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June 23, 2006     Barnstable Patriot
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June 23, 2006
 
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CLASSROOM RAMBLES EDWARD F MARONEY PHOTO COTUIT MAN NAMED HYANNIS PRINCIPAL - Tom Larrabee of Cotuit, the new principal of Hyannis East Elementary, smilesduringhis introductiontothe school committeeTuesday night. Hewas formerly principalof the Brooks Elementary School in New Bedford. EDWARD F MARONEY PHOTO HE FIGURED IT OUT - Kevin Harrington, a former school committee chairman who joined interim Supt. Tom McDonald's administrative team as a consultant on finances two years ago, listens to words of praise from committee chairman Ralph Cahoon. Harrington and his family are moving to North Carolina. Technical adjustment made The school budget year beginning July 1was supposed to see a large increase in technology spending, but that plan was foiled by sharply increased utility costs. Before interim Supt. Tom McDonald and financial consultant Kevin Harrington left the system, however, they identified $250,000 in available funds that could be dedicated to updating Barnstable's technology, and the school committee approved the transfers Tuesday. Bethann Orr,director of educational technology, will have $238,300 for hardware and $11,700 for software upgrades at the high school. Funding formula to be studied The school funding formula created by the Legislature as part of the Educa- tion Reform Act of 1993 is the one that causes concerns in most communities. It is this formula that's at the root of inequitable funding claimed by prop- erty-rich and income-poor communities such as Barnstable. In the coming school year, however, the formula by which Barnstable funds its own public schools - Horace Mann charter types and contract schools alike -will be studied by a committee drawn from both varieties. A report is due to the school committee by Nov. 1, 2007. That study is part of the Memo- randum of Understanding the school board approved Tuesday night with the Barnstable Horace Mann Charter School and the Marstons Mills East Horace Mann Charter Public Schools. The boards of both schools are expected to approve the agreements shortly. Food service will swallow deficit Chartwell'swon a one-year contract to provide food servicesinBarnstable schools Tuesday,and it agreed to shoulder part of the expected deficit. Thecompany'sgoalisto reduce the defi- cit to be covered by the schools to $97,518, and it has promised to cover the next $69,000 above said deficit if necessary. The deficit in the year just ending was $180,183.In the coming year, lunch prices will be going up, to $1.75 a day for kinder- gartenthrough Grade4andto $2 for grades 5 to 12. Breakfast rates will rise from 75 cents to a dollar. In all cases, fees for "free and reduced" lunches will not go up. Changes in the school food world were underscored Tuesday by Sharon Gifford , whoseson attends CentervilleElementary. She said he brought home a note saying that, due to the increasing number of children with food allergies, peanut but- ter sandwicheswouldno longer be served at the school. Gifford said the Nauset Public Schools offer peanut-free zones, and wondered whether Barnstable could do likewise. There was no comment from interim Supt.Tom McDonald,known far and wide as a PB&J fanatic. At his recent farewell party,hiscakewasdecorated ashisfavorite sandwich. Raises, adjustments set The school committee voted to grant its non-affiliated staff the same pay increases negotiated by the Barnstable TeachersAssociation -2 1/2 percent -at its meeting Tuesday. Transportation coordinator Sandy Gifford will get an 8.9 percent boost fol- lowingasurveyofpayinsimilarpositions elsewhere found her salary "out of line." Principalswillalso get the 2.5-percent increase,but part oftheirreimbursement will again be based on merit pay tied to meeting goalsset by the superintendent and themselves.Twoofthe system's"his- toricallyunderpaid" (inTomMcDonald's phrase) principal posts - held Sheila Burns of Centerville and Frank Gigliotti of Barnstable-West Barnstable -will get specialadjustmentsto put them on apar with their peers. Salaries for principals as included in the Dec. 20 budget request for the fiscal yearbeginningJuly 1rangedfrom $87,970 at Centerville Elementary to $100,942 at Barnstable High School.In between were $89,057 at Barnstable/West Barnstable Elementary,$90,000 each at HyannisEast and HyannisWest, $93,000 at Barnstable HoraceMannCharter School,$95,038each for the combined Cotuit/Marstons Mills Elementary principalship and Osterville/ Osterville Bay principalship, $96,404 at BarnstableMiddle School,and$100,275at MarstonsMillsElementaryHorace Mann Charter Public School. Budgets for the Horace Mann charter schools are set by those schools' boards of directors. Health staff has been busy The school committee recognized the efforts of its health staff this week, and nurse leader Rosemary Akin offered statistics that helped define the work. Staff provided first aid to students on more than 19,000 occasions in the 2005- '06 school year, and recorded more than 39,000 visits for evaluating