Still more on transportation

With the new bus routes at LRTA, some high school students were afraid that they would have to change buses at the bus transfer station (located at the Gallagher train station) in order to get home. This is NOT the case. The LRTA has morning and afternoon service directly to LHS. The reason I know this is that a memo has been sent out to parents of high school students giving the new bus schedule. In the past, it was necessary to search around, make phone calls and ask questions to figure out the routes and the cost and availability of passes. For instance, it was six months before I learned that the more economical semester passes are available and by that time it was too late to buy one. I'm thrilled that the LRTA and the high school have worked together to provide this information to parents. Of course, it's especially important this year given that the high school has a new, later, start time.

More on transportation

Well, tomorrow is the first day of school, and it will be interesting to see how the new bus routes work out. As the new director of transportation, John Descoteaux, pointed out, the changes that have allowed us to cut 7 buses could be upsetting to some parents. "I'll be getting a lot of calls. You'll be getting a lot of calls." he told school committee members.

It seems as if a lot of school committee candidates will be talking about the need to cut more buses, but let's see how this round of cuts goes. Some parents are still upset about the transportation cuts from two years ago which forced more children to walk to school, some on very busy streets. Perhaps that's why the buses were so empty last year?

If we do realize any savings in the transportation budget, after the Stoklosa School fiasco is paid for, maybe we can finally restore preschool transportation, another casualty of the budget battle of 2003.

Speaking of transportation...

The big story last spring was the discovery that many Lowell school buses were running at less than full capacity (some were only 40% full as they went about their daily routes). This wastefulness led to an overhaul of bus routes, a new director of transportation (see previous post) and a seven-bus reduction for a savings of $303,000. The excitement over this savings was somewhat diminished when we realized that it's going to cost an extra $1200 a day to bus the Stoklosa students to their temporary schools, the Molloy and the Cardinal O'Connor, until the new school is ready.

Once again we have a new Director of Transportation

A few weeks ago while at the Parent Information Center, I met the new Director of Transportation for the district, John Descoteaux.  The transportation department has moved their office to PIC, which will surely increase parent access to them when problems occur.  It makes a lot of sense to locate transportation where parents, especially those new to the system, can see and speak to the people who know about the bus routes. One of our frustrations in the past has been when parents were not treated with consideration when they had a complaint about transportation.  Sometimes it helps just to admit that a mistake was made and then get on with the business of solving the problem. When someone’s young child is let off at the wrong stop or doesn’t get off the bus when they are supposed to, the first thing that should happen is an apology and the second is a solution.  A panic-stricken parent should receive assurances that the department knows what happened and why.  After meeting Mr. D., I am hopeful that parents will get the right treatment when they call his office for help.    

Communication between parents and teachers

School committee candidate Cecilia Okafor has a letter in yesterday's Lowell Sun (Tuesday, Aug. 23) about the importance of effective communication between parents and teachers. She points out that parents are often dealing with language barriers and difficult work schedules that prevent them from getting into a school to see teachers. At the same time, teachers feel frustrated when parents don't respond to notes or telephone calls.

None of this is anything new to the CPC; we have been advocating for more parent involvement and improved school-home communication for years. Some of the solutions that Cecilia calls for, such as increased access to teachers by distributing their telephone numbers to parents, may already be in place at certain schools. This should be standard practice at all of our schools. I also think that more teachers should encourage email communications. As for having meetings and activities at times that are convenient for parents, it is a good idea, but has to be negotiated with the teachers' union (no easy task, from what I've heard).

Cecilia also suggests that the CPC phone number be more widely publicized. When I met with her last month, I was disturbed to realize that she had had difficulty finding out about the CPC and how to contact us. We put out a monthly newsletter, a brochure with contact information, maintain a website, go on the local radio stations and have our meetings broadcast on cable TV, yet still there are parents who don't know about us. As the new Chair of the CPC, I plant to find more ways to reach out to parents and guardians, so that our common goal, as Cecilia Okafor puts it, of 'well-adjusted, well-educated children' can become a reality for all of our families.

Teacher shortage

The Lowell Sun likes to pooh-pooh the fact that Massachusetts is facing a teacher shortage, but recent statistics in the Boston Globe (Sunday, 8/21/05) tell the story. In 1999-2000, 1884 teachers retired; this year the number is projected to be over 5,000. In 1996, 24% of teachers nationwide were over the age of 50, that number is now 42%. This makes programs such as mentoring of new teachers by veteran educators more crucial than ever.

The Globe article containing the above statistics (“A Student Teacher’s Lesson No. 1: Learn from a Pro,” by Maria Sacchetti) profiled a mentoring situation in the town of Rehoboth, in which a former engineer, who gave up a large salary to become a teacher, worked closely with an experienced teacher of 34 years to learn how to manage a classroom. Alternate programs to earn teaching certificates in one year instead of two are becoming the norm across the country as districts try to attract and retain new teachers. Mentoring becomes more important as a tool to recruit teachers and to help ease them into their new profession. Lowell’s new mentoring program is perfectly timed to take advantage of this trend at a time when teacher retirements are at a new high.

