Dear Friends,

October has certainly been a busy month for meetings, and November promises to be equally so!  It’ll mean several pizza nights at my household (a good thing according to my kids!).

Here’s what’s been going on, since my last letter.  The lifting of the High School accreditation warning status was wonderful, although surprising, given that many of the conditions that put us on warning status continue to exist.  The NEASC spokesperson said that the $1.65 million Proposition 2 1/2 tax override was one of the reasons the group lifted the warning. He also said that NEASC credited the school and the town for reducing class sizes, increasing funding and creating the new special education program. 

Here’s my perspective:  first, the Finance Committee and Mark Rees, the Town Manager, as well as Mr. Rees’ department heads and staff are to be thanked and congratulated for budgeting carefully and finding the additional $800,000 in the municipal side of the budget that they were willing to transfer over to the school department in order to restore several teaching positions.  That’s what lowered class sizes at the High School, not the override.  Second, Joyce Laundre, her special education staff, and the School Committee deserve thanks for recognizing the potential for savings by implementing new, in-house, special education programs to further address the needs of our students; this WAS paid for by the override.  Third, the voters of North Andover deserve thanks for passing a modest override that told not only NEASC, but surrounding towns as well, that we value municipal and educational services.  It wasn’t just the dollars - it was the positive change in attitude that helped lift our accreditation warning status. 

One last statement on accreditation:  classes are still large at NAHS; we have only a .8 music teacher to service the needs of the entire school; an art teacher salary was paid for by a generous donation from the North Andover Fund for Education because the money didn’t exist in the school budget; there are no physical education classes; and the lack of academic electives remains just as much a problem now as it was a year ago.  I’m looking to our school administration, staff, and School Committee to find creative ways to try to relieve these areas that are still hurting. 

As for meetings, I attended two School  Committee meetings and watched a tape of the Board of Selectmen meeting during the past two weeks.  In response to a citizen’s petition regarding cell phone towers, the Board of Selectmen have scheduled a special town meeting for Monday, November 26th, 7:00 pm, at the North Andover High School.  There will be a couple of additional warrant articles as well, but the main issue to be decided is whether to approve a temporary moratorium on the permitting of cell towers.  I would strongly urge you to attend for a couple of reasons:  George Voseolas has been circulating a petition to explore other forms of government than town meeting.  Why not use this opportunity to observe how well town meeting functions in the disposition of these warrant articles?  Also, consider the costs associated with town meetings and attendance factors.  I would also urge you to participate in the decision making, because even though the existence (or non-existence) of cell phone towers may not be your particular passion, this issue may have long-term financial effects, as far as potential additional revenue for the town or potential legal fees incurred by the town.

As for School Committee meetings, on October 18th, board members passed a new Public Comment Guidelines policy, without any public comment.  I’m adopting a "wait and see" attitude about the new policy.  I understand their reasons for wanting new guidelines - some board members were subjected to some pretty harsh public comment last year - but I would argue that the Chair of the Committee has always held the right to cut comment short if the public commentary is inappropriate or off-topic.  At a time when it is critical for the School Committee and School Department to be accountable for their decisions and transparent in their accounting and budgeting practices, I fear that cutting back on public comment will be misconstrued as cutting back on differing opinions or cutting back on the public’s right to ask questions, in public, about matters they want to understand better.  I believe that suggesting that citizens can instead ask questions via email or telephone calls curtails public involvement; many people attending or watching meetings on TV appreciate those people brave enough to get up to the microphone and ask the questions they wish they could (I know I appreciate it!).

The meeting also included a brief overview of MCAS scores - not great at the elementary level, and definitely not great in science as you move up the grades - with the promise of an extended discussion at a future meeting.  Also presented was an initial report of the Facilities subcommittee, reporting on space issues at the High School.  In a nutshell, if we were looking for space at the High School to shift overcrowding at either our preschool or kindergarten levels, there’s absolutely no extra room there.  We are at full capacity.

There was an additional, non-televised, meeting of a large portion of the North Andover School Committee and several Andover School Committee members on October 22nd.  These joint meetings are a great start to finding shared opportunities, between similar towns, to lessen the financial burden of school funding.  Methuen and Haverhill are apparently members of this same regional group, but did not attend.  Quite frankly, I have doubts about the efficacy of including them, given that their more urban character and better state funding sets them apart from us on several levels. 

The major areas targeted for shared services include purchasing, professional development, job fair/human resources, and special education programs and transportation.  This last category could mean significant savings for both communities.  I also liked that the meeting participants want to participate in more state government/municipal government conferences, traditionally attended by town managers, mayors, etc., instead of school officials.  This makes incredible sense – ed reform prohibits municipal managers from making school department decisions, so shouldn’t school department representatives be included in ALL the discussions that affect financing their departments?

I’ll wind up this issue with a reminder to attend the Thursday, November 15th, State of the Town of North Andover Government Forum, at 7:00 pm in the High School auditorium.  NAU is very happy about the number and variety of really great questions we received at www.northandover.org, as well as the participation of all four of our state elected officials!  We just need to make sure that we all attend to hear the answers!  Attending in person shows our elected officials that accurate information is important to us.  See you all there!

Sincerely,
Sandy Gleed