Last Day Of School In Belmont Is … A Monday (Ugh!)

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All it took was a single snow day for last classes at Belmont’s six public schools to be dragged over a weekend.

Belmont School Superintendent John Phelan announced at the School Committee meeting held on Tuesday, April 9, the definitive final day of the 2018-2019 school year, no matter what weather related event – June snowstorm, a rain of frogs, – occurs over the next two months.

Naming the final day is, in fact, a state requirement per the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and has to be done in April. At the beginning of the school year, districts schedule 185 school days but only operate 180 of them during a school year.

With this year being “good year” in terms of snow days, Phelan declared Monday, June 17, as the official “school’s out” day in Belmont. If it hadn’t been for the “day off,” the year would have ended on Friday, June 14, sparing children from having to spend an almost summer weekend preparing for another trip to school.

At least that Monday will be a half day for students; not so for staff and educators.

Belmont Energy Committee’s Forum: Taking Local Action To Stop Climate Change

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Belmont is on the forefront of local communities who have taken action to reduce its part in global climate change. More than a decade ago, Town Meeting in 2008 adopted a climate action plan to reduce the town’s green house gases by 80 percent by the year 2050. Since then, the town and Town Meeting has pushed policies and measures that has strengthened its role as a leader in mitigating carbon emissions in Belmont.

But according to the Belmont Energy Committee, the town can do better to achieve the goal of becoming a 100 percent carbon free community by 2050.

On Wednesday, April 10 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Belmont Art Gallery, (Homer Building) 19 Moore St., the Energy Committee is holding an educational forum on what are the most important steps residents and the town can take to make a difference in preventing global warming and climate change. Hear from experts about how the world of 2035 can and will differ from the world we know today.

Speakers will include:

George Bachrach: Former president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts and one of the leading environmental voices in Massachusetts. Bachrach is a former state Senator whose district included Belmont. 

Peter Fox-Penner: Director of Boston University’s Institute for Sustainable Energy. The Institute’s Smart Cities Initiative focuses on promoting smart, sustainable cities through new methods of urban planning, infrastructure development, mobility, and built environment energy use.

Belmont Energy Committee along with Belmont Light General Manager Chris Roy, will explain Belmont’s Roadmap toward achieving Belmont’s goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050. The presentation will include an explanation of current ongoing action steps, the long-term action plan, and the Climate Change Resolution to be presented to Town Annual Town Meeting in the spring of 2019.

2-Alarm Fire Damages Trapelo Road Two Family

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A mid-morning blaze heavily damaged the top floors of a rental residence on Trapelo Road near the intersection of Belmont Street, snarling traffic on the busy thoroughfare on Friday, April 5. No one was injured in the incident.

The two-alarm fire started near or close to the rear porch of the 99-year-old two family owned by a Lexington couple. Belmont Fire Chief David Frizzell said it was too soon to determine what caused the fire that brought mutual aid from Watertown, Arlington and Cambridge.

The 10:05 a.m. call reporting the fire to Belmont dispatchers was made by Belmont Fire Lt. Dave Toomey who was off-duty when he passed the structure as heavy plumes of dark, acetic smoke emerged from the house.

“I was sitting at the light when I saw a plume of smoke,” Toomey told the Belmontonian.

Toomey saw a young man at a first-floor window and told him and his cat to get out. Toomey with the assistance from Belmont Police entered the building where he knocked in doors in his search for residence. He didn’t find anyone else inside.

Asked if he had any apprehension entering a burning building, Toomey said “I’ve been doing this for 23 years so this is second nature.”

Belmont crews arrived shortly after the call was received. After attacking the flames engulfing the second floor back landing, firefighters cut holes in the roof and broke open windows.

Belmont Street was closed from Pine Street to Payson Road for more than two hours.

Approximately an hour after the first alarm was sent, the fire has nearly knocked down all for some lingering hot spots. Frizzell said the second floor suffered extensive damage of upwards to $100,000.

Final Say: Andrea Prestwick, Belmont School Committee

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Photo: Multitasking on the campaign trail with Andrea Prestwich

By Andrea Prestwich

It has been an honor to serve on the School Committee. Belmont’s schools are outstanding because the entire community is behind them: the town, parents, teachers, and students.

My first priority is to maintain excellence in our wonderful schools.  That includes careful oversight of the new high school and operational budget. I will advocate for healthy start times in the new high school. Other priorities include access to quality after-school care, appropriate education for all students, including those with special needs and access to quality vocational training. We should strive for a school culture that embraces diversity and I support efforts to make Belmont schools environmentally responsible.

Please see my web page for more details: andrea4belmontschools.com.

Letter To The Editor: Yes On Question 3 To Preserve Transgender Rights

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Photo: Transgender rights is on the state election ballot Nov. 6.

To the editor:

In 2016, the Massachusetts Legislature and Gov. Charlie Baker affirmed the rights of transgender individuals in Massachusetts to be treated like anyone else: to be free of discrimination in public places. As this issue directly affects the safety and well-being of people in my own family, I was reassured that we had chosen the right place to live. Belmont, in particular, has been a supportive community in which my wife and I can raise our children.

However, there are many in the state and from elsewhere who oppose the very existence of transgender people, and who refuse to acknowledge their need for dignity and safety. They formed a campaign to overturn the existing protections. Their reasoning is flawed and vicious and uses unsupported fears to demonize those who do not fit their strict idea of gender. They’ve raised money from like-minded anti-LGBTQ groups around the country to further their hateful agenda. To my fellow Belmont residents: I ask you to please not let those people win. Vote YES on Question 3 to preserve these basic rights for transgender people, including those in my family.

