Friday, February 15, 2013
Stoughton School officials and members of the Stoughton Police recently took part in ALICE school shooter response training, hosted by the Norfolk County DA. The program encourages a more flexible response to an active shooter situation.
You wouldn't stay in a building that was filling up with smoke, so why do so if there was an active shooter in the building, Stoughton Police Chief Paul Shastany reasons. The common practice has been for a school to go into lockdown if there was an active shooter in the building, but the more passive approach might not be as effective as a more proactive defense, supporters of the ALICE program say. ALICE - an acronym for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate - was developed by Greg Crane, a former SWAT police officer, and Lisa Crane a school principal. Chief Shastany spoke to the Stoughton School Committee about the ALICE program and its benefits at the Committee's Feb. 12 meeting. Like, the Chief, it's something the Stoughton …
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Five Things You Need to Know Today: School Committee Meets; Snow Emergency Bus Stops; Bingo Canceled; And More...
"Five Things you Need to Know Today" is a Patch column that provides readers with essential, daily information at a glance. School Committee Meeting The Stoughton School Committee meets in the TV studio at Stoughton High at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12. Among the topics of discussion: a security update from Stoughton Police Chief Paul Shastany and a presentation on the Special Education Department from Heather Tucker, administrator of special education. A public comment period is now on the agenda, giving members of the public an opportunity to comment to the Committee on issues that affect the school district and are within the scope of the Committee's responsibilities. The rules and guidelines governing this 15-minute comment period are…
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The Stoughton School Committee approved a calendar for the 2013-2014 school year at their Tuesday meeting, setting the start and end dates, as well as vacation dates. Early release dates and first day of school for kindergarten still needs to be added.
With about five months left this school year, the Stoughton School Committee and school administrators already started looking ahead to next year's school calendar. The School Committee approved on a 4-1 vote a preliminary calendar for the 2013-2014 school year, which has school starting after Labor Day and ending a week before July 4th if all snow days are used. The calendar has students in grades 1-12 returning to school Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013. Teachers and Unit A staff return the day before, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013. Labor Day is Monday, Sept. 2. After students in grades 1-12 return that Wednesday they have the next two days off (Sept. 5-6) for Rosh Hashanah and then have two more days off for the weekend (Sept. 7-8) before coming back …
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Welcome to "About Town with Mark Snyder," a column that will keep you up to the minute with what's what, who's who and what's going on around town. If you see or hear something we could use here, let us know by sending an e-mail to pmpco@aol.com.
STOUGHTON MAN GETS TOP NORTON SCHOOL POSITION: Former Stoughton School Committee member Joseph Baeta is the new Superintendent of Schools for the Town of Norton. The Norton School Committee unanimously voted for Baeta become the new Norton school chief at a January 10 meeting. Baeta, who is in his fourth year as Superintendent of Schools in Holbrook, said that he left that system in much better shape than when he took it over. This new job in Norton is a good fit for him in a number of ways. His wife, Michele, was a Guidance Counselor in Norton, but came home the past five years to take care of their daughter, Maggie. Since Maggie is now at the Hansen Elementary School in Stoughton, his wife returned to Norton Public Schools as a part …
Friday, January 11, 2013
Four candidates will be vying for two seats on the Stoughton School Committee in this April's Town Election. No other town-wide race will be contested. Incumbents John Stagnone (Selectmen) and Tom Colburn (School Committee) will not seek reelection.
The January 2 deadline has passed to file nomination papers to run for town-wide office in this upcoming April's annual Town Election, and as has been the case in recent years, many of the races will be uncontested. This election cycle, one seat on the Board of Selectmen, two seats on the School Committee, one seat on the Housing Authority, and one seat on the Redevelopment Authority, as well as Town Moderator will be on the ballot. Each precinct also will vote for Town Meeting representatives. Only the race for school committee is contested. After John Stagnone, the current chair of the Board of Selectmen, said he would not seek reelection, Stoughton attorney T.J. Recupero announced his candidacy and is the only candidate for Selectman. …
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Five Things You Need to Know Today: Board of Selectmen Meeting; School Committee Meeting; Stoughton High Sports on Tap; And More...
