Schools To Start After Labor Day This Year. After That, We’ll See

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Photo: The calendar.

After a spirited give and take over three meetings, the Belmont School Committee agreed the 2017-18 school year will begin, as it has traditionally over the years, usually after the Labor Day holiday.

But after that? Well, we’ll see.

At last week’s meeting, the committee – by a five to one vote – decided far too many Belmont families have already started or completed their vacation or summer camp plans to upset the apple cart of tradition, voting to begin the 2017-18 school year on Wednesday, Sept. 6. Kindergarteners would not start full-day schooling until Monday, Sept. 11.

Under this schedule, the last day of school – with five snow days already added – will be Wednesday, June 20.

The vote continues the School Committee policy of beginning school on the first Wednesday of September.

“I would lean towards sticking to the policy we have now,” said Committee member Elyse Shuster who in earlier meetings was willing to take a new look at the policy.

Under the alternative start day, the 2017-18 year for students would have commenced on Wednesday, Aug. 30. Students would return on Thursday, Aug. 31 before taking a four-day holiday recess before coming back on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

Championing a pre-Labor Day start date is Belmont Superintendent John Phelan who said students and staff would benefit from entering school before the holiday to decrease start-of-the-year anxieties and begin the school year “ready to go” on the Tuesday after Labor Day.

Member Susan Burgess-Cox, the lone “no” vote, said while she understands the reasoning behind the later start date as “not shortening summer,” she noted if the school year ends earlier “so will your summer in June.”

While the committee stuck with current convention, it will discuss possible policy changes for future school years and will update the public in coming meetings.

Shuster said she’d like for the policy subcommittee to draft a note which would allow for flexibility in starting the school year much like what occurs in the Weston schools. Its policy, adopted in 2011, starts school on the Tuesday after Labor Day if the holiday occurs before Sept. 5; if Labor Day is on the 5th or later, the year begins on the Wednesday before the holiday.

“This would be a good compromise to have a consistent policy” that would allow for a flexible start date concerning Labor Day, said member Murat Bicer.

In addition to keeping the status quo on starting the school year, the committee approved an

  • One additional early release day for Chenery Middle School student; to allow more time for parent/guardian/teacher conferences.
  • The first districtwide early release day will be in the first week of October, moving from the traditional last week in September.
  • And since Veterans’ Day in 2017 falls on a Saturday, which under state law is celebrated on the day and not on the following Monday, the holiday does not appear to impact a school day in the coming school year.

School Committee to Ponder Pre-Labor Day District Opening in ’17

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Photo: The Belmont School Committee

Long standing end-of-summer activities of Belmont families could be put on hold next year as a majority of the Belmont School Committee spoke favorably of opening the town’s six public schools the week before Labor Day next September.

The committee’s unofficial consensus came as the school administration presented a draft of next school year’s calendar to the group at its scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 29.

Under the proposed timetable, the 2017-18 school year would begin on Wednesday, Sept. 6, one of the latest opening in many years as Labor Day will be celebrated on Monday, Sept. 4. The late start will also mean kindergarteners would not have a full day until Monday, Sept. 11.

“That’s a long way before classes start,” said Belmont Assistant Superintendent Janice Darias.

The final day of school without snow days included will be Wednesday, June 13. With the traditional five snow days added, the school year ends on Wednesday, June 20, the day before summer.

High School graduation would be on Sunday, June 3, 2018.

While praising the preliminary Almanac, the late start allowed Superintendent John P. Phelan to reiterate a long-standing personal preference that students and teachers benefit from a pre-Labor Day start to the school year.

Phelan said holding two full days of classes on the Wednesday and Thursday before Labor Day allows students “to get all the hot air” out of their systems before the long holiday weekend.

Psychologically, the “first-day worries” experienced by students and teachers are out of the way, and the students are “in school” during the first full week in September, said Phelan.

While traditionally the case against a pre-Labor Day start was predicated on families being on long vacations and in camp up until the holiday, many students, especially in the high school, are active with school events before the holiday. All the fall sports programs have begun training with many scheduling scrimmages and attending pre-season tournaments while the 100-plus member marching band is perfecting their routine during the same period.

And due to the lateness of Labor Day, many local and out-of-state camps will have shut down weeks before and sent the children home.

An earlier start “helps working parents” who have two to three weeks to fill before traditional school starts.

