It appears that there is going to be a meeting this week to discuss the test results of the PCB's at the Burke. This appears to be the first of the many messes that Bettencourt is going to have to deal with. The twist to this one is that it is his children's school. Which will he side with with, the superintendent that decided not to divulge earlier results or the parents that supported him with his campaign.
At the end of the day this is a train wreck caused by the outgoing Mayor and current superintendent. Information was not released or released last minute so the parents ware not able to get to meetings to speak from what I have been told. It also appears the most recent results were available three days ago but there was not a communication until last night. What a great way to end the year...
As a parent that has had children in the school system, I would be careful about switching your child to another school. All of these schools were built around the same time period and the only newer ones are the Brown and Carroll. Based on the recent MCAS scores those would be the last place to want your children to attend to have confidence in air quality. There will be very little confidence that you child's MCAS scores will be strong.
I have also heard via multiple sources that Dave M. has been somewhat hostile to the Burke Parents. We know he was to Barry Sinewitz at the School Committee meeting. I just hope that Bettencourt finally distances himself from that hack and find the right people that will make an honest effort in this city. To have a guy not run for a position knowing he could not stand up to the challenge of a new comer and to also make the argument to get into the vocational school to protect the kids from the school committee is a person that should have stepped down years ago. I find it very amusing that they call in the Vocational School leadership to the committee when the reality is that the City Council is now the bosses of that school district. The peabody school committee have zero power now thanks to people like Dave McGenney.
People will have to let us know how the meeting turns out because this is a big mess that the new mayor will have to show some pretty strong leadership skills. Best of luck to him!
Lets get something clear, Dave McGeney has served this city for 16 years. He's also topped the ticket every year for the last 3 consecutive elections and has done nothing but serve this city with the best intentions. No power? Looks like someones a little hostile for all the wrong reasons. By the way, when you insult someone, spell their name right.
ReplyDeleteanonymous said...this whole story is based on unfounded hype and paranoia over an issue that has no clear scientific expertise. Some of those Burke School parents need a reality check and a lesson on PCB's 101. Why do some people need to fuel the fire when it is not necessary to do so? Could Levine have handled this better? YES but let's put the story in its right perspective please. Where the hell is OG to make some sense of this overhyped nonsense?
ReplyDeleteIsn't Dave the one that thought it best to join the Vocational School to protect the students against the School COmmittee bc they never do what is right? Isn't he the same bastard that attacked Sinewitz defending the parents in his ward? The mindless vote for Dave. What has he actually done for the city besides kiss people arises? Heres your chance to let everyone know?
ReplyDeleteBTW he had nothing to run on so he did not even campaign this time...Why should he..he's Dave McGeney....The new guy had MUCH more experience than all them combined.. This city is a joke with incumbents. Voters are too lazy and afraid to make change! That is why he topped the ticket. BTW Carpenter almost beat him this year on the ticket...So think again that he is the best for the city...
BTW the school committee doesn't have any power when it comes to the Voc school. Do your homework. It is supervised by the city council and not the school committee. It is now only for budgetary purposes. As in business you never want to give up control or functions because it does reduce your level of importance and this was a poor decisions for Peabody. The reality is that SC did not even have to vote and they should not have. The CC wanted a vote of confidence from them. I would have told them no and I would never support such a thing. I ran for SC to run the schools not to give up opportunities for us improving our own system. None of them should have been re-elected after that. But no one goes to the meetings or watches them on TV...It is only one of the largest parts of the city budget thats all....
Hmmm, PCB's and small children and you want parents to educate themselves prior to reacting? Especially when they find out that multiple tests have been run over the course of the last few months without them being notified. Obviously this post was by someone who doesn't have small kids.
ReplyDeleteDoes this come as any surprise when working on a building built roughly 50 years ago? We know they used building materials that wouldn't meet today's standards, so why would we even attempt to do work on these buildings when school is in session?
Luckily, I think this episode kills any thought of renovating the Higgins. Can you imagine doing such a large-scale renovation while school in session over the course of 3-4 years; the toxins in the air during that work would close the school down for months.
"Obviously this post was by someone who doesn't have small kids." Not everyone with small kids is an overprotective helicopter parent...this stuff was in all of our schools growing up(have you ever been to the old brown school?) and we all survived. As long as their not licking the windows they should be ok.
ReplyDeleteIt's just like the new fad of using hand sanitizer before even looking at a baby...where did that get us? It got us kids allergic to everything and no immune system to speak of. Every kid could benefit from eating a little dirt once in a while!
What do expect from the parents when the superintendent hid the information on the pcb tests and tried to clean up the areas without anybody knowing! If there were no safety issue why the cover-up? The school committee didn't even know. Shouldnt they be pissed off at Levine?
ReplyDeleteNope, they think he's wunderful..... kumbaya my lord, kumbaya....
Did you just compare dirt to pcb's? And asbestos is just like letting your kids play with packing peanuts. What an asinine statement.
ReplyDeleteI don't have kids in the school system, but yes I would be pissed off if the school hid elevated test scores of PCB's that were 3x the recommended limit. Especially since there have been ZERO studies to suggest what the recommended limit of PCB's should be in regards to children.
As a parent I think the current school committee should resign. They won't even standup for the parents. They all must have got together and planned a united front to support Levine. Not one school committee member spoke at the meeting. They all thought what Levine did was ok.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny though. They moved out a pregnant teacher but it's ok for our children to stay. This committee is a disgrace. Not one of them had the guts to stand up and say it was wrong. You really let all the Burke parents down.
Dead blog?
ReplyDeleteThe biggest disgrace of them all is McGeeney. He is a real can't do type of guy!
ReplyDeleteKeith Doucette you are a joke!
ReplyDeleteAt least Keith is honest and respectable, Stef-phoney
ReplyDeleteI feel Dave M should definitely resign for his support of a interim super who is clearly not the right man for this job.
ReplyDelete