After School Woes

If you weren't aware, tonight is the Waltham School Committee meeting and the schools will be presenting Quality Improvement Plans addressing specifics on how to address inequities and gaps in education at each school.  As a member of the McDevitt School Council, I have been privy to that school's plan, as well as the plan at the Fitzgerald.  I'm very excited to drink wine and fold laundry and watch the SC on the teevee tonight.

Quality Improvement Plans, however, are not what I want to write about today; rather, I'm going to whine about my predicament with my newly minted Middle Schooler.  It seems that, as soon as one enters 6th grade, regardless of age or background or ability or any sort of measurement of readiness, one is considered ready to come home by oneself.  The YMCA had a program for teens, in which 'tweens' were allowed to participate, however, that program has been left in the lurch and the Y has no plans to revisit it.  The Boys and Girls Club has a space for teens and tweens to hang out, however, there is no transportation.  And yes, the B&G Club is walking distance from the McDevitt, and doesn't require crossing Main Street, however, it's still a lot to ask of an 11 year old boy who can't find his socks in the morning.

I know what you're thinking: when you were in 6th grade, you walked home from school with no shoes and came in and started cooking dinner and finished the ironing.  And I get that, because I truly did come home from school and cared for an aging grandmother and an infant brother.  Times have changed, though, and the expectations are different.

That is, Jack spent the first 6 years of school going to the Y after-school program on site at the Fitz. We don't have the luxury of having family in the area, so there are no abuelas or peperes or aunties or uncles who can pop by and see how he's doing. He does have a phone, although, at times, he goes outside to shoot baskets in our driveway and leaves the phone inside, causing his dad to have a heart attack.  I can live with the two hours that Jack spends alone most days, from 3 until a little after 5 when my husband gets home.  The real issue arises when there is a school day off that isn't a holiday for most people, early dismissal days, and vacation weeks.  What are we going to do in February and again in April?  And it's not just knowing that he's safe, it's having him engaged and doing something other than watching Sponge Bob or Uncle Grandpa or Dude Perfect.

When I wrote to the Y to ask about programming for teens, I received a reply stating that they can't have the middle-schoolers on site because the Y is not "a licensed day care."  And yet, there will be about 200 elementary school kids on site for December break and again in February and again in April.  Additionally, the kids will be back for camp in June.  So, I'm not sure that I understand that premise.  Really, Y?  Is there an age cut-off during the school year that magically disappears when I'm spending thousands of dollars each summer for camp?

The Y also, helpfully, told me that, as a member, Jack can come in and use the facility.  Except, since he's 11, he can't use the cardio equipment or go into the weight room and I don't think that he can be in the pool unless I'm there, although I could be wrong about that.  Also, I would be extremely concerned about him walking to the Y and crossing at the intersection of Beaver and Lexington. Finally, though he may not require constant supervision, he does need some structure.

The Y has provided safe and effective after-school care at the Fitzgerald for both of my kids for the last six years, as well as camp that works with a working-person's schedule (is open before nine and stays open after 4.)  I have to think, though, that between the Y and the BGC and Waltham Public Schools, something could be done to address after-school programming, especially for grades 6 and 7 on a more pro-active basis.

A long time ago, a group of parents at the Fitz had after-school programming in which we brought in outside teachers and experts in various subjects, like art, dance, tennis, woodworking, outdoors exploration, 'mad' science (pouring Coke over Mentos, etc.), gardening at Waltham Fields, stagecraft, games with an avant-garde group from Cambridge, etc.  The cost for the programs were quite low and there were scholarships for any student who couldn't pay.  Is it time to look at something like this, run by the district, for our Middle Schoolers?

Or, who wants a well-behaved, somewhat disorganized, cute 11 year-old for a week in February and again in April?

Weighing In on the Final Four: Do the Right Thing

Last week, I attended one of the Parent Forums to hear about the four proposals to address the enrollment inequity at Waltham's six elementary schools.  There is one more chance for parents to give their input next Tuesday, 12/1. As usual, I have nothing but praise for the way that Dr. Echelson has handled the entire process, from identifying four possible solutions, to establishing a timeline (unheard of!), to soliciting parent and staff input at four meetings, etc.  He said, at the meeting that I attended (and I paraphrase), "I have a lot of big plans for this district, so we need to get this issue resolved and move on."  Oh, AND he even has a list of FAQs (and all of this stuff is on a Google drive, so that it can actually be accessed.)

My friend, the Watch City Wonder, blogged about the proposals and gave her opinion here today.  The News Tribune ran an editorial.  Both of them, at the end, ask the School Committee to reflect on what they've heard from staff and parents, and to make a decision.  Both make clear that not making a decision is unacceptable.  While I have a few disagreements with both opinion pieces, I wholeheartedly agree with that summary.  Inaction is untenable.

At the meeting at the McDevitt last week (which I live-Tweeted @lizhmccarthy btw), I was greeted by a parent who I know, whose son is a classmate of my youngest.  She looked surprised, and asked me, "What are you doing here?"  I was, in turn, surprised at her reaction, and I got all defensive, which is kind of what I do when I'm taken off guard, and said something like "I have been the Poster Mom for complaining about enrollment inequity since the Dark Ages!"  She thought about that for a second and said, "Yes, but you won't be included in redistricting."  And then I felt really terrible because I got her point.  As parent after parent walked to the microphone, a majority (and I didn't count, so this is subjective) identified as parents whose kids would not be affected by redistricting.  Another parent I know who would be included in the redistricting plan was also there.  Neither of them spoke.  And I get that I don't really have 'skin in the game' when it comes to redistricting.

One of the areas most impacted by redistricting is the Garden Crest apartment complex; both of my kids have many friends who live there and I didn't see any of their parents at the meeting.  That is concerning because, at an earlier meeting (at which I was not present), a parent made comments that seemed to some to be culturally insensitive at best and racist at their worst.  I really would have liked to hear from someone representative of the Garden Crest community and I do hope that some parents were at the other parent meetings or will go next Tuesday and make their thoughts known.

In general, the meeting that I attended at the McDevitt was made up of parents who were concerned, reasoned, and well-informed.  And I learned a lot from them.

Proposal A, which has kids changing schools every two years, was hammered by these parents because of the logistics: start times, end times, lunch times, after-school programming, bus routes, etc, etc.  I travel frequently for work, and I can't imagine have two or three kids under age 10 at two or three different schools and thinking that everything would go smoothly.  Especially if I imagine myself as a single parent, or as a parent who works off-shifts (like nurses and other medical personnel, police officers, EMT's and fire fighters.)  I now have a middle schooler and a third grader, and so, for me, the logistics remain the same: I have a kid in elementary and one in middle school.  The parents of multiple elementary school students who spoke out about this plan taught me a lot.