Phelan also noted teachers and staff “liked starting before Labor Day” as it allows them to finish perfunctory classroom matters during the short week and start original studies on the Tuesday after the holiday.

For the majority of school committee members, the change – which would go against district policy to start the school year after Labor Day – is well worth considering.

“I’m more than willing to explore” changing the start of the school year, said Committee member Tom Caputo. Susan Burgess-Cox noted in her family her daughter, entering first grade in September, “had a stomach ache” over the Labor Day weekend due to the anxiety attending a new school while her niece in Acton benefited from two days before the long holiday to explore her new school.

Darias said she would present at least one alternative calendar with students in classes on Wednesday, Aug. 30, (teachers and staff would begin Monday, Aug. 28) at the next school committee meeting on Dec. 13.

Thank You, Override: School Budget To End Fiscal Year In Balance

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Photo: A school budget in the black? 

Last year this month, the Belmont School District and School Committee were scrambling to someway fill a $536,000 deficit by the end of fiscal year 2015 which loomed in two months.

In the end, the district with a cup in hand to ask for $285,000 from the Warrant Committee and drained the Special Ed Stabilization Fund of its $250,000.

As fiscal year 2016 is coming close to closing, the deficit facing the district is far more modest. In fact, if everything breaks its way, the district could arrive on June 30 living in the black.

That’s the hope coming from Belmont Public School Superintendent John Phelan and Tony DiCologero, the district’s finance and business and operations director, who presented a forecast of the total general fund. According to DiCologero, an analysis of the revenue and expense trends, the anticipated shortfall on June 30, the final day of the fiscal year, will be approximate $23,000.

Phelan said the improved fiscal condition of the schools was directly related to the passage in April 2015 of the $4.5 million Proposition 2 1/2 override allowing the district to manage the continuing high number of students entering the system which had created a financial

“We have to thank the taxpayers for passing the override to allow us to navigate the increase in enrollment that continues,” said Phelan. 

The projected loss is lower from the last time the school district calculated the deficit in December when the forecasted number was $58,000. Much of the reduction has to do with district-wide positive trends district including in salaries where savings have been seen from staff turnover where the new hires are coming in a much lower pay rate.

The district will be seeking, even more, savings when it places a halt on purchase invoices early next month. 

“If this works as we hope, we could end the year in the black,” said Phelan. 

It’s Official; the Last Day of the School Year Is …

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Photo: 

Belmont schools will begin the summer recess this spring.

At the Belmont School Committee’s meeting on Tuesday, April 26, Schools Superintendent John Phelan thanked residents and students for their “understanding” for trudging through a few heavy snow days this winter as the administration decided against declaring a snow day.

And since the district only cancelled classes once due to weather, the reward is that school children will begin summer break on one of the earliest dates in memory.

The Committee voted unanimously to approve Thursday, June 16 as the final day of the 2015-16 school year.

The day will be an early release day for students and a full day for staff. 

School Committee: New Members Forecast Roles on Board

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Photo: Murat Bicer being sworn in by Town Clerk Ellen Cushman.
 
The April 5 Town Election resulted in the selection of two new members of Belmont School Committee, Murat Bicer and Andrea Prestwich, who won three-year seats on the body that will decide the direction of the school district facing increasing enrollment pressure, the construction of a new high school, keeping the schools at a top level academically and facing future financial pressures.
 
The Belmontonian asked the pair questions on what they learned during their campaigns and the their future on the board.
 
[Some answers were shortened for length]
 
Belmontonian: What did you learn about Belmont and the residents perception of the schools during your campaign that may not have been on your radar?
 
Bicer: I was delighted by how engaged the residents were, even people who don’t currently have students in the system. About 25 people attended my campaign event; several sent me questions through my website, and one even sent me a letter in the mail. All totaled, I fielded dozens of thoughtful, difficult, and important questions.  As a first-time candidate for office, I didn’t know what to expect for direct engagement, and I learned that Belmont is a very politically active community.
 
Prestwich: I heard a lot about kids being stressed at school.  I was expecting this somewhat from the parents of high school kids but not so much from middle school or even elementary school parents. The main concerns were a lack of down time during the day and homework.
 
Belmontonian: What was the overriding concern of Belmont parents relating to the schools? What was your answer to those issues?
 
