Dracut Forum

Tonite’s meeting of the School Committee finalized and signed a contract to bring on Elaine Espindle as Interim Superintendent starting Mar 4th extending through the end of June. The contract allows for a reasonable daily pay scale, with a maximum amount that she can make being about 30,000, and the town not responsible for benefits, [...]

Here’s another great reason why Dracut does so well with so little.
Rebecca Duda, the award-winning (I bet she hates that) teacher from the Lakeview Junior High School, tells me that she recently get a response to a grant request for an interactive teaching system. With additional funding provided by the PTO, the school should receive [...]

Michael McNamara, January 27, 2010
Announcement of Candidacy  –  Michael F. McNamara  –  Dracut School Committee
I am today announcing my candidacy for re-election to one of the two open seats on the Dracut School Committee.  Having been appointed by a unanimous vote of the combined Dracut Board of Selectmen and Dracut School Committee last February to [...]

Approving a Draft Budget for the next fiscal year, the School Committee has approved a proposed budget of $28,610,390.00, an increase over last years budget (after paybacks and transfers back to the town) of 2.77%.
A significant issue, of course, is the stimulus money that cannot be depended upon for the future, as well as increases [...]

School Committee member Ron Mercier, the head of the Parker Avenue School subcommittee, indicated tonight during the school budget discussion that he wants to plan another meeting to discuss the issue again with all interested parties.
“After hearing some of this, its probably going to happen,” he said, referring to the closing of the Parker Avenue [...]

by Erin Smith, Lowell Sun
DRACUT — Evaporating federal funding, budget constraints and struggling test scores are just some of the issues that Dracut’s next schools superintendent will face.

Schools Superintendent W. Spencer Mullin retires in March and school officials are predicting that looming budget problems will face both interim Superintendent Elaine Espindle and the next permanent [...]

Its going to be a busy week.
Monday is the School Committee meeting at 7:00 at Harmony Hall.
I understand that the budget for the next school year will be presented.
I can predict that there will probably be a small increase in the budget over last year (1 or 2%). I would expect them to be level [...]

The discussion this week on 980 WCAP’s Saturday Morning Live started out with an analysis of the Scott Brown results in town.
Warren Shaw took the case, that it was not just about Republicans but also the combination of terrorism, the health care plan, and general anger out there among the voters with government.
One big change [...]

 

 Dracut discussion on WCAP [8:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Don Morowski Calls in to Respond [3:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

By Erin Smith, esmith@lowellsun.com
TYNGSBORO — Those applying to be the next superintendent of Greater Lowell Technical High School would find a salary less than $130,000 “insulting,” said School Committee member Victor Olson of Dracut.
School officials’ debate on salary range seemed to center at times on setting a price above the current salary for Mary Jo [...]