Schools

Schools Superintendent: This is the True Cost of Running a District

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The School Committee got the final recommended budget from school staff, and Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald said it is the amount required to run the district and educate students the way she believes is right. The total amount recommended is $46.48 million for the 2014-15 school year (Fiscal 2015). With about 3.5 million offset by grants and other funds, the town’s share would be about $43 million – or about $6 million more than the previous year. “This is the true cost of running a school district,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re at the tipping point.

Around Town

Watertown Roads, Parking Restrictions for Fallen Firefighter’s Wake, Funeral

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Boston Fire Lt. Edward Walsh of Watertown will be remembered with a wake Tuesday and funeral Wednesday. Photo: Boston Fire Dept. Fallen Boston Firefighter and Watertown native Edward Walsh will be remembered with a wake on Tuesday and funeral on Wednesday, causing some roads in Watertown Square to be closed and parking restrictions.The Watertown Police Department announced a list of roads to be closed during the services for Lt. Walsh, one of two Boston firefighters killed last week in a fire in the Back Bay. He graduated from Watertown High School in 1989 and his mother worked for the school district, according to School Committee Chairwoman Eileen Hsu-Balzer. The wake is Tuesday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at St.

Business

Item Made in Watertown Will be Featured in Red Sox World Series Celebration

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When the Red Sox celebrate the 2013 World Series championship on Friday, a special item made in Watertown will be featured. The banner that will be unfurled during the celebration comes from New England Flag & Banner, according to a piece in the Boston Globe. The Dexter Avenue-based business provides banners, flags and other items for pro and college sports teams, according to the company website. This will not be the first championship banner made by New England Flag & Banner. They produced items for recent Celtics and Bruins championships and they also made banners used by Boston College and other teams, both local and around the nation.

Around Town

Boston College, Watertown’s Jerry York Heading to Frozen Four

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The Boston College men’s hockey team booked another trip to the NCAA Frozen Four under head coach Jerry York, a Watertown native and resident. The Eagles defeated Hockey East rival UMass-Lowell 4-3 in the Northeast Regional Final in Worcester on Sunday evening. BC had one goal leads in the first and second periods – one by Kevin Hayes and the second by Bill Arnold. Both times the Riverhawks tied the game up before the end of the period. In the third Lowell took a lead just 43 seconds into the period.

Around Town

See Photos of the Procession for Fallen Boston Firefighter from Watertown

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Watertown residents came out of their homes, left their businesses early and lined Mt. Auburn Street to pay their respects for fallen Boston Fire Lt. Edward Walsh Friday evening. Joining the line of vehicles were Boston Fire trucks, including Walsh’s Engine 33 and Ladder 15, on which the other fallen Boston firefighter, Michael Kennedy, worked. Watertown Fire vehicles also rolled through town along with police vehicles from many departments, including Boston, Watertown, Newton, the State Police and more.

Around Town

Honor Fallen Boston Firefighter Walsh Today in Watertown

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A procession through Watertown will honor Boston Fire Lt. Edward Walsh who died in a fire on Wednesday. Watertown will honor fallen Boston Firefighter Edward J. Walsh – a Watertown native – on Friday, and the public is encouraged to come out and pay their respects.A funeral procession will come through Watertown as Walsh is carried from Boston to Stanton Funeral Home near the Cambridge line on Mt. Auburn Street. The procession will come down Galen Street, through Watertown Square and then up Mt. Auburn Street to the funeral home.

Around Town

Watertown’s Eliza Dushku Starring in New Web Series

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You can catch Eliza Dushku’s newest project – a sci-fi short – on YouTube now. 

The Watertown native, famous for her role in Joss Whedon’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel,” is teaming up with director Kevin Tancharoen, who is related to Whedon by marriage. In the short, “The Gable Five,” Dushku is one of five test subjects for Dr. Gable, a scientist trying to come up with a drug that is “so powerful it could be used to win every battle, every war, with no casualties,” according to the YouTube description. She described her character as a “badass” in an interview on the Comicbook.com blog. When asked about she often plays strong female characters she said it is in her DNA and also credits her mother and other feminist role models in her life, as well as growing up with three brothers.

Around Town

Rep. Hecht Gives Forecast of Special Ed Circuit Breaker Funding

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State Rep. Jonathan Hecht said the Governor’s budget does not fully fund the Special Education Circuit Breaker, but he hopes the Legislature can fix that. 

One of the main topics of discussion during the School Committee’s Budget and Finance Subcommittee meetings over the past week has been special education funding. The state chips in a significant amount for the most expensive services for special needs students – those costing $41,000 or more a year, according to Student Services Director Arlene Shainker. The cost is based on “four times the state average foundation budget per pupil as calculated under the Chapter 70 education funding law,” according to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. When fully funded, the state provides 75 percent reimbursement for the amount over $60,000. Last year the state fully funded the program with $250 million (Watertown received more than $2 million), but this year the governor’s budget is level funded, Hecht said.