Stoklosa School

By now everyone has heard the news: the Kathryn P. Stoklosa Middle School will not open on time. The contingency plan calls for splitting the Stoklosa population between two older schools and getting the new staff of the Bartlett, now the Bartlett Community Partnership School, up and running. (For those who haven't been following the schools that closely, the Bartlett staff is moving to the new Stoklosa and the new Bartlett will take the children from the Demonstration and the City Magnet Schools and form a new K-8 school in partnership with UML). This frees up the City Magnet School space in the McDonough building for the high school, which will use the space to create the new Freshman Academy.

It's going to be an interesting year in the Lowell public schools as these new plans are put into action. Not having the Stoklosa open on time is too bad, but the decision to keep the freshman academy and the new Bartlett on track is a sound one. This way only one plan is kept on hold instead of three.

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So, where do we get the money?

Okay, we've talked about why we need two new schools and we've talked about cost of building them, but given the recent budget battles with city hall over school funding, it is reasonable to wonder where we are going to get the $9 million for the two new schools.

It is my understanding that the money will be bonded as it was for all the other new schools we've built. The difference is that we do not have to bond the full amount. In the past, we had to take out a loan for the entire cost and then get reimbursed by the state. The new plan is letting us 'pay as we go' and only bond and pay interest on our portion of the cost. The bottom line is that because some of our old debt is being retired, the actual out-of-pocket cost will NOT increase.

Can we afford to build two new schools?

Naturally, people want to know where the money is coming from to build the new Morey and Butler elementary schools. The current estimated cost for the two new buildings is $32.8 million. Apparently, this estimate is good for about 6 months, but will increase by $500,000 for every six months that the projects are delayed.

The schools were approved to be built at a 90% reimbursement rate; however, the amount to be reimbursed was frozen by the legislature. Any increase in cost over the original estimate of $26 million has to be funded by the city. In other words, Lowell will only pay 10% of the original estimate (10% of 26,098,655=$2, 609,866) plus the increase in the estimate ($32,741.330 - $26,098,655 = $6,642,675) . Thus, the total cost to the city for the two schools is estimated at $9,252,541. This is over $6 million more than we had originally hoped to pay, but we are still getting a significant reimbursement from the state. There will be no more projects built at the 90% reimbursement rate; in the future the rate will likely be less than 70%.

Given these numbers, the question to ask is can we afford NOT to build the new schools?

The Robert Kennedy Bus Transfer Station

A new piece of the Gallagher Intermodal Transportation Terminal opened today - the Robert Kennedy bus transfer station. Bobby Kennedy is a Lowell resident who has served his community for more than three decades, as a city councilor, mayor, state representative, governor's councilor, and recently retired director of the Lowell Regional Transit Authority. In the midst of his term as mayor in the mid-1980s, the great influx of Southeast Asian residents began. Bob did much to lead the city through a very turbulent time. As for the bus transfer station, the routes of all city buses will begin end at the terminal, while transportation to and from downtown Lowell will be provided by a small fleet of trolley-style buses that will drive a continuous loop. As far as we know, the LRTA buses used to transport Lowell High School students will still begin and end downtown, but this will have to be clarified over the next few weeks, certainly prior to August 30 and the start of school. But through the rest of the day, you might notice a lessening of congestion in the downtown area with the removal of the lines of idling buses along Merrimack and Page Streets.

Do we need new schools?

Lowell is coming to the top of the list to have two new schools built. These projects have already been approved by the state at the soon-to-be discontinued reimbursement rate of 90%. A few people have asked me why we need to build these schools.

One of the new schools is to replace the Morey elementary school and the other will be a new Butler elementary school. The students from the Varnum and the Moody schools will attend the new Butler. The Morey, Varnum and Moody are all older buildings and in anticipation of these projects, have had little or no maintenance in recent years. They would need major repairs, such as roofs, floors and electrical upgrades, in order to stay open. In addition, these schools have no gymnasiums, no space designed for art, music or library/media and are not handicapped accessible. The Moody and the Varnum do not have cafeterias or student performance space.

Because of the need for repairs and upgrades at the Morey, Varnum and Moody, it makes sense to go forward with these two projects. Currently, 25% of our elementary school children go to school in substandard facilities; these new schools will help address that problem.

Mendonca & Uong on WCAP

School committee member Joe Mendonca, who's now a candidate for city council, appeared on WCAP this morning. He discussed the status of the under construction Stoklosa School and whether it will be ready for occupancy by the start of the school year on August 30. Joe said there are contingency plans being formulated that would place students temporarily at another site, most likely the old Molloy School, but he implied that the Stoklosa - or at least enough of it to house the incoming students - should be ready on time. Joe also explained the various reasons why he has chosen to run for the city council. One important reason was his concern that the "new" schools which are mostly a decade or more old are in need of normal maintenance such as new roofs and heating units and that he would like to add his voice to that debate in a more direct way. Joe was followed on the air by soon to be former city councilor Rithy Uoung. Rithy would not commit when asked if he was planning to resign from the city council (he did just that later in the day, to take effect tomorrow at noon). Although Rithy is leaving the council, he is staying at Lowell High School despite resigning from his housemaster's position several weeks ago. On August 22, he starts his new/old job as an LHS guidance counselor. He goes from being a councilor to being a counselor.