Proposal B is, of course, the redistricting plan, and the questioning here was gentle and respectful. See the FAQ's that I linked to above for information on grandfathering: in brief, there will be some limited grandfathering to the capacity that the district can bear.  This is a sensitive issue because it impacts so much more than where your kid goes to elementary school: it may impact property values and may even change the DESE designation of Level 1, 2, or 3 schools in the district.  Moving district lines is politically charged and it's emotionally charged: parents with more than one child have a relationship with administration and staff at a particular school; they have friends whose phone numbers are in their phones; they socialize with other parents nearby.  But it's only for the next one to two year of transition: after that, you're part of the new community and you have more numbers in your phone and when your kids get to middle school and to high school, they will know more people.  And I am saying all of this as someone without skin in the game.

My favorite is Proposal C: even knowing that in 3-4 years, we will outgrow the Middle Schools as they currently exist, there's the possibility that a new school building, which may house grades K-8 and/or some combination of special programs, would be completed in that timeframe or shortly after.  Of course, I'm the parent of two boys, and when I heard a parent's concerns about her 5th grade daughter riding the bus with 8th grade boys, again, it gave me another perspective.  I still think that one middle school for grades 5-6 and another for grades 7-8 will take care of the immediate issue without redistricting, allowing some breathing room as we initiate the inevitable Proposal D (build a new school, in addition to the high school) and get a better handle on where the new kids in the district are coming from (despite the mayor's insistence that new Waltham residents with kids are all buying houses for $600,000 in Warrendale and Cedarwood, because of course none of them are in any of the condos, multi-families, or apartments springing up like weeds around the city without any thought of traffic impact or student population.  But I digress.)  Of course, a change like that will move some kids who are currently in Middle School, however, I don't think that they will really care.  In fact, they may not even notice.

If you are reading this and you live in the Garden Crest area, or in another area that may potentially be moved to another elementary school, please, if you haven't gone to a meeting, plan to go to the one next Tuesday.  If you can't go to the meeting, then please get in touch with a School Committee member or with Dr. Echelson.  If you are a parent who has strong feelings about the four proposals who hasn't yet attended a forum, then you need to make your opinion known, too.

In the end, it's up to the School Committee members to do the right thing and to do it now.  No more can-kicking.  This is the right superintendent to bring change. The situation, especially at the Stanley and the Fitzgerald, is critical.  John, Margy, Kaytie, John, Teddy, Steve: collaborate and get it done.  Our kids are depending on you.  #OneWaltham

This Just Happened

Allow me, first, to wholeheartedly confess that I drive like a highly-skilled, tightly-wound maniac. Think Jason Bourne in Paris.  Almost every job I've had since 1988 has required me to drive: in the city, in New England (including Maine, which is a very large state), in New York City (all boroughs), in Montreal, in Toronto, in Rochester (in the snow), etc.  Additionally, since my family of origin lives in Pennsylvania, I have made frequent 5-hour trips to see them, driving through some of the worst traffic anywhere ever.  And I can do all of this while eating a Panera flatbread and drinking iced tea and participating on a conference call and passing an eighteen-wheeler at a speed exactly 14 miles above the limit (usually 79) (except on Route 128, where there doesn't appear to be a speed limit and so I just go with the flow.)  I have mad driving skills.

And yet!  When I am driving through someone's neighborhood, I slow down.  I go at or under the speed limit, depending on conditions.  I stop at red lights and stop signs.  I pay attention to street signs.  I really do drive "as if my kids lived here."

The reason for this bipolar driving model is that, on a highway, with lots of lanes, people are all going in one direction (generally straight ahead, unless you are on Storrow Drive or the Schuylkill Expressway, in which case all bets are off), and there aren't things like kids and pedestrians and cyclists and trash cans and landscapers and utility trucks and school buses and old people and letter carriers, etc.  And DOGS!  Because of all of those things that are on roads which are not interstate highways, it is a good idea to slow the flock down.  Also: police officers.  Just a few months ago, there was road work at the corner of Beaver and Warren streets and my friend, who is a police officer, was directing traffic.  I gave him a wave and he tried to stop oncoming traffic to allow me (and some other cars) to turn left onto Warren (which can be hypertension inducing even when there isn't construction and a police detail.)  My friend was all decked out in the screaming acid yellow traffic gear that makes cops and runners highly visible.  There were about five trucks with flashing lights.  My friend raised his hands to get the oncoming traffic to stop.  A car didn't stop.  He shouted, whistled, and waved his hands.  The car kept moving.  Right at the point where my friend was about to become a hood ornament, the car stopped.  Now, if I had been a police officer, I would have ARRESTED that person on the SPOT  for being STUPID, which is why I am not a police officer (because there is not enough room in all the jails for all of the stupid people whom I would arrest every day.)  My friend shrugged his shoulders and then directed me to turn left.  "Happens all the time," he said.  GAH!

Which brings me to today.  I was able to walk Finn to school at the Fitz at 8:20AM.  The bell rings at, I think, 8:42.  That is, we were early.  There was no need to rush.  I noted that there weren't many cars there today and that the drop-off was more calm than on most mornings.  And then!  A mom in an SUV (I will not give more identifying factors so as not to shame her, in hopes that she will read this and repent her ways and adopt the bipolar method of driving) made a right turn from Beal Road onto the bus driveway next to the school.  Yes, the one with the huge DO NOT ENTER sign and the menacing gate, which is open for buses to exit after dropping the kids at school.  Yes, the driveway that is next to the 'small' playground where, on nice days, many younger siblings hang out with their parents for a time after drop-off.  Yes, the driveway next to the door which many teachers use to enter the school with their armloads of things (and elementary school teachers bring in things by the armload every day.)  WHY WOULD ANYONE EVEN DO THIS?  The risk, at the very least, of having a head-on collision with a school bus or van would be a deterrent.  The idea that, while speeding down the driveway, there is potential of running over a pre-schooler or running into a teacher with armloads of stuff who isn't looking for a speeding SUV going the WRONG WAY would be enough for me to reconsider just how late for work I am and what the trade-off is.

Street signs are not suggestions: they are commands.  Laws.  If it says "Do Not Enter", it's not optional if you're late for work.  If it says "Stop for Pedestrian in Crosswalk", it's not referring to the guy behind you (and, in fact, a car was rear-ended on Warren Street on Monday when it stopped to allow four students and a parent to cross.)  If the light is yellow, it does not mean "speed up."  If the sign says "Stop", it does not mean "pause."

Traffic everywhere is bad; in Waltham, it's reaching epic proportions and, very concerning in the recent Traffic Study, is that only a few of the worst traffic nightmares in the city were included.  So, it's going to be up to us to drive as if our children live here.  Because they do.

On Sharing: a peaceful meditation on the capacity equity challenges of the Waltham Elementary Schools

Ah, but before we begin out peaceful meditation, allow me to gently castigate, for just a moment, anyone who has ever complained about stuff in our Fair City and then went to the polls and reelected EVERY incumbent running to EVERY position. If you don't like stuff, the way to get it to change is to vote for NEW people, not to reelect the SAME people.  Also, for anyone reading who didn't vote (which is two thirds of Walthamians): you must now shut up your piehole because you have no right to complain about anything ever.  The only 'new' person who we have on City Council is Carlos Vidal (whom I supported wholeheartedly in his campaign) and the only reason Carlos had an 'open' at-large seat for which to run is that Tom Stanley gave up his seat to run for mayor.  Wake up, Waltham.

