Breaking: Belmont Schools Closed For Two Weeks Due To Pandemic Concerns, Joining Neighboring Towns

By Leave a Comment

Photo: The Belmont School Administration Building

In an extraordinary action to stem the spreading Coronavirus pandemic in the Boston area, the Belmont School District is joining with five towns in the Middlesex County in closing their public schools for two weeks beginning Friday, March 13.

Belmont is collaborating with superintendents from Arlington, Bedford, Burlington, Lexington and Winchester after being “informed by our local boards of health, as well by expert epidemiologists who recognize that the time to act is now,” said a joint press release from the superintendents dated March 12

“We know we can have a greater and more positive impact on public health and safety if we do this together,” the release said.

The superintendents noted the joint closure may be extended or shortened at the direction of state authorities.

Belmont and the other schools are joining the rapidly growing “social distancing” movement “a term that epidemiologists are using to refer to a conscious effort to reduce close contact between people and hopefully stymie community transmission of the virus,” as described in The Atlantic.

Examples of “community mitigation strategies” include nearly all Boston area colleges and universities sending student home for the remainder of the school year, a growing number of businesses are asking employees to work from home and the cancellation of large gatherings from classical music concerts, lectures to sporting events from the professional level to high school championships.

“We do this out of an abundance of caution, particularly out of sensitivity to families and staff who have underlying conditions that make them more vulnerable to complications should they become infected,” said the superintendents.

“We also do not do this lightly, as we know that this will impose a hardship on families who do not have childcare options,” said the release.

The “timely and unified decision” to shut down public education for the fortnight comes a day after the first confirmed case of a Belmont resident infected with the Coronavirus was made public by the Belmont Health Department.

Breaking: Schools Cancelling ‘Large Events’ Due To CoronaVirus Emergency; Musical’s Fate Up In The Air

By 1 Comment

Photo: BHS-PAC’s spring musical “Shrek The Musical” is one event that will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

The Belmont Public Schools is canceling ‘large’ school-sanctioned events due to the spreading CoronaVirus pandemic, according to Superintendent John Phelan.

Speaking before the School Committee on Tuesday, March 10, hours after Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency for Massachusetts after the number of suspected virus patients doubled in one day, Phelan said the district will email a public statement on Wednesday, March 11, detailing the district’s decision and how it will impact the community.

Phelan said the school district’s action was done in coordination with the town’s Health Department and the Town Administrator Patrice Garvin. It also follows Baker’s declaration Tuesday in which he urged large organizations “[to] limit or eliminate large events where possible.”

Examples of “large public gatherings” include the 7th and 8th grade band concert on Thursday, fundraisers such as the Wellington Carnival, public lectures and field trips.

“We’ve had a lot of feedback from our families that they were worried about larger events,” said Phelan.

Phelan also said principals will “have at their discretion” the ability to cancel smaller events at the schools. Those could include a PTO meeting where a few dozen parents and school administrators are attending in a classroom or a “Meet the Kindergarten teacher” event, said Phelan.

Phelan would not comment on the possible cancellation or delay of the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company’s annual spring musical, this year “Shrek The Musical.” The popular yearly event fills the high school auditorium during three or four performances.

“We have to talk about the play,” said Phelan saying he is in discussions with Arto Asadoorian, the district’s director of fine & performing arts on the show’s future. “There is a substantial amount of money that it takes in and a substantial amount that’s put out to support it. We are taking some of these events on a case-by-case basis.”

“But we also want to be safe and be prudent so we’ll decide that in the upcoming days,” said Phelan.

Phelan told the committee the district has not joined other public schools or several nearby colleges and universities in permitting home learning or virtual classrooms to prevent the virus from spreading in Belmont schools.

But Phelan noted that the district will be realistic that distance learning may become an option as the effect of the virus on communities “changes by the day.”

While no Belmont resident or public school student have been diagnosed with the coronavirus as of March 10, “it will come here,” he said.

Performing Arts Company Presents ‘Shrek The Musical’

By Leave a Comment

Photo: The poster for Shrek The Musical by the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company.

