'One Final' School Budget Discussion Planned for Thursday Night

The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee will continue to discuss the school budget when it meets on Thursday night in advance of the Special Town Meeting in Hamilton on Monday night.

There will be “one final discussion about the budget” at tonight’s School Committee meeting, according to Hamilton Town Manager Michael Lombardo. The Hamilton Board of Selectmen met Thursday morning with the possibility that Finance Committee and School Committee members would discuss the school budget, which is headed to a one question Special Town Meeting in Hamilton on Monday night. Lombardo said that several School Committee members had planned to attend the Selectmen’s Thursday morning meeting – which lasted about 20 minutes – but since it was agreed that the budget would be discussed on Thursday night, everything was held off until that time. Lombardo called the promise of a continued budget discussion on Thursday night "very …

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Buchanan To Be Paid $115K After 'Irreconcilable Differences'

Dr. Raleigh Buchanan, the former Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Superintendent, will be paid $115,000 in pay and accrued time off through February to end his tenure as superintendent.

Former School Superintendent Dr. Raleigh Buchanan will be paid $115,000 in salary and benefits through February as part of his exit from the school district last month because of “irreconcilable differences.” The three-page agreement between Buchanan and the School Committee was signed on May 27 and released after the School Committee voted to approve it on Thursday night. The total compensation includes $93,000 in pay, according to Committee member Kym Donnellan, plus 16 accrued unused vacation, sick and personal time plus the value of health insurance benefits. The agreement also calls for Buchanan to be available to consult the district through the end of June, although he is not prevented from seeking another job starting June 1. He “…

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Patch Facts

Five Things You Need to Know Today: May 31

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

Today is Tuesday, May 31. Here are five things you need to know: 1. Weather: Tuesday is forecasted to be a great day, with sun and temperatures into the mid-70s. 2. Comments: Again, we want to emphasize that we love the conversation and community dialogue that happens in the comments section below our stories. But we also want to emphasize two important things: Our Terms of Use says that “we ask that all your registration information be truthful” and also bars, among other things, comments that are “defamatory, abusive, obscene, profane or offensive.” 3. Craig’s List: There’s always some neat finds on Craig’s List. The latest is a little cottage on Pleasant Pond for $300,000. 4. Graduation: The number one sign that high school graduation …

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Letter to the Editor: 'Proud to Have Been Able to Serve'

Richard Boroff writes to thank those that voted for him in the recent election and says that the members of the School Committee have "major challenges" facing them.

To the Editor: Thank you to everyone who voted for me in the recent School Committee election. I am proud to have been able to serve on the committee. It has been a fascinating and challenging seven years but now it is time to move on. My best wishes to the members of the School Committee, old and new. You have major challenges facing you. You all have a desire to do what you think is best for the school district and for our children and grandchildren. It will take a tremendous amount of energy and hard work, but you are all capable of doing it. Regards, Richard L. Boroff

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Week in Review

The Top Five Stories Last Week in the Two Towns

The Week in Review takes a look back at some of the top local news stories from the past week.

The Week in Review looks back at the top five stories in Hamilton and Wenham in the past week – May 23-29. 1. Three Incumbents Defeated Thursday’s election in Hamilton knocked out three incumbents who were seeking reelection – Selectman Bill Bowler and School Committee members Richard Boroff and Tess Leary. Roger Kuebel, Bill Dery and Sean Condon were all elected to the nine member School Committee. Jeff Hubbard defeated Bill Bowler for one of the five Selectmen’s seats. Hamilton voters also approved a Proposition 2-1/2 debt exclusion override to pay for the capping of the former landfill. 1. High School Principal Finalists Named The search for the next Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School principal is down to two candidates. Principal …

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School Committee 'Lost Confidence in Dr. Buchanan’s Ability to Lead'

The performance evaluations of former School Superintendent Dr. Raleigh Buchanan shed light of the School Committee's concerns about Buchanan, who started on the job last July.

A majority of the School Committee expressed serious concerns about Dr. Raleigh Buchan’s job performance – ranging from his ability to meet deadlines to his communication with the Committee - in evaluations completed last month. In more than 80 pages worth of evaluations paperwork released on Friday after a request from Hamilton-Wenham Patch – superintendent evaluations are a public document – Committee members used number rating from 1-4 and written comments to nearly uniformly express their dissatisfaction with the work he was doing. The individual evaluations of all nine School Committee members are attached to this story as PDF files. (If you are having trouble reading the documents, there is a "fullscreen" mode and also a "+" …

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Robert Gates

8:54 am on Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Commenters: Please remember our Terms of Use, which under the Registration section says, among other things, "Patch believes in transparency, and we ask that all your registration information be truthful. You may not use any aliases or other means to mask your true identity."   more ›

School Committee to Acknowledge Open Meeting Law Violations

The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee violated the state Open Meeting Law six times this spring by improperly posting subcommittee meetings where the full committee met to discuss the 2012 budget.

The School Committee violated the Open Meeting Law at six meetings where the 2012 school budget was discussed in March and April, according to the board’s attorney. The violations were not intentional and will be corrected, according to Naomi Stonberg, a Wellesley-based attorney who represents the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee. School Committee Chairman Alexa McCloughan is expected to read a letter acknowledging the violations at Thursday night’s School Committee meeting at Buker Elementary School at 7 p.m. “My client has accepted responsibility and admitted they violated the law,” Stonberg said. The violations occurred when the Finance Working Group – a subcommittee of the full nine-member School Committee – held several …

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Jay Burnham

11:02 am on Friday, May 6, 2011

Michelle misses the point and sadly, she is mistaken about the "growing pains with the new Open Meeting Laws." The violations perpetrated by the School Committee were no different under the "old" rules. So the SC can not use "the new law" as an excuse. Add to that the fact that the SC members were trained on the new law and the result seems to be a committee that deliberately violated the law. …   more ›

Patch Facts

Five Things You Need to Know Today: April 27

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

Today is Wednesday, April 27. Here are five things you need to know: 1. Weather: It’s back – forecasters are calling for temperatures into the upper 70s on Wednesday. The downside is that it is expected to be a foggy start and mostly cloudy all day. 2. Candidates Night: The candidates for School Committee and Board of Selectmen in both towns will all be in one place on Wednesday night. The Hamilton-Wenham League of Women Voters is hosting a candidates night at Winthrop Elementary School in Hamilton beginning at 7 p.m. 3. Wenham Warrant: While the Boys Scouts delivered the Wenham Town Meeting warrant to each Wenham house earlier this month, there are still hundreds of hard copies available for those that want one. The so-called “hard copies…

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Talk of the Towns

Keyser: Taxpayers Await Delayed School Budget

The yearly school budget is still being processed by the School Committee and school head man.

Well, another month has zipped by but at least the weather and the temps are improving and snow is done for this year. In the happenings in the towns, budget time is here and the school budget has yet to be set even though the deadline has passed. It would appear that there is a slight difference in figures from the school head man as against figures that the School Committee is considering to release as their budget. This new twist in just who is releasing the school budget has caused some comments in folks who attend the regular School Committee meetings. In past years, the yearly budget came from the superintendent’s office and it was approved by the School Committee. And also on school matters, the members of the School Committee has …

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