Letters

LETTER: Concern Over Pace of the Watertown Schools’ Master Plan

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Watertown Strong Schools provided a summary of the first meeting of the Steering Committee of the Master Planning Design Process for the Watertown Public Schools. School officials are looking to build the town’s schools for the 21st Century and deal with growing enrollments. Unofficial Minutes: Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Master Planning Design Process on 06/15/2016 – Key Points and Commentary

Note: These are NOT official minutes. Commentary can be found at the bottom of the minutes. Written by: Kate Coyne and David Stokes

Committee members: John Portz, Co-chair; Liz Yusem, Co-chair; Dr. Jean Fitzgerald, Superintendent; Charles Kellner, Director, Business Services; Vincent Piccirilli, Town Council Vice-President; Michael Dattoli, Town Councilor; Steve Magoon, Assistant Town Manager and Director, Community Development and Planning; Deb King, WEA President and WMS teacher; Toni Carlson, K-12 Educational Technology and Library Coordinator; Dr. Kimo Carter, WMS Principal; Alyson Morales; Pete Caron; Mike Shepard; Elaina Griffith; Chris Lowry.

Government

LETTER: ReThink Plastic Thanks Council for Decision on Plastic Bags

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Editor,

On behalf of the members of ReThink Plastic, I would like to thank the Watertown Town Council for their approval of the Bring Your Own Bag ordinance at the meeting on June 7. 

With this vote, Watertown joins a growing number of communities in Massachusetts who have decided that the time has come to reduce the number of disposable, single-use plastic bags that waste our resources, pollute our communities and cause harm to humans, birds, animals and fish. We would like to thank the members of the Rules and Ordinance Subcommittee (Councilors Woodland, Dushku and Falkoff) for the time and attention they gave this ordinance. Working closely with our membership, they raised issues and concerns and worked to craft a better ordinance. The full Council took up the ordinance on June 7 and listened to and considered concerns raised by Watertown residents. They ultimately decided to join nearby communities such as Brookline, Newton and Cambridge to take action to improve our environment.

Letters

LETTER: Support Watertown Goes Purple to End Alzheimer’s Disease

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My Name is Judy Johanson. I am a Mother to two amazing children and a Mother-in-Law to their wonderful spouses. I’m “Nana” to three cherished grandchildren and most importantly, I am the wife and Care Partner to my brave and grace-filled husband Steve. Steve was diagnosed four years ago with Younger Onset Alzheimer’s disease at age 58. Needless to say this was an unexpected turn of events in our life, but given the circumstances, we have chosen to live our lives striving for hope towards a cure for this disease while embracing beauty in each day spent together!

Letters

LETTER: Parents Group Writes About Overcrowding, Enrollment and More

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The Watertown Strong Schools parent group followed the School Committee meeting on June 13, which tackled some key issues, such as overcrowding, enrollment projections and where dozens of students were honored. Unofficial Minutes: School Committee Meeting 6/13/16 – Key Points and Commentary

Note: These are NOT official minutes. Commentary can be found at the bottom of the minutes. Written by: Pete Caron, Julie Cotton, Kate Coyne, Alyson Morales, and David Stokes. Committee members: John Portz, Chair; Kendra Foley, Vice-Chair; Guido Guidotti, Secretary; Eileen Hsu-Balzer; Candace Miller; Mark Sideris; Liz Yusem; Dr. Fitzgerald, Superintendent; Charles Kellner, Director, Business Services; and Craig Hardimon, Human Resources Director.

Letters

LETTER: Young Men – Take Care of Yourselves, Others

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Guys, I know you’re bombarded all the time with messages about what it means to be a “real” man, messages like “don’t show weakness” and “don’t ask for help,” particularly when it comes to your health. These messages can be confusing and make it difficult to know how to take care of yourself, especially when it comes to sexual health. It’s unfortunate, but many young people in school aren’t taught comprehensive sexuality education that is unbiased, medically accurate and age appropriate. As a sexuality educator, who also happens to be a man, I know very intimately the dangers of not providing young men with the information they need to keep themselves and their partners safe and healthy. In the spirit of Men’s Health Week, let’s put aside all “real” man talk and instead focus on what it means to be a healthy man.

Government

LETTER: Resident Critical of Council for Passing Single-Use Bag Ban

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Editor

On June 7, 2016 the Town of Watertown’s Town Council (Council) voted to enact, “AN ORDINANCE FOR A SINGLE­USE PLASTIC BAG REDUCTION” (Ordinance) thus eliminating one more personal choice for Watertown residents at the behest of a minority of people and their agenda. The Ordinance’ position is overly broad and flawed. It puts town based retailers at a distinct competitive disadvantage while inconveniencing everyone who patronizes them. Worse, in its current inflexible iteration it is punitive, where it not only fines our local retailers for non­-compliance, but can make town employees ordinance enforcement officials at the whim of the Town Manager. What is striking is that while the Council knew the Ordinance’ inherent flaws, Council moved to pass it anyway.

Letters

LETTER: Parent Skeptical of New Plan to Deal With School Overcrowding

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Watertown Strong Schools, the parent group, attended the Superintendent’s meeting about plans to move some PreK and preschool classes to the Phillips Building. Unofficial Minutes: Superintendent’s Meeting Concerning Short Term Space Proposals 6/8/16 – Key Points And Commentary

Note: These are NOT official minutes. Commentary can be found at the bottom of the minutes. Written by: Kate Coyne

School Administration members attending: Dr. Fitzgerald, Superintendent; Beth Sahakian, Community Education Director; Bob LaRoche, Hosmer Principal; and April Romano, Early Steps preschool Director. School Committee members attending: John Portz, Chair; Kendra Foley, Vice-Chair; Guido Guidotti, Secretary; Candace Miller; and Liz Yusem.

Overcrowding

LETTER: Parents React to New Overcrowding Plan & More from School Meeting

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Parent group Watertown Strong Schools submitted this roundup of the School Committee meeting on June 6, where the overcrowding plan, facilities master plan, enrollment and many other items were discussed. 

Note: These are NOT official minutes. Commentary can be found at the bottom of the minutes. Written by: Alyson Morales

Committee members: John Portz, Chair; Kendra Foley, Vice-Chair; Guido Guidotti, Secretary; Eileen Hsu-Balzer; Candace Miller; Mark Sideris; Liz Yusem; Dr. Fitzgerald, Superintendent; Charles Kellner, Director, Business Services; and Craig Hardimon, Human Resources Director. Audience members: Mena Ciarlone, Cunniff Principal; Elizabeth Kaplan, Lowell Principal; Bob LaRoche, Hosmer Principal; Donna Ruseckas, Director of Wellness & Extended Services; Adam Silverberg, World Languages Coordinator; Lauren Harwood, Accountability Data Manager; Vincent Piccirilli, Town Council Vice President; Aaron Dushku, Town Councilor; Lisa Feltner, Town Councilor; Jim Cairns, WSS; Pete Caron, WSS; Julie Cotton, WSS; Kate Coyne, WSS; Rebecca Grow, WSS; Diego Hammerschlag, WSS; David Stokes, WSS; Alyson Morales, WSS, Mike Shephard; and many other parents and community members. Math Olympiad

The Lowell 5th grade Math League was honored along with their teacher Mrs. Debra Garabedian for placing first in the nation in the Continental Math Leauge.