Opinion: Time Is Now For Sleep To Be A Priority For High School Students

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Photo: Bedtime. 

(Editor: On Feb. 7, the Belmont School Committee heard a presentation from the chair of the Belmont Start School Later campaign, Jessica Olans Hausman, and from School Committee member Andrea Prestwich requesting a task force be formed to consider a later beginning of the school day for Belmont High School students. Hausman presented an opinion article [below] to the Belmontonian to inform the public of current and future activities of her group.) 

The science supporting later school start times for high school and middle school students is evident.  An adolescent’s optimal sleep cycle is at 11 p.m. and wake at 8 a.m. Just put a Fitbit on your teen and put them to bed at 9 p.m. They will toss and turn until 11 p.m. That means waking up at 6 a.m. rouses adolescents at the lowest point of alertness in their 24-hour sleep cycle. It is the equivalent of an adult waking up at 4 a.m. This is why the American Academy of Pediatrics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and American Medical Association recommend starting middle and high school no earlier than 8:30 a.m.

Teens are physically and mentally healthier and higher performing with a school start time of 8:30 a.m. or later.  They perform better academically in school and experience 68 percent lower injury rate athletically after school. Incidences of mood and eating disorders, at-risk behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse, and car accidents all decrease with later start times.  

Schools around the country, including Massachusetts, are making a move to later middle and high school start times with positive results.  

  • In fall 2016, Hanover High School changed its opening bell from 7:25 a.m. to 7:55 a.m. The school’s Assistant Principal Hugh Galligan has already reported “a 32 percent decrease in Ds and Fs in period one classes, and a 10 percent increase in As in period one classes this school year.”    
  • In 2012, Nauset High School changed to start school at 8:35 a.m with an immediate result of a 50 percent decrease in Ds and Fs.  These statistics have continued steadily at the school to date.
  • A Newton Start School Later working group has collected nearly 2,000 responses to its survey of six scenarios for starting their high schools as late as 9 a.m. According to the Boston Globe, the Newton School Committee is expected to vote this spring to implement later start times as early as the fall of 2017.
  • South Portland Middle School will move its start from 7:55 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and the high school will move its start from 7:30 a.m. to 8:10 a.m. in the 2017/2018 school year.
  • Boxford, Middleton, Mascomet and Topsfield formed a Start Times Advisory Committee in Spring 2016 that has already completed evaluations studying options for later middle and high school start times.

Much more examples of towns in the region can be found on the Start School Later Massachusetts Facebook page with additional updates available from the Start School Later Massachusetts newsletter.

What is happening in Belmont?  

Belmont may not be far behind these schools in moving to a later school start time.  In 2015, Middlesex League superintendents committed that, if their towns are going to change to later high school start times between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., they will change by Fall 2018. This will help to coordinate after-school sports schedules.  

Belmont School Committee is discussing starting a task force to explore starting school later for the 2018/2019 school year. Their preliminary discussion took place at the Feb. 7 school committee meeting at Chenery Middle School. They may vote on the question at the upcoming meeting on Feb. 28

Belmont residents are highly encouraged to attend this voting meeting at Chenery Middle School at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28.  At the start of the meeting, members of the community are welcome to voice concerns for up to two minutes each. If you wish to sign a petition in support of later school start times for Belmont middle and high schools you can respond here until the school committee vote on Feb. 28. Town task forces often take one year to explore different plans and logistics for starting school later.   

If the Belmont school committee votes to create this task force and follow the year timeline, they could vote in the winter of 2017-2018 on whether and how to start school later in Belmont.

Selectmen Names Interim Town Admin As Search Begins to Replace Kale

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Photo: Phyllis Marshall

Phyllis Marshall, Belmont’s assistant Town Administrator, was named interim Town Administrator by the Board of Selectmen on Monday, Feb. 13 as the three-member panel puts into motion its “plan of action” to find a replacement for the departing Town Administrator David Kale.

“You’re going to be in it knee deep,” said Selectmen Chair Mark Paolillo to Marshall, who takes over the top job in Belmont in mid-March as Kale heads to Cambridge City Hall. Marshall starts her new position in the midst of the annual budget season and six weeks before Town Meeting begins on May 1.

Marshall was hired by Kale to be assistant Town Administrator in December 2013 from Watertown where she was Treasurer and Collector.

The Selectmen voted Monday to increase Marshall’s salary to $160,000 during her time in the job. The selectmen also authorized the temporary hiring of a consultant to assist her with the budget process.

The board also on Monday revealed its outline on finding Kale’s replacement which will start with the release of a Request for Proposal (RFP) to hire a professional search firm to evaluate the job and assist in finding candidates.

Paolillo said the board soon will also create a selection committee – which could be made up of representatives of the Selectmen, Warrant and school committees, Planning Board and Capital Budget Committee – which will recommend two or three finalists.