The Belmont High School Performing Arts Company 2020 annual spring musical is Shrek The Musical.

Shrek is the tale of an unlikely hero who finds himself on a life-changing journey alongside a wisecracking Donkey and a feisty princess who resists her rescue. Throw in a short-tempered bad guy, a cookie with an attitude and over a dozen other fairy tale misfits, and you’ve got the kind of mess that calls for a real hero. Luckily, there’s one on hand… and his name is Shrek.

Based on the Oscar-winning DreamWorks Animation film, Shrek The Musical is a Tony Award-winning fairy tale adventure, bringing all the beloved characters you know from the film to life on stage, with music by Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie; Caroline, or Change) and book by David Lindsay-Abaire.

Performances will take place in the Belmont High School auditorium on:

  • THURSDAY, MARCH 19 at 7 p.m.
  • FRIDAY, MARCH 20 at 7 p.m.
  • SATURDAY, MARCH 21 at 2 p.m and 7 p.m.
TICKET INFO: 
  • ADULTS: $12 in advance, $15 at the door
  • STUDENTS/CHILDREN: $10

WHERE TO GET TICKETS:

Tickets are now on sale online and at Champions Sporting Goods in Belmont Center.

More information at bhs-pac.org

School Precaution: Staffer Who Self-Quarantined Back To Work, Trips Cancelled, And Disinfecting Schools

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Belmont Public School Administration Building.

The byword for the Belmont School District on the expanding coronavirus epidemic is caution.

A female staffer who self-quarantined on Wednesday after returning from a conference in Italy over February break will return to work on Monday, March 9, according to an email from the Belmont School District.

Italy has by far the most cases of the coronavirus in Europe with nearly 4,000 cases and 148 deaths as of Friday, March 6.

Belmont School District Superintendent John Phelan said the staff member, who works at the Chenery Middle School and Belmont High School, placed herself in seclusion on March 4 after the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) updated its guidance that day asking people to self-quarantine if they have travelled to China, Iran, Italy, and South Korea.

“Once the CDC guidance was updated Wednesday, the staff member who had travelled to Italy self-quarantined, despite the fact there are no symptoms of illness showing,” said Phelan.

“Given this staff member’s return from Italy was on Sunday, February 23, the staff member will return to work on Monday, March 9, as this will represent the expiration of the two week quarantine period,” noted Phelan.

Belmont is just one of several eastern Massachusetts school districts in which educators and staffers have self-quarantined, including Watertown and Beverly.

Belmont High School students were informed this past week that planned school trips during the April break to Spain and China have been cancelled due to the virus. Spain has about 260 cases and 3 deaths while China has been the epicenter of the virus with nearly 81,000 with the virus and 3,045 deaths.

As Belmont schools are where the largest concentration of people congregate during the work week, the district have begun disinfecting and sanitizing high-touch surfaces in the district’s six schools with hospital-grade equipment.

“As you know this is the season for the common flu and our efforts will help reduce the spread of a number of problematic pathogens,” said Phelan.

Earlier this week, Belmont Health Director Wesley Chin said there was a low risk of Belmont residents catching the virus.

High School Community Mourns Death Of Long Time Chorus Leader Sean Landers

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Sean Landers

Long-time Belmont schools chorus teacher Sean Landers has died, according to an email from Isaac Taylor, Belmont High principal.

“Our school community was saddened to learn of the death of chorus teacher Sean Landers. Sean was a teacher in the district for twelve years, teaching at the middle and high schools. Our community will all miss him very much and will spend many difficult moments grieving his loss,” wrote Taylor.

Landers was one of the capstones of the musical education department, leading choruses that won many awards and prepared individual singers to gain entry into district and state choral groups.

Isaac said that should students wish to process this news in the coming days and weeks, “please encourage them to seek out a guidance counselor, the school nurse, the school resource officer, or a trusted adult in the building. If you as a parent have questions, please feel free to reach out.”

Chenery Greets New Interim Principal As Kate Conway Accepts Position

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Chenery Middle School.

