School Committee Approves Proposal to Create Early Childhood Literacy Center and Shift Grades Among Schools

by Inanna Arthen
At their meeting on January 19, the Winchendon School Committee voted to approve Superintendent Thad King's proposal to convert Toy Town Elementary to a dedicated Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten Early Childhood Literacy Center, while moving Grades 3 and 4 to join Grades 1 and 2 at Memorial Elementary and moving Grade 5 to become the first year of Middle School. The vote was not unanimous and followed another lengthy debate.

At their meeting on December 20, following a long and detailed presentation by Supt. King, School Committee member Karen Kast argued strongly that parents and staff had not been given sufficient notice of the proposed change, or opportunity to comment. Ms. Kast also felt that the School Committee did not have enough solid data on the potential effects of the changes on students and staff. Two residents rose to say that the buildings were not age-appropriate for the proposed grades, and that combining 5th graders with middle and high school students seemed inappropriate.

The School Committee concluded that discussion by unanimously approving a motion "to direct the Superintendent to do research and take a fact-based approach to the proposal by soliciting feedback from stakeholders and provide information to the School Committee, so the School Committee may take a vote." Two forums for parents and residents were already scheduled for January 9 and 10.

The topic was introduced at the January 19 meeting with a new order of business, a proposal to revise the Winchendon Public Schools Policy Manual to reflect and accommodate the proposed changes. The motion as read stated, Move to change the WPS Policy Manual, Section I, File: IE - Organization of Instruction as follows: (a) Change "The structure will consist of three levels--Primary/Elementary, Middle and Secondary levels" to "The structure will consist of up to four levels--Early Childhood, Primary/Elementary, Middle and Secondary" and (2) Change "The Primary/Elementary level includes schools with pre-kindergarten through grade 5. The Middle level consists of schools for grades six, seven and eight. The Secondary level consists of schools with grades nine, ten, eleven and twelve" to "Levels will include grades as determined by the superintendent or his/her designee and may change as district circumstances warrant."

Committee Chair Ryan Forsythe explained, "The topic for your consideration tonight is to change this policy to allow more flexibility in the organization of our educational institutions. This was brought up by member Kast during the December meeting as a limitation of the district's ability to consider the administration's proposal of the Early Childhood Literacy Center and the reorganization of the district. The suggested motion that you have there aims to provide more flexibility to the superintendent and/or the administration."

Ms. Kast moved that the Committee table discussion on the motion because she believed the weather conditions had prevented people from attending the meeting to comment. "I've heard from quite a few people who wanted to be heard tonight and I do not see them here," she said, adding that hybrid or Zoom meetings would allow more people to participate. There was no second to the motion to table, so it failed. The Committee approved the Policy amendment as read, 4 in favor and 1 opposed (Ms. Kast).

In his report to the Committee, Supt. King spoke at length about the reasons for his proposal. "We've been an underperforming district for 15 years, some would argue 20 years where there's been at least one school in our district, if not more, that's been underperforming--deemed as such by the state," Supt. King stated. "So as recently as 2018, all three of our schools that qualify for a type of accountability, which would be the high school, the middle school and Toy Town Elementary, were all essentially at the 10th percentile in the state or lower, which means we're in the worst 10 percent of schools in the state." In 2018, Murdock High School was the seventh-lowest in the state for high school to college matriculation rate.

"In the past few years, the middle school and the high school have gotten out of turnaround," which is great, Supt. King said. "However, there is a dark side to that if you will, which is to say those turnarounds are really based on high growth rates. And if you look a little more closely at some of those numbers, the proficiencies quite frankly aren't there, we're still below on proficiencies and at some point there will be a ceiling on that growth rate." The district is putting "bandaids" on the problem and "pulling kids up" but this isn't sustainable.

"From my perspective, you know that poor performance comes down to really three separate reasons. It either means that we have poor teaching, it means that we have kids that can't do the work, or it means that we have a system that's broken," Mr. King said. He believed the teachers are "very capable" and the students able to learn--meaning that the system is the flaw. "I feel very strongly that we need to change our system, which means to focus on beginning building up from the bottom up and putting a focus on that Pre-K to K transition."

Mr. King stated firmly, "This is about moving in a direction that is best for the children of Winchendon over the next few years...we can't fix poverty but what we can do is give families who are struggling a better opportunity at access to the Pre-K system." Eventually Pre-K would be a full day like kindergarten, which will be easier for parents who work.

Mr. King described at length the practical concerns raised in the forums. The timeline, if this rearrangement is implemented by next September, is tight. Moving will mostly be in the summer. HVAC will be installed in Toy Town. Bathrooms will be adapted. Memorial School has 20,000 more square feet of space than Toy Town, and its student body will be about the same number in the proposed grade levels as it currently is. (By the Courier's unofficial estimate, Memorial will go from 391 to 397 students.)