illnesses. Certificates of appreciation were presented to Akin and all the system's health workers. Those able to join her at Tuesday's meeting were Dr. Gina Hurley, director of student services; Beth Dolan, R.N. at Hyannis West El- ementary School; Kathy Teague, R.N. at Barnstable Horace Mann Charter School; and Jeanne Remmers, health assistant and licensed practical nurse at Osterville Bay Elementary School. CC Child Development has openings The Head Start programs of Cape Cod Child Development have openings for chil- dren between 3and5onafull-day orhalf-day basis. To learn more, call 800-974-8860. Biodiversity Day is Tuesday Students ingrades 3 and 4 are invited to spend June 27 from 10a.m.to 1p.m. at WaquoitBayNationalEstuarineResearch Reserve to "get wet and muddy"as they investigate aquaticinvertebrates.Thefee is$5, and pre-preregistrationisrequired. Call Kerry Bickford at 508-375-6695 or write to kbickford(aumext.umass.edu Photoshop, wind courses on tap Summer camp programs offered by Cape Cod Technology Council's Jr. Tech program include an intermediate course in Photoshop for grades 6 to 8 July 11 and 13 from 3 to 6 p.m. ($49 for YMCA members, $59 for non-mem- bers) and a wind turbine workshop for grades 5 to 8 on the same dates from 1 to 6 p.m. ($75 for members, $95 for non-members). Both will be taught at the Barnstable Horace Mann Charter School in Marstons Mills. Register on-line at www.capetech.org or call Phyllis Russell at 508-420-2733. Teacher praised for recycling BarnstableHigh Schoolphysics teach- er Bernard Beveridge received a Fragile Earth Awardfrom CHAMPHomes June 10 for his efforts to encourage students to form a recycling club. PFLAG awards $3,000 scholarship Parents, Families & Friends of Les- bian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender People gave a $3,000 scholarship to a Mashpee High School senior in recogni- tion of his demonstration of leadership and courage in standingup for the rights of all people to be treated with respect , regardless of sexual orientation. Service academy applications ready Students interested in entering one of the United States service academies in 2007-08 are invited to contact U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt's office for applications, which are due Nov. 1. Write to 1250 Hancock St., Suite 802N, Quincy MA 02169 or fill out a form at www.house. gov/delahunt/acadform.htm. Scholarships update •The Chairman'sScholarship Fund of the Cape Cod Foundation: created this month to provide support for students whose ap- plications cannot be approved due to lack of funds. The Foundation awarded $150,000 in scholarshipsto studentsin2005and another $50,000 through the Cape Cod Association to nearly 260 Cape students. To learn more, go to www.capecodfoundation.org or call 800-947-2322. • Martin J. Flynn Scholarship Fund: pro- vided scholarshipsfor 28Barnstable residents lastyear.Residents can makeacontribution by marking the Scholarship Fund box on the front of t.ieir tax bills, then adding the amount contributed to the tax due. For ad- ditional information on the Martin J. Flynn Scholarship Fund, callthe office of the Town Manager at 508-862-4610. • John K. & Thirza F.Davenport Founda- tionArt Scholarships:awards to Barnstable County residents pursuing an education and career in the visual or performing arts. Applications are due July 15. Go to www. thedavenportcompanies.com or call Phyllis Curley at 800-822-3422, ext. 122. • Finnish-AmericanSociety of Cape Cod: two $600 scholarships for Cape Cod high school seniors of Finnish heritage pursuing higher education. Call 508-362-5278. From the Senate... CONTINUED FROM PAGE A:7 Within the population of Massachusetts,approximately 3,492 citizenswilldie of cardiac arrest every year.Lay rescuer programs that provide early recognition, early CPR, and early defibrillation within the first minutesofacardiac arrest canincrease survivalofvictims of witnessed ventricular fibril- lationsudden cardiac arrest by seventimesormoreand would save an estimated 229 or more additional victims of sudden cardiac arrest every year in the Commonwealth. Other states have taken on the issue. All 50 states have passed laws regarding the training for and use of AEDs. Massachusetts, along with many other states, has included AEDs as part of the Good Samaritanlaw,relieving those that attempt to save someone 's life from liabil- ity. Illinois requires every physicalfitness facilitytohave at least one AED on prem- ises, by mid-July 2006, with exceptions. New York and Rhode Island also require health clubs to have at least one AED on site.In Massachu- settsAEDsare alreadycovered underthe Good Samaritanlaw. Training to use AEDs is now a standard part of most CPR training courses. Hopefully from this tragedy another life can be saved. Over the next few weeks, I will be educating my colleagues as to the necessityofincreased public availability of AEDs. Working together withlegislators,nurses, doctors andconcerned parentsI hope to build a strong coalition in favor of Kayla's Bill. LETTERS CONTINUED FROM PAGE A:7 Don't waste the wind Old New Englanders are proud of their frugality. "Waste not, want not," we say. There is the generations-old joke about having