this group is committed to producing “rolling recommendations” where breakthroughs and solutions can be rapidly implemented.

“This committee is really charged with identifying those challenges and giving us a roadmap for when those challenges [become] opportunities … and how we can move forward,” he said.

The new working group, introduced by Phelan on Jan. 19, is established just as the district and school committee is feeling the pushback from national and state governments and local groups and residents to find some way to put kids back in schools full-time, which hasn’t occurred since mid-March of last year.

The day after the superintendent’s announcement, newly-appointed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said “[t]here is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen” without the need for teachers to be vaccinated. She also said schools would need to meet a myriad of safety protocols – masks, distancing, ventilation and surveillance testing – to open safely.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has been advocating for the return of in-person learning whether it is hybrid or full time instruction since the school year began in September, providing incentives such as testing . Locally, the frustration of parents on the slow roll out in September of the hybrid plan and no indication of a date certain for person to person instruction has led some to run for the two school committee seats

The district is also feeling the push from the local teachers union. While silent throughout the COVID crisis, it is clear the Belmont Education Association has emphasized safety of its members during the nearly-year long pandemic.

The state union, the Massachusetts Teachers Association has asked been adamant that districts wait until all teachers are vaccines before educators back into classrooms.

On Tuesday, the School Committee voted to join a letter signed by 42 superintendents and 23 union presidents endorsing the calling for teachers to be given preference in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Currently, Massachusetts teachers are part of the third group in Phase 2 of the state’s vaccine timeline which start later in February.

“In order to do our jobs at the level desired by [the state], the professionals working in our field should be vaccinated as quickly as possible so they can continue to work with the children they come in contact daily,” said Prestwich reading from the letter.

The working group will be led by independent veteran educators with connections to the Harvard Graduate School of Education; Michelle Rinehart and Dr. Drew Echelson,

“The purpose … for this working group is to develop specific and actionable tools that will support Belmont public schools in determining when and how to bring more students back to in-person learning,” said Rinehart.

The group’s charge is three fold: Discover the conditions which will allow the schools to increase the level of in-person learning, determine the current conditions and what are the “roadblocks” impeding students return to the classroom and finally submit draft rolling recommendations to the superintendent that will outline the path to person-to-person learning.

The working group will be divided into subgroups which will focus on critical areas for a safe return such as social distancing, vaccination, testing, classroom capacity, PPE and health supplies and transmission rates.

The working group will also pay attention to changes in and emerging guidance and regulations from national and state government entities – the CDC, the Massachusetts departments of Elementary and Secondary Education and of Public Health – on opening schools, follow COVID cases and trends as well as focusing on possible additional funding available from the Biden administration which will be in line with his initiative of ramping up the opening of a majority of K-8 schools in the first 100 days of the Biden presidency.

The group will be one of the largest in town history: 27 members – represented by teachers, students, residents, health officials and the school committee – meeting weekly with biweekly public gatherings to provide updates and receive feedback and insight from the public and other stakeholders. The members will be selected Feb. 9.

Phelan sees the working group laboring through February and March with its final recommendations submitted to him by late March/Early April.

“There’s going to be a lot of work to do with the context of the work ever changing,” Phelan said on Jan. 19.

School Committee OKs 2021-2022 Calendar; Late Start on Sept. 9 Due To Construction, Religious Concerns

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Photo: The calendar for the 2021-22 school year

It will be a later start than anticipated for the next school year as the Belmont School Committee unanimously approved the 2021-2022 school calendar, one which nearly all in the committee and district is hoping is a return to “normal.”

The delay of more than a week in the start date for the nearly 4,800 students is due to a pair of events; the opening of the high school wing of the new Belmont Middle and High School and observance of a Jewish High Holiday.

While existing district policy calls for the school year to start the Wednesday before the holiday when Labor Day occurs later than Sept. 3, Superintendent John Phelan told the committee the first day of classroom study for students – COVID variants pending – will move from Sept. 1 to Sept. 8, as “we need to consider starting after Labor Day for the construction project.”

The committee also voted unanimously to push the start back an extra day to Thursday, Sept. 9 in deference to the final day of Rosh Hosannah, the Jewish New Year. The vote runs counter to School Committee policy passed in 2016 after a contentious debate to no longer celebrate Christian and Jewish religious observances as official district holidays.

But Committee member Amy Checkoway, who sought the extra day delay, the holiday comes on the important first day of school in what she hopes is “a normal-ish year.”

Committee Chair Andrea Prestwich noted that the collision of one of the “most important Jewish holidays” and the opening of the school year creates “a perfect storm” of competing pressures on many families in Belmont.

While she supported the existing language not to favor religions over others on the calendar, Prestwich said she changed her mind because it is the very first day of school. Taking time off on that day would be more disruptive than any other day of the year, she said.

Committee member Michael Crowley said because a significant number of teachers and students when they all are needed to be in the classroom.

“It’s just not the best choice for a first day of school,” said Crowley, one of the five votes in favor of starting schools two days further down the calendar.

Highlights of the ’21-’22 calendar are:

  • The start of school for grades 1-12 takes place on Thursday, Sept. 9 with kindergarten half days on Friday, Sept. 10 and Monday, Sept. 13.
  • Winter recess will begin on Friday, Dec. 24 with a return to school on Jan. 3, 2022.
  • The week long February recess will take place the week of Feb. 21 and
  • Spring recess April 18 – 22
  • The last day (which includes the five snow days) will be tentatively Monday, June 27.

Emergency Parking Ban Starts At 6 PM; No School Tuesday; Trash Pickup Delayed One Day

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Photo:

Town officials have announced a snow emergency parking ban on all roadways, municipal parking lots and Belmont Public School parking lots, effective at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 1 and will continue into Tuesday, February 2, 2021 until further notice.  All vehicles parked in violation of the ban will be towed at the owner’s expense.