Back to the matter at hand: the elementary schools in Waltham have had a growing disparity in enrollment.  Humor me, for a moment, as I illustrate with a simplified model: we have six boxes with Legos in them.  Two of the boxes have so many Legos (more than 500 pieces!) that we can't fit the lids on the boxes.  One of the boxes has one-third fewer Lego bricks than the two that are overflowing.  The other two boxes have some room in them, although not as much room as the two-thirds full box.  How do we get to where we can put the lids on the overflowing boxes?  Anyone?

We have looked at adding a smaller, kind of temporary, box outside next to the overflowing Lego box.  That didn't work for many reasons.  We have looked at some empty boxes that are around the city and discovered that one was in pretty bad shape and was allowed to fall further into disrepair because no one took care of it.  We found that another box is now being used for the Lego People to live in.  We discovered that it costs a lot of money to build a brand new Lego box and that we will likely be spending a lot of money for a very big Lego box for the big kids.

After three years and lots of very costly studies and lots meetings and NIMBYism and accusations of racism and hand-wringing, all of which has led to inaction, we finally get a Superintendent who is dedicated to addressing the issue.  In fact, he has instilled ACCOUNTABILITY and TIMELINES, which are shocking things indeed to the City that likes to kick an issue down the road until it becomes a crisis.

[A brief aside: some stalwart volunteers and friends have a litmus test for bringing volunteers onto their Board.  The only people whom they will consider are those who "Get shit done."  I am so very thankful that we have a GSD Superintendent as a replacement for the "Needs more Data and Further Review" Superintendent.]

There are four proposals to address the number of Legos in the Lego boxes and the angst and hyperbole is truly mind-numbing.  Some of the parent comments that I've read on Twitter and Facebook make me want to bang my head against the wall.  To whit: the school with the most students in it is the Fitzgerald School.  So, all of the plans take some students out of the school, whether by grade or by changing the district lines.  And yet: these ideas are an affront to the integrity of the NEIGHBORHOOD!  Some lament if can we still be a neighborhood if our kids are going to different schools for different grades.  So, does that mean that my neighbor, whose kids go to private school, and my other neighbor, whose kids go to St. Jude's, aren't actually my neighbors?  Am I not part of the Fitzgerald neighborhood now that I have a kid in middle school?  What about my friends with kids in high school?  Do they even count?

When I was a wee lass in the Philadelphia School District in the 1970's, there was a big Thing going on in big cities throughout the country.  It was called 'desegregation' and was achieved by busing.  My family lived in the middle class, largely white, largely Jewish area in the Northeast of the city (known as, I am not kidding, the Great Northeast.)  Kids were bused from their homes in North Philly to our elementary schools: these kids were on buses at 5 in the morning and got home at 5 at night, all for race equality and a more equal distribution of resources.

Nothing even close to what I experienced as a third and fourth grader in Philadelphia is happening here in Waltham, and everyone needs to calm down.  In our very diverse city, half of our kids are going to be in Middle School together and the other half will join them in High School.  For those of us with kids who play sports or who go to the Y or the Boys and Girls Club for after school programs or who go to camp in the summer, our kids already have friends from the other Waltham neighborhoods: kids who live in apartments, kids whose parents speak another language, kids who were born in another country, kids who live with one parent, kids whose families rely on public transportation, etc.  Economically diverse; diversity in physical ability; diversity in language; diverse families of origin; racially diverse; diverse religious beliefs; diverse political ideas.  This is what I love about Waltham and why we moved here: I didn't want my kids to go to school exclusively with kids who looked and sounded just like they do.

Neighborhoods are geographic and they're made by people doing neighborly things.  If you're involved in your kid's school, then you will be involved if and when they go to a different school.

I implore you all, when you go to the community meetings and when you give feedback to School Committee members, to keep this in mind.  Don't denigrate the betterment of education in Waltham by getting stuck on the millions of tiny issues: the tiny issues will work themselves out.  They always do.  Keep in mind the improvement to education for all of the kids in the district.  The best prepared students don't benefit from going to a school with more than 530 kids; likewise, a school meant to hold 500 kids that has less than 400 can't get the resources that it needs.

It's time to stop the hand-wringing and angsting and move forward.  #OneWaltham

What's Been Bugging the PTO Mom

Yeah, it's been awhile since the last post.  Herewith, a few of the hot-button issues that have been stuck in my craw this fall:
1. The Demented Driving Behavior of People Driving Cars near a School During the Time that Kids are Going to School
This has got to stop.  Really.  If you left your house late, don't take it out on kids just trying to get to school by speeding.  You are still going to be late for work.  Deal with it.  Also, there are these things called "crosswalks".  Crosswalks are where pedestrians cross the street.  Keep in mind that young children, by definition, are not big.  So, you may need to look harder to see if they are in the crosswalk.  Also, if someone is standing on the sidewalk next to a crosswalk and you are driving your car, you need to STOP your car and allow the pedestrian to cross.  Again, this is not going to make you late for work; leaving your house late made you late for work.  Additionally, in Massachusetts, it is a LAW that you MUST stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk.  Also, school buses.  They are the big yellow things that carry the students to the schools and help drivers by decreasing the number of parents who drive their kids to school.  It is a LAW to stop when the school bus stops and puts on its red blinkers.  If a school bus is stopped and is signaling with red blinkers, it does NOT mean that it is ok for you, the driver who is late for work, to PASS the school bus.  I am stunned that people in cars actually do this.  And believe me when I tell you that I am a VERY aggressive driver.  But really, people: slow down.  Or leave earlier.  Or leave later.  Just stop doing stupid things that endanger kids who are just trying to get to school.

2. The Poor Behavior of some Parents who Attend School Functions
This is another issue that has bugged me for a loooong time, and about which I have blogged before.  And it hasn't gone away.  If you bring your cherubs to any school function, there has been a gaggle of parents who have given up their time to make the event fun: parents who have left work early or taken vacation days or hired babysitters to work on the event.  And yet, there are always parents who treat the parent volunteers and event organizers like some kind of hired help, or, worse, indentured servants.  So, if your kid takes the frosting from the cupcake and SMEARS it all over a table, you, Parent, should get up and wipe it up.  If you see some fellow parents drenched in sweat because they are attempting to clean up the entire cafeteria in ten minutes, it would be DELIGHTFUL if you would offer to help.  You do not need an invitation to be on the committee to pitch in.  Sitting at a table and watching others do the heavy lifting is so very Downton, in the very worst sense.  And we can see where THAT storyline is going.