"There were some current concerns from specialists specifically...I'm speaking of our music, our PE and so on, and they raised some concerns around how they would be split, are they going to be considered part time, and so on," Mr. King said. "And my response to that is we're not trying to do this on a shoestring. We're at a period of growth for our district. We're not trying to reduce numbers of positions. We're trying to grow a number of positions and be more effective in what we do."

Mr. King said that "there's no rhyme or reason to how schools necessarily set up their schools. I'm sure it's often driven by space. It's driven by money. It's driven by a number of different decisions. There are pre-K to 12 schools in this state. There are K-1-2-3 schools, you name it, it's out there." Neighboring Narragansett School, in Templeton, houses the middle school and high school in the same building and begins middle school with grade 5. "We here have middle schoolers sit up in the front of the bus and as you get older you're allowed to move to the back of the bus because that's the best place to be, we all know it," Mr. King said. "In Narragansett they don't even separate it out. It's first-come, first-serve and get on the bus so they don't even have that type of mandate. They said they did away with it years ago. They didn't find it necessary."

Ms. Kast made a motion to re-open the floor for public comment, which was approved unanimously.

Resident Renee Eldredge rose to make several comments. "I just want to share the transparency piece, and this is not a negative comment, but I learned this through Facebook because of comments that were made...I don't have children in the school system. I wouldn't be looking to the website, I wouldn't be getting the parents' notifications emails, things like that. So I do think it's important that we look at many social media platforms in addition to all of those that you've done. So you did do a lot. There were forums. I tried to educate myself prior to coming here tonight. And prior school committee meetings and whatnot, talking to the community...keep in mind those community stakeholders that do not have children in school that do have a stake in this."

Ms. Eldredge also expressed concern about the impact of the changes on students, especially the blending of grade 5 with middle school. She pointed out that Gardner moved grade 5 to middle school and grade 8 to the high school. The "social emotional" factor concerned her, especially with the disruptions caused by COVID shutdowns.

Murdock Middle School Principal Jessica Vezina and Supt. King responded at length, assuring Ms. Eldredge that attention will be given to social-emotional development, with intervention programs in Memorial and the middle school.

Ms. Kast spoke again about her concern that parents, staff and residents had not been able to participate in discussions, make comments or give feedback. Supt. King responded that he has seen very large attendance at school events such as concerts, plays, the Halloween parade and so on, parents turn out in such droves there isn't enough parking space for them. But only a half dozen or so families, altogether, attended the three information forums set up for them, one during the day and two in the evening. About 40 faculty and staff attended the staff forums, Supt. King said.

Mr. Forsythe said, "Mr. Superintendent, I want to say thank you. This has been a multi week process, mostly because of the requests from the School Committee on behalf of the town, and the parents and families to go through the process of offering these fora to let voices be heard and you've done that. So thank you for that. This is a proposal that's focused on literacy. Literacy is in our strategic plan or district improvement plans, literacy and instruction are hallmarks of that plan. And frankly, the data that you've presented on the need to focus on literacy cannot cannot be argued with. I'm really excited. I think I've heard more definitive information tonight than even in the previous updates about the opportunity, the possibility, the future of possibly expanding free or subsidized Pre-kindergarten education, which for a town that certainly has financial challenges is a wonderful opportunity."

Supt. King said, "This is about, we're all in this together. This isn't about what the high school has done right or wrong or what the middle school or Toy Town, this is about the outcomes that those kids have. The reason kids aren't going to four year institutions the way we might like has nothing to do with their last two years of school. This has to do with what started in pre-K and K. The spirit and the vision that we're trying to put forward is this is about all of us. And this is a move to be about all of us so that we can have a better a better district and the students get the outcomes that they deserve and our community deserves and hopefully impact them for life."

Mr. Forsythe moved "to support the district's proposal to proceed with the reorganization of schools and the creation of an Early Childhood Literacy Center as presented." The motion passed with 4 in favor, 1 opposed (Ms. Kast).

Supt. King's presentation on the Early Childhood Literacy Center proposal: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15a_F9h88dWTN2UTQKPHlzBKKKExeN6aT/view

For previous Courier coverage of the proposal, see "Proposal to Reorganize Schools Evokes Concerns and Questions" in the January 5-12, 2023 edition of The Winchendon Courier

Local Cultural Grants Awarded for Winchendon

Past Cultural Council Supported Program: Animal Adventures at Winchendon Town Hall
Photo courtesy of Jill Sackett

Past Cultural Council Supported Program: Musical Petting Zoo at Beals Library
Photo courtesy of Jill Sackett

State Representative Jonathan Zlotnik and Jill Nicholson Sackett, Chair of the Winchendon Cultural Council (WCC), have announced the award of 22 grants totaling $13,407 for cultural programs in Winchendon. WCC was able to partially or fully fund a wide range of recipients and programs including:

