The Medford School Committee passed a $43,185,000 budget for next year. The budget included two amendments, thanks to Mayor Michael McGynn, who uncovered $175,000 dollars in funding from a multitude of city accounts to demolish some of the proposed job cuts at Medford High School.
This helpful gathering of funds, which came from cash reserves and various city accounts, will be enough to provide one high school guidance counselor, one high school submaster position, one elementary school assistant principal, one elementary school teacher and Advanced Placement foreign language classes at MHS, all of which were facing cuts before this new funding.
The student activities account, which was originally being cut from $45,000 to $25,000, will be boosted with a $15,000 donation from Clear Channel. The account provides stipends for high school activities advisors.
In addition, the mayor has proposed to eliminate the $50,000 sports cut by donating money he raised from several golf tournaments. Nonetheless, the tournament funding is only for one year, so the sports user fee will still be raised $25 in order to compensate for next year. User fees for hockey and football will increase by $50, and the maximum family cap will increase $50 to $500.
The school budget will be put before the Medford City Council for approval on Tuesday, June 29th at 7:00pm at Medford City Hall.
By forced choice, the Medford School Committee is walking a thin rope as they debate the budget distribution for the upcoming 2010-11 school year. The anticipated budget is very limited in funding, especially in the areas of programs and services, and there are several job cuts that affect Medford High School, including secretaries, a submaster, and a guidance counselor.
Despite a cut in local aid and a proposed school budget that is level-funded, School Superintendent Roy Belson said core educational services remain intact, although painful layoffs and cuts have been necessitated.
“This budget does not have enough money to accomplish everything we need to do,” said Superintendent Belson. “The proposed budget does maintain core services but reduces our capacity to expand programs and services to students and families. Also it limits our ability to make desirable improvements to educational materials, technology, and support services.”
Twenty-nine positions have been eliminated from the budget, twenty-two of which are lay-offs. The cuts at Medford High include a submaster, a guidance counselor, a guidance secretary, and a technology specialist.
Sixteen secretarial positions have been cut across the school district and the remaining thirty-seven secretaries will be reorganized to cover positions. The main office of the high school will keep two secretaries while the middle and elementary schools will have one secretary per school.
“I have every respect for Dr. Krueger in the world,” said one concerned parent. “But when you take away the guidance counselors and the people who support him you’ll find less of a quality job.”
The Kaplan SAT program and all other testing program funding has been cut for the upcoming school year. Superintendent Belson said other sources of funding will be explored but there are no guarantees the programs will be restored.
The Athletic Department is being forced to cut $50,000. Athletic Director Robert Maloney has had to come up with some painful proposals to bridge that gap, including cutting freshman sports and raising user fees, none of which were palatable to School Committee members.
Mayor Michael McGlynn said he could cut the $50,000 gap in half with money he has raised from golf tournaments he organized to raise funds for school sports.
The “Field of Dreams” project is still being completed on schedule but now lacks funding for supervision. Maintenance work and repair will be at minimal funding.
“I am very displeased with how we did with the budget,” said School Committee member George Scarpelli. “I know that managing this type of a budget is a hard job but, I wish that we could have more meetings to discuss these issues to put more ideas forward.”
There is still much dispute over foreign language classes and AP classes. Advanced Placement foreign language classes at the high school could be squeezed out and may face doubling up with other classes due to the low numbers of enrollment and the high cost of keeping the classes running.
High school students displeased by this news asked questions about college admission requirements and suggested possibilities to keep higher level classes open to those who wish to take them. However, the school administration said that the cuts are done by forced choice.
“We have until July 1st to put a final stance on the budget, but it needs to be balanced because next year will be the first year the state will decrease millions of dollars in funding [and] that will be felt by cities and towns,” said Mayor McGlynn.
The School Committee will meet again on Tuesday and Wednesday at 7PM at Medford High School to continue budget discussions. Both meetings will be broadcast live on Channel 15.
Mustang News reporter Heidi Walsh interviews seniors during the annual senior breakfast to find out their plans for the future, fond memories, and advice for underclassmen.
Our senior year seems to have started a long time ago, with the Senior Boat Cruise and the Homecoming Dance. The first few months for many people consisted of taking part in college tours and narrowing down the list of schools to which to apply. Once that list was final, we all endured the cold, arduous months of the college application process – a process that, in a way, has made us stronger as it caused us to assess our talents, passions, and at times, made us second-guess ourselves based on the reality of these economic times.
Then, as we made it through mid-year tests and spent two weeks watching the Winter Olympics, we began the long wait. The excitement was building as winter turned to spring, and thoughts turned to what we would do after we graduate.
These last few weeks have certainly been busy ones. Whether it has consisted of exams, finishing up class projects, getting ready for prom, choosing a college or applying to summer jobs, we have all had a lot on our plates. Now as we head into finals week, yet another busy time, we should feel proud that we have accomplished so much over the course of this year. Soon, we can relax and enjoy our summer, which will no doubt be one of the best as we celebrate our accomplishments having finished a major milestone in our lives. Let’s give it a great finish!
On Friday, May 21 the class of 2010 celebrated their senior prom. It was held at the Westin in Waltham. Students walked on the “Red Carpet” and had their pictures taken by “paparazzi” (teacher volunteers). The glamorous ballroom was decorated to fit the celebrity red carpet theme, including tables reserved for celebrities such as Lady GaGa and Brett Michaels. Students ate pizza, cheese tortellini, salad, steak, mashed potatoes, and steamed vegetables.
