Last week, Flagg parents received several automated telephone calls from the principal regarding some supposed construction that was going to be going on in one of the elementary school classrooms and that those students had temporarily been moved to another room in the building.
During the second of these calls she said "The school is perfectly safe."
What was NEVER mentioned in any of these calls was that the children were moved out of the classroom because of ASBESTOS! In one of the first grade classrooms, there was a section of tile that got repeatedly wet and had disintegrated. Apparently the school custodian brought in his supervisor after something like 2 months and he identified the asbestos and closed that classroom immediately. The teacher and many parents were aware of this exchange. Calls were made. Discussions ensued about risks to the children's respiratory health and possible complications of the cleanup and whether it would be handled properly. All the while parents are getting these cryptic messages about a construction project.
Worcester Public Schools happens to have a history improper removal of asbsestos. At the end of 2009, the city settled allegations made by the state that asbestos tiles were not removed and disposed of at Vernon Hill School. (LegalNewsline.com)
Asbestos is a known carcinogen and becomes of significant concern when it becomes airborne. This can then be inhaled posing a respiratory hazard. Cleanup must be conducted by an approved asbestos removal contractor. Inspectional services is supposed to be notified.
Well, if it's any relief, Inspectional services was notified. Cleanup is to occur over this week during school vacation and I really hope that it's by a licensed asbestos removal service.
Why, if it's being handled properly, does the principal feel the need to fib to parents? Got to wonder.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
An event about neighborhood safety in Tatnuck
Joyce Kimball and Eric Goldstein have organized a "community safety meeting" following a couple of violent incidents in the Tatnuck Square area. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. tonight (April 20) in the Tait Room at St. Luke’s, 921 Pleasant St. “This isn’t going to be us talking about these incidents,” Eric S. Goldstein said. “We want to get people together and make them aware that there’s stuff going on.”
The article in the Telegram today was pretty confusing about the purpose of the meeting and why it is being organized. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about the events in question to really elaborate. Some of the commenters mentioned that Goldstein's son was a victim in one of the incidents.
At one point in the piece Goldstein is quoted as saying, "Stuff like that never happens on the West Side.”
Well, the summer of 2007, when my family moved back to Worcester, my husband and I took our kids to dinner at Tatnuck Square Papa Ginos. As we sat at our table with our 3 year olds, a bunch of regular neighborhood kids began to wave knives around right behind my son's seat. I was horrified and scared.
Several people I mentioned this to pretty much said things like "what do you expect" and "that's why we go to Holden." I really got the impression then that Tatnuck Square was not very safe and lots of people know it.
Since my children have started school, we have returned to Papa Ginos on occasion and my kids attend a lot of their after school activities in Tatnuck Square. We play regularly at the playground at Flagg Street and it always feels safe...but I think it's pretty naive to believe that anyplace is truly "safe" anymore. Kids have become desensitized to guns and knives and the injury they cause. And there have ALWAYS been bullies.
I think it's a good idea to organize a meeting like this, but I think it's unfortunate that it wasn't well publicized. I haven't seen any signs up and it's not like they sent fliers to the local schools or anything. We'll see what happens.
The article in the Telegram today was pretty confusing about the purpose of the meeting and why it is being organized. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about the events in question to really elaborate. Some of the commenters mentioned that Goldstein's son was a victim in one of the incidents.
At one point in the piece Goldstein is quoted as saying, "Stuff like that never happens on the West Side.”
Well, the summer of 2007, when my family moved back to Worcester, my husband and I took our kids to dinner at Tatnuck Square Papa Ginos. As we sat at our table with our 3 year olds, a bunch of regular neighborhood kids began to wave knives around right behind my son's seat. I was horrified and scared.
Several people I mentioned this to pretty much said things like "what do you expect" and "that's why we go to Holden." I really got the impression then that Tatnuck Square was not very safe and lots of people know it.
