Health & Fitness
Getting What We Asked For
Last year, after the decision was made to move LBRR kids from the Whittemore to an already-full Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald parents were resolute in asking for a seat at the decision-making table. After all, how could the Facilities Committee have known that there was already an ELL class meeting in the library if there wasn't someone at the table to tell them?
In this case, we did get what we asked for. The Superintendent has asked for a parent representative from each school in the District to be on the Facilities Committee. One parent who was present at last night's meeting said that the discussion boiled down to this:
- Too many kids for too little space;
- Finding space takes time and costs money.
So there are the challenges. The presence of the parents on the committee won't change the issue; it will, however, bring a point of view, however subjective, that was missing. One issue that is still undecided is the placement of the LBRR class that didn't move over to the Fitzgerald (the 5th graders.) I hope to have more information on this and more insight from the Facilities Committee.
In addition to the parents and the Superintendent, the Facilities Committee includes George Frost, the District Director of HR; the District Facilities Director, Skip Bandini; School Committee member John Graceffa. Kudos to new SC member Kaytie Dowcett for attending last night's meeting to gain perspective.
Additionally, the Superintendent started a Parent Advisory Committee. This was also in response to suggestions from the Fitzgerald parents (and we all know how whiny and demanding they can be.) This committee has not yet met, and I am very hopeful that it will serve as an effective sounding board for the Superintendent and help to steer her decisions.
At our December PTO meeting, Superintendent Nicholson and Mayor McCarthy both attended. They had also attended our School Council meeting prior to the PTO. This is another encouraging outcome from parent suggestions; the Superintendent has committed to attending PTO and School Council meetings at each of the schools in the district. And even if it's just for show and changes nothing, it's still a big improvement on outreach and communication. And, I believe, it shows that we got our point across: parents want to be part of the process and we don't want to be blindsided.
So, I hope that I didn't raise the ire of any pseudonymous commenters out there, either stylistically or by appearing thin-skinned. Things are looking up for the Waltham Schools, and that's certainly something that I am happy to blog about.
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