Town Notes
Published on August 8th, 2001
STONEHAM, MA - Central School delayed
At a special meeting of the School Committee on Tuesday night the Committee voted to send students back to the school buildings used last year if the new Central School is not complete by September.
Superintendent Joe Connelly said he doesn’t think Alexandra Construction will finish on time, but the company insists the job will be complete before the school year begins on Sept. 6.
Connelly told the Committee that more reasonable estimates indicate an October or November completion.
To prepare for this contingency two plans were presented. Connelly suggested putting the kids where they were last year. Committee member Jeanne Craigie suggested moving the Robin Hood and Colonial Park children into the old Central School and moving the children scheduled to go into the new Central into the Robin Hood School until the new Central is complete.
Craigie’s plan would end up moving fewer pupils around, but the Robin Hood would be short two pre-school classrooms.
After Craigie and Committee member Marc Grimaldi left to attend prior engagements, remaining members Dave Sheils, Dan Moynihan and Chairwoman Marie Christie voted 3-0 to follow Connelly’s plan. The Committee was swayed by school principals who argued that, since “the teachers’ boxes are already there,” staying temporarily in the old buildings makes sense.
A letter will be sent home to parents next week explaining where to send their children on Sept. 6.
New school hires
Last week the School Committee brought several new faces into the school department administrative team.
The Independent introduced the new Assistant Superinten-dent for Curriculum, Joe Casey, last week. He will start in September and make $90,000.
“He was a curriculum director in Georgetown and, in the absence of one, he acted as an assistant superintendent there,” Connelly said. “So he comes with a working knowledge of what he has to do.”
The School Committee also recently voted support for Justine Croteau of Andover as the new Program Supervisor for Guidance for Grades 6-12. Guidance Director Bill Murphy retired at the end of the 2001 school year. Croteau starts on Aug. 27 and will make around $60,000.
Murphy made more because he was in charge of guidance for k-12. Scaling the position back was in effect a budget cut by the School Department.
Croteau was a high school guidance counselor in Lawrence and Salem, N.H.
“I’m particularly impressed with her work with mentorship programs,” Connelly said. “She’ll run Stoneham’s program.”
The third new face brought on board and welcomed by the School Committee at its last scheduled meeting was Marie Funk of Wakefield. She is the system’s first Director of Elementary Curriculum. Funk also starts on Aug. 27 and will make $71,000. Eliminating an unfilled reading specialist position and two unfilled teacher’s assistant positions freed the money to create Funk’s job.
“This is a position we’ve been looking to create for years,” Connelly said.
Funk has experience as a curriculum director in Haverhill, an assistant principal in Dracut and a teacher in Wakefield.
“She will help coordinate are elementary curriculum,” Connelly said.
Connelly wanted to thank the search committees who worked hard and efficiently to bring three strong candidates into key positions over the summer break.
Fells development update
Attorney Charles Houghton, representing the Gutierrez company in its effort to build an office park on the former Boston Regional Medical Center campus, says the project is moving forward.
Gutierrez has met with Melrose and Medford officials. These two towns have both sued Gutierrez, but negotiations are ongoing over issues of traffic and drainage.
“We’re working things out,” Houghton said.
But discussions with the Citizens for Fells Preservation (CFFP), a group including residents from several surrounding towns, are more confusing.
“They want to meet again, but I’m not exactly sure about what,” Houghton said.
This group is behind the pending state legislation that would prevent widening Woodland Road or adding traffic signals to the road, steps that would kill the project.
“I don’t think this legislation targeting one individual project will pass,” Houghton said. He said this would be a dangerous precedent the Legislature shouldn’t and, he believes, won’t support.
Meanwhile, architects for Gutierrez are considering two options for the 40+ acre site: three new buildings and a rehabbed medical office building or demolishing the medical office building and building four new buildings.
“Most likely we’ll go with three and retrofitting the old building,” Houghton said.
His clients are still confident that they can build the office park.
But issues of traffic, drainage, the CFFP legislation and finding a tenant still loom on the horizon over Spot Pond.
Citizens interested in learning more about the project can go to the Stoneham Public Library and read the draft environmental impact report submitted to the state by Gutierrez. The public can submit input to the state as part of this process until Aug. 24.
Paicopolos and the Square
Harry Paicopolos of Highland Printing wants to turn his property into a four level building with housing units above his business. The owners of McDonough’s Liquors have a similar idea. And who knows about the Dow Building?
Changes are coming to Stoneham Square. Paicopolos is the first Square property owner making a move; he will go before the Selectmen with his proposal on Aug. 22.
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