Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The young North Andover man hopes to address the district's new grading system.
The first candidate to announce a run for local election this year is still not old enough for a champagne toast if he wins. Mark Mezzina, 19, has taken out nomination papers to run for a School Committee seat in the election scheduled for March 26. Mezzina, who was raised in North Andover, was a college student at the University of South Carolina before moving back to town and plans to continue college locally. He recently worked for Karin Rhoton's campaign when she ran for state representative. "I'm running for School Committee because as a young man, I am heavily invested in the future of our town, and I believe that we need an open, transparent government, and that we should always focus on the academic excellence of our students." One…
Monday, June 25, 2012
Lauren Fain has officially resigned.
The North Andover School Committee appointed Leigh Ann Carbone to be the interim director of special education for North Andover schools after Lauren Fain resigned, effective June 30. Carbone, North Andover High School's Special Education Department head, will reportedly serve as director of special education for the next school year, while administration looks for a permanent director. Fain had been placed on temporary administrative leave in December -- just a few months after starting in that position -- although no reasons have been given to the public as to why. Rumors have circulated about possible litigation, personnel issues and parental outrage over possible altering of individualized education plans (IEPs are mandated by the …
Monday, May 21, 2012
The new fee will eliminate early discount and family cap.
The School Committee voted 4-1 Thursday night to raise bus fees. School Committee member Brian Gross was the member who voted against the bus fee increase. Taking the bus to and from school will now cost $330 per student -- $360 if paid late -- and no early discount or family price cap. "We've gotten some feedback, a couple of comments, mostly folks who are saying this is a tough thing to do to people with larger families, and yes it is," School Committee Chair Chris Allen said. The fee hikes will be aimed at closing the schools budget gap and keeping the bus system self-sustaining. Although the schools will be getting almost $78,000 more than expected due to increased state aid, the schools budget is still not trimmed down to the budget …
Friday, May 18, 2012
The news comes as a result of improved expectations for state aid.
Reconciling the North Andover FY13 schools budget with Town Manager Andrew Maylor's budget proposal just became a little easier. Maylor informed Superintendent Chris Hottel -- who announced at Thursday's School Committee meeting -- that thanks to increased projected money in state aid, the schools budget will be increased by $77,945. "This is a wonderful piece of good news," School Committee Chair Chris Allen said. "I had said we need something to fall out of the sky, and it did." The House Ways and Means Committee had released a budget earlier this year that gave North Andover $113,458 more in state aid than the governor's budget. Maylor had suggested not amending his budget proposal unless the amount of increased state aid exceeded $150,…
Friday, May 4, 2012
The committee fell short of supporting his proposal, which would give the schools $99,000 less than their own budget proposal calls for.
The School Committee voted unanimously Thursday night to support and praise Town Manager Maylor for his work on the town's budget but did not vote to support his numbers. Maylor is proposing a $38.2 million school budget for FY13, which is almost $100,000 less than the budget the School Committee approved earlier this year. But that didn't stop them from giving Maylor kudos for his hard work. The vote came after almost an hour of debate. Chair Chris Allen had recommended the committee vote to support Maylor's budget with contingencies and express support for Maylor's work. Member Laurie Burzlaff had reservations about opening up a budget-related vote if they weren't voting on the actual budget, and she didn't want the vote to signify that …
Committee members said they needed more information on buses.
The School Committee voted unanimously Thursday night to hike preschool fees by about 15 percent, from $2,800 to $3,200 a year to close a nearly $19,000 gap in bus funding. "I thought these things were supposed to fund themselves," committee member Laurie Burzlaff said. "We're still funding these out of our general fund, so it's not funding itself." The public preschool differs from the town's private preschool, committee member Stan Limpert later noted, in that half of the public preschool students are special education while the other half are typically-developing students. Parents of the typically-developing students pay the fee, which covers their children as well as the special education students. There was not as much support for …
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
The meeting will be Thursday, and this is your chance to express yourself about the FY13 budget.
The School Committee will meet Thursday at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, and according to the public schools Web site, and they are seeking public input on the FY13 budget before they take any action on it. Input can be shared during public comment at the meeting or via email. The FY13 school budget and supporting documents can be found on the Budget Planning page.
42.702868
-71.130921
North Andover Town Offices
120 Main St, North Andover, MA
/articles/school-committee-seeks-public-input-at-meeting
1457339
/locations/6913030
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
The School Committee is contemplating cellular antenna contracts as revenue, despite the controversy in town.
Newly elected School Committee Chair Chris Allen says the town’s public school system is so strapped for cash she is prepared to pursue a cellular antenna contract for the North Andover High School cupola. “I know I am jumping into a kettle of boiling water but we as a community need to find ways of supporting school programs other than just through property tax revenues,” Allen said, noting that schools in the Midwest routinely allow antennas on school property. “We can’t let programs we know the town needs go by the wayside because we can’t fund them. And as far as cellular antennas go, I think they are fair game because I, for one, don’t believe the pseudo-science offered by those who believe that they cause adverse health effects.” …
42.69659
-71.113721
North Andover High School
430 Osgood St, North Andover, MA
/articles/cellular-antenna-at-nahs-pondered-as-new-revenue-source
1380994
/locations/4674053
42.687822
-71.121917
First-Calvary Baptist Church
586 Massachusetts Ave, North Andover, MA
/articles/cellular-antenna-at-nahs-pondered-as-new-revenue-source
777847
/locations/4674054
42.699438
-71.126088
Trinitarian Cong Church
72 Elm St, North Andover, MA
/articles/cellular-antenna-at-nahs-pondered-as-new-revenue-source
777952
/locations/4674055
Heather McNeil
7:42 am on Thursday, January 10, 2013
Mr. Mezzina, I hope to meet you at the Running for Office Workshop tonight at Memorial Hall Library in Andover at 7 PM. Very helpful information which will help with the logistics of your campaign and provide you with insights from current elected officials from both Andover and North Andover. more ›