3. All Politics is Local: the Role of the PTO
I was flabbergasted when, earlier this election season, I invited parents to come to my house to meet a candidate for school committee and two of the Facebook pages where I posted the open invitation removed it and sent a message that the "PTO page is not for politics."  I would agree that a PTO page is not a place to debate the benefits of one candidate versus another and that it is not a place to post an endorsement of a candidate.  However, it seems to me that it is a perfect place to post information that would help parents make an informed decision.  In Waltham, the school budget is more than $70 million.  That's a whole lotta money which we are entrusting to six people; three of those people will be elected on Tuesday.  Meeting a candidate and asking how he or she plans to use the money is information, not an endorsement.  It's the best of politics, not the worst.

4. Drew Echelson Rocks
That is all.  But it isn't, because this wouldn't be much of a blog if that's where I ended.  I was fortunate enough to meet one-on-one with Dr. Echelson over the summer; in fact, he asked me to meet with him, which is pretty amazing in and of itself: a new Superintendent knows that there are a handful of parents who have been involved in or outspoken about a few key issues and he finds out who they are and requests a meeting.  THEN he ASKS for people to schedule meetings with him via an Internet scheduler.  Shazam!  A Super who wants INPUT from PARENTS!  What even is this?  And then the super Super holds himself and the School Committee ACCOUNTABLE for DELIVERABLES, just like a functional organization.  Heady stuff.  Count me a Fan.

5. Stop the Hand-wringing and Let's Do Something
After YEARS of whining and waiting, it appears that Waltham is poised to address the inequity in the distribution of students in the elementary schools.  And there are families that will be unhappy.  And there are kids who will go to a different elementary school than the one that they attend now.  Or maybe all of our kids will go to a school for certain grades and then to another school for other grades.  Here's the thing: once the plan is worked out, there will no longer be kids whose classroom is a former teacher workroom; there won't be kids who have class in the library; the Science specialist (and I hear that Science is important; it's the 'S' in 'STEM' or some such thing) will actually have a Science classroom for the study of Science; there will be a space for Challenge kids; professionals will have an office.  The distribution will be equitable.  There won't be some schools with nearly 550 students in K-5 and others with closer to 300.  And that's the goal.

6. PARCC Shlark
It is time to learn a little more about PARCC and I suggest that you do it by following the money.  The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is headed by a guy named Mitchell D. Chester.  Guess what else Mr. Chester does when he's not heading up the Commonwealth's schools?  He's on the Governing Board of PARCC, a for-profit subsidiary of Pearson Education, which was founded by a former Virgin executive.  Hmmm.  Switching from the miserable MCAS to the abominable PARCC would require a change in curriculum at every school in the Commonwealth.  Guess what?  Pearson sells the textbooks and curriculum needed to prep for PARCC!  This is so completely ridiculous and such an outrage and NO ONE seems to know about it.  Get informed.

7. You're too Busy to Vote on Tuesday?
Are you KIDDING me?  Local elections are the ones that matter most, my friend.  Do it.  In addition to deciding which 3 candidates of 5 running (including Liz AlJammal, who I am supporting) will sit on the School Committee, there's also a race for the next mayor of our Fair City.

8. Why the Mayor of Waltham should not be buying Ice Cream
About a month ago, I stopped at Pizzi Farm with my kids one afternoon.  I am guessing that it was either an early release day or one of the September holidays.  While we were there, I saw Mayor McCarthy.  I said hello and she said that she was picking up some ice cream for her staff for a party that afternoon.  That is classic McCarthy: she is everywhere and likely saw this as an opportunity to get out of the office and meet with some constituents during and election year.  The same way that she called me personally to respond to an email message on which she was copied regarding the Beaver Street Clusterflub.  Or when she had my two boys and me to her office to meet about Parsons Ave and what an eyesore it has become.  It's that personal touch.  So here's the thing: the mayor of a city of 60,000 residents should not be the one to run out for ice cream.  She should have delegated the call regarding Beaver Street to her city engineer, to whom it was addressed.  As the Chief Executive of the City, she should be working on the vision of Waltham, not so involved in the day-to-day that, as the saying goes, all she sees are trees.  Traffic is a nightmare and is getting worse.  We need to build a new high school.  The infrastructure is crumbling right under us.  Small businesses can't deal with the byzantine applications process at City Hall and decide to go elsewhere.  In the 14 years we've lived here, we've seen Moody Street go from a hip place to be to a street dotted with dollar stores and bodegas and the occasional good restaurant in between.  The Inflow and Infiltration issue, which I call Poop on the Streets, is bad and getting worse and has been ignored by the mayor since 2004, when she took office.  Our Police and Firefighters have given her a vote of no confidence.  Tom Stanley doesn't have all of the answers to some of these thorny issues, however, he has a plan to begin serious work and a vision of what the city should be.  Tom won't wait until an issue becomes a crisis: he will stay ahead of the curve with careful review and planning.  I ask you to join me and vote for Tom on Tuesday.

Scenes from a Summer Day: more caution ahead

Yesterday, a perfect summer Saturday, my Boyz and I drove out to the Berkshires for some kayaking. Of course there is a #kayaking story. It doesn't rival the #putyourkidsonthebus story but it's close: I got into the double kayak (these are inflatable kayaks, sort of like kayak shaped rafts) with Finbar in the front.  Jack gets his own kayak.  No one had warned that the double kayak, which is sized for two adults, might be hard for a relatively small, older woman to navigate with a 75 pound 8 year old not paddling in the bow.  In fact, it was not hard: it was impossible to navigate.

Finn and I meandered down the river, just doing what the kayak wanted to do, since we had no control over it, and Jack paddled ahead.  We got sucked into the middle of this big extended family traveling with a 14 year old know-it-all boy who kept giving me tips on paddling when he wasn't squirting me with his water gun.  I didn't for one SECOND hope that his kayak capsized and he drowned.  Not for one second.

The weather was perfect and we went down our first set of 'rapids' (this was, after all, a family-friendly, self-guided trip) and caught up to Jack.  And THEN we hit the second set of rapids, which was comprised of 3 inches of water over lots of rocks.  Lots and lots of rocks.  Finn and I got stuck. We rocked to get free and got stuck again.  And again.  Now we are the last kayak of 2 busloads of people on this part of the river.  We can't see anyone else around.  Jack tried to wait, but continued downstream.

After multiple attempts at getting the stupid kayak to stop grounding on rocks and to free it once it did ground itself, and determining that there was some sort of a rock magnet in it, I decided to get out of the boat and then drag it off of the rocky part, which is harder than it sounds because the current is very strong and the water is very shallow and the rocks are very slippery and I am very old.  Also, about now, Finn starts FREAKING OUT.  He is screaming and crying and saying things like "CALL DAD!  CALL HIM RIGHT. NOW!", which I might have done had my phone not been locked in the car for safekeeping and if we were not a 2 hour drive from home.  So I tell Finn to calm down and we will be FINE and just stay in the boat and look! we're almost in the calm, deep water and then I lost hold of the effing boat.  I watch Finn float downstream.  A passing freight train drowns out his screams.  With my life jacket on, I thought that perhaps I could get buoyant enough to float to him, however, because the water was so shallow, that wasn't happening either.

