Full-Day Kindergarten Guaranteed for Fall

Full-day kindergarten will be available for all eligible Attleboro public school students this fall. The School Committee voted 9-0 on Monday to make the program a line item in the budget, guaranteeing its approval.

The committee had previously endorsed the full-day kindergarten concept, but this was the first vote for it to become a line item in the budget. Committee member Barbara Craw made the proposal.

"For the constituents, it's a big issue," Craw said. "They want this implemented ... I need to act on this to be fair and representative of the people who voted for me to be here."

Board member Kenneth Parent said that there were parents looking to send their children to schools outside the district because they were not confident full-day kindergarten would be implemented.

PUBLIC HEARING HAS NO PUBLIC

The public hearing on the 2012-13 fiscal year budget took place on Monday with no speakers. The proposed $62.5 million budget is 7.69 percent higher than the plan approved for 2011-12. It includes $1.7 million in pay increases, $377,000 more for health and retirement benefits, a $326,000 increase for vocational out-of-district tuition and the hiring of 11.5 new full-time equivalent teaching positions (3.5 kindergarten, one elementary school, two middle school, four high school and one special education).

The committee is expected to vote on the proposal at its next meeting on May 21. The City Council will vote on the final budget, which must receive the signature of the mayor for implementation.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS LEFT IN THE DARK

A few committee members said they were angry district administrators had not informed them about a $900,000 budget calculation error. The mistake, which meant the district could not hire as many new teachers as previously proposed, was revealed to the public at the financial subcommittee meeting last Wednesday.

Committee Chair Mike Tyler and Vice Chair Brenda Furtado said they learned about the error the next day when they read The Sun Chronicle. Furtado said she was inundated by phone calls from residents, but was unable to answer questions because the administration had not told her about this issue. Tyler said he had the same problem.

"This is too important and I think quite embarrassing to me … when the chairman of the Attleboro School Committee picks up the newspaper on his driveway, and when somebody asks me about [the calculation error], and I don't have a clue."

Tyler said he had asked Superintendent Pia Durkin about this last Friday, but she hung up on him in the middle of the phone conversation. Durkin said this did not happen.

"I believe you were very upset and I believe your voice had raised, and I said that if we could talk about this at another time, that would be fine," Durkin told Tyler.

He said that was not what happened, "I think when somebody is still talking and then you hear the dial tone, I think that's when somebody's hung up on you."

Tyler said the committee members should have been told about the error in an email or letter. Durkin said that was not possible because it was too complicated of an issue to explain in an email.

ROUND 2 STARTS ON BUS CONTRACT BIDDING

Also at the meeting, the committee voted 5-4 to issue a new request for proposals on the district's bus contract. A proposal was made at the previous meeting to go out to bid again because current contract holder H&L Bloom Inc. made the only offer. The vote for issuing a new RFP was 4-4 at that meeting, and a tie does not allow a proposal to go forward. Committee member Teri Enegren, who was not at the previous meeting, was able to break the tie on Monday.

Those who supported doing a new RFP said the district would benefit by receiving more offers. Others said they did not see why the district would get any more the second time, and some feared the new offer from Bloom could be for a higher amount.

The RFP calls for a three-year contract with the option for two one-year renewals or seven one-year renewals.