By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

With less than three weeks before the academic year ends, two Jamaica Plain schools have yet to determine when they will make up 12 hours of learning time that has been owed since the schools’ openings were delayed last September.

Leaders of the Boston Teachers Union blame the Boston Public School Department for not having scheduled the make-up time – amounting to two school days – sooner. School department officials say the union’s request for additional compensation for staff has slowed an announcement.

The James W. Hennigan Elementary School and the West Zone Early Learning Center, which enroll more than 650 K-5 students combined in the same Jamaica Plain facility, started their academic years on Sept. 12., two school days after other Boston students began classes.

The schools’ openings were delayed in order to complete work to remove trace amounts of a toxin in the building’s old, flaking paint.

“This isn’t really a normal situation,” city school department spokesman Matthew Wilder said. “We recognize the end of the school year is fast approaching.”

“We have an obligation to make sure students get 180 days and get these hours in. A decision will be made as soon as possible,” he said.

Wilder said the school department e-mailed the teachers union on Sept. 2 – one day after the two schools learned they would be opening late.

In a copy of that brief e-mail from Brendan M. Green, a labor counsel for the city school department, to the union’s vice president, Patrick Connolly, Green says: “The thinking here is still that we would tack on the additional days at the end of the school year. That option is obviously fraught with downside and we would certainly be open to talking about other options.”

Wilder said that e-mail was the beginning of talks between the school department and the union.

But Richard Stutman, the union’s president, said the school department never followed up from that e-mail on the issue of scheduling make-up time until late April, when West Zone Early Learning Center principal Kathleen Sullivan sent an e-mail that included a list of recommended make-up dates.

The school department spokesman said he cannot say with certainty when between September and April the school department and union spoke about scheduling make-up dates, but he said the talks have been ongoing since September.

“We communicate very often with the Boston Teachers Union on a variety of things,” he said. “We were attempting to negotiate with the teachers union. It’s certainly not something that came at the last minute for us.”

But the union president asserts that “there was no conversation in between.”

“They’ve been seriously asleep on this,” Stutman said. And, if school department officials say otherwise, he said they are being “totally disingenuous. They’re flat-out lying and should be ashamed.”

He said initiating the rescheduling process was solely the school department’s responsibility.

“It’s their school; it’s their schedule,” Stutman said. “It really is irresponsible. And this is typical of how they do business.”

The school department spokesman said the scheduling delay is being caused by the union’s request for additional compensation for when staff worked to ready the schools before they opened. But, Wilder said that “teachers always volunteer before schools open … across the district across the state,” to prepare their classrooms.

“It seems all the union is interested in taking about is the money,” Wilder said. “I think this is a typical strategy by the union.”

The union president acknowledged that the union is trying to get compensation for some of the time teachers put in voluntarily before the school’s opening to help clean and ready the building.

But, Stutman said, those negotiations just began this week and that the delay in scheduling make-up time “isn’t an issue about pay or compensation. It’s an issue about lackadaisical-ness [by the school department] and a lack of attention to details.”

Stutman said that the make-up date proposal sent by the school principal in late April was informal, and that the union “didn’t hear from [the school department] officially until [Tues. May 29]. They notified us with a verbal proposal.”

The following day the school department sent a written proposal.

In a copy of that letter to the union, the school department says it will pay staff for the hours they worked voluntarily on the two days before the school opened.

The union responded in a letter Thursday demanding the school department talk further with the union about making sure staff will be properly compensated, if they have not been already, for time worked prior to the school’s opening dating back to Aug. 15.

The letter proposes that the union and the school department meet on either June 4 or June 7 to discuss the matter further.

With no snow days or other cancellations this academic year, Boston schools are scheduled to hold the final day of classes on June 21.

Stutman called scheduling days this late in the academic year “foolish and counterproductive.”

“These hours meant something months ago,” he said. “In late June, kids have other things on their minds,” like playing outdoors and the looming summer recess.

