Schools

UPDATED: Parents Bringing Petition Calling for Vote on Superintendent to Wednesday’s Meeting

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The beginning of school is around the corner, but the Superintendent is facing an uprising of parents upset with the way she has handled some major decisions over the past year. 

Wednesday night, a group of parents will deliver a petition signed by parents asking for the School Committee to take a vote of confidence for Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald. School Committee Chairman John Portz said there will not be a vote on the Superintendent at Wednesday’s meeting. That would have to be put on the agenda. That can be done by Portz, as chairman, or by other members of the School Committee, he said. Fitzgerald responded to the petition with a letter on the Watertown Public Schools website, saying “I take the concerns of my community very seriously and work hard to ensure their voices are heard.”

Schools

Watertown Parents Start a Petition Asking for Vote of No Confidence for Superintendent

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A group of Watertown parents have started a petition asking for the School Committee to take a vote of no confidence for Watertown Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald. The petition, which would also be sent to the Town Council, was started on Change.org, and as of 5:45 p.m. had 20 supporters. The first paragraph of the lengthy petition reads:

“We, the undersigned Parents of children who are attending or have attended Watertown Public Schools, and community members who share similar concerns, have composed this letter to express our dissatisfaction with the current superintendent, Jean Fitzgerald.” The organizers, who were not named in the petition, wrote that “it is the petitioner’s’ position that the Superintendent has acted inefficiently, incompetently, and with conduct unbecoming of a Superintendent.” This, the petition says, is enough to terminate and dismiss Fitzgerald under her contract.

Letters

LETTER: Parents Dismayed at Late Cancellation of Extended Day on School Half Days

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Letter to the Editor (8/8/16)
This morning [Monday], many Watertown parents woke up to some incredibly dismaying news. According to an email sent out by the Director of Community Education Beth Sahakian, there are some major changes being made to the after school programs for elementary school students here in Watertown. These changes are as follows (from an email received this morning):
“THIS IS A CHANGE:  Extended Day will NOT BE OPEN on Early Release Days (March 1st and May 24th)  from 12:15- 2:35PM. You may bring your children to Extended Day at 2:35PM. Extended Day will NOT BE OPEN on conference days (dates TBD) from 12:15- 2:35PM.

Letters

LETTER: Elimination of Half Day Transition by Schools Hurts Working Families

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This letter was originally sent to School Administrators and the School Committee:

I am sure by now you have received considerable feedback from your decision to eliminate coverage on half day transitions to extended day. While your reasoning might have been sound and based on contractual and financial considerations, the impact your decision has on working families in Watertown is far greater than you might have considered. We have enjoyed the advantages of the Extended Day Program at the Hosmer for the past three years. Your staff is accommodating, the program is engaging and the convenience is exactly what we need. By eliminating the bridge period between scheduled half days and the extended day program, you have effectively caused us and most of the families that pay for your program a great deal of hardship and confusion.

School Facilities Master Plan

See Options for Modernizing Watertown High and Middle Schools

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With some major changes inside the buildings, Watertown High School and Watertown Middle School could be remodeled to handle all the students coming through the town schools, an architectural consultant told the School Facilities Master Plan Steering Committee. The outsides of the buildings would look much the same, but architect Michael van Hamel of SMMA said the schools could be brought up to modern standards without building brand new schools. He went over options during Wednesday night’s Steering Committee meeting which is planning for the master plan, due to come out in September. He plans to reinvigorate space at the schools that are seldom used or not being used to their potential. At the middle school, van Hamel said, the lower gym could be turned into a library and maker space.

Schools

Consultant Reveals Options for Expanding Watertown’s Elementary Schools

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The process for coming up with a master plan to remodel or rebuild Watertown’s schools to handle more children and modern education is nearing its end and Wednesday night the district’s consultant discussed ways the current schools could be renovated to do the job. 

One major change will be making the number of students at each elementary school more even. Cunniff would have more than 100 additional students with about 400 students. Lowell would have a capacity of 450 students, about 30 more than this fall. Hosmer, on the other hand, would drop by about 80 students to 500. All the schools would get reconfigured classroom wings, where the traditional rooms coming off a hallway would be changed to have rooms of different sizes and community space to allow classes to be brought together.

Schools

Watertown Student Receives Nursing Scholarship from Mount Auburn Hospital

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Each year, Mount Auburn Hospital awards scholarships to local high school graduates from surrounding towns that are enrolled in nursing school, and one of those receiving the scholarship was a Watertown student. Kelly Flynn, a Watertown High School graduate and Watertown resident, recently received a scholarship from Mount Auburn Hospital to study nursing at the University of Vermont in the fall.

School Master Plan

Residents Worry if Renovated Schools Will be Big Enough for Future Enrollment

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Watertown’s current school buildings don’t have to be torn down to make room for the all of Watertown’s students, but rather can be reconfigured and have some additions. However, parents and residents at Wednesday’s Schools Master Planning Community Forum worried whether they will be able to handle the growing enrollments. The forum was led by architects from SMMA, a Cambridge firm hired to put together the master plan, which will be a “50,000 foot view” of the school facilities and needs. Eventually the plan will help guide Watertown to renovating or rebuilding the schools so they can provide an education fit for the 21st Century. Michael van Hamel of SMMA said he used guides for size of classroom as laid out by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), which oversees school projects and provides some money for districts to build or renovate schools.