"Five Things you Need to Know Today" is a Patch column that provides readers with essential, daily information at a glance. 1. Board of Selectmen Meeting The Stoughton Board of Selectmen will meet Tuesday, Jan. 8 at 6:30 p.m. at the Town Hall (third floor, Great Hall). The meeting starts in executive session to discuss collective bargaining. When the meeting reconvenes in open session (open to the public), there will be a swearing in ceremony for Michael Hartman, Stoughton's new Town Manager. Hartman, who started Dec. 17, was officially sworn in by Town Clerk Cheryl Mooney Dec. 21, but will be sworn in again ceremonially before a public audience. Selectmen will also start reviewing the FY14 budgets for each town department. This is the …
Friday, January 4, 2013
The School Department’s proposed FY14 budget is just north of $39.5 million, an increase of about $1.8 million or 4.87% from the FY13 budget. Take a look at the budget document posted in the media gallery of this article.
The Stoughton Public Schools recently released a 33-page budget document, detailing the proposed fiscal year 2014 budget the School Committee approved, 4-0, at its Dec. 18 meeting (Dr. Erdem Ural abstained because his request to receive documentation showing how much of the FY13 budget had been spent to date was not met). The proposed FY14 budget is just north of $39.5 million ($39,539,512), an increase of $1,837,738 or 4.87% from the final FY13 budget that was approved at the 2012 Annual Town Meeting ($37,701,774). According to the proposed FY14 budget document, the School Department aims "1) to preserve the programs and services we have, and 2) to begin to move the School District forward to a higher level of student achievement." The …
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Stoughton School Committee Chair Deborah Sovinee and Superintendent of Stoughton Schools Dr. Marguerite Rizzi issued a statement saying the "Stoughton School District has no reservations about a payroll audit."
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Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Editor's Note: The following is a statement co-signed by Stoughton School Committee Chair Deborah Sovinee and Superintendent of Stoughton Schools Dr. Marguerite Rizzi in response to a request from Town Accountant Bill Rowe to perform an audit of the school's payroll operation after members of the Board of Selectmen expressed concerns over lack of documentation to back up the numbers on the December 12/13 payroll warrant item on the Selectmen's agenda. The schools, according to the statement, will comply with the audit request. The original article about the planned audit is here: ABOUT TOWN: Amid Concerns from Selectmen, Town Accountant Plans to Audit Stoughton Schools The statement from the School Committee Chair and Superintendent is …
Five Things You Need to Know Today: School Committee Meeting; Board of Selectmen Meeting; Bingo at the Senior Center; And More...
"Five Things you Need to Know Today" is a Patch column that provides readers with essential, daily information at a glance. 1. School Committee Meeting The Stoughton School Committee meets in the TV studio at Stoughton High at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 18. Among the topics of discussion, a vote is expected to be taken on the School Department's proposed FY14 budget and 2014 Town Meeting articles. An agenda is posted in the gallery. 2. Board of Selectmen Meeting The Stoughton Board of Selectmen will meet Tuesday, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall (third floor, Great Hall). A full agenda is posted here: BOS Agenda 12/18/12 3. Bingo at the Senior Center The Senior Center will hold its weekly game of BINGO at 12:45 p.m. 4. Sports on Tap The …
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Welcome to "About Town with Mark Snyder," a column that will keep you up to the minute with what's what, who's who and what's going on around town. If you see or hear something we could use here, let us know by sending an e-mail to pmpco@aol.com.
TOWN ACCOUNTANT PLANS TO AUDIT SCHOOLS: On December 14, Stoughton Town Accountant Bill Rowe informed the school department, through an email to Stoughton Public Schools Finance Director Jessica Denison, that he would like to perform an audit of the school's payroll operation on Wednesday or Thursday this coming week. He said the request came as a result of "an unfortunate action on the part of selectmen," but that their "concerns are understandable given the continued refusal by the School Department to provide our office with certain employment contracts." He told Denison that Susan Herman, Internal Auditor for the town, and he would perform the audit, adding, "I will provide you a list on Monday of the preliminary information that we …
Fiscal Conservative
4:15 pm on Thursday, February 28, 2013
Jill: Teachers DO NOT have paid days off, plain and simple. They are paid by their contract, in Stoughton around 182 days. All days off, as I like to call them, are "UNPAID leaves of absence". If a teacher calls in sick and is found "on the golf course" that day, they may be docked for 1/182 of their pay, not roughly 240 days that others work. Also, Summer vacation...many spend their "off time" … more ›