The school department said the district's academic calendar "doesn't have a lot of flexibility in it during the school year," and that "the only real solution" was to make-up the learning time near the end of the school year.

"Ideally, we would have liked to announce it already," Wilder said.

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)

Are all these people unhappy? Maybe.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent

The MBTA - not much to tweet home about

Storified by Jeremy C. Fox · Fri, Jun 01 2012 15:47:06

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(Patrick D. Rosso/Boston.com/2012)

One of the posters pasted on a building in Dudley Square.

By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent

Residents in the South End, Roxbury, and Jamaica Plain might have noticed a few posters appearing around their neighborhood that feature pictures of people of color and quotes about “coming out”.

The posters, affixed to walls and utility boxes by two Grove Hall artists, are meant to raise awareness about the challenges of being gay for people of color. They sprouted up shortly after President Obama gave his back to same-sex marriage and the NAACP restated its contention that gay rights — including the right to marry — are civil rights..

“Often for both of us and for other LGBT folks there is this duo invisibility,” said one of the artists, who asked to remain anonymous because the posters are considered graffiti. “I think for LGBT folks of color we walk this line where in one community we can’t talk openly about our homosexuality and one community can’t talk openly about race.”

Boston.com Staff

The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation will celebrate its 35th anniversary at an annual meeting scheduled for Saturday, June 9 at the Blessed Sacrament campus on Centre Street, organizers said.

The nonprofit community development organization will host its annual meeting from noon to 2 p.m. on June 9, according to an announcement on its website. The meeting will include lunch, award presentations and the election of the nonprofit’s board.

From 2 to 4 p.m., the agency plans to celebrate its three and a half decade legacy with live music, dancing, more food, a moon bounce and other family activities, the announcement says.

The award-winning organization was founded in June 1977 after 18 months of planning by about 150 residents.

To see a timeline of some of the highlights of the JPNDC’s first three decades, click here. To see a map of some of the spots in Jamaica Plain where the nonprofit has had an impact, click here.

For more details about the annual meeting and anniversary celebration, click here.

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By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

The city plans to use $400,000 in federal environmental grants to help pay for an estimated $1.2-million cleanup of two neighboring former industrial sites slated for redevelopment in the Jackson Square area of Roxbury, officials said.

The US Environmental Protection Agency's Brownfields Program awarded two grants to Boston, city officials announced Tuesday. Another 16 were awarded to other communities and regional councils in Massachusetts.

The hazardous substance grants have been designated to help fund the cleanup of 1.2 acres of land across two adjacent city-owned sites, 1540 and 1542R Columbus Ave, officials said.

The money will help pay for metals and petroleum remediation at the contaminated sites that were once home to various industrial operations, including an automobile dealership, a trucking facility, and a parking garage, officials said.

Evelyn Friedman, director of the city's neighborhood development department, said the city plans to transfer ownership of the two parcels by selling them for $1 each to nonprofit developer Urban Edge to build two projects,

One project calls for the construction of a long-awaited ice rink and turf field facility. The proposal calls for a 38,000 square-foot recreation center that officials have previously estimated will cost a total of $16 million.

The second project calls for a mixed-use development that will house 37 residential units, 29 of which will be designated as affordable housing. The building, which has been named Jackson Commons, would include a community-oriented commercial space on the first floor.

In addition to the two EPA grants, those development projects are slated to receive $1.75 million in money allocated by the city, Friedman said.

The state has allocated $5.6 million to the recreation center development. The two projects may receive more public funding from the state, including through tax credits, Friedman said.

Remediation of the land and new construction are scheduled to being in the spring of 2013, the city said.

“These generous grants from the EPA means that we can not only ensure the public safety of these sites in our neighborhoods, but we can also begin to revitalize these parcels to create housing, commercial space, and a community center in Jackson Square,” Mayor Thomas M. Menino said in a statement thanking the EPA.

The EPA estimates that every acre of reclaimed Brownfields saves 4.5 acres of green space. In turn, that reclaimed green space has, on average, doubled the value of surrounding properties.