Since my children have started school, we have returned to Papa Ginos on occasion and my kids attend a lot of their after school activities in Tatnuck Square. We play regularly at the playground at Flagg Street and it always feels safe...but I think it's pretty naive to believe that anyplace is truly "safe" anymore. Kids have become desensitized to guns and knives and the injury they cause. And there have ALWAYS been bullies.
I think it's a good idea to organize a meeting like this, but I think it's unfortunate that it wasn't well publicized. I haven't seen any signs up and it's not like they sent fliers to the local schools or anything. We'll see what happens.
Friday, April 16, 2010
My notes and thoughts on the WPS restructuring meeting Doherty Quadrant 4/12
Superintendent Dr. Boone said she is "truly listening."
"There are no actions in my hip pocket or in my purse that are going to be sprung on you in September," according to Boone. "I am not here to reconfigure your schools. [This] doesn't mean we are ready to implement, that we have a preference."
IF that is all true, than it certainly is a relief to me and many of my fellow Westsiders who have children in the public schools and are NOT in favor of extended days and reconfigured grade levels. A couple of things that went on in the meeting led me to have my doubts as to the Administration's transparency, however. There were no microphones available, so one could barely hear the public comments and questions. Comments and suggestions were directed to be put in writing on the input pages that were distributed...a paper that had very little blank space and no section for comments. On the "survey" each attendee was directed to register their opinions on a 1 to 5 scale. All statements were written in a manner like this: I am in favor of extending the school day. A 1 was low, a five was 5. That doesn't seem like a survey designed to see if parents are in favor of something to me. They actually didn't provide a method of registering that you are not in favor of the plan.
I wrote in "no," and I understand that at least one other table put zeros in. My husband tells me this will actually probably just serve to invalidate our results when they score it. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the way this survey was designed was to show some level of approval from parents for these proposals, not actually gather their input. What about all the people who may have written 1 to register their disagreement, not realizing that technically it registers a low level of agreement?
One of the saddest moments of this meeting for me was when Dr. Boone said, "One of the things I struggle with is that we have no elementary librarians." Now here is an education administrator coming into our district from a southern urban district who is basically horrified that Worcester doesn't even have school librarians. People in Worcester become so accustomed to things just being the way it is even if you KNOW something isn't right. As a library volunteer at my own children's school and a parent who has instilled in my own children a love of books and reading, I just cannot imagine how politicians and city and school administrators can't see any connection between denying children access to books and the fact that they can't read. If you can't read, you are not going to be able to perform well on standardized tests or succeed in school as far as I can tell. Just saying.
"There are no actions in my hip pocket or in my purse that are going to be sprung on you in September," according to Boone. "I am not here to reconfigure your schools. [This] doesn't mean we are ready to implement, that we have a preference."
IF that is all true, than it certainly is a relief to me and many of my fellow Westsiders who have children in the public schools and are NOT in favor of extended days and reconfigured grade levels. A couple of things that went on in the meeting led me to have my doubts as to the Administration's transparency, however. There were no microphones available, so one could barely hear the public comments and questions. Comments and suggestions were directed to be put in writing on the input pages that were distributed...a paper that had very little blank space and no section for comments. On the "survey" each attendee was directed to register their opinions on a 1 to 5 scale. All statements were written in a manner like this: I am in favor of extending the school day. A 1 was low, a five was 5. That doesn't seem like a survey designed to see if parents are in favor of something to me. They actually didn't provide a method of registering that you are not in favor of the plan.
I wrote in "no," and I understand that at least one other table put zeros in. My husband tells me this will actually probably just serve to invalidate our results when they score it. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the way this survey was designed was to show some level of approval from parents for these proposals, not actually gather their input. What about all the people who may have written 1 to register their disagreement, not realizing that technically it registers a low level of agreement?
One of the saddest moments of this meeting for me was when Dr. Boone said, "One of the things I struggle with is that we have no elementary librarians." Now here is an education administrator coming into our district from a southern urban district who is basically horrified that Worcester doesn't even have school librarians. People in Worcester become so accustomed to things just being the way it is even if you KNOW something isn't right. As a library volunteer at my own children's school and a parent who has instilled in my own children a love of books and reading, I just cannot imagine how politicians and city and school administrators can't see any connection between denying children access to books and the fact that they can't read. If you can't read, you are not going to be able to perform well on standardized tests or succeed in school as far as I can tell. Just saying.