Beals Memorial Library (multiple programs)
GALA (art therapy clay workshop)
Murdock Public Schools (STEM enrichment program)
Senior Center (vocal concert)
Taste of Winchendon (May festival)
UU Church of Winchendon (holiday brass concert)
Winchendon CAC (community garden expansion)
Winchendon Music Festival (salon concert series)
Winchendon Recreation Commission (multiple GAR park and amphitheater programs)
Winchendon Winds Concert Band (summer series)

The Winchendon Cultural Council is part of a network of 329 Local Cultural Councils (LCC) serving all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. The LCC Program is the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation, supporting thousands of community-based projects in the arts, sciences, and humanities every year. The state legislature provides an annual appropriation to the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, which then allocates funds to each community. Statewide, more than $5 million will be distributed by local cultural councils in 2023. Decisions about which activities to support are made at the community level by a board of municipally appointed volunteers. The members of the Winchendon Cultural Council are: Linda Hofhaug, Miranda Jennings, Linsey Laserte, Jill Nicholson Sackett and Molly Velasco.

"It is wonderful to see the numerous grants that were awarded to the Winchendon Cultural Council this year," said Representative Zlotnik. "These grant awards are critical to both keeping and supporting local cultural initiatives in the region and the Commonwealth as a whole."

The Winchendon Cultural Council will receive applications again in the fall. For guidelines and complete information on the Winchendon Cultural Council, contact Jill Sackett at jill@sackett.com or through the Town website at: www.townofwinchendon.com/cultural-council. Applications and more information about the Local Cultural Council Program are available online at www.mass-culture.org.

Past Cultural Council Supported Program: Winchendon Winds
Photo courtesy of Jill Sackett

Past Cultural Council Supported Program: Taste of Winchendon 2022
Photo copyright © HEAL Winchendon

Proposed Legislation Would Enable Statewide Drinking Water Protections and Financial Assistance for Massachusetts Households With Private Wells

Right now, many Massachusetts residents who rely on private wells are consuming water that may be unsafe. Over 500,000 people throughout the Commonwealth rely on these wells, yet there are no statewide regulations to ensure private well water is safe from harmful contaminants such as PFAS, arsenic, radon, uranium, and more. In contrast, public water systems are regulated by the state and are subject to routine monitoring.

In January, Senator Jamie Eldridge, Representative Dan Sena, and Representative Smitty Pignatelli filed legislation which would provide equitable access to safe drinking water for all Massachusetts residents--regardless of where they live and what their financial resources are.

An Act Promoting Drinking Water Quality for All (SD.2387/HD.3322) would enable the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) to develop regulations which would provide minimum statewide water quality standards for private wells supplying drinking water.

The regulations themselves would be developed by drinking water experts at MassDEP, likely in consultation with a technical advisory group and with a process for public input. To maximize public benefit, the bill would require MassDEP to evaluate practices to minimize the paperwork burden for affected parties.

In addition, the bill would expand the existing MassHousing Septic Repair Loan Program (SRLP) to provide low-income homeowners with access to financial assistance to remediate contaminated private wells.

"The importance of testing your well water is reflected in this important legislation put forth by Senator Eldridge, Representative Sena, and Representative Pignatelli," said Brian D. Scales, President & CEO of RCAP Solutions. "Too many homeowners take for granted that their water is safe and clean. Water is all around us, we bathe in it, cook with it, and drink it on a daily basis. The only way to ensure all this water is clean and safe to consume is to have it tested."

"We are grateful for the leadership of Senator Eldridge, Representative Sena, and Representative Pignatelli in addressing long-standing drinking water inequities," explained Amie Shei, PhD, President & CEO of The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts. "The state regulates the wastewater leaving a home, yet it does not regulate private well water entering a home and being consumed. This legislation closes an important gap in access to safe drinking water."

RCAP Solutions and The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts are working together to improve access to safe drinking water for private well owners. From 2020 to 2022, the Private Well Program to Protect Public Health, which has received nearly $1.5 million in grant funding from the Foundation, has conducted over 500 water quality tests across several Massachusetts towns and found that approximately 32% of wells had levels of contaminants exceeding state health standards and/or suggesting potential health risks. The Coalition for Safe Drinking Water was recently formed as a way to engage a wide range of stakeholders in working together to ensure safe drinking water for all Massachusetts residents.

For more information about this legislation, our private well programming, and the Coalition for Safe Drinking Water, please visit: www.whatsinyourwellwater.org.

Photo by Keith Kent

Photo by Keith Kent

Whitney Pond Ice Time

Finally able to enjoy some ice time far from the open waters of the Black Bridge Dam on Sunday, January 29, these outdoor enthusiasts utilize both the open air and open range of a wide open Whitney Pond along the Millers River as they enjoy putting down some horsepower with their wheels on frozen water instead of hard earth for a change. While taking turns recording each others displays and maneuvers, the skillful riders also found creative ways to try to master traction on the tricky slippery surface both leaning with their feet out and adding weight where needed!

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