The selectmen will have the ultimate final say on who is hired.

Paolillo said the board hopes to select the town’s new administrator by August.

What’s The Buzz? Keeping Honeybees In Belmont, Wed Night 7 PM

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Photo: Honeybee in nature.

Honeybees are pretty active. You might say they are … as busy as a bee.

A honeybee – whose wings stroke about 200 beats per second, producing its famous, distinctive buzzing sound – flies for up to six miles to visit between 50 to 100 flowers during a collection trip, all the while helping to pollenate flowers and fruit and producing food in the honey made in the hives they occupy.

Some folks in Belmont have discovered this wonderful creature of nature and have allowed the bees to set up shop in all kinds of places in town. There are hives in open spaces such as Belmont Acres and adjacent to the busy intersection of Pine Street and Trapelo Road across from Moozy’s.

With interest in cultivating bees on the rise, the Belmont Board of Health is holding a Public Forum on “Keeping of Honeybees” on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall. Learn things like where you can place a hive and the general practices of good beekeeping. 

Town Election ’17: Contested Races for Selectmen, Library Trustees

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Photo: Town Clerk’s Office.

Belmont voters will have two contested races to decide at the annual Town Election on April 4, according to the Town Clerk’s office today, Tuesday, Feb. 14.

Hillcrest Road’s Guy Carbone and Adam Dash of Goden Street will vie for the one available seat on the Board of Selectmen while a pair of incumbents – Kathleen Keohane and Gail Mann – are challenged by newcomer David Stievater for the two open slots on the Trustees of the Public Library.

The deadline for submitting completed nomination papers was Tuesday at 5 p.m.

What appeared ready to be a competitive contest in April fizzled as the School Committee will in all likelihood welcome Kate Bowen as its newest member as the Barlett Avenue homeowner joined incumbent Tom Caputo as the two residents certified by the Town Clerk’s Office for the pair of open seats.

In the end, current School Committee member Elyse Shuster and the Zoning Board of Appeals Nicholas Iannuzzi did not return the nomination papers they had taken out.

In addition to the above races, the remainder of residents running unopposed for town-wide office include:

  • Michael Widmer for Town Meeting Moderator (one year)
  • Floyd Carman for Town Treasurer (three years)
  • Robert Reardon for Board of Assessors (three years) 
  • Alexander Corbett III for Board of Cemetery Comm. (three years)
  • Donna David for Board of Health (three years)
  • Corinne McCue Olmsted for a one-year seat on the Library Trustees.

Proposed ’18 Town Budget Tops $110 Million, Up 3.6%

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Photo: David Kale, Belmont Town Administrator

Belmont’s next budget will see healthy increases in both the town and schools with some hopeful news on “stretching out” the monies that came from the 2015 Proposition 2 1/2 override.

The proposed fiscal 2018 town-wide budget – which begins on July 1, 2017 – is pegged at $110,210,440, an increase of $3.9 million or 3.6 percent, according to outgoing Town Administrator David Kale who presented the budget before a joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen, School and Warrant committees at Town Hall on Monday, Feb. 13.

The presentation consisted of the first preliminary outline – albeit a relatively detailed blueprint – of the town’s financial balance sheet which will be voted on at the annual Town Meeting in June.

When asked by Selectman Jim Williams how complete an outline was before them, Kale affirmed it was more than “90 percent” complete, noting that changes will be coming to the town’s revenue line items. He pointed to state aid to cities and towns coming from Beacon Hill will not be finalized until later in the spring. Kale said it is likely that Belmont will see a small increase in the $600,000 forecast heading to Belmont from the State House.

The biggest component of the budget is, as it is every year, the public schools which will come in at $53.1 million, an increase of $3.1 million from 2017, a 6.0 percent jump. According to Belmont Superintendent John Phelan, the jump in costs are directly related to the continued unprecedented increase in students enrolling in Belmont schools. 

Phelan said annually 100 students are entering the Belmont system straining the district with the number of pupils in classrooms, the need for more teachers and staff as well as requiring the district to purchase a second set of modular classrooms in the coming year just to keep pace. 

Expenses from the “town” side of the budget – town services and public safety – will see a 4.2 percent increase (approximately $1.6 million) from 2017 to $38.4 million.

Fixed costs – debt payments, retirement assessments, road repair – which makes up 16 percent of the total budget will see an increase of $600,000 to $17.2 million.

On the revenue side, Kale said 90 cents of every dollar coming into the town’s coffers were from real estate and property taxes ($88.5 million, 80 percent) and state aid from the State House ($10 million, 9 percent). Total property taxes will see an increase of $3.2 million or 3.7 percent from 2017 figures.

Belmont is expecting to see in fiscal 2018 a boost in other revenue sources including $200,000 in meals, motor vehicle, and payments instead of taxes and another $200,000 in local receipts.