Jackson Square is a key crossroads between Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. The city held a ceremonial groundbreaking there earlier this month for the first component of a multi-phase,14-building, $250,000 million redevelopment plan.

That master plan, the Jackson Square Redevelopment Initiative, was conceived over a 10-year process by residents and city officials one decade ago to revitalize the area surrounding the Jackson Square MBTA station.

The square, where Columbus Avenue and Centre Street intersect, was among the areas that suffered after demolitions decades ago to make room for a planned extension of Interstate 95. After a public outrcy, the addition was never built.

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)

Will these unsuspecting passengers be greeted by waves of heat once they board their bus? Many commuters were this week.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent

A hot week on the MBTA

Storified by Jeremy C. Fox · Fri, May 25 2012 17:36:58

Email Jeremy C. Fox at jeremycfox@gmail.com.
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(Photo courtesy MCAA)

Community Partnership Grant and Hospitality Scholarship award winners with state Senator Jack Hart, City Councilor Frank Baker, and the MCCA’s James E. Rooney.

By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent

Twenty-one Boston nonprofits received a financial boost Tuesday after the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority awarded community grants at the MCCA’s annual awards luncheon.

Themoney, from the authority's community Partnership and Hospitality Scholarship Fund, will be used to benefit East Boston, Dorchester, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, and Brighton.

“We understand the importance of the extensive number of non-profits who work tirelessly to serve all of Boston’s diverse neighborhoods,” said James Rooney, executive director of the authority in a statement. “Our Community Partnership Grants program is a way for the MCCA to reward these non-profits for the positive contributions they are making to Boston and its collection of neighborhoods. The grants are also a way to ensure that the organizations receive the funding that allows them to continue to make our city’s communities better places to live, work and enjoy.”

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

Police in Jamaica Plain are warning area motorists about an increase in reports of wheels and tires being stolen from parked cars, with some vehicles being left resting atop cinder blocks.

Most cars being targeted are Honda Fit and Honda Civic models, according to an e-mail sent to community members from the District E-13 station of the Boston Police Department.

A law enforcement official said those car models are targeted because their smaller wheels are not only easier to steal, but are also particularly desirable for reuse, because, when affixed to other car models, they allow those vehicles to ride lower to the ground.

The majority of the incidents have occurred overnight with most vehicle owners finding their cars’ wheels replaced by cinder blocks, the e-mail said.

Police urge the community to take precautions to avoid being victimized, including that drivers and vehicle owners lock the lug nuts on their vehicles’ wheels to make removing them more difficult.

Officers also advise drivers and vehicle owners: to install a car alarm, especially if the vehicle is regularly parked at an apartment building lot or on roadways; to park their cars in a garage, behind a locked gate, in a driveway or well-lit area if possible; and not to leave valuable items in plain view.

Authorities said suspicious people or activity in parking lots should be reported to police immediately.

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

The Family Service of Greater Boston based in Jamaica Plain will receive a $40,000 grant in conjunction with an award honoring the organization’s CEO for “outstanding leadership.”

(FSGB)

Randall Rucker

“Rucker is a tireless and outspoken advocate for the power of community centers to help Boston’s most at-risk children and families build their lives,” said a statement from the award-granting services company.

“Rucker is widely respected for his more than 24 years of commitment to bringing together his team, public officials, the corporate world, and the private sector to drive change on the regional and national levels,” the statement added. “Rucker has pioneered efforts that encourage responsible fatherhood and urban youth character, built programs to help children and strengthen families, and forged new paths in serving vulnerable communities.”

The award honors the memory of Peter Goldberg, who, until his death in Aug. 2011, served as president and CEO of the Alliance for Children and Families and CEO of United Neighborhood Community Centers of America – both of those organizations partnered to present the award as part of the second annual ARAMARK Building Community Innovation Awards. www.aramarkbuildingcommunity.com.