What WPS was like in 1914/15
Just found this Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Public Schools of the City of Worcester 1914.
"The future welfare of our city will depend in a large measure on the instruction the children receive in our schools and the training given them in their homes. The home life we can affect only indirectly and in part; their school life lies wholly in our care. If we fail to do all in our power to provide for them the best within our means, we fall short of the duty we have been elected to perform."
-INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF CHARLES F. MARBLE, CHAIRMAN OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, 1915
Here are some parts I found interesting, especially in light of the current situation in Worcester Public Schools:
"The future welfare of our city will depend in a large measure on the instruction the children receive in our schools and the training given them in their homes. The home life we can affect only indirectly and in part; their school life lies wholly in our care. If we fail to do all in our power to provide for them the best within our means, we fall short of the duty we have been elected to perform."
-INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF CHARLES F. MARBLE, CHAIRMAN OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, 1915
Here are some parts I found interesting, especially in light of the current situation in Worcester Public Schools:
- There is a section about community partnerships with organizations including: The Public Library, The Natural History Society, The Worcester Society of Antiquity and lectures given by various professors at WPI, Clark and the Massachusetts Agricultural College.
- On access to libraries:
Public Library
Mr. Robert K. Shaw, librarian of the Free Public Library, is ever ready and willing to aid the teachers and pupils who wish to avail themselves of the many rich opportunities which the library possesses as aids to education. The following is from a communication sent me by Librarian Shaw:
"For more than a generation the public library and the public schools of this city have enjoyed intimate and friendly relations. Our school deliveries cover all parts of the city, there being in fact only four school buildings which do not not receive our books. The four school deposits at Gates Lane, Gage Street, Millbury Street and Tatnuck bring practically branch library facilities to the children of these districts, respectively.
"At the central library we are assisting children in many ways outside of the regular juvenile department; in the circulation department we provide books covering the required reading, such books being supplied on open shelves of convenient location. In the reference department we spend much time in supplying material on debates and on collateral reading in many lines of school work. Professional reading for teachers is furnished both through the circulation department and the teachers' room in the juvenile department.
"In the past, certain classes have come irregularly with their teachers for occasional talks on the use of the library, the use of reference books, etc., and the librarian has visited the high schools with the aim of familiarizing pupils and teachers with library facilities and methods.
"A splendid plan for the future would be the inauguration of some regular library course in the pursuit of which pupils who elected this course would receive regular instruction at the library in the use of reference books, card catalogues, etc., and in such elementary knowledge of library methods and handling books as would benefit them throughout life. Such courses have been given in some of our larger cities with a real benefit to both library and schools."
The idea of inaugurating a library course in our school system seems worthy of consideration. Such a course could readily be put into our high school curriculum.
Mr. Shaw has assured me that it would be a pleasure for him to co-operate with the school authorities in this direction. In closing my report on the Public Library, I wish to say that which I feel confident is the opinion of the entire school department, namely, that the librarian and his corps of efficient and courteous assistants have been a great aid to us in our work of educating the young of the City of Worcester.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Evaluating the West Side
Help me figure out what issues you think are important and what your perceptions are of the West Side (whether you live here or not). VERY Quick anonymous survey below.
Thanks for your help!
Click Here to take survey
Thanks for your help!
Click Here to take survey
Attention DIYers!
Worcester has a new proposal on the horizon...
Do-it-yourself sidewalk and street repair.
Dear Worcester home owners: Thanks for your recent home purchase and continuing tax payments – BTW, sidewalk repair was not included in that assessment.
From today’s T&G
http://www.telegram.com/article/20080311/NEWS/803110618
“With insufficient municipal money available for sidewalk construction or repair, a proposal is being broached that would allow (my emphasis) homeowners to take the matter into their own hands and then receive some property tax relief from the city.”