Then the dancing began and the DJ tried to convince the crowd to have a dance battle. At this point he lost a lot of students’ attention and most dancing slowed down. The night was still enjoyable though. Towards the end Jamie Farah and Bethany Kong were named Prom Prince and Princess and Melinda Stein and Brian Morales were named Prom Queen and King. Then the DJ played the 2010 class song “Forever Young” by Jay-Z. All and all it will be a night to remember.
The underclassmen will undoubtedly notice a few changes in the halls of Medford High in the coming weeks. The first floor of C-building will be notably absent and Cafeteria 1 will be shutting its doors for the last time this year. The chants of “SENIORS, SENIORS, SENIORS” will no longer ring through the halls. The Junior Class will gain a sense of importance and they will suddenly find that the best parking spots are now opened for them. The number of impromptu parking lot water balloon fights too will drop dramatically. In short, there will be a notable absence of coolness, style, and all things awesome.
Why all the sad changes you might ask? Well our notable Senior Class of 2010 is peeling the onion and moving on to a new layer. Like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon these admirable young men and women are emerging from Medford High into a new world.
But be careful, young butterflies, for the world outside your cocoon is a cruel and scary one! You are a fragile creature and you must be wary while you discover what is out there. This new world is not all risk and fear however, it is full of potential. Seniors, you can change the world if you put your mind to it; flap your wings and create a tsunami (Hopefully a good tsunami that will cancel out the other bad tsunamis).
With this said I leave the Seniors some advice for their adult future from none other than the great Dr. Seuss. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.” You’re off to great places, Seniors, good luck!
Downtown Manchester houses your typical cozy cafés, historical monuments, and gum scattered sidewalks. However, what differentiates downtown Manchester from other squares is the Red Arrow Diner; consistently voted one of the nation’s top ten diners.
The atmosphere of Red Arrow exemplifies the quintessential diner and meets the expectations of everyday patrons and state crossing food fanatics. Walls are plastered with famous stars who have eaten at Red Arrow and include Guy Fieri of the Food Network, Adam Sandler and numerous presidential candidates- given that New Hampshire is considered a swing state. There are glass-framed old menus, reminiscent of prices decades past that include 5-cent coffees and 10-cent cheeseburgers.
Modern day Red Arrow keeps their prices low, the food quality high, and incorporates a diverse selection of breakfasts, lunches and dinners; as expected of a TWENTY-FOUR HOUR diner!
Upon arrival, my guest and I were promptly seated, a contrast to the amount of wait time we had to endure post-ordering of food. However, I will say it was worth the wait and recommend plates such as the honey fried chicken or the Red Arrow Bison Burger. Dinner plates are accompanied by sides such as baked beans, five spice chili, coleslaw and sweet potato fries; all of which were decent and delicious. Desserts include cream pies, Death By Chocolate, Reese’s pie and Raspberry Hana pie.
Manchester, New Hampshire is under an hour drive, so there is no excuse not to go!
On the night of Tuesday, May 25, 2010 the M-Club held its annual awards night to honor the student athletes of Medford High School. The event was dedicated to the student athletes who have exhibited selflessness, desire, and regard for school and community, with special recognition for the graduating senior athletes.
The night began with a presentation of unsung hero awards for an athlete from each sport who did not receive the recognition they have deserved for all of their hard work. The night then continued with a speech from guest speaker Jared Carrabis, the current president of Red Sox Nation and the author of “Sox Space” web blog. After a meal senior athletes were awarded a letter plaque for their participation in a varsity sport.
The award ceremony was also used to honor the coaches and adults who have played a part in the shaping of the Medford athletic program as a whole. In particular, Cross Country Coach Lou Ruggiero was chosen by a board of M-Club seniors to receive the Tony Lucci Golden Mustang Award. Coach Ruggiero joins a notable group of adults who have made loyal and unselfish contributions to the student athletes at Medford High School.
A number of alumni awards were also awarded to deserving seniors based on athletics, schoolwork, leadership and community service. The biggest student winners of the night were Mary Barber and Philip Petrides, who each received $1,000 scholarships for outstanding athletic achievement as well as academics leadership and citizenship.
Recently Medford High’s own Rafael Moure-Punnet released a new CD with his rap group the CCC. The songs are all vastly different from one another, many using samples from songs made 30 years ago. The CD is mixed entirely at a home studio, where it was also recorded. The CD includes 13 tracks and includes two tracks with backup vocals from the talented senior vocalist Linda Morose.
The raps are nothing short of impressive, using a myriad of both meter and rhyme. And this duo is definitely not your average high school rap group. They mention many wrongs in the world that need to be addressed; mainly the overpopulation of rappers who are untruthful about their activities.
The song “Music Hustle” is about the struggle to create, perform, and record music. It shows how hard the group works to make the music they love. Though this CD is definitely not for young children, it certainly is a talented profile of a senior performer at Medford high school.
The Mustang varsity baseball team has qualified for the state tournament for the third consecutive season. Mustang News reporter Heidi Walsh catches up with Head Coach Nick Tucci and senior captains Danny Gunn, Greg Wilson, and Kyle Heath to find out how the season has gone and how the team is preparing for the upcoming state tournament.
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