Long-time educator and administrator Kate Conway has been named the interim principal of Chenery Middle School, according to the Belmont School District. Conway will start on March 19 and remain in the role until the end of the school year.

Current Chenery Principal Mike McAllister and Conway “will work together on March 19 and 20 to provide some transition discussions, updates, and meetings,” said the release.

McAllister will begin his new role as human resources director at the Central Office on Pleasant Street on Monday, March 23.

Conway has been a successful school principal and administrator throughout her career. Mrs. Conway spent most of her employment in the Cambridge and Wilmington Public Schools as a principal of middle schools, K-8 schools, and an intermediate school (grades 4 and 5). She has also provided interim work in the Dedham and Cambridge Public Schools as principal as recently as 2017.

Kate is a graduate of Lesley College with a Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Dr. Judith Malone Neville, the district’s Interim Director of Human Resources, is reaching out to the staff and the PTO for volunteers to serve on the Search Committee to help select the next Chenery principal who will start on July 1.

Risk Low: Belmont Health Dept. Updates School District On Students And COVID-19

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) scientist shown implementing molecular testing. (CDC image)

In a health advisory to the Belmont School Department issued today, Feb. 28, town’s health officials said the chances of students catching the new respiratory illness known as COVID-19 is currently slight but those attending Belmont schools should take precautions.

The state “that the risk for COVID-19 continues to remain LOW with one confirmed case … in Massachusetts,” wrote Wesley Chin, Belmont’s Health Director in a memo released to the school district.

Due to the limited exposure to the illness statewide, Chin does not recommend wearing face masks or cancelling athletic or school events.

The memo comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn Americans that they should prepare for the possibility of an outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus as the new strain of flu continues to spread worldwide.

According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 is the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus which comes from a large family of viruses – which includes the common cold, flues and more severe respiratory illnesses – which may cause animals or humans to become sick.

Chin said the Belmont Health Department was sharing this updated information “to help keep it informed about the emerging global health concern” as it continues to monitor the latest information from the CDC and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The Belmont Health Department is following public health guidance provided by the CDC and MDPH, which “may include the monitoring of individuals who may be quarantined at home as needed.”

“As this situation continues to evolve, if any special instructions are provided, the Belmont Health Department will communicate them to the community,” said Chin.

Chin also list “some things you can do” to remain healthy:

Keep yourself and others healthy

  • Wash your hands with soap and water, for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands
  • Stay home when you are sick
  • Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash

Know the facts and help prevent the spread of rumors:

  • Be sure you are using a reliable source for your information
  • CDC updates its website frequently with information and guidance about COVID-19: www.cdc.gov/nCoV
  • CDC continues to provide updates for travelers at:https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/index.html
  • MDPH provides regular updates for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/2019coronavirus
  • The Belmont Health Department will post community wide advisories on the Town of Belmont’s home page if there is a change in risk level: www.belmont-ma.gov
  • Face masks are not recommended for the general public at this time.
  • Face masks can be useful in some settings, such as a clinic waiting room, to prevent someone who has a respiratory illness from spreading it to others.
  • Cancelling public events is not currently recommended as the risk for COVID-19

Please continue to remain calm and open-minded

History has seen many instances of societies excluding, blaming, or devaluing those feared to have an unfamiliar disease. Recent examples include Ebola, HIV, and past influenza pandemics where fear led to stigma and discrimination. In many instances, the discriminatory actions caused the health problems to worsen as those who felt alienated avoided seeking out health care and information they needed. We encourage you to continue to remain calm.

Questions?

Contact your healthcare provider for all medical emergencies and health related concerns. All other questions may be directed to the Belmont Health Department at 617-993-2720.

Middle/High School Project Takes Big Step Towards Final Cost Number

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Daedalus Project’s Shane Nolan report on the trade bids during a recent meeting of the Belmont Middle and High School Building Committee.

A sigh of relief was heard from the members of the Belmont Middle and High School Building Committee Friday. Feb. 7 when the bid results from roughly a third of the cost for the $295 million school project came in just under where they thought it would be.