With great effort, I manage to traverse the rocks and get to the calm water and grab the boat and get back into it.  Finn has lost one paddle, which we really didn't need, because he wasn't using it anyway. Nonetheless, some college kids partying on a bunch of tubes and rafts had retrieved it and returned it to us as we made our way down the river.

After a bit, we see a woman in a kayak from our group paddling towards us.  She is wearing a sash that says 'Bride to Be.'  She gets to our kayak and says "Are your the McCarthys?"  Dear God.  After affirming that we were, indeed, she told us that Jack, initially quite stoic, had become very concerned when Finn and I were stuck on the rocks for probably about 27 hours.  So, he befriended a floating bachelorette party.  Yes, he did.  They adopted him as their mascot and kept his spirits up and pulled over to the shore to wait for us while the Bride to Be paddled back upstream to intercept us.

All of this is true.

We finally reached the designated snack stop on the river and were told that we had only three more miles to go.  Only?

Thankfully, the last three miles were pleasant and without incident.

On the drive home, I asked the Boyz what they would like to do for an adventure next Saturday.  After a bit, Jack said, "Maybe we can just go to the pool at the Y."

Nah.  I'll think of something.

The Trials and Tribulations of Summer Vacation

Before I get back to work being critical of the Waltham School Committee and the WPS Superintendent and people who post anonymously and everything that bugs me in general, allow me to just offer up some Scenes of Summer Vacations Past so that you may read about them and be smug, because you would never be as stupid as I have been when it comes to summer vacations.

We are very very fortunate to have a friend who owns a cottage on the Cape and who allows us to use it for one week each summer.  The cottage is in Popponesset, which is sort of like a mythical Leave-it-to-Beaver-ville where the kids ride bikes to a pick-up softball game at the Community Center each morning and families swim in the gentle surf of the Vineyard Sound each afternoon and the parents, with red Solo cups in hand, walk to the Marketplace with the kids in the evening to listen to live music and eat lobster rolls and ice cream and play mini-golf.  Except that it really does exist.

Having gone here every year since my dear friend somehow thought that it would be a good idea to allow me to bring actual real children to her charming cottage, I have some advice.

Tip Number One: If you have a two year old, and are pregnant, it's not a good idea to bring the two year old to the cottage without his dad and then invite your uncle.  Because the two year old will think that your uncle, whom he has met only once or twice, is some sort of replacement for Daddy, and no amount of cell phone calls will convince him otherwise.  He will refuse to be bought, even though your uncle tries very hard, and will literally attach himself to you, which is uncomfortable, since you are, after all, 32 weeks pregnant.  Once Daddy arrives, the two year old will ignore you for a week.  Which is actually ok.

Tip Number Two: When vacationing with a three year old and a baby, DO NOT forget the potty seat.  If you do, your spouse will be required to drive all over the Cape looking for a store that sells potty seats and, when he finds one, your toddler will refuse to use it because it is not 'his' potty seat.

Tip Number Three: If there is a little cottage not far from the one that you are staying in that has a hand-written sign in front of it advertising "experienced babysitter available", take down the sign, call immediately, and replace the sign the day that you leave.

Tip Number Four: If you buy a fancy new bike rack to transport the bikes to the Cape, make sure that you break in the bike rack before you drive to the Cape and one of the bikes flies off of the rack on Route 24 and your kids watch out the car window as three tractor trailers drive over it, causing your oldest child to say "I never really liked that bike, anyway."

Tip Number Five: If the cottage where you are staying doesn't have a washing machine, find out where the closest laundromat is BEFORE you go.

And, finally, for your reading pleasure, here is a tale of what actually happened when we stayed (overnight) at a very swanky resort one year as a family getaway: When we arrived, we were delighted to see a menu of options for the kids.  So, we registered the kids for some of the activities, and booked dinner for the two of us at the resort's best restaurant.  The time for the kid's night out arrived.  I walked the kids to the resort bus and spoke to the driver and asked him to take the kids to the Kids' Night Out on the other side of the resort.  The driver said that that wasn't a problem and the kids, ages 7 and 10 (lest you think that I am even more irresponsible than I actually am), boarded the bus and excitedly said goodbye.  I went back to join my husband for a big-arse martini on the veranda.  After a bit, we were seated for dinner and my phone rang.  I answered, and it was the Kids' Night Out supervisor.  "Is there a problem?" I asked.  "Um.  No," she said, "It's just that no one has ever just sent their kids on the bus before." No one.  Ever.  We are the worst parents in the world EVER.  "So, do your kids have any allergies?  And do they want plain or pepperoni pizza?"  Questions answered (No and Plain), we continued our dinner.  So as not to be castigated, we finished dinner and then boarded the bus to fetch our kids from the Kids' Night Out; the only option being to let them find their way back on the bus, but that seemed wrong.  The bus was filled with people who had been drinking longer and more than we had.  The bus driver dropped us off where we thought we should be; when we couldn't find the KNO, Kevin sprinted across the drive to flag down the bus to have the drive help us find the location.  It was pitch black.  With the help of all of the drunken people on the bus, we finally saw the path to the cabin where the KNO was.  We went in to collect our kids, and they told us that they had been dropped off at the health club, not at the cabin, and so had missed a lot of the activities while they waited patiently for someone to come and take them to KNO.  Finally the mess was figured out and that was when the KNO supervisor called me to ask about pizza toppings, failing to mention that my kids had been at a health club unsupervised for 45 minutes.  We waited in the dark for the bus to bring us back to the Mansion and then went to our room and woke up for croquet in the morning.

Moral of the story: put your kids on the bus.  They will have an adventure.  And always finish the martini.

Why I Hate Summer

That's too harsh, of course.  I love summer: going to the beach, working in the garden, sunset at 8:30PM (instead of 3:30 PM that we get in December), Red Sox games on TV, bike riding, swimming, eating ice cream, outdoor movies, cooking on the grill, gin and tonics, the Waltham Fields CSA, our week at the Cape each year, road trips….

HOWEVER -- and there had to be a catch, of course -- camp drives me insane each and every year.

First is the Signing-up For the Camp.  We are so very fortunate here in Waltham to have a Parks and Rec department that puts together wonderful camps that the kids love and which is half or even a third of the cost of other camps in the area.  Prospect Hill and Kaleidoscope have saved our family gobs of money (compared to other camps that our kids attend).  And yet, EVEN if I am able to be on the computer at the exact time that the on-line enrollment begins, I am still scrambling to get both kids at the same camp during the same weeks.  When that happens (and it has happened), it is so much better than hitting the lottery that I just want to hug someone (and that doesn't happen often.  I'm not very huggy.)  This year, I was away for work and unable to get on the computer for on-line registration and then was unable, even, to stand in line at Old South at 7AM with le tout de Waltham for the in-person registration.  And so, I got one week at Prospect Hill (and was grateful for that.)

