Patch Facts

Five Things to Know on Feb. 14: Speak Out on School Budget

An essential get-me-going daily morning column from Hamilton-Wenham Patch.

Today is Thursday, Feb. 14. Here are five things you need to know in Hamilton and Wenham: 1. Clouds: Thursday is forecasted to start cloudy with an increasing chance of sun coming out later. Temperatures should again get up into the 40s. 2. Pool: The second of two open forums to talk about the Patton Park pool is coming up on Thursday afternoon. The forum will be at 1 p.m. in the meeting room at Hamilton-Wenham Library where the pool committee wants to hear from the public what it would want in a new aquatic facility at the park. 3. Chocolate: The 11th annual Salem So Sweet, Chocolate and Ice Sculpture Festival had originally been planned to wrap up on Thursday, but due to last weekend’s blizzard it has been extended through the coming …

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Letter to the Editor: Schools Need Plan Before Making Any Cuts

A Buker Elementary School parents writes with her opinion about the fiscal 2014 school budget.

To the Editor: I am just hearing, as many others are, that there is a request from the two towns for the School Committee and (Superintendent) Dr. (Michael) Harvey to cut $500,00 from the school's budget, due early February. It sounds like cuts are going to be made at the high school level and could result, for one, in larger class sizes as a result of scheduling changes. I know we are proud of our current high school's ranking but we need to remember that our ranking is an aggregate achievement and not a single year's efforts. Our district attained that ranking by having a strategy, forethought, commitment, an accurate and sound budget and consistency in leadership that was in line with the community's standard for quality education. I …

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Patch Facts

Five Things to Know on Jan. 3: Pan-Mass Challenge Registration Opens

An essential get-me-going daily morning column from Hamilton-Wenham Patch.

Today is Thursday, Jan. 3. Here are five things you need to know in Hamilton and Wenham: 1. Freezing: Thursday morning is expected to be the coldest start to the day in a year, with temperatures not forecasted to even get all that high during the day. The sky will be sunny, the high temperature will be in the mid-20s and the wind chill will be as low as -5 degrees. 2. Sky Watch: The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks in the early morning hours of Jan. 4. Your next chance to spot a meteor is to look north (and a little east) and find the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) then look farther north (which would be roughly "up" if the Big Dipper were holding liquid). The constellation Draco ("Dragon") has a "head" of four bright stars that look a little bit …

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Five Things to Know on Dec. 13: Bruce Tarr’s Toy Drive Broadcasts Live All Day

An essential get-me-going daily morning column from Hamilton-Wenham Patch.

Today is Thursday, Dec. 13. Here are five things you need to know in Hamilton and Wenham. 1. Typical: Thursday’s weather will be a rather typical mid-December day – mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the lower 40s. 2. Toys: State Senator Bruce Tarr, who represents Hamilton and Wenham on Beacon Hill, takes to the road on Thursday as his annual toy drive makes it way around the North Shore. Radio station North Shore 104.9 is a partner on the toy drive and will be broadcasting from each location during the tour, which will run from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The tour does not have a stop planned in the two towns, but will be nearby at 10:30 a.m. at Dawson’s True Value Hardware in North Beverly, First Ipswich Bank on Market Street in Ipswich at …

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School Budget Would Rise 10 Percent with 'Level Services'

School Superintendent Michael Harvey unveiled the cost of a so-called "level services budget" on Thursday night to the School Committee.

The fiscal 2014 Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District budget would require 10 percent more money from each town if services were to remain the same as offered this year, Superintendent Michael Harvey said on Thursday night. The gap has little to do with increased spending – the same level of services next year will cost $247,873, or .9 percent, more in fiscal 2014 than fiscal 2013, which ends on June 30, 2012. Harvey called that "actually good." The gap can be traced mostly to one-time revenue in the 2013 budget that is not currently part of the 2014 budget. The 2013 budget uses $1.49 million from the district’s excess and deficiency, or E  and D fund, which is essentially a savings account made up of previous year’s fund balances, plus…

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Bob Gray

2:20 pm on Monday, December 10, 2012

Jay and Robert are right! The new Superintendent and newly elected School Committee members need to revisit the $90,000.00 Operational Audit report. We all know that not all of the 125 recommendations will work for the HWRSD but it has to be seriously analyzed again! Want to see an interestsing fact.... go onto the boston.com website snapshot and check out "costs per student". If you take the …   more ›

School Committee: 'Secret Negotiations' Helped Avoid Budget 'Food Fight'

The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee ratified the fiscal 2013 budget number that was approved by Hamilton Town Meeting on Saturday.