Kale, who is leaving for a position at the City of Cambridge in March, noted that due to favorable increases in “new growth” and state aid, the town will only require $1.3 million from the General Stabilization Fund, the $4.5 million in additional funds approved in a Prop 2 1/2 override in April 2015, to balance the budget.

Kale said through belt-tightening and a jump in revenue; budget planners were able to cut nearly in half the original $2.2 million they scheduled to take from the line item. He said that figure could be reduced further if added revenues come to Belmont. 

By reducing its reliance on the stabilization fund this year, Kale said the town could rely on it for more than the three years it was originally slated to last.

Town Election ’17: Incumbents Baghdady, Shuster Step Aside

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Photo: Sami Baghdady, Elyse Shuster

Citing personal commitments, a pair of town government incumbents have decided not to seek re-election.

Selectman Sami Baghdady and School Committee member Elyse Shuster told the Belmontonian at Monday’s town budget presentation they would not be running to retain their seats on the respective committees.

“It’s about a quality of life,” said Baghdady, who noted he had spent the past 12 years as a member or the chair of groups including the Selectmen, the Planning Board, and the Warrant Committee. 

“Now it’s time for me to focus my attention on my young family and my busy practice,” said Baghdady who is an Arlington-based attorney. 

Baghdady, who help lead the Planning Board through the special permit process on the Cushing Village project, was completing his first term as a Selectman, having served as its chair and vice chair during his three years on the board.

Shuster was elected in 2013 to the committee. In 2016, she abandoned her seat to win the one-year term which remained after Laurie Graham resigned.

While she did take out nomination papers for this year’s town election, “I decided over the weekend that I wouldn’t run,” Shuster told the Belmontonian.

“A couple of commitments” prompted her not to run, she said. 

Sports: Belmont Girls’ Hoops Swamp Watertown, 40-22, in Defensive Tour de Force [VIDEO]

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Photo: Belmont’s Alexia Sabatino (Center #5) on defense against Watertown.

Since her freshman season when she took over the role of on-court leader, Carly Christofori has had to walk away five times on the losing end of a game against archrivals Watertown.

In each of the previous two seasons, great playoff runs by the Marauders ended bitterly against Watertown including in a tightly fought Division 2 North Sectional finals last year.

So when the junior all-star point guard walked into the Watertown High School gym Saturday afternoon to play a rescheduled game against her all-too-familiar opponent – she knows many Watertown players through  AAU club games – Christofori’s focus was primarily on redressing past disappointments.

“For me, it was mostly about revenge,” said Christofori.”Getting knocked out of the tournament by them two years in a row kinda stinks. So [the team] wanted to show them what we are really made of.”

And did they ever. In what was a clinic on shut-down defense, Belmont (12-3) put Watertown through 32 minutes of hell, frustrating the team ranked 19th in the Boston Globe poll with pressure up and down the court that limited Watertown (12-3) to 12 points in the first three-quarters, swamping the archrivals, 40-22.

“Credit it to the hard work every single one of them did. They were kind of relentless everywhere. Just really good team defense,” said Belmont Head Coach Melissa Hart.

Throughout the game, Belmont prevented Watertown from running its half-court offense as the Marauders’ defense – which used ten players rotating throughout the match – was too quick and tall for Watertown’s four-guard offense to break.

Senior center Shannon Murphy, Watertown’s go-to offensive player, was kept in check by Belmont’s sophomore center Jess Giorgio, who was the Holy Cross commit’s equal under the basket in rebounds and points.

“Our goal was not to for (Murphy) to get the ball … and that is why we had so much success this time,” said Giorgio.

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While Giorgio and teammates sophomores Jane Mahon (3 points) and Ella Gagnon kept Murphy off the boards, Christofori (a quiet 4 points) – partnered with sophomore Megan Tan and junior Alexa Sabatino (4 points) – made life miserable for Watertown’s point guards seniors Jenna McMahon and Alexis Catsoulis, bird-dogging the pair away from setting up Watertown’s offense.

After Murphy had scored the first basket of the game, Belmont took a 3-2 lead on junior forward Jenny Call’s 3, part of her 7 point night. Junior forward Greta Propp and Mahon (3 points) each made baskets and free throws to build a 10-7 lead after the first quarter. Propp and Call contributed to the defensive cause by sacrificing themselves to hard charges 

Watertown was down by three, 12-9, on senior Alexis Catsoulis’ basket two minutes into the second, but that was a close as the hosts would come to Belmont. Over the next nearly 16 minutes – half of the game – Watertown would score a total of 3 points as the Marauders’ defense kicked into gear.

“We really worked as a team, and …tried to keep up the intensity, just be in their face,” said Sabatino, who hit a 3 to up Belmont’s lead to 15-9. A Giorgio drive by Murphy for two gave Belmont a 20-10 halftime lead, just part of the Marauders’ center’s six consecutive points run that bled into the second half.

