More expired food found in Boston schools

More expired food found in Boston schools

By Associated Press  |   Tuesday, March 22, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

BOSTON -- The director of food and nutrition services for Boston’s public schools has been reassigned after inspectors found 280 cases of out-of-date food in 40 cafeterias.

It was the second time this month that food beyond expiration and "use-by" dates has been found in city schools.

School officials also said Monday they have set aside more than 3,000 cases of food in a privately operated supply warehouse in Wilmington because records do not show expiration dates or "best-if-used-by" dates.

Deputy School Superintendent Michael Goar tells The Boston Globe that the discoveries do not necessarily mean students were served expired food, but does show problems in the good management system.

Federal authorities say properly frozen food can remain safe after expiration dates, but it can deteriorate in taste and nutritional value.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1325153

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Boston schools hit with civil rights complaint

By Associated Press

BOSTON - A coalition of lawyers and educators has filed a federal civil rights complaint against the Boston public schools over a school closure plan it says discriminates against black and Latino students.

The Boston Bar Association’s lawyers’ committee for civil rights under law and the Black Educators’ Alliance of Massachusetts announced Monday that they have filed their complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

The complaint alleges that the district’s new "redesign and reinvest plan," which proposes to close several schools in the district, disproportionately affects black and Latino students since those schools are in largely minority neighborhoods.


But Boston Superintendent Carol Johnson said the schools slated for closure were selected because they are among the lowest chosen by families and have been struggling academically.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1320005

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Menino returns to education fray Backs superintendent, urges broad overhauls

Menino returns to education fray
Backs superintendent, urges broad overhauls

Mayor Thomas M. Menino sought education overhaul in a speech yesterday, adding that he backed a school closing plan by Superintendent Carol R. Johnson, seen with Menino afterward. (Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe)
By Andrew Ryan
Globe Staff / December 15, 2010

FULL STORY HERE
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2010/12/15/menino_backs_superintendent_urges_broad_overhauls/

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Boston school reform vote slated

Boston school reform vote slated

By Associated Press  |   Wednesday, December 15, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

BOSTON -- The Boston School Committee is to vote on plans to plug a projected $63 million budget deficit over the next fiscal year and improve the quality of academic programs.

The restructuring plan is part of Superintendent Carol Johnson’s efforts to eliminate budget and performance gaps.

Spokesman Matthew Wilder says plans to close nine schools and merge eight others into four will save $10 million.

The initiative also seeks to extend the school day, launch a teacher evaluation system tied to performance and link salaries and benefits to student results.

The reforms also seeks to cut the more than $300,000 in daily transportation costs and 5,600 empty seats that cost $20 million spent annually.

The school committee is scheduled to vote on the plans Wednesday evening.

Boston has 135 public schools, with 56,340 students.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1303294

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Carol Johnson to unveil school overhaul plan

Carol Johnson to unveil school overhaul plan

By Marie Szaniszlo  |   Thursday, December 2, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

Faced with a $63 million budget shortfall, Boston schools Superintendent Carol R. Johnson is expected to propose closing nine schools, merging five others and extending the school day by an hour in the years to come under a plan she is expected to unveil tonight.

“We recognize maintaining the status quo won’t work,” Johnson said yesterday, adding that some students “aren’t getting what they need.”

The proposal calls for closing three high schools in Hyde Park alone: the Engineering School, the Social Justice Academy and the Community Academy of Science and Health, which would be relocated to the site of the former Cleveland School in Dorchester.

Two elementary schools — the Ralph Waldo Emerson in Roxbury and the Roger Clap in Dorchester — also would close, and the East Zone Early Learning Center would be moved to the William Trotter in Roxbury and James Holland in Dorchester.

If the school committee approves the plan Dec. 15, all of the targeted schools would close in June.

In addition, the Patrick F. Gavin Middle School in South Boston would be converted into an in-district charter school called the UP (Unlocking Potential) Academy, while the Lee Elementary School and Lee Academy would merge. Johnson also is proposing adding at least one other in-district charter school, Green Academy.

The schools slated for closure or merger were chosen because they are struggling academically, have many open seats or both, Johnson said. There are 5,600 vacant seats in 135 schools, a number untenable for a district facing a $63 million shortfall next year, after its economic stimulus money from the federal government runs out.

Scheduling adjustments at each school would fill empty seats without raising class sizes, which now range from 22 students in primary school to 30 students in high school.

Johnson said her plan would permanently reduce annual costs by more than $60 million, partly by linking teacher evaluations to student performance and eliminating annual “double raises” based on longevity.

Up to $7 million of the savings would be on transportation and student assignment through measures including enforcing existing walk-zone rules and developing new student assignment zones this spring, she said.

By 2014, the district also would have school days that are one hour longer, identify struggling students earlier and assign mentors to every one, Johnson said.