So, once I know which week or weeks my kids will be attending Waltham P&R camps, that leaves the rest of the summer to fill in.  We do spend one week each summer on the Cape, so there is the scrambling to fill in around that week.  The Boyz this year are also doing a week of Flag Football and two weeks of Basketball camp, in Belmont and in Newton, respectively.  Why not sports camps in Waltham?  Because of issue number two.

The SECOND issue is the TIME of the camps.  Many, many camps, including Waltham sports camps, end at 3PM.  Who gets done work at 3PM?  And even if work is done at 3, how does one get to the camp to collect the campers at the speed of light?  I am very, very lucky to do much of my work from home, and much of that by computer and by phone; I have become adept at doing conference calls in the car with earbuds and my kids silenced into submission with screens in the back seat or literally locked out of the house until the call is over.  Even my work, though, requires that I go out of town and then my husband, whose work is not particularly flexible, has to manage.  So, I spend the entire summer beginning work at 7AM and working until 4PM and then again in the evening and, when I am out of town, we are at the mercy of our neighbors and friends who can pick up the kids for us or my husband is forced to do the walk of shame, leaving his workplace early, with his head down, hoping no one notices.

As I mentioned, we are lucky to have flexibility in work hours.  Many of our friends are not so lucky and so end up spending obscene amounts of money on things known as 'pre-camp' and 'post-camp'.  It's not enough to charge $300 or more per week for a camp: if you need coverage during the actual hours that people actually work, it's going to cost another $100+ per week.  In fact, the COST is an issue in and of itself.  This summer is a short season, since the kids didn't get out of school until June 25th.  We have one vacation week at the end of July.  So that leaves us with eight weeks of camp.  As I said, getting into a Waltham P&R camp is a wonderful thing: $120/kid.  The Y, for my 8 year old, is $256 for four weeks and, for my 11 year old, is $275 for four weeks.  This week at Belmont was $240 per kid.  The next two weeks for basketball camp in Newton, it was $560 per kid for the two weeks.  I think that that adds up to something like twelve billion drachmas.  Or, at least a nice trip to Europe, or to a Scandinavian country where all of this camp is probably free and transportation is included.

Yet another issue is the DOCUMENTATION required, with some camps being more egregious in their documentation requirements than others (I am looking at you, YMCA.)  There is more documentation required to attend camp at the Y than there is to work for Homeland Security (and I say this because I have a friend who works for Homeland Security, so that means that I KNOW.)  BIRTH certificates and IMMUNIZATION records and RECENT PHYSICALS and WAIVERS of LIABILITY and PROOF  of MEDICAL INSURANCE and NAMES of the DENTIST and proof of use of FLUORIDATED water and BPA-FREE water bottles.  It doesn't take me this long to do our taxes.

After all of the timing is worked out and we have secured drop offs and pick ups and submitted the proper documents and paid for all of it with credit cards, which will never have a zero balance, even in drachmas, the next issue is actually GETTING to the camp.  And if the camp is in Waltham, it is probably along the dreaded Beaver Street/Lexington Street corridor.  Which means that, if you leave even one second after 8AM, you will be sitting in traffic for EVER and you will be late to work, anyway.  That is because, along the  B-L Corridor, there is the Girl Scout Camp, camps at Bentley, Running Brook Camp, Prospect Hill, camps at Kennedy Middle School and at the High School, and camps at the Y.  Add in all of the people who are going to work, and the camps that take place at Veterans Field or the Gann Academy on Forest Street, and you have approximately 8 million people, all of whom have whiny kids in the car and who are late for work.  This is replicated, of course, in all of the surrounding communities, so, even though my kids are at camp in Belmont this week, that didn't mean that we didn't witness a woman in a vehicle gesturing wildly at a man in another vehicle at the intersection of Common, Leonard and Concord Streets this morning (that railroad bridge is obnoxious.)

So, did I just mention WHINY KIDS?  Yes, that is another reason that I hate the summer.  Since my kids attend the Y after-school program during the school year and since we spend a lot of time at the outdoor pool at the Y, I do my best to limit the number of weeks that they spend at the Y for camp.  And they still complain and whine.  I picked them up after their first day at Flag Football camp in Belmont yesterday, chosen because they have played flag football in the fall in Belmont for the last two years, and the FIRST THING my older son said was "I don't want to come to camp in Belmont anymore because I don't know anybody."  He also doesn't want to go to camp at the Y where he knows EVERYBODY, so if someone can tell me what I am supposed to do, please do! I am all ears.

Ah, yes, and then the LUNCHES!  The lunches that, depending on the camp, must be 'peanut free' or must have a SNACK packed SEPARATELY and must contain the food that the kids will eat, which is NOTHING because they eat THREE THINGS.  During the school year, my kids buy lunch at school and I know that they are choosing the Sun Butter Sandwich or the Bagel, and yet, I don't see it, so I can ignore it,  and every so often one of them will actually eat something nutritional and mention it at dinner.  The stress of the lunches is something that pains me greatly.  And it pains me even more when they don't eat what I have packed.  Ungrateful wretches.

Throw in some LOST WATER BOTTLES and towels and BATHING SUITS and did I remember the SUNSCREEN? and, well, this is a recipe for disaster.

So this, Gentle Readers, is why I hate summer.  Guess that I'll get the kids in a few hours and then pour a generous gin and tonic, sit on the deck, and contemplate my garden.

Cheers!

Paraphrasing Shakespeare and the McDevitt Decision

Our outgoing Superintendent, along with our incoming Superintendent (to whom Outgoing refers to as a "Superintendent-elect", even though he is not elected, but is hired and works under a contract.  But I digress) announced yesterday that Michael Sabin will be the principal of the McDevitt beginning July 1st.

Exhale.

I am, of course, extremely disappointed that Beth Gavin won't be there to welcome my son and all of the other incoming sixth graders in September.  I am frustrated that, for the sixth of his seven years in Waltham Public Schools, my kid will start his first year in middle school with a principal who is in his first year at the school.  I am concerned that there will be little things that will be missed when a new principal starts at the school: while he's trying to remember which stairwell is up and which is down and what to do while an assistant principal is out on maternity leave, how is he going to remember the nuances of my student, which, really, is the only thing that I want him to remember, just like any parent.

Don't get me wrong: it seems that Mr. Sabin is very qualified, even overqualified.  I like that he is bilingual and so will be able to communicate with parents who are Spanish-speaking.  It appears that he and Dr. Echelson have likely crossed paths in the Boston Public Schools and at Harvard, and, if that is true, then that's also a good thing.  I like that Mr. Sabin lives in Lexington (of course, I liked the fact that Beth lives in Waltham even more.)  The only concern that I had was that he does seem to change jobs every five years, which takes me to the year my younger son will be moving from 7th to 8th grade.  I look forward to meeting and working with Mr. Sabin, and I am sure that we will get on famously, since I am well practiced in befriending new principals, whether they are interims or permanent candidates.