My translation:
Since Worcester has no money to fix (never mind build) sidewalks, some of the City Councilors have been persuaded to let you fix your own crumbling eyesore. As an incentive, the proposal is that that the City will offer a tax rebate of 50% of the cost of the sidewalk work, which will then be proportioned over five years. Are you getting this?! You pay to fix it now (using one of the city’s approved contractors ha! ha! offering you the same great deals they offer the city – I am sure those are some super bargains) and they will give you HALF what you paid back over next five years in the form of tax rebate. How exactly does this qualify as tax relief? They’ll give you back half of an additional sum YOU paid out to fix what they’ve left broken.
Now I hate to criticize a citizen activist and fellow Westsider Joseph Pagano who is going out on a limb to try and make Worcester a better place, a place where parents with strollers can actually use the sidewalks apparently, but I doubt this proposal is going to do much to “attract and retain young families.”
I agree with him that the city does need to make young families and Westsiders more of a priority though. Westsiders bear the brunt of the tax burden already, with property values here the highest in the city. Young families are what once made this area great and that’s who is leaving in droves. [Households headed by an individual aged 34 to 44 increased by only 3% in the West Side between 1990 and 2000. Furthermore, those households headed by an individual who was 55 to 64 years of age increased by 12.5% in the West Side as compared to a decline of 5% throughout the City. –2002 report commissioned by the City of Worcester’s Executive Office of Neighborhood Services.]
But asking Westsiders to step in and DYI in another area isn’t the answer to anything.
We are already DYIing our children’s educations and recreation, our garbage disposal, and even filling potholes ourselves on some streets. Until some of our own tax dollars actually flow back our way in the form of services on this side of the city, the Westside will continue to slide. Worcester needs Westsiders (our property values and subsequent financial contributions to this city) just to keep it’s head above water.
Do-it-yourself sidewalk and street repair.
Dear Worcester home owners: Thanks for your recent home purchase and continuing tax payments – BTW, sidewalk repair was not included in that assessment.
From today’s T&G
http://www.telegram.com/article/20080311/NEWS/803110618
“With insufficient municipal money available for sidewalk construction or repair, a proposal is being broached that would allow (my emphasis) homeowners to take the matter into their own hands and then receive some property tax relief from the city.”
My translation:
Since Worcester has no money to fix (never mind build) sidewalks, some of the City Councilors have been persuaded to let you fix your own crumbling eyesore. As an incentive, the proposal is that that the City will offer a tax rebate of 50% of the cost of the sidewalk work, which will then be proportioned over five years. Are you getting this?! You pay to fix it now (using one of the city’s approved contractors ha! ha! offering you the same great deals they offer the city – I am sure those are some super bargains) and they will give you HALF what you paid back over next five years in the form of tax rebate. How exactly does this qualify as tax relief? They’ll give you back half of an additional sum YOU paid out to fix what they’ve left broken.
Now I hate to criticize a citizen activist and fellow Westsider Joseph Pagano who is going out on a limb to try and make Worcester a better place, a place where parents with strollers can actually use the sidewalks apparently, but I doubt this proposal is going to do much to “attract and retain young families.”
I agree with him that the city does need to make young families and Westsiders more of a priority though. Westsiders bear the brunt of the tax burden already, with property values here the highest in the city. Young families are what once made this area great and that’s who is leaving in droves. [Households headed by an individual aged 34 to 44 increased by only 3% in the West Side between 1990 and 2000. Furthermore, those households headed by an individual who was 55 to 64 years of age increased by 12.5% in the West Side as compared to a decline of 5% throughout the City. –2002 report commissioned by the City of Worcester’s Executive Office of Neighborhood Services.]
But asking Westsiders to step in and DYI in another area isn’t the answer to anything.
We are already DYIing our children’s educations and recreation, our garbage disposal, and even filling potholes ourselves on some streets. Until some of our own tax dollars actually flow back our way in the form of services on this side of the city, the Westside will continue to slide. Worcester needs Westsiders (our property values and subsequent financial contributions to this city) just to keep it’s head above water.
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