Olsen welcomes a most coveted return to public school normalcy
Published on August 27th, 2008
STONEHAM, MA - Although no new initiatives will be introduced this year, Schools Supt. Dr. Les Olson is welcoming something that has been quite rare at the start of new school seasons in recent years: The status quo.
For the first time since he took the reigns of the district in the spring of 2007 - and many years prior to his superintendency - Stoneham's school system will open its doors offering the same level and quality of services available the year prior.
Grades 1 through 12 will officially begin school on Tuesday, Sept. 4, while Kindergarteners and preschool pupils will start attending class on Monday, Sept. 8.
Despite a difficult budget season, Stoneham late last spring managed to avoid the drastic cutbacks to the district that for years had threatened virtually every educational component, from athletics to health and arts courses, offered in the towns schools.
With that in mind, the supt. finds himself quite optimistic about the 2008-2009 school year, with him looking forward to placing a priority focus back on the district's core mission of educating the towns' youth.
"There are no major new initiatives," Olson admitted. "[But] the new staff is hired and the buildings are ready."
According to Olson, Stoneham might just have turned another corner, as this summer proved to be the year that school officials finally plugged the mass exodus of experienced staff members to neighboring school districts.
That trend, which many attributed to a combination of higher salaries and low morale over declining service levels within town, had plagued school administrators for a number of years.
"There weren't a lot," said the supt., when asked how many new hires were brought on over the summer. "It would say it was an average amount when compared to previous years."
"Many of the staff who did leave [at the end of last year] did so for what I would call a career change," Olson added. "So we're ready to get back to making education the key focus of what we're doing."
Although no major capital repairs were conducted within Stoneham's schools over the summer, school officials are hoping that those issues can be addressed later this fall.
In other news, Olson revealed that Stoneham High School Principal Edward Russo has been formally named the permanent replacement for the top post.
Russo, a longtime Stoneham educator, reportedly accepted the role as permanent SHS principal last spring.
The principal, whose first year in SHS's corner office was quite successful, had originally been named as an interim head of the school, when he took over the position in July of 2007 to replace Dr. Thomas Ryan.
According to Olson, only one new administrator was hired over the summer. Sharon Chapman, a veteran teacher in Stoneham, was recently selected to serve as the town's science program supervisor at the high school.
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