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Churches & Spiritual
Montague Grange
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Gill Montague School
Gill Montague School
Montague Grange
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- Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 5:52 P
Money problems
http://personalmoney...o-california-budget/
You think Montague has issues.
Mark2
- Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 5:38 P
MCAS
What are the percentages of pass and failures in all grades on the MCAS tests? Art
- Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 5:29 P
$48 to $63
Hey Joe,
What do these numbers represent?
Teachers in the GMRSD didn't get a COLA last year (they did get step increases) and the highest salary on the scale is $62,183 (and I don't think we have anyone on that step)?
MJL
- Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 5:24 P
Grant for Asst to the Sup’t
Jeff K is retiring from the GMRSD as of February, 2011. Between now and then he will be overseeing a bunch of projects going on in the district because the Sup't didn't want the High School to have to change principals in midstream. The money for this i/2 year asst to the sup't will be paid for by extra money from DESE. Carl was able to coerce this money from DESE because the projects Jeff will be overseeing are (largely) mandated by DESE as part of the district turn-around plan. After February, the position and the money will not be renewed.
MJL
- Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 5:19 P
$48 to $63
MikeL wrote
"Hey Joe,"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GydN5VDDBMM&feature=related
sorry its a great song I could not resist.
Mark2
- Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 2:21 P
looking for seasoned cord wood
We are installing a wood stove and need some seasoned cord wood. We already have plenty of green wood. If you can recommend someone, or have some, please let me know.
Amy
- Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 10:39 A
You can still get there.
The Gill/Montague Bridge has gone one way but the market is still at the corner of 2nd and Avenue A. If you are coming or going from any direction besides route 2 then the one way bridge will have no effect on you getting to the market. If you are coming from the Gill side then you will have to go home over the White bridge and cut through Greenfield. If you come to the market as far away as Erving, which I know folks do, then you will have to go home via Millers Falls.
Besides that it will be business as usual at the market with fresh local produce, eggs, grass feed beef, baked goods, fresh breads, crafts and a chair massage.
- Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 9:06 A
looking/selling/free
Looking for an acoustic guitar - left handed? ted taking guitar lessons at college this fall
Joe wieder 4300 pro for sale...
big metal drafting table - motor may not work (20.00)
Free - Haire(?) AC - works, just noisy... older moldel.
- Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 8:39 A
Not a soapbox car, but assembly help needed!
I am selling my car and looking to acquire some form of a cart trailer for my bicycle. I want to have something custom built, but don't know where to start?
I want a trailer that would have a wooden box base, that I could easily haul laundry or groceries in, but also to attach a wire cage frame on top, to accomodate my two smaller dogs. The child carriers I see around usually have velcro enclosures and I know one of my dogs would try to escape, if passed by a loud truck.
I was thinking something with tires about the size of a child's bike, nothing too rugged, but able to go up to the Plains as well.
Any ideas on who I could talk to? Where to get the equipment to attach it to the bike and a pivot? I'm haven't investigated with any of the local bike shops, just hoping someone could help make my dream a reality!
Thanks.
- Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 6:42 A
08/05/10 Special Town Meeting Notice
Montague----49.7---48-----51.7---54.8---61.6---63.8
This is interesting. Again I will use the term Corporate America. Looking at these figures in my opinion salaries may have passed the quality of education. On the simple side: If I were to hire a CEO and pay him x amount and then keep throwing a bone his/her way I would think quality within the business is rotting away because of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Of course I can alway fire the CEO. Look at the numbers. 14K is quite a large amount over a few years. Of course there is the cost of living. I wouldn't know what a good raise is as M2 has pointed out and I'm sure I speak for the majority.
- Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 5:33 A
08/05/10 Special Town Meeting Notice
I think it cost something like 6 or 8 thousand for school of choice students Is that correct??
Mark2
- Tue, Jul 27, 2010, 5:31 A
08/05/10 Special Town Meeting Notice
Thanks Joe
Very interesting information. A 14,000 dollar Increase in salaries in a five year period. How many of us would like that???
mark2
- Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 9:35 P
08/05/10 Special Town Meeting Notice
This information is presented without comment except to say that all teachers get health care and retirement programs and not all private sector workers get them.