The Belmont School District has also announced there will be no school Tuesday, Feb. 2, due to the impending snow storm. Please know that all classes, hybrid and remote-only, are cancelled.

All scheduled public meetings scheduled for tonight will be held virtually. 

There will be no trash pickup on Tuesday, Feb. 2.  The trash, recycling and yard waste pickup schedule will be delayed by a day through the end of the week.

With A Foot Forecast On Thursday, Belmont Schools Ready For Return Of Snow Days

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Photo: Snow heading our way.

The first significant storm of winter will buffer Belmont with upwards of a foot of wind-driven snow starting Wednesday night, Dec. 16, and lasting until the early afternoon Thursday.

And while there had been discussions during the summer that school closures due to snowstorms were a thing of the past – every student has demonstrated they can learn in the remote phase – the Belmont Schools are preparing for the return of the snow day.

First, the forecast: The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning for Belmont and eastern Massachusetts that will go into effect from 7 p.m. Wednesday until 1 p.m. Thursday as southern New England can expect heavy snowfall with accumulations of 8 to 12 inches with some locally higher totals. The storm will be accompanied by wind gusts as high as 35 mph.

The NWS warned that travel could be “very difficult to impossible” during nighttime hours Wednesday with the hazardous conditions impacting the morning commute.

In a message released Tuesday by Belmont Superintendent John Phelan, a school cancellation notification for Thursday will be issued by Wednesday early evening. In that event, all classes, both hybrid and remote-only, would be canceled.

“Families will receive an email and “robocall” if there is a school cancellation,” said Phelan. “If you do not receive an email or call, school will open as normal.”

In addition to an email and a call, the Belmont Public School website will list weather closures. The local television and radio stations will also list cancellations. See below for some helpful links:

WBZ Radio (1030 AM) and TV (Channel 4) https://boston.cbslocal.com/closings/

WRKO Radio (680 AM) and WHDH TV (Channel 7) https://whdh.com/storm-closings-delays/

WCVB TV (Channel 5) https://www.wcvb.com/weather/closings 

The BPS Website https://www.belmont.k12.ma.us/bps/Parents/School-Closing-Delayed-Opening

Belmont Schools Name Ruane Interim Athletic Director

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Photo: Matt Ruane

Matthew Ruane, a Belmont High School counselor and assistant baseball coach, was named Belmont Schools interim athletic director for the next four months on Friday, Dec. 4. Ruane will fill in until the first week in March for long-time AD and Director of Physical Education Jim Davis who is expected to return at that time. Belmont Superintendent John Phelan did not provide a reason for Davis’ temporary departure.

Ruane will be responsible for managing the athletic department during the Winter Sports season and what is being called Fall II beginning in February during which football is to take place. He will be facing sports which will be playing a limited schedule and possibly without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all the while promoting participation and the health and safety of students.

While Davis is away, his physical education duties will be split between three “lead” teachers.

  • Ted Trodden: elementary students
  • Dena Cocchiola: Chenery Middle School
  • Stacie Marino: Belmont High School

Before Davis left, he took care of the team’s schedules, transportation needs, and gym registrations.

Ruane is no stranger to Belmont High athletics. As a student (Class of 2007), Ruane was named Boston Globe Division 2 Baseball Player of the Year (going 7-0 as a pitcher and batting .521 to lead the Marauders to a sectional title) and was named a Middlesex League’s first-team all-star at quarterback. He played baseball for four years at Bowdoin College compiling a .324 average with 12 home runs.

Ruane has been a high school counselor in Belmont since April 2016. He holds a Master of Education from Cambridge College and earned an economics degree from Bowdoin.

Letter To The Editor: Our Plan For A New Rink Worked But Town Lacked The ‘Political Will’ To Get It Done

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Photo: Rendering of the Belmont Youth Hockey’s proposal to the town for a new rink.

To the editor:

On Nov. 10, the Belmontonian reported that eight months after receiving a single proposal for the development of a new skating facility, the town of Belmont determined the proposal was not economically feasible. While certainly convenient to blame the bidder, it was not true; the proposal submitted by Belmont Youth Hockey Association to develop a new facility was professionally vetted and fully financially feasible.  

The deeper story is that the town issued a Request for Proposal that was never feasible. The RFP asked for more square footage of programming than currently exists in the designated development space west of Harris Field. In an area that currently houses the White Field House, one rink (the Skip), a soccer field, a softball field and facility parking – the town’s RFP asked for all of these to be maintained and improved while adding an additional half rink, baseball field, shot put and discus area and 90 additional parking spaces required by the new high school.   

Once the review committee realized they needed more space to meet their own RFP requirements, the town made the decision to pass on the opportunity to adjust their expectations to make the project feasible. The town lacked the political will to address the need for incremental parking for the high school in an alternate location.   

The decision by the Select Board to pass on the only proposal caps nearly 10 years of effort by Belmont Youth Hockey to address a critical issue: the town continues to operate a facility that is structurally and mechanically unsound. By passing, the town has eliminated any potential for a public/private partnership. Belmont is no longer a credible partner. The town wasted the time, resources, and diligent efforts of a consortium of financial, construction, design, operating firms, and individual volunteers all collaborating to solve a pressing safety and viability concern.  

The positive news is that the path forward is now clear. By failing the RFP process, the town must move forward on its own. It’s time to allocate and approve the approximately $15-$20 million needed to rebuild the Skip and the White Field House and to do so as part of an integrated plan to develop the space west of Harris Field so that the pending development of the field space is not squandered. Continuing to deny the lack of structural integrity of a complex that services several thousand kids and adults each year is not a responsible option.

Bob Mulroy

Belmont Youth Hockey