The Hamilton-Wenham School Committee voted 7-1 Tuesday night to OK the 2013 budget that was approved by the Hamilton Town Meeting on Saturday The decision, though, came after a lengthy discussion on how "secret negotiations" before the meeting avoided what member Larry Swartz called “a war” that might have broken out in the high school auditorium. Several current and former members of the School Committee criticized the negotiations by three members – Chairman Alexa McCloughan, Vice Chairman Roger Kuebel and Swartz – which were kept from the other committee members prior to Saturday's Annual Town Meeting in Hamilton. However, most critics also said that the result of the "secret negotiations" was good for the Hamilton-Wenham Regional …

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Anne Sweeney

1:41 pm on Friday, May 18, 2012

HFD is correct and it is good to review and learn from our history, so it won't be repeated, moving forward in a "positive" manner. The political and economic forces shaping corruption, and being influenced by it, can vary greatly from one time and place to the next. While the new generation living within our towns over the past decade has brought new evidence to the debate and has clarified many…   more ›

Patch Facts

Five Things to Know Today in Hamilton and Wenham: April 24

An essential get-me-going daily morning column from Hamilton-Wenham Patch.

Today is Tuesday, April 24. Here are five things you need to know: 1. Givens: School superintendent candidate number two of four, Susan Givens, arrives in Wenham first thing on Tuesday - at 7:45 a.m. - to begin a full day of meetings and interviews and she seeks the top job in the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District. Parents and the public can meet with her from 10:15-11:15 a.m. at Hamilton-Wenham Library and the School Committee interviews her at 5:30 p.m. at Buker Elementary School. 2. Tennis: The rain on Monday forced the postponement of both the Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School boys’ and girls’ tennis matches. The girls are again scheduled to travel to Amesbury for 3:30 p.m. while the boys will host Amesbury at Pingree Park. 3…

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Patch Facts

Five Things to Know Today in Hamilton and Wenham: April 23

An essential get-me-going daily morning column from Hamilton-Wenham Patch.

Today is Monday, April 23. Here are five things you need to know: 1. Rain: It has been nearly two months since we have seen as much rain as is expected to fall in the rainstorm on Sunday through Monday. About 2 inches of rain is forecasted to fall by Monday morning. On Monday, temperatures will get into the 60s and winds will gust as high as 30 miles per hour. 2. Harvey: One of the four finalists for Hamilton-Wenham school superintendent, Michael Harvey, is scheduled to visit Hamilton and Wenham for an interview next week. But on Monday, Harvey will be interviewed for the assistant school superintendent job in Arlington, according to a posting on the Arlington public schools website. He is scheduled to meet with Arlington school staff, …

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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 ›

Patch Facts

Five Things You Need to Know Today: April 12

An essential get-me-going daily morning column from Hamilton-Wenham Patch.

Today is Thursday, April 12. Here are five things you need to know: 1. Cloudy: Thursday will be a mostly cloudy day with a chance of showers with temperatures into the lower 50s. 2. Trash: If you have questions about the new trash, recycling and organics collection program, there’s yet another chance to get those questions answered on Thursday night at Hamilton-Wenham Library. There will be a Trash Q&A forum at 6:30 p.m. 3. Grown Ups 2: You may likely remember that three years ago Adam Sandler and company spent some of the summer shooting scenes for the film “Grown Ups” on Chebacco Lake. Well, word is that there’s now a “Grown Ups 2” in the works, and at least some of it will be shot in Marblehead and Swampscott. Will the film crew return …

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