Over the past few years, we have seen an increase in biased attacks on LGBTQ people, immigrants, Muslims, Jews, and people of color. In an environment where the rhetoric and actions in Washington are accelerating discrimination, it is vital that the people of Massachusetts work to protect those who face systemic bias. A yes vote on Question 3 is one step we can take to do this, but it is only one of many. Reach out to your neighbors, your friends, and your family to increase understanding and compassion. Practice noticing and breaking down your own prejudices. Speak up when you witness someone spreading misinformation or biased statements about a whole group of people. 

We are all individuals seeking the space to raise our families, to feel safe in our communities, to help our children have better lives than we have. Let’s help create a world where everyone is able to do that without fear.

Jessie Bennett

Trowbridge Street

Town Meeting Member, Precinct 1

Belmont’s Cushman Named Massachusetts’ Town Clerk Of The Year

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Photo: Ellen Cushman at work, announcing election results.

Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman was awarded Town Clerk of the Year at the Summer Massachusetts Town Clerk’s Association Conference held on Thursday, June 14,

“There are 351 Town Clerks in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and ours was awarded Town Clerk of the Year, a well-deserved honor,” according to a press release dated June 15.

As Town Clerk, Cushman acts as the town’s chief election official, recording officer, registrar of vital records and statistics, public records officer and licensing officer and is the point for general information to Belmont’s inhabitants, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Federal Government and the general public.

In 2017 the Belmont Town Clerk’s Office had 14,300 in person visitors, sent and received 43,878 email, and made and answered phone calls each and every day.

“This office works hard every day to make information available to the public,” read the press release.

“Ellen has always commended her team, and constantly states that the work that she completes would not be possible without her amazing staff. Ellen is joined in her Office by Meg Piccione, Nancy Casale, and Daniel Cane,” said the release.

 

Belmont Light Announces Summer Office Hours

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Following the lead by the town, Belmont Light has announced changes to its office hours for the summer.

From June 11 through Aug. 31, Belmont’s electrical utility company will be opening at 7 a.m. weekday, one hour earlier than its normal 8 a.m., in order to better serve our customers, especially those with contractors doing work on their homes, said Aidan Leary, Belmont Light’s executive assistant & communications coordinator.

The new hours will be

  • 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Thursday
  • 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Fridays.

Four In Running To Fill Vacant School Committee Seat

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Four residents have submitted letters of interest in filling the vacant slot on the Belmont School Committee when Tom Caputo became a member of the Belmont Board of Selectmen in April.

A joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen and School Committee will interview the candidates and select one of the four to join the committee. The meeting takes place on Friday, May 11 at 8:30 a.m. in Town Hall.

The residents on the short list to complete the two years remaining in Caputo’s term are:

  • Mary Boomhower
  • Sarabinh Levy-Brightman
  • Michael Crowley
  • Jill Norton

Below are very brief profiles of the four:

Boomhower has lived on Cutter Street (which is off Beech Street in the PQ neighborhood) for the past three years. Boomhower is not a member of any town committee or board. 

Levy-Brightman resides on Bow Street near the Burbank School. She taught American and world history at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School before heading to the Harvard Divinity School to become the Coordinator for the Religious Literacy and the Professions Initiative.

Crowley is a member and current secretary of the Warrant Committee, the Town Meeting’s financial watchdog. He’s currently a Senior Fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. He spent 10 years at the Office of Management and Budget in DC. He lives on Farnham Street.

Norton, the director of education policy at Cambridge-based Abt Associates, and previously a senior policy adviser for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education, finished third for the two available seats on the School Committee in April’s election. She lives on Clark Street.

Meet Tara: Belmont’s Newest School Committee Member Speaks on Topping the Ticket and Her Agenda [VIDEO]

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Photo: The Donner clan celebrating; (from left, top) Steven Rotman, Susan Donner Rotman, Audra, Tara, Hazel and Abigail Donner.

It’s 9 p.m. on a school night but Hazel and Audra are bouncing around the Donner house, running ragged all sorts of adults who had gathered at the Payson Road abode to celebrate a newcomers entry into town-wide elected office.

So the kids got to stay up a late as it was a special night as their mom, Tara Donner, topped the ticket for the Belmont School Committee in the 2018 Belmont Town Election held on Tuesday, April 3. The educator who teaches at Winchester’s McCall Middle School, secured 38 percent of the votes beating out incumbent Susan Burgess-Cox and fellow newbie Jill Souza Norton in a surprisingly close election with just 400 votes seperating the three candidates.

For Donner, who lives with her wife, Abigail, and their two kids in Precinct 6, the victory was a bit of a surprise for the Town Meeting member. She told the Belmontonian [view the video below] that she will work on the committee to create a district-wide anti-bias agenda and use her experience as a long-time classroom teacher – the first on the committee in several years – to bring a practical expertice to the board.

 

Sold In Belmont: Colonial, Cape and Townhouse All Top Seven Figures

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A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven days in the “Town of Homes.”

• 51 Prentiss Ln., Colonial (1926). Sold: $1,700,000. Listed at $1,799,000. Living area: 2,718 sq.-ft. 9 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 147 days. Last sold: Aug. 2004, $1,556,000.

• 39 Gilmore Rd., Cape (1941). Sold: $1,150,000. Listed at $1,050,000. Living area: 2,775 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 29 days. Last sold: Aug. 2017. $765,000

• 30 Holden Rd., Condominium (1926). Sold: $627,000. Listed at $600,000. Living area: 1,761 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 66 days. Last sold: May, 2012, $590,000.

• 52 White St., Townhouse (2017). Sold: $1,060,000. Listed at $999,999. Living area: 3,060 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 44 days. Last sold: First sale.