The school related information below is from the Official Ma web site
per student cost in 2009
Amherst per student = $15.8K
Greenfield per student = $13.9K
Montague per student = $14.4K
Salary in $K
-------------------04----05-----06------07-----08------09
Amherst------55.5---56.5---56.7---57.9---59.3---61.1
Greenfield---44.8---44.5---47.1---49.3---57.8---70.6
Montague----49.7---48-----51.7---54.8---61.6---63.8
The following is from the Associated Industries of Massachusetts web site
Montague Salary increase in 2009 = 2.8%
MASS Union salary increase in 2009 = 0.97%
MASS Professional salary increase in 2009 = 1.14%
- Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 8:58 P
08/05/10 Special Town Meeting Notice
"For one thing, the state may in fact be able to offer more money than they have offered so far. The jury is still out on that, and state officials aren't buying it, but we'll see" ....
OK. So Nov. 1 comes and goes. The state then sets the stage by informing the district that x amount of dollars (maybe or maybe not) will be given out. Possibly the 400,000 or around that amount in order to run the district. Would federal money play any role in this?
" I think the basic question before town meeting will be whether to let that Nov. 1 process run it course, in hopes that it will produce a budget/assessment proposal that we can all agree on sometime before Dec. 1, or whether to try to cut it short by voting in a "compromise" .
So if the state takes over and I understand it is a hit or miss here will the money the state doles out (if any) need to be repaid by the taxpayers of Montague? Also does the state have the power during this process to say the schools are underperforming and right back to square one we go. This all has me scratching my head.
- Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 8:35 P
08/05/10 Special Town Meeting Notice
"Town meeting voted on the school budget last month. There is now a request for more money.What has changed in a month?"
Actually, nothing has changed in a month. Back in June, the district made a request and the town turned it down. The district, upon reconsideration, is coming back with the same request.
"What help does the state have to offer?" That's a good question -- and I don't mean that to imply that I think the answer is "none" ;-). For one thing, the state may in fact be able to offer more money than they have offered so far. The jury is still out on that, and state officials aren't buying it, but we'll see .... For another, if they really can't offer any more money (for whatever reason), they can explain how the district is supposed to function effectively with the money that it has. By the way, that's what the Nov. 1 deadline is all about -- our state reps are leaning on DESE (Dept of Ed's new name) to do just that by Nov. 1.
I think the basic question before town meeting will be whether to let that Nov. 1 process run it course, in hopes that it will produce a budget/assessment proposal that we can all agree on sometime before Dec. 1, or whether to try to cut it short by voting in a "compromise" that the school committee will accept. I favor option "A", but I recognize it's a gamble, and I can see why others might prefer option "B" (which is also a gamble -- IMHO, a much bigger one).
- Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 8:34 P
Looking for sand
Joe Burek (413-422-1065), here in Millers Falls, may be able to deliver a truckload of sand ...
- Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 7:35 P
Open Meeting Law Violation
Please find below a copy of my response to Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Pepyne's request for information responding to a complaint about a violation of the open meeting law by a school committee member. The letter to Pepyne also contains opinions about the application of the law to "serial conversations."Thus this email may be interpreted as a violation of the law but it seems to me that committee members are entitled to see and consider relevant documents and opinions prior to tomorrow's meeting where the issue is discussed. As my letter suggests, this is consistent with the values of free speech and professionalism.
I would also point out that the letter appeared in the Montague Reporter several weeks ago and will be posted on the MontagueMA.net community corkboard. These also may be considered to be actions in violation of the open meeting law as it is currently being interpreted.
Jeff Singleton
Cynthia M. Pepyne
Assistant District Attorney
Northwest District Attorney’s Office
One Gleason Place
Northampton, MA 01060
Dear Ms Pepyne:
This letter is in response to your request for information about conversations I may have had with fellow school committee members prior to our May 18, 2010 meeting at which we elected a committee chair. You have apparently received a complaint that a quorum of the school committee discussed (and in effect decided on) a chair outside of a posted public meeting in violation of the state open meeting law.
First, I never had conversations about the election of chair with a quorum of the committee, either in person or through the electronic media, prior to the May 18 decision. Secondly, I did have a few brief conversations about the issue with, I believe, two individual committee members. These discussions primarily involved speculation as to whether the then current chair, Mike Langknecht, would choose to run again (he chose not to do so). One of the committee members with whom I discussed the issue was not re-elected and did not participate in the final decision.
When I entered the meeting on May 18, I was not sure who would run and specifically was not sure whether the person who was eventually selected, Emily Monasson, wanted to be chair. Actually, she appeared to make up her mind during the course of this very public meeting!!! My main concern – expressed at the beginning of the meeting on May 18 - was not who would be chair but the whole process by which the committee selected a chair, which I consider to be deeply flawed.