Shane Nolan, senior project manager with Owners Project Manager Daedalus Projects revealed that final bids – which were opened the day before, Thursday, Feb. 6 in a process called “rip and read” – for the 18 trade subcontractors including skills such as masonry, painting, tile work, and plumbing totaled $73.6 million, approximately $1.7 million under their pre-bid estimated value.

“Is this when we cheer?” asked committee member and Select Board Chair Tom Caputo.

The bid results included some large savings in glass and glazing (an underbid of nearly $834,000) and electrical (at $17.9 million, the bid was $1.89 million under the estimate) that off set overbids in HVAC (at $24.4 million was $3.2 million over the estimate) and roofing and flashing (over by $420,000), Nolan told the committee.

With those favorable numbers in hand, the committee voted to add back work struck from the project in 2019 during what Nolan described as the “painful value engineering exercise” which resulted in $19 million cut out of construction.

Brought back from their sidelines will be:

  • Skylights in the High School Maker Space and Middle School Art Room $74,000,
  • A canopy outside the loading dock entrance, $76,000
  • A slab heat ejection at the loading dock $262,000, and
  • Wall tile to four stairwells, $202,000.

Friday’s result is a big step in finalizing the total project cost, according to Bill Lovallo, Building Committee Chair.

“If you want to just look at this as a $237 million project, a third of the job [is underway], a third of the job were in the trades that Shane just read out … and locked in and about a third of the job is still in its final stages,” said Lovallo.

According to representatives from construction manager Skanska, with the trade subcontractor bids included, the total building cost for the project as of Friday’s meeting is $154.5 million. Add into that contingency, insurance and bonds along with management services, the estimated total project cost comes in at $183.0 million.

With a grand total project cost of $237,208,732 – $52 million is coming from the Massachusetts School Building Authority which partnered with the town on the project – the roughly $54.2 million difference is made up of non-trade work controlled by Shanska.

Non-trade contractors are any third party agent that is not directly involved in the major operations of the project.

Unlike the “rip and read” process with Daedalus in which the subcontractors bid is “locked in,” bids for work with the construction manager is “more of a negotiation,” said Lovallo.

The final third of the cost to be revealed in the next six weeks.

High Schoolers Look To Drop A Dime At Town Meeting in Support Of A Paper Bag Fee [Video]

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Belmont High Climate Action Club members (from left) Kate Devitt, Madeline Kitch and Shea Brams.

The brown paper grocery bag: made from renewable resources, is biodegradable, and recyclable. What’s not to love?

But the bags are far from being an environmental panacea as making them puts out CO2 at a rate to be a significant contributor to the climate crisis.

A group of students at Belmont High School is now campaigning to bring a proposal to the annual Town Meeting this May – either as a citizens petition or via the Select Board – to imposed a 10 cent fee on all paper grocery bags with the aim of prompting shoppers to supply their own.

“Our team is working tirelessly to pass this, because big change begins small,” said Kate Devitt, one of the founders of the Climate Action Club at Belmont High School.

“We want to begin reducing carbon emissions locally, and attempt to expand from there; our climate is changing at a rapid pace, and we want to take any measure possible to ensure a livable future for humanity,” said Devitt.

And in Belmont, an area to focus is on the ubiquitous paper bag. There is a misconception, said Devitt, that paper bag as being more climate friendly than the plastic bags they replaced. In reality bag emits three to four times as much carbon to be manufactured compared to a polyethylene plastic bag.

“To be clear, we are not suggesting a return to plastic bags, as we are pleased that a plastic bag ban has been instated in Belmont. We want to incentive the use of reusable bags ,” said Devitt.

The fee would return to the businesses and so is not a tax, she said.

Devitt said the club was introduced to the initiative when they were contacted by Rahul Ramakrishnan, a Belmont High graduate (Class of 2016) attending MIT, who has been working on his own fee-based proposal.

“If Belmont could reduce paper bag consumption through a home rule petition, we would drastically decrease our carbon emissions, while setting a precedent to other towns,” said Devitt, noting Belmont would be the first town-structured community to pass such a fee.