Altogether, the awards consisted of $100,000 in grants. Three community centers, one in Illinois, one in Ohio and another in Arizona, each received $20,000 to honor their “innovative job readiness programs.”

Nearly 70 Alliance and UNCA member organizations applied for this year’s awards. Leadership award candidates were nominated, and an external panel of judges selected the winner.

Rucker said in a statement he is “truly honored and humbled,” to receive the recognition.

“I am a firm believer that the best and most enduring solutions to advancing civic, social and community development are realized in the transparent and trusting cross pollination of new ideas, partnerships and resources between non-profit community service providers, public systems, foundations, corporations and community participants,” his statement said.

Susan Dreyfus, president and CEO of the Alliance and CEO of UNCA said in a statement: “I can think of no better leader to honor Peter’s legacy than through Randal’s leadership and success.”

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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(Rose Lincoln/Harvard / Staff Photographer)

Anna Marden, of Boston, takes pictures as Harvard's Arnold Arboretum celebrated its 104th Lilac Sunday with tours and other activities.

The following is a report by Jennifer Doody written for and originally published by Harvard University's official newspaper the Harvard Gazette, a publication of the university's Public Affairs & Communications office.

Jamaica Plain resident Elaine Saint and her family were among thousands of visitors who wandered the colorful collections of Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum on Lilac Sunday.

“I’ve lived in Jamaica Plain for about six years, but this was my first visit to the Arnold Arboretum,” she said. “I had such a wonderful morning with my kids, Kingston and Khalesi, and it was great to be surrounded by so many other families enjoying the day.”

Now in its 104th year, Lilac Sunday has become a time-honored tradition for families to celebrate Mother’s Day at the Arboretum, which boasts more than 15,000 woody plants on its 265-acre landscape. This year, the event included tours of the Arboretum’s other collections, including the Bradley Rosaceous Collection, the Leventritt Shrub and Vine Gardens, and the Explorers Garden.

Maggie Redfern, Explorers Garden tour guide and visitor education assistant, said the day was an opportunity to connect with multiple generations of Bostonians, some of whom were new to the Arboretum. “Half the people on my tour had never been here before,” Redfern said. “We had two teenage girls in our group, as well as their mother and grandmother.”

It’s that opportunity to encourage lifelong learning, and expand the understanding of the Arboretum in the community, that William “Ned” Friedman, director of the Arnold Arboretum and Arnold Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, finds so rewarding.

“It’s incredibly important for the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University to be much more than a collection to come and look at,” Friedman said. “We are part of a university whose mandate is to share and educate with all of the incredible resources that Harvard can bring to bear. We’d like our visitors to learn more about the evolution that underpins all modern biology, the dangers of invasive species that can destroy entire ecosystems, as well as benefit from the aesthetics of our biodiversity collections. Our evening public lectures, guided tours, volunteers, and scientists are central to sharing our unique resources and insights with our neighbors of all ages in the Greater Boston area and beyond.”

Julie Warsowe, manager of visitor education at the Arboretum, agreed. “Beyond Lilac Sunday, we want to reach a broad audience. We have fun science activities for families, interpreters in the landscape who can help visitors learn more about plants – we want to reach all those casual visitors who may have come for a social experience, and give them the opportunity to connect and have a deeper, richer, and more informative experience.”

To that end, the Arboretum has launched several new programs to engage and educate the community. Two mobile applications provide information on many of the Arboretum’s trees. Next month, the Arboretum will roll out a new international month program, which will provide tours of the living collections in 10 languages. The Arboretum has also launched a “tree mob” program offering 15-minute lessons on its amazing organisms.

The initiatives, Friedman said, are all “part of our effort to exceed expectations and surprise. When you come to the Arboretum, whatever you were expecting, we want you to get even more.”

Saint’s first Lilac Sunday made such an impression that she’s already considering options for the 105th celebration next year. “I might even start a tradition of having a picnic with other moms and their families,” she said. “I’ll definitely come back.”

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