My main concern at this point is the open meeting law and its application. I understand your desire to stop efforts to evade the law through “serial conversations.” However, members of a democratic and professional committee charged with oversight involving complex policy issues will have discussions with one another about those issues outside of regularly posted meetings. To me this is not only natural and inevitable, it is often necessary. It is also natural and unavoidable in a society with democratic traditions that school committee members will express opinions about topics and even try to convince fellow members to support their views. Finally it seems inevitable that such individual conversations, although taking place in a random manner, might eventually involve a quorum of the committee and influence a decision the committee makes. As long as the various views are also expressed in public forums, I really do not see the problem here. In fact I do not see how any well organized governmental entity, including your own office, could operate effectively any other way.
For example, I have spoken to several members of the school committee about your letter. I would not be at all surprised if such discussions were widespread and involved, in the end, a quorum of the committee. If these discussions influence a decision of the committee have I been violating the open meeting law?
These questions are not intended as an attack on your office, which in my experience has tried to show common sense and flexibility in the application of the law. However, your original request to the committee was for a statements from members regarding “deliberations,” with deliberations clearly defined as “a verbal exchange between a quorum of members of a committee..” Yet subsequently, our lawyer has informed us that “Ms. Pepyne is requiring said information even if the conversations occurred without a quorum present at the time of the conversation.” This would seem to be a fundamentally different request that raises the concerns expressed above.
Such are the complexities of a well intended law that perhaps can not be applied to “serial conversations” without violating basic norms of free speech and professionalism.
Finally, I have no doubt that you are aware of the danger of the open meeting law being used as a venue for dragging your office into petty political conflicts involving local officials. Unfortunately, this appears to be the case here. Hopefully we can change the way we elect the school committee chair so that it does not become an annual high stakes melodrama over the status of one particular member. This, in turn, will reduce the incentive for complaints like this.
Jeff Singleton
- Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 7:29 P
Soapbox Build Party on MCTV
Look to MCTV, starting on Friday, for a one-hour video of a soapbox cart building party in Brattleboro for their race on August 22nd. Pretty neat. Get your sketch pads our and sharpen your pencils!
- Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 7:22 P
Stan Rosenberg at the Soapbox Races!
It has been confirmed... we will have State Senator Stan Rosenberg as a guest judge at the Montague Soapbox Races, September 19th at Unity Park in Turners Falls, Montague, MA!
Stan will be one of our Styles Judges, along with Montague Selectboard chair Patricia Allen. We have invited one more person to also be a Styles Judge, but do not have confirmation yet. Look to these pages for news on that front.
Woohoo!
- Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 6:45 P
Brattleboro Races
There are plans for a cart building party on Sunday, August 29th. Tentatively around noon. possibly at Joe Landry's house on Turners Falls Road. Joe has about 80 old bicycles that can be cut up and bolted onto whatever. Look for news soon to confirm.
- Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 3:13 P
08/05/10 Special Town Meeting Notice
"Did I hear it correctly last month on the town access tv that there is a grant to fund a position for an assistant to the superintendent of schools here in Montague. I caught the tail end of it, they mentioned "
This is one of the reasons I used the term "Corporate America". An assistant? Of course there are plenty of golf days left within the year. I really wonder if assistant is appropriate. Maybe a scapegoat??
- Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 3:00 P
Wiki leaks
This is truly amazing,potentially top secret classified military info leaked to the public. How the hell is this possible. This guy Julian Assange who runs that site should be a little nervous when he travels out in the open.
Mark2
- Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 2:49 P
08/05/10 Special Town Meeting Notice
I think it was Joe Landry that once posted a link that showed the breakdown of money for the schools. It showed what it cost the town per child per year to educate them, teachers, etc. It looked like it would be cheaper to pay to have a kid choice out. Did I hear it correctly last month on the town access tv that there is a grant to fund a position for an assistant to the superintendent of schools here in Montague. I caught the tail end of it, they mentioned Jeff , don't know if it was Jeff S or not.
Mark2
- Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 2:07 P
Looking for sand
I'd recommend Gerry Home Improvements in Charlemont.
Jonathan
- Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 2:06 P
bridge is CLOSED
Argh, just gave directions 3 hours ago to a friend who's coming to visit from the north. But if in-bound is allowed, then that shouldn't affect the directions.
Thanks, Mik, for the note.
Jonathan