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Despite a series of adjustments by Watertown to generate shots from the outside, Belmont’s defense allowed just a pair of Murphy free throws over the eight minutes of the third quarter. The Marauders’ went six for six from the charity stripe and hitting four hoops, two from senior Regan Haight (4 points) to give Belmont a 22 point lead (34-12) at the end of the third.

Watertown is the second team in the Boston Globe Top 20 Belmont has held to two points in a quarter, following Wakefield which the Marauders ran away, 24-2, in the first quarter.

There was no coming back for Watertown as Propp, (who the Boston Globe identified as “Grata Tropp” in a game review), with a game-high 10 points, sealed the deal.

While the Watertown head coach stated in press accounts that Belmont’s overwhelming victory was made bigger than it really was by the players and their fans – and laying down a marker that the actual “biggest” game will be in the tournament   – Christofori said it doesn’t depend on who the team meets in the playoffs, including a rematch with Watertown, the emphasis will be on the defensive side of ball “because it translates to our offense.”

“It’s an awesome feeling knowing that [our defense can] keep a team so good and so talented who scores in the 50s to keep them down so low,” she said.

 

Snow Again: Gusty Blizzard on Tap for Sunday Evening/Monday

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Photo: Snow? Again?

The National Weather Service Sunday morning, Feb. 12, has issued the second winter storm warning in three days lasting until 7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 13.

The storm will be the second nor’easter since Friday’s whiteout which brought nine inches of snow over eight hours on Thursday, Feb. 9. 

The NWS is predicting snow between 10 to 14 inches over 36 hours beginning at 1 p.m., Sunday. 

The NWS forecast includes:

  • Heavy snow with accumulations of 4 to 12 inches.
  • Steady snow will begin around noon Sunday then heavy in the afternoon into Monday, ending in the late afternoon Monday.
  • Hazardous travel due to snow covered roads and reduced visibilities. Blowing and drifting snow is possible.
  • Winds will be out of the west 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 50 mph.

I Can’t Drive … 25? Town Discussing Lowering Speed Limit On All Roads

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Photo: 25 mph is the limit.

Belmont is moving towards following the lead of neighboring municipalities by reducing the speed limit on town roads to a uniform 25 mph.

Belmont’s Assistant Town Administrator Phyliss Marshall, Glen Clancy of the Office of Community Development and members of the Belmont Police Department have been discussing the possible changes in the past month, said David Kale, Town Administrator at Monday’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting.

“Conventional wisdom” would suggest lowering the speed limit would increase road safety, said Kale, who said a bylaw change to reduce the speed limit could be before Town Meeting in May.

Marshall told the Belmontonian on Wednesday, Feb. 8, that so far “all we have done is simply discuss the possibility. Nothing has been finalized.”

If the annual Town Meeting ratifies a blanket speed for town roads, Belmont will join Boston, Somerville, and Cambridge which lowered speeds on town roads to 25 mph. State roadways, such as the Belmont Street/Trapelo Road corridor and Route 60 (which includes Pleasant Street) would remain under Massachusetts Department of Transportation rules.

Cities and towns around the state have moved to drop the speed limit since the implementation of the Municipal Modernization Act signed in August 2016, which grants cities and towns the permission to decrease local speed limits to 25 in highly congested areas and create designated 20 mph safety zones.

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health conducted a study of a 2012 bill found that lowering the default speed limits five miles per hour on local roads from 30 mph made neighborhood roads safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and children while promoting active transportation such as biking and exercise.

Town Election 2017: ZBA’s Iannuzzi Looking At School Committee Race

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Photo: Nick Iannuzzi

Nicholas “Nick” Iannuzzi, the long-serving member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, has taken out nomination papers for a possible race for one of the two open seats on the Belmont School Committee.

A founding partner of the Needham-based law firm Orsi, Arone, Rothenberg, Iannuzzi & Turner, Iannuzzi is known for his defense of town residents against commercial business projects such as the proposed boutique hotel on Pleasant Street and placing restrictions on Airbnb rentals. 

In 2010, Iannuzzi ran an independent campaign to represent the third district on the Massachusetts Governor’s Council, eventually losing to long-time incumbent Marilyn Davane of Watertown. 

Iannuzzi is a graduate of Boston College and Suffolk University Law School. He  has been practicing law for about 20 years. Before becoming a member of the Belmont ZBA, Iannuzzi served on the Zoning Board of Appeals in Somerville.

As of Friday afternoon, Feb. 10, incumbent Tom Caputo is the only candidate to by certified on the April 4 Town Election ballot. Incumbent Elyse Shuster and Catherine Bowen, the chair of Sustainable Belmont, have also taken out nomination papers. Candidates must submit signatures to the Town Clerk’s Office by 5 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 14.