Bicer: The overriding concern kept boiling down to the same: How are we going to afford it all?  As many of our largest challenges are budgetary, it’s not a surprise that buried in peoples’ specific questions about class sizes, the shape of the new high school, and access to electives was a concern for monetary resources. So in answering resource questions about the schools, I emphasized that I’ll look over the budget, question assumptions, and work my hardest to stretch our dollars as far as they’ll go while thoughtfully reviewing options for additional revenues.
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Andrea Prestwich.

 
Prestwich: Quality of the schools was the number one issue. People are worried about the impact of the enrollment, especially those with younger kids. I was also very pleased by the depth of support for starting school later. I share these concerns, and I will work very hard to maintain funding and transition to later start times.
 
Belmontonian: What subcommittee do you think you can contribute the most? Why?
 
Bicer: I hope to join the finance subcommittee. First, I’ve worked in finance for a decade and feel that this is a valuable experience that can add to the pool of talents already on the School Committee.  Second, Laurie Slap formerly chaired the finance subcommittee, and with her departure, I feel it’s important that the subcommittee is brought back up in number.
 
Prestwich: Probably the policy subcommittee, because I have the most experience in this area.
 
Belmontonian: What do you expect from yourself in the first six months on the “job”?
 
Bicer: In the first six months, I plan to review the budget in the context of enrollment challenges and come up to speed on discussions my colleagues have started about solutions. I’d also like to continue meeting and hearing from the community, and getting a sense of how to represent parents and non-parents in our decision-making processes.

Prestwich: A lot of learning! And I’d like to make significant progress to starting schools later.

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Why I’m Running: Murat Bicer for School Committee

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Photo: Murat Bicer

Hello, I’m Murat Bicer and I’m running for School Committee. My family and I deeply value public school education and I’m grateful that my children will benefit from Belmont’s excellent schools.

Over the next term of office, the School Committee will be faced with a number of important challenges.

Primary among these challenges are:

  • The need to manage rapidly increasing enrollment
  • The opportunity to build a new high school and share the costs with the Commonwealth
  • Teacher contract negotiations

Some of these challenges are structural which means we need to find long-term, sustainable solutions, and not just short-term fixes. We need to stretch our override dollars as far as they will go and question all the assumptions in our budget.

As an experienced venture capitalist and a father of two, I believe I’m uniquely qualified to do just that. And that’s why I am running.

I have over a decade of professional experience in financial management, strategic planning, and contract negotiations. Specifically, I have served on the boards of over a dozen companies. I routinely review and approve financial and operational plans. I have negotiated numerous employment contracts, as well as investment deals. And finally, I’ve served as the Treasurer of my children’s preschool for the last five years.

It is this range of experience that I can bring to the School Committee to make a difference for the future of Belmont’s schools.

I appreciate your support and, if elected, look forward to working hard for Belmont.

Letter to the Editor: Prestwich Professional Experience Value to School Committee

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Photo: Andrea Prestwich

To the editor:

I met Andrea Prestwich and her husband Steve Saar ten years ago. Our kids have sung in the choir and attended Sunday School together, and more recently participated in Chenery Middle School’s extraordinary instrumental music program together. We have become good friends as our kids have aged from 2 to 12.  

That’s why I was delighted when Andrea told me she was running for Belmont School Committee.  She has a fascinating career in astronomy, and in her time at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Andrea has taken and active role in STEM education. She has been involved in science outreach, writing articles and giving presentations to the general public on all aspects of astronomy, making complex concepts understandable for people untrained in the discipline.   

She was instrumental in starting a highly successful Research Experience for Undergraduates  program at the Smithsonian-funded by the National  Science Foundation. She has supervised graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, and for several years, she was director of the NASA Einstein Post-Doctoral Fellowship Program.  

Andrea has a “top down” view of STEM education that would be very valuable on the School Committee. She has an analytical mind and professional experience that make her uniquely qualified to serve on curriculum and policy subcommittees. I urge you to vote for Andrea on April 5.

Kate Searle

Beech Street

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

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

Andrea Prestwich

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

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

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

Murat Bicer

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

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

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

Kimberly O’Mahoney

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

Letter to the Editor: Bicer’s Financial Expertise An Asset to Committee

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Photo: Murat Bicer
To the editor:
 
I would like to encourage the residents of Belmont to vote for Murat Bicer for School Committee on April 5. He has a strong understanding of the problems that face our town’s schools and a clear sense of how to help solve them.
 