Not to go full Shakespeare here, however, something is still rotten in the City of Waltham.  That is, we -- the taxpayers, the parents, the constituents, the voters, the stakeholders -- have never been given a reason for the non-renewal of the contract of a very popular and well-regarded middle school principal. The Outgoing Superintendent has not spoken to the press and, according to at least one member of the School Committee, the elected body responsible for her oversight, not to the School Committee either.  Where is the transparency?  A principal is an administrator: the Chief Executive of the school.  Since we taxpayers pay a collective $77 million to the WPS, I do think that we need to know the reason that a contract at this level was not renewed.  The last time I wrote about this, some anonymous posters asked if I felt that I had to know about every personnel change that was made.  No, I don't.  Unless it is contested.  And then, at the very least, the School Committee should know.  Just because the Ed Reform law allows a superintendent to end a contract with a principal with no oversight, I would certainly think that a superintendent, acting in good faith, would want to advise the School Committee regarding his or her reasons to seek change at the Chief Executive level in a school.  Unless, of course, there's no good reason.

Of course, the lack of transparency is permeating Waltham right now, as our Mayor won't talk to the press and only responds to questions submitted via email (the better to parse them), so it's no surprise that the Outgoing Superintendent would do the same.

In the spirit of transparency, I have never pretended to be objective about my thoughts regarding Beth Gavin.  She is a superstar and I am honored to know her and her family and I have no doubt that her son and my younger son are going to get into a whole lot of trouble together at some point in the future.  I also know that she will quickly get another position in another district, following many department heads and principals who have led an exodus out of the WPS during our Outgoing Super's tenure.  Wherever Beth lands, her teachers and students will be that much better for knowing her and working with her.  And that's Waltham's loss.

Four Freedoms

I have been calling our current superintendent names for a long time.  I've also been calling her out on her managerial skills, which I find lacking, for a long time.  Two avid readers and followers of the goings-on at the McDevitt, who post anonymously, are implying that I don't have any right to call the Superintendent names or to have an opinion on the leadership skills of the principal at the McDevitt.

So, let me back up a minute here and remind anyone reading that a blog is an opinion piece.  I started blogging back in its infancy, and I had a blog on Salon.com (when that e-zine was in its infancy), which was more like an online journal.  I picked up blogging again in the Waltham Patch a few years ago, when I was stunned by decisions that were being made by members of the School Committee.  The Patch changed its format, and I tired of the trolls, so I moved the blog here, where I post my opinions, to which I am entitled and with which you, Gentle Reader, are entitled to disagree.

Since a blog is an opinion piece, you can bet your bippy that telling me that I am wrong because you say that I am is not likely to change my mind.  Especially when you post anonymously.  And then try to change my mind by telling me that some middle schoolers don't like the principal because her niece is in the National Honor Society and gets some perqs that other NHS kids get.  Or that incidents in the school are 'common knowledge' among middle schoolers, because middle schoolers are very reliable and give very objective and reasoned information except when they are rattled by hormones and homework, which is always.

I would encourage @fedup and @wvet to start their own blogs.  Perhaps @wvet could have her son do it as part of a homeschooling project: call it "The Truth About the McDevitt, According to Students in 6th-8th Grades."

One last thing: I don't edit my blog posts and perhaps I should.  If I did, I probably would have called the Superintendent 'wicked' instead of 'evil' and I never, ever, ever again will use the word 'alleged' lest someone who has watched too much CSI come back and tell me that its use was incorrect.  Or gives me a gag order.

Anyhoo, I have a conference call now to prepare for and I am leaving tomorrow for 5 days, so you'll all just have to get on without me for a bit. Suggested reading: School Committee meeting minutes, posted on the city Web site and articles in the News Tribune, which does have an editorial board.  Be sure to watch the School Committee meeting tomorrow night on the teevee.  And be sure to show up in support of the Superintendent's decision to not renew Gavin's contract, if that's what you think is the right thing to do.

Finally, the Four Freedoms are that of Speech, Religion, Assembly, and the Press.  I exercise mine regularly and support anyone else who does so and especially those who don't hide behind a cloak of anonymity when doing so.  It's easy to be angry when you can't be seen: just look at Twitter.

A Few More Thoughts on a Certain Decision by our Superintendent

I read with interest a Letter to the Editor in the News Trib.  My first question is, why do most letters to the editor in Waltham start with "As a lifelong Waltham citizen…."?  As a non-lifelong Waltham citizen with lots of friends who are lifers and just as many who are Breezers, I really don't see how that adds or detracts from one's observations on and thoughts about a topic.  Maybe all my Waltham peeps can let me in on the secret.  Certainly with the current issue of the non-renewal of the the McDevitt Middle School principal's contract, I would think that lifelong residents would be more inclined to side with the principal, who is herself a lifelong resident, rather than our current superintendent, who has never made any attempt to connect with the Waltham community.

These questions came to me as I was reading that letter as well as the responses to my last blog post:

• What is the role of the superintendent of schools in dealing with alleged assaults, staff firing, and alleged bullying incidents?  I call these incidents 'alleged' not because I don't believe them, but because our system of justice states that an accused person is innocent until proven guilty.
• If there is evidence that the principal at the McDevitt school was not dealing with alleged incidents appropriately, wouldn't it be incumbent on the superintendent to provide the principal with training and resources so that she could appropriately manage them?
• What is the succession plan?  If the principal at the McDevitt is so terrible -- in fact, the worst of any principal in the district -- and there is documentation to support this, what happens in September?  Right now, there are two assistant principals at the McDevitt: one is an interim and the other is preparing for maternity leave.  So, that leaves us in September with a brand new superintendent and no principal and one interim assistant principal.  Keep in mind that, in addition to the 6th graders from the Stanley and the Whittemore, the students from the Fitzgerald will be there in the fall.  Those incoming sixth graders have never had a principal for more than two years: Shull in K, MacInnis in first, LaRoche for 2nd and 3rd, Castelline in 4th, and now Santillo.  Yes, MacInnis and Castelline were interims, however, does anyone else here see a trend with inability to manage direct reports?  Turnover at the principal level has also plagued the Whittemore School.  And let us not forget that there has been significant turnover at the superintendent level, too. 
• How will the Waltham Public Schools attract strong leaders with a record like that?
• What is the reasoning for the non-renewal of the contract?  Given that a new superintendent starts in two months, why not allow him to make such critical decisions regarding his team?  That is, unless the McDevitt principal was caught with a pack of matches and a can of gasoline trying to burn down the school, what is so urgent that it can't wait?  If it's the timing of the contract, then why not just give an extension and allow the incoming superintendent to assess and make the determination?

Many many parents and students will attend the School Committee meeting on Wednesday in support of Beth Gavin.  Again, I ask the School Committee to take a vote of no confidence in the Superintendent and to ask her to renew Ms. Gavin's contract.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who was very smart and very good at sports and just all around very good.  When she grew up, she decided to be a teacher, even though she could have done something else that would have earned her a lot more money.  Teaching children was her calling, and she followed that call.

The young teacher quickly became a superstar and sought out increased responsibility and showed skills in management and administration.  She married another gifted educator and the two of them chose to work in the town where she grew up even though they could have made more money elsewhere: community and family were very important to the teacher and her husband.

