Daily Archives: January 27, 2011

Paul Georges rallies teachers for Supt. Scott… She should say Thanks but No!

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A special meeting of the School Committee is being called for the purpose discussing a Superintendent’s Search and other related matters this Friday, January 28, 2011 at 7:00 PM in the Council Chambers…wonder if it will be televised? It sounds like it will be an interesting show and I intend to grab a front row seat.

According to the Breaking news section on line at the SUN Teachers Union President Paul Georges is trying to pressure and intimidate the School Committee. According to the article by Erin Smith ” Paul Georges, president of the United Teachers of Lowell, sent out notices to the estimated 1,400 teachers and paraprofessionals in the union encouraging them to attend Friday’s School Committee meeting to support Scott.

In addition it goes on to say: Georges wants the School Committee to restart contract negotiations to retain Scott, who he credited for the “remarkable growth” in student test scores. Scott has led the Lowell school system since July 2008. He also claims “”I didn’t ask her,” when asked what Scott thought about the rally of support.

Why the Union President whose Union doesn’t have a contract of their own feels the need to pressure and intimidate the Lowell School Committee is beyond me. No matter why they delayed in responding to her the fact is that Supt. Scott was the person to announce she was leaving, so why does Paul Georges thinks he and the teachers need to rally for her?

This is just another stunt by Paul Georges and his union to show that they feel they are in charge and need a say in the matter and not the Lowell School Committee. Who cares what Paul Georges wants, he doesn’t represent Supt. Scott and the Lowell School Committee needs to make sure he isn’t allowed to speak tomorrow night. It is NOT a UNION Issue…It is the duty of the Committee and shows why I don’t think they need a screening committee that includes this guy or any of his union leaders.

I have been a big advocate for Dr. Scott, I think the committee screwed up the contract talks big time and I think she responded in the way I and others expected. She chose to leave and not fight this in the press. Up to now she has been professional and I agree with Dave Conway that it is time to move on and be respectful. Paul Georges apparently doesn’t agree.

I am 100% in support of the School Committee, SHE announced she was leaving and it is time to move on and begin the process of finding a replacement and the teachers union should be more concerned about their own contract and potential job loss than keeping a Supt. who for whatever reason announced she was leaving.

This does nothing to begin the process of moving on and if Dr. Scott is the professional person that I believe she is, I hope she steps forward with a statements that Thanks the Union but states that she is leaving and there is nothing to be gained by holding this rally. She admitted on WCAP yesterday that she has in fact begun a new job search and I hope she issues a statement.

A Good Reminder – Keep a Family Contact List handy

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My cousin John Nutter who is retiring from the MA. State Police posted this on our Family Website. It is a good reminder for those of us with elderly parents or neighbors or friends.

My next door neighbors are both in there 80′s. Last year the wife fell in the garage and broke her hip and had to have surgery and has been walking with a walker. In December her husband went out side to get the paper and fell on the ice in the driveway. He laid there for 45 minutes before I noticed him. He has been in the hospital and a nursing since then.

Myself and other neighbors have been taking the wife back and forth to the hospital or nursing home every day. Last Tuesday I was supposed to take her to the nursing home. When I called there was no answer. I tried knocking on the door with no results Phone call to other neighbors resulted in nobody having been able to contact her in the prior 12-15 hrs.

I checked with the nursing home and found out that she left there the day before in the afternoon and that she was not there at the time. The also stated that she had not called that morning to check on her husband. Long story short I called the local Police who in turn called the fire department to do A WELL BEING check. After attempting to look in the windows with all the shades drawn tight and not getting any response from calling her and knocking on the window. The fire dept forced a window and entered thew house. They found my next-door neighbor on the floor in bathroom semi conscious. She had fallen about 5PM the night before.

None of the other neighbors had a key and none of the other neighbors had any phone numbers or any of her relatives so we could notify somebody. We knew first names and towns but that was about it. Her husband was not much help because he didn’t know phone numbers of the top of his head. So after attempting 411 and GOOGLE I was finally able to locate her brother in NH.

The point of my story is that there should be an emergency family contact phone number posted near a phone and somebody nearby should have the number of a family member in case of emergency. I’m not talking about POLICE and FIRE #’s. I think its something we need to think about particularly with ageing relatives and friends and neighbors.

Another Cousin added the following: This is the kind of package my mother has on the refrigerator. It can be ordered from the following web site. When 911 people have had to come to her house, it is the first thing they ask for. They grab the file and take it with her to the emergency room. The are aware of the program and would look on the refrigerator for it if no one else was there to get it for them. It is called File of Lifehttp://www.folife.org/SynChart/FolProductPage.htmlThere is a similar one for the car.

(PS: The lovely ladies in the Photo are my Mom and My Aunt Betty and between them they have 21 Children, Mom (11 kids) is in her 70s and Betty (10 Kids) her 80′s and we are Blessed to still have them around caring for us)