a bureau drawer labeled , "String Too Short to be Saved." Or the one about the accountant from Eastham who was late to work because it took so long to get the surplus toothpaste back into the tube. We tend to use things until they give out, and then find a use for any unbroken parts, or save them anyway, just in case they might someday turn out to be useful. In the fall we don't burn or dump our leaves, we compost them. In summer our grass clippings are added to the compost, which will mulch the gardens and enrich our sandy soil. We believe our use-everything approach is not only thrifty, but is responsible stewardship of nature. So when Nature 's gift of wind blows over the Cape and Is- lands unused, we are angered that the political bureaucratic process is so slow about letting us get our electricity from that nonpolluting source. When we see our tree branches waving and sailboats skittering over the whitecaps, we have to regret that there are forces of greed working to overcome the benefits of nature. We are forced to watch the wind being wasted, when what we want is clean, affordable electricity. We can't do much about fossil fuel billionaires, but elected officials have to be elected. That'show we can affect the winds of change. Richard C. Bartlett Cotuit McDonald hears more praise TRANSITION TIME - Incoming Supt. Dr. Patricia Grenier sits next to departing interim Supt. Tom McDonald at the latter s final school committee meeting Tuesday. The two have been working together for months to prepare for the transition. With school committee chairman Ralph Cahoon saying that Barnstable resi- dents may be talking about the accomplishments of the last two years half a century from now, Tom McDonald ended his24-month tenure as interim superintendent. "Tomhassetthebenchmark for superintendents to meet," Cahoon said at Tuesday 's school committee meeting, "and not ju st in Barnstable." "I want to thank the com- mittee for taking a risk with me,"McDonald said, "and my familyfor puttingup withme, and the incredible staff." Committee member David Lawler said McDonald, had he chosen to go into busi- ness rather than education, "would be a multimillionaire. Instead of enriching himself, he chose to enrich all of us." Member Debra Dagwan said there are "some things about him that I'd like to emulate," adding that, "I've made a friend over the past few years." Asst. Supt. Glen Anderson thankedhiscomrade for invit- ing him tojoin the leadership team with this provisio: "You said you wanted to hear what you needed to know and not what you wanted to hear." Peggy Dandridge of the committee was at home nursing a leg injury, but her Englishroots were respected by vice chairman Patrick Murphy. He quoted Winston Churchill, who described his first encounter with Frank- lin D. Roosevelt as akin to "opening the first bottle of Champagne." Everyone who works with McDonald , said Murphy, "can feel that energy and hope at- tached to everything you do." EFM emaroney@bamstablepatriot.com Jobless... CONTINUED FROM PAGE A:7 nothing and are on our streets with no other place to go. In reality, the homeless, as a group, have been neglected, blamed and punished by us, the people of Cape Cod. How is it that only a few of us seem interested in their welfare to ask for funds and resources to helpthem? How isit that most of us choose to not respond to their needs as if it isn't our problem. I must disagree and side with the Scriptures. "We are our brother's keeper." The bottom line is this: Our commitment to the poor and thehomelesshasbeenrninimal. We let them suffer and die on our streets. Making this even worse,our disdain,discrimina- tion,our blamingthe poor and homelesshasbeen rampant.It is as though we simply don't care. As a citizen of the Town of Barnstable, and a Christian, I must strongly urge us all to wake up t what we have done here, to change our ways and become more loving and help- ingto those most inneed. Why is it so hard for so many to understand that if we simpl provided them with adequate resourcesandshelterthat most ofthemwould get muchbetter. And the few that stillhad huge problems could then be more easily and effectively helped. If you can hear my message andwanttohelp,callyourtown councilor and ask him/her to aggressively look for funds to be used to help the poor and homeless. Your voice counts, please use it for love and not hate. Also understand if you remain silent, the voice of hate is strengthened. We have all been so guiltyof not caring enough about those most in need to even speak up in their behalf. Instead , we simply let theirneglect, their misery continue. We need to change for them and for us. The Cape Cod Council of Churches is askingfor pledges fortheHousingwithLoveWalk, whichishappening July 10-16, a walk from Provincetown to WoodsHole.Ourgoalistobuild anothersmallhousingcomplex for the chronic homeless and disabled.WebuiltBridgeport I. and ithas been ahuge success. Eight people are not homeless anymore.Tocontributetoward the building of Bridgeport 2, makechecksoutto Bridgeport- CCCC, PO. Box 758, Hyannis, MA 02601 The writer, a Centerville resident, coordinatesthe Sal- vation Army's Overnights of Hospitality program for the homeless.