
3/27/2015
We made it to the first day of spring, and Boston beat the snow record with 108.6 inches of snow when 2.9 inches fell on March 15. Boston beat the record by one more inch than the previous record set in 1995-96 and was declared by the National Weather Service to be the snowiest winter in Boston since snowfalls were recorded beginning in 1872. Let's hope Mother Nature is satisfied with that and doesn't want to beat the record again next year. It was a busy winter of school events, and the beginning of spring promises to be just as full.
Quote of the Month: “Wisdom.... comes not from age, but from education and learning.”
― Anton Chekhov
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
The School Committee recommended and voted to change the school calendar to recognize and observe Yom Kippur beginning with the 2015-16 school year. Another note on the calendar per School Committee policy is the start of school, which is Wednesday, September 2. Given the late date Labor Day falls on, school will be in session Wednesday and Thursday with Friday off so families can enjoy the holiday weekend.
The Finance Committee continues to discuss the FY16 budget, going through the entire document line by line. As you know we have submitted two budgets this year—the Available Revenue Budget and the Financial Task Force budget. The last Budget Presentation before the April 7 Town Election and Override Vote is on March 30 at 7:00 p.m. at the Beech Street Center. Please go to our website to view the presentation to see the impacts of both budgets. As difficult as this budget season has been, the silver lining to the dark cloud is the engagement of the High School students and seeing them advocate for themselves and their school during this budget process. They have learned how to be part of the democratic process, and we appreciate their involvement and effort to support their schools.
The School Committee voted to submit a Statement of Interest (SOI) to the Massachusetts School Building Authority to renovate Belmont High School. The State will respond to our request by December of 2015.
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