Letter to the Editor: School Does Not Recruit School Choice Students

The chairwoman of the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee responds to an article about school choice in a recent Enough is Enough publication.

To the Editor: I feel it’s necessary for the School Committee and the district to address an article contained in an Enough is Enough publication – The Hamilton-Wenham Free Press - as it is having an impact at the school level. The article appears on page five and is about school choice. The District is very aware about the controversy that surrounds choice and the appetite from our community for more study of choice’s impact on our high school costs, scheduling and class sizes. The article is not about that; rather, it alleges impropriety with respect to our school choice selection process, which is inaccurate and misleading and must be corrected. The Massachusetts school choice law (General Laws Chapter 76, Section 12B) was enacted in …

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Anne Sweeney

2:13 pm on Saturday, May 12, 2012

Voting, NO, send a message to those who choose to dominate local governance. Maybe then they will go back and re-do, and do their due-diligence by and for the tax payers whom at some point if not already default on their home and family budgets. Where do they go ? There is no deficit spending for the home owner, just stark reality. By saying, NO, keeps budgets in line and keeps the town in line …   more ›

Town Leaders Consider Push for School Budget 'Giveback'

The fiscal 2013 Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District budget underwent the scrutiny of more than two dozen town officials from Hamilton and Wenham on Thursday night.

The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee on Thursday night was looking for feedback on its plan to spend $900,000 on capital projects. While it may not have left with solid feedback on its capital spending, it heard a variety of feedback on its 2013 budget from about 25 public officials from the Hamilton and Wenham Boards of Selectmen plus the Finance Committees from both towns. The School Committee has voted to support a $28.3 million budget for fiscal 2013, which starts on July 1. Expenses are up 4.12 percent over 2012, but without the capital expenses as part of the calculation it is up about 1 percent. It includes capital spending on projects such as making Cutler Elementary School compliant with the American with Disabilities Act…

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Jim Smith

12:01 pm on Sunday, May 6, 2012

@Richard Boring, Could it be that they don’t really care about actual education performance? As far as they are concerned, they are doing a fine job because our school system stopped being places for learning a long time ago and became a method of indoctrinating our nation’s children to the progressive socialist platform. Other than that, the liberal answer is to spend more money on it. Of course…   more ›

School Superintendent Job Ads to be Published ASAP

The School Committee is quickly moving forward with the purchase of advertisements for the school superintendent position.

The search for a new school superintendent quickly moves to its next steps on Friday with the purchase of advertisements seeking candidates for the job. The 8-0 decision on Thursday night by the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee to immediately purchase ads comes after the superintendent search committee voted 8-2 on Monday night to not move Interim Superintendent Peter Gray forward to the School Committee as a candidate to permanently fill the position. Gray, who typically sits among the School Committee during its meetings at Buker Elementary School, left before the committee has its discussion on Thursday night about its next moves to fill the position. Gray has been serving an interim superintendent since May, when then-…

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Jim Smith

5:37 pm on Thursday, April 19, 2012

I bet one could hire a common sense business person for $75,000.00 per year or less as superintendant. I think our system of over-government has precluded good people from being hired for these once attainable positions by those who were more concerned with our students and school system than a big paycheck ? I would like to see someone with common sense, not a Elizabeth Warren or Martha coakley …   more ›

Gray Doesn't Get Backing for Permanent Superintendent Job

The search for a permanent superintendent for the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee will now likely be opened up after Interim Superintendent Peter Gray didn't get the backing of the search committee on Monday night.

Peter Gray did not get the backing Monday night of a search committee charged with deciding whether he should be named permanent superintendent for the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District. The 12-member search committee voted 8-2 against recommending to the School Committee that Gray – the interim superintendent since May - be named to the post permanently. The School Committee, if it concurs when it meets on Thursday night, would then open the search to outside candidates. Gray, who was hired as Assistant Superintendent of Business in June 2010, was named interim superintendent last summer after the departure of Dr. Raleigh Buchanan. Search committee members on Monday expressed a range of concerns about Gray, from his lack of …

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Schools Business Manager: Software Glitches Caused Paycheck Problems, Issue Resolved Now

The business manager for the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District told the School Committee on Thursday that two separate computer problems caused teacher paychecks to have different amounts in recent weeks but gross pay amounts were not affected.

