Schools

Daily Buzz | School Committee Urged to Consider Pulling out of MSBA

Plus, community dinner, garden club event, and more

Nicci Kadilak

— 5 min read
Daily Buzz | School Committee Urged to Consider Pulling out of MSBA

Hello, Burlington!

Lots is happening today in our fair town. Your precinct representatives, of course, will be meeting at the BHS auditorium for their first (and hopefully only!) session of September Town Meeting. Current and hopeful Precinct 7 Members are asked to come a half-hour early with the hope of selecting two neighbors to fill the two open seats.

On the docket are…

  • …zoning changes requested by Herb Chambers
  • …a resolution to oppose the building of Winn View Heights II (maybe?)
  • …adding climate resiliency into the wetland bylaws
  • …defining shared parking in an effort to eliminate unused parking lots that have a negative environmental impact, as well as being unsightly
  • …and much more!

The Garden Club also has their presentation on perennials this evening, the 50+ Job Seeker Networking Group is meeting virtually, and the Presbyterian Church of Burlington will hold its monthly last-Wednesday meal. (I promise I have the date right this time!) There is no charge for either of these programs; they are open to anyone interested!

School Committee Urged to Consider Pulling out of MSBA

The School Committee meeting last night kicked off with public participation, and the two topics of conversation were the district’s COVID policies and the Fox Hill-MSBA engagement. For the first time in public, two members of our community suggested that the School Building Committee consider pulling out of the MSBA (Massachusetts School Building Authority) process altogether, citing in part the inadequacy of the options currently under consideration.

One community member, Edward Parsons, highlighted that the town is considering a smaller Fox Hill when overcrowding was one reason for seeking MSBA funding in the first place. “We're making compromises,” he said, “and we need to evaluate the value of those compromises versus the prospective MSBA reimbursement.” Parsons, as well as community member Adam Sinesi, who added that enrollment numbers might be unpredictable in the coming years, urged the Committee to reconsider engagement with the MSBA on the Fox Hill project, so the town can focus on getting what our students need rather than what the state wants.

Regarding COVID protocols, a parent joined virtually to express concern over the COVID protocols that were re-sent to families this week. Dr. Conti reassured the parent and the community that the district’s protocols are not getting any stricter, stating that the CDC policy is lagging behind actual practice.

Also from School Committee:

  • DECA will be visiting Austin.
  • Band, Chorus, Guard, and Orchestra students will be visiting Orlando for the World Strides Heritage Festival and Disney World/Universal Studios.
  • Drama Club will be starting at MSMS.
  • The district will be hiring a bilingual (English/Spanish) family and community engagement social worker to work with homeless families in the district. Dr. Conti was intentional about stating that Burlington Public Schools has 30-50 homeless students, and that while the placement of homeless families in local hotels has increased the pressure, many of these students and families are not from that group.
  • Fox Hill and Burlington High School made the “Warning” list for our state standardized tests, but not for performance reasons. The state requires that we have 95% participation, and the English Learner subgroup at BHS and the Students with Disabilities subgroup at Fox Hill fell below this number.
  • One in four students speaks a language other than English at home; one in five qualifies for free and reduced lunch. We have 310 students designated as English Learners, and they bring 57 different languages with them to school each day.
  • The district had their final meeting with the Equity Auditor and hopes to discuss the audit at the October 10 School Committee meeting.
  • Dr. Chen, our new Assistant Superintendent, gave an update on what district professionals are working on, which includes vertical alignment of curriculum and preparing for a new science MCAS.
  • The High School Building Project Request for Proposals opens today; interested firms need to have their applications in by October 16.
  • The designer and Owner’s Project Manager for the Elementary School Building project will be at Town Meeting tonight to answer questions and invite people to join ThoughtExchange.
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Today in Burlington

Municipal Meetings and Community Events

Sports and Activities

Our cross country teams didn’t quite pull out the win yesterday, with boys losing by mere seconds. Boys lost 27-30 and girls went 15-50 against Wakefield. The volleyball teams won two out of their three games yesterday against Melrose. Freshmen and JV teams both won 2-0, while the varsity team lost 1-3, bringing their record to 6-2.

Lots of soccer on the calendar today, as JV and varsity teams play against Melrose. Boys travel, with JV playing at 4:15 and varsity at 6:00. Both girls’ teams play at 7:00; looks like JV will play at MSMS and varsity at BHS.

The Woburn/Burlington swim team has a meet today, too—they’ll be hosting the Reading Rockets at the Woburn Boys and Girls Club at 4:00.

Also on the calendar is a freshman girls’ soccer game at Memorial at 4:15 against Wilmington.

That’s what’s going on in Burlington today. Don’t forget to tune into BCAT or Facebook for Town Meeting tonight. See you tomorrow!

Nicci

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