Paquette: Miles’ statements are wrong

In today’s Sun, Dracut School Committee candidate May Paquette has a letter to the editor in rebuttal to yesterday’s letter from current school board member Mike Miles.

Here is a portion: I spent nine years serving on the School Committee with Schools Superintendent Elaine Espindle from May 1998 until May 2007. During that time, we worked together to see many great projects come to fruition: a major renovation of the Englesby Intermediate School, the construction of the new Lakeview Junior High School and the initial submission to SBAB for our new high school renovation project. With the truth being told, I was not on the board when Elaine Espindle submitted to the committee her intentions to retire.

To say that she was “disposed of” is simply not true. But again, I was not on the board. Neither was I on the board for the selection of the subsequent superintendent (Spencer Mullin). In fact, Mr. Miles was the one who was on the board during Espindle’s submission of her retirement intentions and Mr. Miles was on the board and seconded the motion to hire Superintendent Mullin. To imply that I had anything to do with either of these situations is simply not true.

It concludes with: We need people to serve on the board who will share the facts with you, not false or misleading statements.
MARIETTA (MAY) PAQUETTE
Candidate, Dracut School Committee

Zimini: Love the Caricature, not the distortion of Facts

I asked John Zimini what he thought of the Archinski AD and John said he loved the caricature but didn’t like the distortion of facts.

What John objected to is the ad makes it appear that all these donations came in 2008 and were taken from Campaign Fiance Report from the Town Clerks Office.

In Fact they are a compiled list of donations over a 7 year span and are not from 2008. A fact John pointed out is you cannot receive more than $500 a year and the ad distorts that and makes it appear one union donated over $2,000 which they legally cannot.

John said if you are going to be clever and use a Caricature in place of a picture you shouldn’t use a Caricature in place of real facts. Since Tony received $500 from the Union he works for and that union has supported many candidates, you think he would know that.

John said he is very proud of the donations he received from workers in unions and it was Tony Archinski who stated in the public debate that he wanted a more “labor friendly Town Manager.” not John. He also pointed out it was Tony who sued the town when he didn’t get promoted not John.

John also found it amusing that the Dracut Forum which defended Bobby Cox when he voted for a liquor license for the club he was a board member of and said that “O’Loughlin is an up-front guy” while reporting he was fined over $7,000 for FAILING TO FILE FINANCE REPORTS would write this statement: That’s the point of the ad. In voting on issues where the police union is involved, Archinski would have to recuse himself. When voting on housing project proposals, would Zimini? Did these union relationships have something to do with the Louisburg Square project a couple years ago?

John pointed out he always recuses himself in any situation he thinks is even close to a potential conflict and Dracut Forum chooses to ignore that fact but it is public record. He also pointed out that Shawn didn’t object to Joe DiRocco bringing up a 3 year old issue under old business that wasn’t listed on the agenda.Using Shawn’s logic since Tony Archinski contributed to Jimmy O’Loughlin’s campaign should Shawn and the public look back and question all of Jimmy’s votes on Police Issues that effected his pal Tony?

Even a Lowell guy like me knows that the Dracut Board of Selectman didn’t vote to kill the Louisburg Square project. The Dracut Housing Authority did. To try and stretch being against a project to a potential conflict of interest when the Selectman didn’t even have final authority on it seems to be a huge leap of logic and fairness..

Tony Archinski runs creative ad / Mike Miles supports Sheehan

Selectman Candidate Tony Archinski who has been criticized for his Pro-Union stance and strong union ties, ran a creative ad in today’s SUN against current Selectman John Zimini showing that John received $4,800.00 in Union support when he ran for Selectman in 2008.

I found it pretty creative and a bit unusual to run an ad with a caricature of one of your opponents but I give the Archinski camp points for style in the waning days of the race. If You missed it, here it is.

On the School Committee side in a Letter to the Editor publish in today’s Sun ,current Dracut School Committee member Mike Miles who was challenged by May Paquette in last year’s election wrote a letter of support for Matt Sheehan saying he deserves re-election in Dracut

It reads in part: For the past three years, I have been fortunate to serve on the Dracut School Committee with Matthew Sheehan, who is our current chairman. Matt was elected by his peers to that extremely important and demanding position. He is a loyal, honest and dedicated young man, who gives 100 percent of his time and dedication to the school district, the citizens of Dracut, and certainly to the voters who elected him. and concludes with: The old adage “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it” certainly applies to this board. This current committee is far from broken in spite of our differences or any petty concerns or innuendoes made by Paquette. We have accomplished considerable goals, and continue to welcome the challenges ahead. That is why I support Matthew Sheehan for re-election to the Dracut School Committee and ask you, the voters of Dracut, to support and vote for him on May 2 so we can accomplish the goals ahead of us and not return to the turbulent past.
MICHAEL MILES

School Committee goes with “Safe” Pick

Photo courtesy of the SUN newspaper

I think Jean Franco was the “Safe” pick by the Lowell School Committee to succeed Dr. Chris Scott for the following reasons:

A)She was an In-House candidate
B)She is familiar with the district and issue
C)She is well liked by her fellow Administrators, Teachers , Parents and Community Leaders
D)She knows the School Committee and knows how she needs to respond to them and their needs
E)The last two Superintendents the committee hired from outside the district had their tenure ended not in positive ways.

I wish Jean Franco well. I have never met her but from what I hear from teachers and others, she is a well qualified and a well liked individual who given the chance to be the Supt. and run the system with a school board that follows the education reform guidelines,( Hire a Supt. Set Policy and pass a budget ) she will do good things for Lowell and Lowell students.

