School board members plead their case
School Committee vice chair Steven Ultrino wants the city to keep the
Emerson building available for more students.
By Travis Andersen
Town Correspondent
Two School Committee members came out swinging on Wednesday during a public comment session on the city budget, warning councilors on the Finance Committee that further cuts to the schools would decimate public education in Malden.
The Finance Committee will meet with department heads and Mayor Richard Howard next week, before the full City Council passes the final version of the budget for fiscal 2010, which starts on July 1.
Wednesday night Steven Ultrino, vice chair of the School Committee, urged councilors to remember the students in Malden and their needs when moving forward with the budget.
"I hope you realize that we serve a very diverse community," he said.
Ultrino noted that Superintendent Sidney Smith has already made deep cuts that take effect in July, including layoffs for 19 teachers, 27 paraprofessionals, three administrators, and 3 1/2 clerical positions.
Leonard Iovino, who represents Ward 4 on the School Committee, said more cuts would mean fewer services for handicapped students, which violates the law and the mission of the Malden Public Schools.
"We educate the masses," Iovino said. "If they come to us ill, we educate them. If they come to us needing to be tube-fed, we educate them."
And they do that in crowded spaces, according to Ultrino. He also warned councilors not to relinquish property that the K-8 schools could use in a pinch.
"Don't make budgetary decisions just for the sake of a balanced budget," he said.
The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School has offered to pay an entire 10-year lease on the Emerson School up front, for $1.1 million.
The city owns the school and has allowed five nonprofits to occupy the space for little to no rent, with an agreement to vacate if the city needed the building for more students.
The city is now seeking rent from the nonprofits. Under the terms of its proposal, Mystic Valley would vacate the space after five years if necessary to accommodate the other public schools.
Councilor Gregory Lucey, chair of the Finance Committee, said the council may take up Mystic Valley's proposal as part of the final budget negotiations. He couldn't say if the budget would include more cuts to the schools.
"See me next week," he said, adding that Smith had proposed all of the cuts that Howard requested. "[The schools] did their part."
Smith has proposed a $48.9 million budget for the school department in fiscal 2010, down from $50.9 million for the current year.
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So, what this tells me is the charter school has no intention of doing any better for the students who rank #93 in this COUNTRY than renting and dumping more of the money meant for THEM into another old building? After 12 YEARS the admin and board have provided substandard facilities for the students yet can afford to provide apartments, houses, comfortable office spaces, a school in Everett for a different charter school and now daycare for the few teachers who need it? Sadly, the turnover rate for teachers with or without children is about 45% regardless of the perks given them--why is that? How many friends and family will be needed to staff this venture?
They teased the parents with a plan to renovate the Maplewood school and fire station only to drop it with a lame excuse. Although they had the highest bid for the old Malden hospital site, somehow that slipped away. We rented the school in Everett and dumped a ton of money into it and moved the kids out before providing them with comparable facilities and continue to lease only to sub-let to another school? The purchase of the school on Highland Ave. was with the promise of building onto it because we OWN it and now we're dumping money into another of the city's building? Is the city becoming the charter school's prostitue again because it needs money??? Say, "fire station"?
There must be some conflict of interest rules being broken here with the ward 6 councilor sitting as the chairman of the board lobbying the city to lease this building. He is on the Building Property committee and has insight into what is or is not available as well as the Finance Committee to know the financial makeup of the city. How can this be right? Whether or not he is breaking any laws. ethically it is just plain wrong and gives the impression to any bystander of corruption. Time for the charter school to focus on the well-deserving students to provide them with the world class facilities to go along with the world class education they provide. The students have certainly earned it and deserve better after all these years.
City should keep current tennants as long as they pay rent close to what best bidder will pay and also pay for all the own expenses. The idea that the City Should pay for expenses and get just enough rent to just cover those expenses what is up with that? Condon says we need money every chance he gets whining about PAYT and now Ultrino his little sidekick. Malden Taxpayers for accountability what say you? The fact that the groups in there paid zilch over the last uptynine years is quite astounding. Where was everyone on the Council all those years. These people need to all go for that alone. Follow the dots free for how many years and we paid the expenses is my understanding.
I would look into how non teachers at the charter school are on the teachers pension system. Something smells fishy here.
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