My family moved to Belmont several years ago. Like many, we were drawn to the community because of its excellent schools. As our eldest daughter entered the brand new Wellington School, we were impressed by the excellent teachers and staff, as well as by the highly engaged, welcoming group of parents and children. However, as evidenced by the recent override, our school system faces tremendous pressure on resources. We face ballooning enrollment and state mandated, but unfunded, programs. On top of these pressures, we need to continue to innovate the way we educate and engage our children.
 
As we face the challenges ahead, it is my firm belief that Murat Bicer’s extensive professional experience in financial management and strategic planning makes him an excellent candidate for the school committee. He has served on the boards of both non-profit and for-profit companies. Most importantly, Murat is the father to two young children, who will be entering the public school system in the next few years. He and his wife, Katherine, are very strong proponents of public schools and the role they play in our communities. The challenges ahead are daunting but I believe Murat Bicer offers the kind of leadership necessary to overcome them.
 
Sara Townsend
Clark Street

School Committee Candidates QW: The One Issue The Board Should Focus On

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Photos: (from left) Murat Bicer, Kimberly O’Mahony, Andrea Prestwich.

Welcome to the first QW (Question of the Week) for the three candidates seeking to fill to two open three-year seats on the Belmont School Committee at town election on April 5. The order in which the candidates answered this week is by alphabetical order. 

Name the one issue you believe the board should focus on in your tenure on the school board?

Murat Bicer

I believe the most important issue facing the school board over the next three years is increasing enrollment. Families with school-age children are moving to town as housing comes to market, and new multi-unit developments are likely to bring additional students. A growing number of students require mandated English language learning and special education. These two factors put pressure both on our school budget and on our facilities.  

In the fall of 2012, the town convened a task force to study the issue of increasing enrollment and recommend strategic solutions. While a number of viable solutions were proposed, there was little budget to affect the changes. Since that time, two very important developments have occurred.  First, Belmont residents passed a $4.5 million Proposition 2.5 override. Second, the Massachusetts School Building Authority voted to move Belmont High School forward in its process, which will provide state cost sharing in the construction of a much needed new campus that can reflect our current and future needs.  

As a school committee member, I will use my deep experience in financial management and operational planning to ensure that the best decisions are made for immediate impact as well as future stability for our excellent schools. I will look to recommendations already made by the task force and welcome new ideas, while measuring each against the fiscal cost to our community. It is imperative that every dollar we spend on our schools has a direct, positive impact on the education of our children. Our focus needs to be on building a high school facility that can last us another 50 years, and enough flexibility in our lower schools to respond to enrollment fluctuations.

The most pressing issue facing the Belmont Public Schools over the next three years is the management of increasing enrollment. There is a lack of space throughout the district and the population of the town is ever-growing. The quality of our education system is the reason that people come to Belmont and is why they will continue to come; it’s why my husband and I moved here 12 years ago! We knew the reputation of the schools in Belmont and wanted our family to be educated in the best public schools in the area. 

In order for our town to uphold this reputation, we have an obligation to ensure every child is supported, especially at the elementary level where many children are learning to speak English. Belmont has a very diverse community, which makes living here so rich and rewarding.  With that diversity, though, comes more responsibility – especially in supporting and scaffolding children’s abilities.

As a first step, the School Committee voted unanimously to decline participation in School Choice at last Tuesday night’s School Committee meeting. Participating in School Choice would only add to the enrollment pressures that we already feel with the population that resides in Belmont. The School Committee will be critical in identifying solutions that will bring about positive change to alleviate the pressure of this issue.

Andrea Prestwich

The most critical issues facing Belmont schools are spiraling enrollment and the need for a new high school. Both of these issues require careful strategic planning by the School Committee and a willingness to advocate for an override to fund the new high school. These issues must be addressed otherwise our schools will fall apart (almost literally in the case of the high school!

We also need to transition BHS and Chenery to healthier (i.e. later) start times. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control both recommend that middle and high schools start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. to allow adolescents to get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation among adolescents is a serious public health issue. Although there is an overwhelming medical consensus in favor of later start times,  this issue seldom gets to the top of a School Districts’s  priority list – there are always competing issues! If elected to the School Committee, I will devote time and energy to working for healthier school hours. I will not let later start times be squeezed off the agenda by managing the enrollment and a new high school. Enrollment and a new high school are critical, but so is sleep. We must work on all three.