If she can get the committee to leave the day to day activity of the school system with the people who are most qualified to run it, she may excel. If they continue to act in the manner they treated the last two Superintendents then she will have only a few years left to her employment in Lowell.

Was she the best qualified candidate? Probably not, Dr. Pia Durkin the current Attleboro Supt. probably was the most qualified. She’s held a number of leadership positions in urban education systems: superintendent in Narragansett, Rhode Island, assistant superintendent in Boston Public Schools for five years, where she led the reorganization of district services and the realignment of resources; director of special education for six years in Providence; and teacher, professional development coordinator, and supervisor over nineteen years with the New York City Board of Education. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. from New York University

If you watched her interview you could not help but being impressed but you could also tell if you have followed the Lowell School Committee that her style of being a no nonsense,independent and realistic leader who would not put up with nonsense and silly issues didn’t sit well with some of them.

Aside from Alison Laraba who first voted for Pia Durkin then switched to Jean Franco to show unity, Dr. Durkin did not receive any votes. I think many committee members didn’t want to hire an independent leader. Rather they wanted a strong leader who they were comfortable with and who would be well received by the public. It was a smart public relations and political move.

When Dr. Durkin said that many committees’ have too many goals and that the number of goals needs to be reduced to manageable and achievable, you could see that some members didn’t like that. Her response to Jim Leary’s question on collective bargaining didn’t win her many points with this committee either. When she stated “Collective bargaining is a critical piece of what a good manager does and as a superintendent the first step is communication. I believe the issue of respect in collective bargaining begins with a good relationship with your bargaining units.

This committee doesn’t have a good relationship with their bargaining units and when Supt. Durkin mentioned that she took over a program that the teachers union was told cuts had to be made because there was no funds and at the end of the year they found over a million five in excess she felt that the Unions had lost trust in the information they were given. Again the committee didn’t like this analogy because it hit them directly.

That is exactly what happened this year here in Lowell. The school committee asked the City Manager for more money and they received an extra million. Then they cut all the media/library aides’ city wide, funded the athletics for the few and then “found” $1.2 million in the payroll budget and $400,000 in the unemployment account. Then they tell us and the unions to be happy with that. How can they be trusted to know what they can or can’t afford when they have 1.6 million left over?

They have been unable to settle the teacher’s contract and a case can be made that they blew the contract of Supt. Scott who is now a finalist for a school district 3 times larger than Lowell’s. Obviously more people see value in Supt. Scott than the 5-6 members of the Lowell School Committee that didn’t even respond to her with a formal offer.

Jean Franco has been in the system and has seen the committee in action and knew what she was getting into. She was impressive and strong in her interview and showed great political skills in her Thank You speech last night. Let’s hope the Lowell School Committee will let her do the job they hired her to do and lead the Lowell School System.

Lowell’s new School Supt. is…..Jean Franco

Supt. Jean Franco

Jean Franco, deputy superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the Lowell Public Schools will become the new Supt.

Jean Franco, who holds a master’s degree from Lesley College, came to the district in 1996 as a bilingual facilitator. She previously held similar positions in the Chelsea and Fitchburg public schools.

She gave a very nice speech, Thanking both the current individual members and the past members who have supported her through the many years that she has been in the Lowell School System.

They will have another meeting to set up a contract and contract terms.

Kudo’s to Alison Laraba who first voted for Pia Durkin who I also thought was the best candidate and then in the spirit of support changed her vote to make the selection of Jean Franco unanimous.

Tonight Tonight wouldn’t be like any Night…

Jackie D & John Leahy

(Apologies to West Side Story and Leonard Bernstein (Music) and Stephen Sondheim (Lyrics)

Lowell’s Schools Supt. gets Elected “Tonight”

Tonight, tonight It all begins tonight , Soon Chris Scott she is going away ,
Tonight, tonight There’s only you tonight What you are, what you do, what you say

Today, all day I had the feeling A miracle would happen I know now I was right
For here you are no longer an assistant you’re the star, for Tonight

Tonight, tonight The room is full of light, with the Sun and Bloggers all in place
Tonight, tonight your world is wild and bright Going mad Shooting sparks into space

Today, the job was just an address A place for you to work there No better than all right
But here you are we want you in your place in position starting tonight.

Tonight Jean Franco you’re selected, to help us get elected we want you shining bright
So take the job, you’re all we’re looking for you’ll do alright, Starting TONIGHT !

Pawtucket Falls Overlook/Spalding House Park Developments: A Community Briefing

(From Mr. Nappi and the Pawtucketville Citizens Council)

What? On April 30th 10:00Am

“A Community Briefing on Pawtucket Falls Overlook/Spalding House Park Developments.”
Learn about exciting plans for improvements and upgrades that will enhance public access to and visibility of these significant historic locations on both sides of the Merrimack River at the falls.

Who?

Speakers from City of Lowell, Lowell National Historical Park, Lowell Heritage Partnership, and others. Featured presentation by historic architect Charles Parrott of the National Park Service about development plans for both the Pawtucket Falls Overlook on the north bank of the Merrimack River near the intersection of Mammoth Road and Pawtucket Boulevard and Spalding House Park on the south bank adjacent to the Pawtucket Falls Gatehouse.

Where?
Spalding House Park behind the Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust’s 18th-century Spalding House at 383 Pawtucket Street. Park in former Red Cross building lot next door.

When?
Saturday, April 30, 10 am to 11.30 am
Show up and show your support for these developments!

(People can park in old the Red Cross building lot and at Franco Am School since it is Sat.)