In 2014, Cambridge successfully implemented the exact policy the club will proposed, encouraging customers to “BYOB” – bring your own bag. After the installment of the policy, paper bag consumption was reduced by 80 percent.

Using those results, the club took a look at businesses in Belmont, big and small – Star Market, CVS, Rancatores, convenient stores – and calculated the impact of a fee on the community’s carbon emissions.

The manufacturing of a single paper bag emits about 20g of CO2. Assuming 10,000 households in Belmont use a total of 16 paper bags per week, that is a total of 166 tons of CO2 per year. A typical car produces about 3 tons a year, so that works out that our paper bag usage releases about the same amount of CO2 into the atmosphere, per year, as 50 cars. 

The measure would come before Town Meeting as a new bylaw, requiring a two-thirds approval by the 290 member legislative body.

“Town Meeting’s approval is essential to pass the bill through the ‘home rule,’ a town-specific method of passing a bill that doesn’t require approval from the Attorney General’s office,” said Devitt.

Currently, the club is seeking groups and individuals to support the new bylaw as it heads towards a May vote.

Devitt and Madeline Kitch launched the Climate Action Club over the summer and have more than a dozen active members. Its goal is dedicated to taking action within the town.

“[W]e found that in Belmont, the majority of high school students are concerned about the climate crisis. However, many students are unsure of how to combat these daunting issues,” said Devitt.

And club members have been active, attending Belmont Middle and High School Building Committee meetings to push for Zero Net Energy solar energy at the new institution, collecting more than 250 signatures to support the cause.

“We have [also] attended several climate strikes and Lobby Days as a club, taking the Harvard buses and Red Line into Boston during the school day,” said Devitt.

“Now, we are focusing our time into passing the bill,” she said.

Principal McAllister Leaving Chenery For Central Office [Video]

By 1 Comment

Photo: Mike McAllister.

Micheal McAllister, the popular principal of the Chenery Middle School, will be heading to the Belmont School District’s Central Office to become the director of the newly named Office of Human Capital.

Entering his 20th year in the Belmont Schools, McAllister has been the Chenery principal for the past four years after spending seven years as principal of the Butler Elementary School in the Waverley neighborhood. He began his career as a sixth-grade social studies teacher at the Chenery in 2000.

McAllister earned his BA from Northeastern and a master’s in education from Harvard. He lives with his family in his hometown of Bedford where he served on the School Committee for six years (2013-2019) and was Chair from 2015 until 2018.

“We will welcome Principal McAllister to his new role after we post and search for an interim principal to replace him for the remainder of the 2019/20 school year,” said Belmont District Superintendent John Phelan announcing the news on Tuesday, Jan. 28.

The district will post for the permanent principal position for the Chenery that would start on July 1.

“I think that the district is about to undergo a lot of change, to be able to have a hand in helping steer that in a good direction is an amazing opportunity,” McAllister told the Belmontonian. He noted that bringing the new Belmont Middle and High School “online” in the next five years will require a great deal of time and effort on his part.

McAllister will handle the district’s human resources duties, including the recruitment and hiring staff and educators, negotiating contracts, benefits, professional development opportunities, retirement, and other related employment issues. 

After 20 years as a classroom teacher and a school leader, this will be McAllister’s first time working in the central office.

“When I saw the job description, one of the things that struck me was that I’ve done a lot of those duties already, so I think I can parlay the skills and experiences that I’ve had,” he said.

“I think the central office is really closely connected to the schools, and I think that I can help do that. I am one of those rare people that has experienced at the elementary, middle and high schools, and I have relationships at all those schools and I’m hoping that we can build on this,” McAllister said.

McAllister said it will be a major adjustment to go from daily managing hundreds of students and educators to an office on Pleasant Street.

“I get fired up by the interaction. I love being in a place where 1,500 people know me and I know 1,500 people, I love that, you know, so it’ll be a big, but it’s just a different type of leadership. You know, and I think that as a leader, you’re always trying to move into a place where you’re being challenged. And this is this will definitely be a challenge.”