The school district’s business manager on Thursday defended the handling of pay issues in recent weeks where teachers complained that they were receiving varying amounts of net pay. The amount of gross pay never changed and the issue was with the withholding of taxes, according to the businesses manager for the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District, Pola Andrews. It was immediately resolved, she said. The issue was first brought to the attention of the School Committee last week in a letter from the teachers union - formally called the Hamilton-Wenham Regional Education Association – as part of a two-page letter expressing its opinion about whether Peter Gray should be named permanent superintendent. But in addition, the union’s …

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New Interview Dates Set for Superintendent Candidate Gray

The public interview schedule has been revamped for faculty, parents and community members to interview school superintendent Peter Gray.

The School Superintendent Search Committee is still on track to make a recommendation to the School Committee in February about whether to hire Peter Gray as the new superintendent for the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District. But before that, some of the public interview dates - originally scheduled for early January - have been postponed. The interview timeline for Gray, who has served as the interim superintendent since last May, has been pushed back. The changes were announced on Friday by School Committee Chairman Alexa McCloughan, Vice-chairman Roger Kuebel and Glenn Koocher of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, who is serving as a consultant to the committee as a "qualified third party" to "provide guidance and …

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Superintendent Search Committee Members Being Sought; Deadline is Oct. 31

Community member have a week to express interest in becoming members of the superintendent search committee.

The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee is seeking members for its superintendent search committee and interested candidates are encouraged to step forward immediately. The deadline to submit a letter of interest and resume is Oct. 31. The residents selected to serve on the committee will provide community input to hire a new superintendent of schools. When the School Committee met on Oct. 20, it voted unanimously to form a 12-member search committee to hire a permanent leader for the district this year. Four of those members will be committee members. Community members who apply to serve on the committee will have their resumes and letter of intent reviewed by School Committee Chairman Alexa McCloughan and Vice Chairman Roger Kuebel…

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School Superintendent Search is Set; Consultant and Committee to be Used

The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee agreed on Thursday that a 12-member superintendent search committee comprised of school leadership, faculty, town and community members will begin looking for a permanent superintendent for the district.

The School Committee voted on Thursday to approve a 12-member committee and hire a consultant to help launch a search during the next two weeks for a permanent school superintendent. The deadline for interested candidates to apply for the job is Oct. 31 and selection of search committee members will be announced on Nov. 3, the committee said. It approved a budget up to $10,500 to pay for the consultant and search costs. Current Superintendent is Interested The votes came after a much debated discussion about whether or not to even have a search committee involved in the process since Interim Superintendent Peter Gray said he wants to be considered for the job. Gray has been interim superintendent since May, when former Superintendent Dr. …

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Robert Gates

10:20 am on Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The school district's business manager is Pola Andrews.   more ›

Week in Review

A Look Back at 5 Top Local Stories Last Week

The "Week in Review" wraps of some of the major stories from Hamilton and Wenham.

Each Sunday, Hamilton-Wenham Patch takes a look back at the week in local news. Here’s a look at some of the top stories on the two towns in the past week. 1. New look and size selected for Wenham Town Hall sign Years of discussion and debate came to an end this week when the Historic District Commission and Town Hall and Police Station Building Committee reached agreement on the look and size of a new Wenham Town Hall sign. Right now, the large white sign with black writing simply says “Wenham Town Hall.” The new sign will be smaller and include the town seal at the top and say “erected 1855” at the bottom. It will be 18 inches narrower than the existing sign. 2. School Committee sets deadline for continued operational audit response The …

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Memo: More Operational Audit Follow-up Results Expected by Sept. 30

The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee has set Sept. 30 as a key date for coming up with some responses to some of the recommendations from the operational audit.

Future school budgets will take into account concerns raised by the operational audit, School Committee Chairman Alexa McCloughan said in the committee’s latest response as part of the audit follow-up. “We agree that explaining our revenues and expenditures in a clear way and continuing to search for efficiencies within our District will help garner public support for our upcoming budget,” McCloughan said in 2-1/2-page letter to the Operational Audit Committee dated July 25. The letter was made public on Tuesday. Last year, Evergreen Solutions was hired to conduct an operational audit of the school district. The audit came after a citizens petition seeking the audit garnered support from Town Meeting voters in both towns. It cost $90,000 …

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Jay Burnham

4:23 pm on Saturday, August 6, 2011

Well stated Bruce. I concur.   more ›