STANLEY SCHOOL HONORED AT STATE HOUSE

On Wednesday morning, Stanley School was honored as one of a number of Commendation Schools in the Commonwealth for high progress.  Congratulations to Mr. Daniels and his staff for their extraordinary work with our students!

BUDGET STATEMENT BY SCHOOL COMMITTEE CHAIR

The School Department has done an enormous amount of work to identify areas where savings could be found, cuts could be made to reduce spending, and even ways to generate new revenue.  We have done this without touching the kindergarten program. It is not our wish to have to take that further step.

We have also made great strides to negotiate fair and fiscally responsible contracts with all the employees of the district both union and non-union.  This is critical to help the district get control of the skyrocketing costs of salaries.  With salaries consuming eighty percent of the school budget, the annual increase in salaries is the single largest budgetary obligation we struggle with each year.  The only bargaining unit that is unresolved is the teachers, which is the largest.  I am hopeful that the teachers union will reconsider and ratify the agreement.  This would allow us to properly forecast salary increases and plan for the next two years.

It is our position that with all the steps the school district has taken to get our costs down and to achieve savings, we are now looking to the town to close that gap in our budget so that we can move forward without the need for any additional cuts or changes (to kindergarten or elsewhere).  I can assure you that the Board of Selectmen is working cooperatively with the school department and has demonstrated an understanding of the issues.  We are hopeful that this continuing cooperation will lead to a balanced budget for the school district.

More information on this process and the latest updates will be available at the February 8^th School Committee meeting.  We will not be voting on a final budget on that date, but have postponed that vote until February 16^th.  This is to allow the full amount of time for all parties to work towards a solution and to allow the Town Administrator to present the entire budget to the Selectmen, which includes the school allocation, on Wednesday, February 15^th.

We will need the support of all concerned parents and residents to continue to work together to make sure that our schools are properly funded each and every year so that we do not continue to face these cuts on an annual basis.  Much of the blame lies at the state level where public education on the whole is not funded adequately.  Rising costs of special education and health care for employees, along with unfunded mandates, continue to strap districts all around the state.  We are not the only ones facing these issues.

Until those issues can be resolved it is up to us, as Swampscott residents, to make our priorities known so that our schools get the allocations they need, not only to continue to provide the current level of service, but to grow and improve. 

Sincerely,

Carin Marshall

Chair, Swampscott School Committee

Mindfulness in the Classroom 

Mindfulness in the Classroom Video #3: Circles of Attention

https://youtu.be/dz7La3H8fBs

As the brief video outlines, Circles of Attention is a great way to give a visual to observing where our thoughts are:

•  First Circle = The Past (could have, should have)
• Second Circle = The Present Moment
• Third Circle = The Future (What if, I hope)