The teacher and her husband worked hard.  She worked so hard that she was given an opportunity to be the principal at a school.  And she went to the school and continued to work really hard and the teachers at the school and the students loved her.  The parents of the students were so pleased that their students had a principal who was so committed and who was so very perfect for the job.

At first, the teacher, who was now a principal, and her husband didn't live in the town where they taught and where she had grown up.  Eventually, they found a home in the town and moved there with their two wonderful children, a little girl and a little boy.  The principal's parents still lived in the town and so did one of her three sisters.

Everything was good.

Sadly, the principal needed to work with an Evil Superintendent.  The Evil Superintendent didn't live in the town or anywhere near the town where the school was located.  She never attended any community events.  And she didn't like the principal.  The principal knew this and did her best knowing it.

At the principal's school, there was a bad teacher.  The teacher was very, very bad and the badness was documented.  The principal had to fire the bad teacher and the bad teacher did not take it well.  In fact, the bad teacher said that she had been assaulted by a student and that the principal had done nothing to protect her.  So, the lawyers came, and a sum of money was given to the bad teacher to make her go away.  And the Evil Superintendent smiled because now she had a way to get rid of the principal whom she did not like.

Why didn't the Superintendent like the principal?  Maybe she felt threatened.  Maybe she doesn't like nice people who work hard.  Maybe she resents people who are happy.  Who knows?

Finally, it came to pass that the Evil Superintendent was to resign from her position.  And all believed that she would go quietly into the hereafter.  But that was not to be.  First, she decided to implement redistricting.  And then she decided to get rid of the Principal.  Because she could.

Is this vindictiveness something that she learned on the trip to China that the good people of the town paid for her to have?

Who could come to the aid of the Principal?  Was there a Prince?

Remember: the Principal is happily married.

If there is to be a hero in this story, it could be the School Committee.  The School Committee can give a vote of "no confidence" in the Evil Superintendent and give her an extra two months off before her retirement in July.  This would show bravery and resolve and would prevent the ES from any additional parting shots that she may want to lob at the good townspeople.

We, the townspeople, are counting on the School Committee to offer a no-confidence vote at the School Committee meeting on 6 May 2015.

Please, members of the School Committee, help us achieve a happy ending.

How Not to Solve a Problem: the PTO Mom is NOT Happy

What are you doing next Wednesday?  Are you heading to the High School to attend the 'public hearing' about redistricting?

Sadly, I will be on a plane heading to a work conference, which is good for anyone else who does attend the hearing because, if I were able to attend, my head would surely explode.  It might anyway.

At the Fitzgerald PTO meeting this week, I had to excuse myself when our wonderful principal had to update us on the redistricting plans.  I apologized to her on behalf of the parents, taxpayers, and voters, that she needs to deal with this and then I left before I said things that I would surely regret.  So, instead of saying them in the relatively safe environs of a PTO meeting on a Tuesday night, I'll blog about them here for all to read.

First, let me say that there is not an 'overcrowding' problem in the Waltham elementary schools.  There is an inequity problem with the use of resources and there is a decision-making problem and there are politics at play, however, the district has enough room for all of our elementary students.

There IS an overcrowding problem at the Fitzgerald School.  How did that happen?  Allow me to give a brief history:
Once upon a time in a magical land, there were six enchanted schools where the good townspeople sent their young children to learn. Then things started to go wrong: the principal at one of the schools, the Fitz, 'retired' amid allegations that she had not done anything about an alleged bullying incident.  The superintendent of the school district, it was said, had run afoul of the mayor, and he, too, resigned.  A friend of the mayor's came in as acting superintendent until another superintendent was hired.  At the Fitz, an interim principal came in, ostensibly to guide the well-liked assistant principal, who likely saw a track to become the school's principal.  That did not happen, and the assistant principal left, along with the interim principal, and a new assistant principal and principal were hired.  During his first year at the Fitz, the new principal was told by the new superintendent that an additional program would be coming to the Fitz.  The new principal protested: there was already a special program meeting in the library because there was not enough classroom space.  The Fitz had the highest enrollment in the district.  Surely there was another place where the students in this program could be better served.  Alas, it was not to be, in part, I believe, because a School Committee member had a student in that program and lived close to the Fitz and lobbied strongly for the program to be relocated to the Fitz.  Also, I believe, it was easier for a new superintendent to tell a new principal that he had to do something than it would have been to tell a tenured and well-respected principal that she had to do something.  In other words, I wouldn't be surprised if principals at other schools in the district told the superintendent "No effing way, bee-yotch."
And so it came to pass that the program was moved to the Fitz.  And the new principal resigned.  And the Fitz had another interim who had to deal with where to put 500+ kids. And so the Fitz gave up its Science room (because who needs science anyway?  It's not like it's important or anything.) and its Drama room and its teacher workroom (because it's ok to teach kids in a former closet with a window). And the parents of the students at the Fitz were told to stop whining and stop being so entitled. And then they ripped up the bridge on Beaver Street just to show those parents west of the school (I am making that up, but it is a strange coincidence.) And now our new, forever principal has to sit at a PTO meeting and tell us about redistricting.  And so I apologized to her and to the teachers and to the staff.

Why is any of that important?  If that program had not been moved to the Fitz, the enrollment there would be on par with the enrollment at the other elementary schools.  That is, that bad decision, made for reasons that are murky, was indeed the straw that broke the district's back.

So, cue the CONSULTANTS and the HAND WRINGING and a TWELVE YEAR plan for redistricting!  Bring on the modular buildings and redrawn lines and the dismantling of computer labs and the purchase of laptop carts! Call the Public Hearings!  Can you say "obfuscation"?

Here's the deal: NO PARENT anywhere ever is going to be in favor of redistricting that makes his or her kid move to a different school.  That's because it's all about the network every parent begins building when her kid goes off to kindergarten: I know who I can call when I'm running late or who I can text when my forgetful 5th grader forgets his homework again or who I can carpool with to the birthday party.  It takes a LONG time to build these bonds; no one willingly wants them to be broken.  So stop asking the parents if they want it to happen: we don't.

And, to make it more painless, come up with ONE plan that makes the most sense.  This isn't about being democratic: it's about making a decision.  The democracy part comes in November when we vote.  Work out the differences between the plans and then implement.  Because here's the thing: populations are dynamic, not static.  So the longer a decision is delayed, the less impact it's going to have.  The use of the FITCH school was STILL being debated until last fall!  For reals?

In my humble opinion, the School Committee needs to deliver ONE plan and then implement it.  The Superintendent is, with all due respect, a lame duck, so she can afford to put on the big girl pants and make a decision.  The mayor, however, is running for reelection, so there may be some caution with stepping up and being decisive because the longer the decision is delayed, the better for reelection hopes.

I am so very weary of hearing about the conundrum.  I know more about the number of students at each elementary school than I ever wanted to, and more about modular buildings and blueprints and laptop carts than I ever needed to.

I'm still waiting for someone to step up and make a decision.