Stoneham Parents Concerned With Middle School Site Plan

Central Elementary School parents shared the concerns of their children with the Stoneham School Committee Thursday night while the Committee tried to allay the parents' worries about the Stoneham Middle School project.

The Stoneham School Building Committee’s decision to propose building the new Stoneham Middle School at the site of the current Central Elementary School site drew several voices of opposition from local parents at the committee's meeting Thursday night at Stoneham High School. Several parents, all of whom have children currently going to the Central School, were concerned the reorganization would cause emotional stress among students potentially being separated from their friends. The issue became such to children of the parents in attendance that some of them banded together during a snack period recently to take their own vote on how to approach the issue. While School Committee members were appreciative that the parents were in …

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SEEM Collaborative, Stoneham Theatre Leases Taken Up By School Committee

There were a variety of other topics on the table during the Stoneham School Committee's recent meeting.

The Stoneham School Committee tackled a handful of matters at it's most recent session on April 28, including: Kindergarten Registration Adjustments Kindergarten registration is underway, with potential changes still possible for what will be a new time format for the system’s next term. Superintendent Les Olson recommended to the committee that they stick with the current number of half-time and full-time programs despite lower than expected registration figures, citing the hopes for creating long-term stability in the format of the programs. However, children registered after the committee adopted their new scheduling policy early in March may find themselves at elementary schools outside of their neighborhoods. Olson noted that only 26 …

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Proposed School Budget Down $850,000 For Next Year

The proposed budget of $23,003,917 that will go in front of Stoneham voters at Town Meeting May 2 was much less than the School Committee felt comfortable with.

With Stoneham’s Town Meeting looming next week, the School Committee made the finalization of the 2011-12 operating budget its top priority during their meeting on Thursday night. The proposed budget going into the May 2 Town Meeting is $23,003,917, nearly $850,000 less than last year’s amount. While more than $500,000 of the proposed cuts came from non-employee-based costs such as reductions on school supplies and the heating budget, just under $325,000 of the proposed cuts come from eliminating the equivalent of approximately six full-time teachers; however, the actual number of people to be laid off may vary from that estimate due to the fact that some positions proposed to be eliminated included part-time staff. Many of the proposed …

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Paul Rotondi

7:55 am on Thursday, May 5, 2011

Just to be accurate, Last year the School budget was $22.5M. This years budget is $503.9 thousand more than last years budget. It is $850K less than the School Committee's original request.   more ›

Patch Facts

Five Things You Need to Know Today: April 28

Check out the latest "Patch Facts" column for some ideas on how to spend the day.

1. Mystery series: The Stoneham Public Library, 431 Main St., is scheduled to host a free program starting at 7 p.m. that is part of its series celebrating "The Year of the Mystery." Mystery authors Gary Goshgarian, Stoneham's J.R. Reardon and J.E. Seymour will discuss their work in the "It's A Mystery to Me" program. Mystery author Leslie Wheeler will serve as the event coordinator. 2. Spartans sports: Two varsity games are on tap for Stoneham High School: Home game Away game 3. Meeting time! The Stoneham School Committee meets at 7:30 p.m. at Stoneham High School, 149 Franklin St., in the Library. Check out the agenda. 4. Social media: If this is your first visit to Stoneham Patch, you should know that you can also follow us on Facebook …

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Weighing the Odds: Building, School Committees Trying to Find New Middle School Site

The Stoneham Building and School committees came together Monday night to learn about two potential sites for a new Stoneham Middle School in Stoneham.

The Stoneham Building an School committees, as well as engineering firms, came together on Monday night to discuss the reconstruction and relocation of Stoneham Middle School to one of two proposed sites: reconstructing the current Middle School next to the existing Central Elementary School site, or building a new school next to Stoneham High School. Based on the examination and evaluation of internal traffic circulation, pick-up and drop-off operations, parking demand, intersection operations and crash data of both sites, Boston-based Nitsch Engineering recommended the Central School site for the reconstruction of the Middle School. Fayssal Husseini and Corinne Tobias, traffic engineers for Nitsch Engineering, were assessed the safety, …

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Patch Facts

Five Things You Need to Know Today: April 25

Check out some of the activities going on in the Stoneham area in our latest "Patch Facts" column.

1. Meeting of the minds: The Stoneham School Building Committee and Stoneham School Committee are scheduled for a joint session at 6:30 p.m. at Stoneham High School, 149 Franklin St., in the library. Check out the agenda for the session. 2. Donations needed: The American Red Cross is expected to have a blood drive from 1-7 p.m. at the VFW Hall, 428 Main St., Melrose. Donors will receive a coupon for a free signature burrito from Qdoba and Double Red Cell donations will also be available. 3. Get classified: Need to hire someone to fill a vacancy or sell unneeded stuff kicking around in the garage? Post a free classified ad on Stoneham Patch! 4. Game on! The Stoneham High School boys' and girls' tennis teams travel to Reading for matches …

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Athletic Field Use, Budget Tackled By School Committee

While discussion of potentially removing the automotive program dominated the agenda at the recent Stoneham School Committee meeting, there were other topics tackled as well.

Discussion on the automotive program brought out an unusually large crowd at the Stoneham School Committee's meeting on April 14, but several other topics were also tackled by the committee during the session. Two Scholarship Announcements Stoneham High School received a $2,500 scholarship in the memory of Stoneham native Dorothea Routhier, who died earlier this year, and a $1,000 scholarship in memory of 1960 Stoneham High School graduate Elaine Moore, who passed away shortly after she celebrated her 50th High School graduation reunion. School Committee member Marie Christie, also a 1960 SHS graduate, remembered Moore as one of the main forces keeping that graduating class together, citing her gregarious nature and hometown pride in …

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Jeanne Craigie Takes the Lead on School Building Committee

The veteran School Committee member is now on point for the proposed Stoneham Middle School building project.

The proposed Middle School project appears to have a new point person as Stoneham School Committee member Jeanne Craigie was tabbed chairperson of the Stoneham School Building Committee at its last meeting earlier this month. Craigie takes the reins from Peter D’Angelo, who also served on the Finance and Advisory Board for 25 years before stepping down from that post in 2004. “(Peter) resigned due to personal reasons,” Craigie said. “I learned a great deal from him, and consider him a mentor and a friend.” Holding a spot on the School Committee from 1989-2002 and again from 2009 to the present, Craigie hopes to use her past experience guiding previous construction projects such as those at South Elementary School in 2000 and the Central …

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School Committee Takes Action On New Animal Policy

The new policy was brought about due to changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding service animals.

Most animals are now prohibited from entering school grounds after a decision made by the Stoneham School Committee during their meeting on Thursday night at Stoneham High School. With new rules regarding service animals set in place from changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Superintendent Les Olson recommended to the Committee that nearly all animals would be prohibited from being brought to any school or being kept in any part of school property.   The ban extends to all wild animals, domestic stray animals, fur-bearing animals, bats or poisonous animals with the exception of animals used by law enforcement agencies and animals trained to assist the disabled. However, even service or law enforcement animals would require…

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