Wednesday, May 15, 2013
She is the first official candidate for any of the school committee races.
School Committee member Brenda Furtado, who represents Ward 4, was certified for the fall ballot this week after submitting her nomination papers along with at least 50 signatures from Attleboro voters. She is the first person to qualify for a school committee race. Furtado is serving her second term on the committee. Three others—Kristina Piasecki, Diane Lynch-Bartek and Lori Scales—have pulled papers for the Ward 4 contest. Political insiders say only Scales is expected to return them and challenge Furtado. "I am extremely excited and look forward to continuing to represent Ward 4 on the Attleboro School Committee," wrote Furtado in an email to Attleboro Patch. "I will continue representing the parents and community with honesty and …
Monday, April 22, 2013
Here's a look at what's happening in Attleboro.
1. Today is Earth Day, a day to celebrate our planet and recognize the need to keep it habitable for future generations. Go here for more information on Earth Day. 2. Although it may seem like it has been longer, today marks one week since the terrorist bombings at the Boston Marathon. Massachusetts residents are being asked to mark the occasion with a moment of silence at 2:50 p.m., which was the exact time two bombs went off within about 10 seconds of one another. The victims will be honored this week in Attleboro with a candlelight vigil Tuesday at La Salette Shrine following the 6:30 p.m. Mass and an interfaith service Thursday at 7 p.m. at Centenary United Methodist Church. 3. The Attleboro School Committee will meet tonight at 7 p.m…
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Attleboro School Committee voted 7-2 to appoint Kenneth Sheehan pending successful contract negotiations.
The Attleboro School Committee voted 7-2 with William Larson and Christopher O'Neil against, to appoint Kenneth Sheehan to the position of superintendent of Attleboro public schools on Tuesday. The appointment is dependent on successful contract negotiations. The committee had a long discussion deciding on what exactly they wanted in a superintendent, and it appeared confidence, budget experience and willingness to collaborate were the skills they believed Sheehan had. Committee vice chair Brenda Furtado said she was impressed with his focus on helping to build a full person, and not be completely concerned with test scores. “Kids need to be well-rounded and that is part of their education,” she said. She added she saw that intention in …
Friday, March 22, 2013
Attleboro School Committee Vice Chair Brenda Furtado says she is disgusted a decision was not made.
Thursday night's meeting of the Attleboro School Committee concluded without the selection of a superintendent to take over the district in July, and several people are not happy about this. Following more than two hours of executive session discussion behind closed doors, School Committee Chair Mike Tyler announced "there was no consensus on either finalist for the position of superintendent of the schools." He called for another meeting to take place no sooner than next Thursday, at which time there could be further deliberations on whether to hire Anthony Azar or Kenneth Sheehan to replace outgoing Superintendent Pia Durkin. "Consensus," which the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines as "general agreement, unanimity" is not required to…
Friday, March 15, 2013
Attleboro interviews Sheehan for superintendent position.
The Attleboro School Committee interviewed superintendent finalist Kenneth Sheehan Thursday. The current of the West Warwick public school district, he has nearly 40 years of experience in education. Sheehan, the superintendent for the West Warwick School District, has nearly 40 years of experience in the educational field. "Thirty-three years of which have been as a principal, assistant principal and superintendent," Sheehan said. The committee asked him about dealing with school district budgets, which in Attleboro has been an issue. The city has designated the minimum amount of funding to the schools for some time. "You could spend the next six weeks answering this question," Sheehan said. "This is a question that is plaguing every …
Thursday, March 7, 2013
The Attleboro School Committee interviews the first of two finalists for the superintendent post.
Anthony Azar, school district administrator in New Bedford, answered questions Wednesday from the Attleboro School Committee in the first of two interviews of the superintendent finalists. Azar said he has worked in the education system for more than 30 years, from teacher to administrator. He is the curriculum administrator in New Bedford, and has worked in South Providence, West Greenwich and Taunton. The city of Attleboro has been giving the school district the minimum amount of funding required by the state, which creates a burden on the district to maintain level services from year to year. Azar said he would, if selected, look for other ways to keep Attleboro ahead in education. "We would look at any and all resources within the …
Monday, January 28, 2013
The cancellation is due to the weather.
A presentation from Attleboro's mayor, police chief and fire chief on the school district's security will have to be done another time. Tonight's Attleboro School Committee meeting has been canceled due to "inclement weather," School Committee Chair Mike Tyler told Attleboro Patch. Attleboro is under a "winter weather advisory" by the National Weather Service until Tuesday at 6 a.m. This advisory is in effect for the rest of Southeastern Massachusetts and most of Rhode Island. Snow began falling in the early afternoon. More snow, freezing rain and sleet are expected to fall tonight and early Tuesday morning. The weather has caused at least once incident. The Sun Chronicle reported a water pipe burst on Bank Street, forcing a hairdresser …
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
The school district is reviewing its security in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting.
Security must be improved at Attleboro's public schools regardless of the cost, a Hill-Roberts Elementary parent said at the Monday school committee meeting. Sam Ambewadikar said he was sharing the opinions of several parents in his neighborhood when he spoke during the public forum portion of the meeting. "Intercoms and locked doors and having an occasional police presence at school admission and discharge are insufficient for any of the schools," he said. "There needs to be a police presence at every one of our schools … and if that costs money, then that's worth spending money for." School district Superintendent Pia Durkin said she has had several administrative meetings about school safety since the deadly shooting at Sandy Hook …
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Chair Mike Tyler plans to speak tonight about "unacceptable" events that occurred at the Monday meeting he did not attend. The vice chair, who ran the Monday meeting, disagrees with his analysis.
Attleboro residents have a chance to find out tonight what was learned through recent focus groups on the search for a school district superintendent. They also may be able to find out what School Committe Chair Mike Tyler believes should and should not happen at committee meetings. Tyler told Attleboro Patch earlier this week he was bothered by how the meeting on Monday was run in his absence by Vice Chair Brenda Furtado. Among the incidents he did not care for were comments made during open forum by school district parent Jen Crowder that included criticisms of Committee member David Murphy and Superintendent Pia Durkin (look for more information about Crowder's complaint on Patch later this week). Let Patch save you time. Get great …
Saturday, July 14, 2012
I have always been honest and will continue to promote transparency in regards to any issues involving our schools.
I am writing this editorial to set the record straight regarding the executive session meeting of the Attleboro School Committee on May 7, 2012 . The official School Committee Executive Secretary minutes of the May 7, 2012 Executive Session, which I recorded, are supported by Recording Secretary Judy Nelson's written notes (for the record, Ms. Nelson is neither my sister, nor of any relation). During regular open meetings and during most executive session meetings, we use a recording secretary to take meeting notes, who then writes draft minutes that are provided to me for review. This was the process used during the executive session on May 7, 2012. The following is a true account of what was discussed during the executive session on …
Jerry Chase
6:47 pm on Sunday, May 19, 2013
Yes, it 'could'; but my wager is on either Ward Three Council, or possibly Ward Two Council. The sad thing is that there's more "ho-hum" races than lively ones. It would be a first, maybe, a school committee seat being the liveliest race in town; but that's not a bad thing, per se. Yet I predict that the ward races for school committee in Wards Three and Two (as with their ward Council races) … more ›