A public hearing on Johnson’s plan will be held Dec. 8.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1300255

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Joseph Lee School awarded $100,000

Joseph Lee School awarded $100,000
November 4, 2010

The Joseph Lee Elementary School was awarded $100,000 yesterday, after winning the fifth annual Thomas W. Payzant School on the Move Prize. The Dorchester school was awarded the money through EdVestors, a Boston nonprofit. The school, which beat both the Clarence R. Edwards Middle School in Charlestown and the Charles H. Taylor Elementary School in Mattapan for the grand prize, was recognized for making a noticeable and sustainable improvement toward closing achievement gaps for all students.

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Superintendent moves to delay schools vote

Superintendent moves to delay schools vote
By Edward Mason  |   Tuesday, November 2, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

Photo by Chitose Suzuki

Hub Superintendent Carol R. Johnson is asking the School Committee to delay a vote on the lion’s share of her unpopular plan to shutter five schools until December, in a bid to win over angry parents.

Johnson told the Herald she’ll spend the next month trying to convince parents the city can’t afford to keep the schools open and improve student performance citywide, as the School Department faces a $63 million deficit next year.

“People are focused on their individual schools, but this is the fiscal reality we face,” Johnson said. “We don’t think the community has a sense of the trade off.”

Hundreds of furious parents crowded a School Committee meeting at English High last week, angrily demanding Johnson drop her plan to close their schools.

Committee Chairman the Rev. Gregory Groover said yesterday he, too, needed to hear more from Johnson before voting.

“They need to do their homework to see what we are really saving,” Groover said.

Johnson said she’s willing to delay the vote on closing three grade schools until December — the Ralph Waldo Emerson in Roxbury, and the Roger Clap and the East Zone Early Learning Center, both in Dorchester.

Kenny Jervis, a Clap parent, said he can’t be convinced.

“Closing these schools makes zero sense,” Jervis said. “Even with extra time, I don’t see our opinion swaying.”

Richard Stutman, president of the Boston Teachers Union, said Johnson wants a vote when parents can’t mobilize against her.

“By delaying and moving closer to the holidays, they’re making it more difficult for people to get involved,” Stutman said.

Johnson said she needs time to explain to parents how health insurance, busing and payroll costs are up while revenues are down.

Johnson wants to delay the vote to reconfigure the Lee Academy Pilot School and Joseph Lee School in Dorchester; and close the Social Justice Academy and the Engineering School and part of the Hyde Park Education complex. But Johnson wants the School Committee to vote tomorrow to shut the Gavin High School in South Boston, converting it into a charter school run by UP Academy; and to create Green Academy, another charter school, to replace an as yet undetermined high school.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1293236

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Parents blast school closings Demand chief alter plans before Nov. 3

Parents blast school closings
Demand chief alter plans before Nov. 3
By Edward Mason  |   Wednesday, October 27, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

WEIGHING THE FACTS: The Rev. Gregory Groover, Boston’s school committee chairman, speaks during yesterday’s meeting.
Photo by Chitose Suzuki

An overflow crowd of 600 angry Hub parents lashed out at Boston school chief Carol R. Johnson’s plans to shutter two elementary schools, merge two and a close a high school during a School Committee meeting at English High School.

“By closing our schools, you’re driving a stake in our community,” said Kenny Jervis, a parent at Clap Elementary, slated to close. “We don’t want to go to the suburbs.”

Dozens of parents and teachers clad in yellow T-shirts blasted the decision to close the Early Learning Center day care.

“It would be a disservice to the kids of Dorchester and Roxbury,” said Lisa Kincade, a teacher at the ELC. “I’m asking the superintendent to think about the little ones.”

After earlier community meetings, Johnson had reversed course and scrapped plans to merge two Dorchester elementary schools and shutter a Hyde Park High School, but kept the lion’s share of her ambitious program to remake the city’s struggling schools intact.

Johnson had bowed to the earlier pressure from furious parents angry at plans to merge the Lee Academy pilot school with the Lee Elementary in Dorchester. Johnson made tweaks to her plan ahead of last night’s meeting, such as halting the merger of the Lee schools and allowing the Community Academy of Science and Health — part of the Hyde Park education complex — to remain intact, while possibly moving it from its current location. Green Academy, an in-district charter school, will now replace a current high school in the fall of 2012.

Unchanged are plans to shutter a pair of elementary schools — the Ralph Waldo Emerson School in Roxbury and Clap. The East Zone Early Learning Center would be moved to the William Trotter School in Roxbury and James Holland School in Dorchester. If the School Committee votes Nov. 3 to approve the plan, the schools would close in June.

Richard Stutman, president of the Boston Teachers Union, called the plan a “disservice” and demanded Johnson scrap the plan and start over.

Johnson’s sweeping program for change is part of a dramatic effort to improve the city’s struggling schools. Her proposal targeted several city schools where kids performed the worst on MCAS tests.

Johnson said withering criticism from parents and teachers after the plan was unveiled last month led to last month’s changes, and she wouldn’t rule out more.

“I’m always hearing to the voices of the parents and teachers,” Johnson said. “I’m always taking notes.”

The Rev. Gregory Groover, school committee chairman, said he wouldn’t rubber-stamp the changes: “It’s not a done deal.”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1291808

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