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Grateful councillor says thank you and happy holidays
(The Malden Advocate, Tuesday, December 23, 2003)

To the editor:

As I close out my tenure with the School Committee, I again want to thank the ward 1 voters for their faith in choosing me to be the next Ward 1 Councillor. I will continue to work hard to improve the quality of life in our neighborhood.

I also would like to take this opportunity to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed serving you on the School Committee. My conclusion after nearly five years is that the Malden Public Schools is a great place to learn, grow, and be a productive citizen.

I can say that unequivocally because I spent time inside the schools, the Ferryway in particular, on a regular basis. I found a school community that cares about our students even in the face of deep budget cuts and ever increasing state and federal standardized testing.

As I prepare to join the City Council in January, I will remember the great experience I had serving on the School Committee and my commitment to the Malden Public Schools will remain as strong as it is today. After all, our future depends on it.

Sincerely,

Gary Christenson
Ward 1 Councillor-Elect

A new liability waiver has been approved by the School Committee for voluntary extracurricular events, replacing a controversial waiver that went to parents at the beginning of the school year.

The new waiver, approved in a 7-2 vote, is different in several ways from the form that went home to parents in this year's student handbook. An ad hoc committee of committee members and parents worked with school district's attorney Howard Greenspan to create a form that was simpler and narrower in scope.

The form would release the city and the School Department from legal claims stemming from personal injury, property damage, or death resulting from athletics or other extracurricular activities. According to Greenspan, it would not waive parents' rights to sue in cases of gross negligence, which implies reckless or intentional conduct.

"It would be relatively rare when we would encounter an incident covered by the policy," said Ward 1 member Gary Christenson, who was involved in the process of creating the new waiver. "This policy is not a prerequisite to participate in any activities related to the curriculum. We've put the issue of field trips off to the side."

Christenson said that the fear of litigation should not endanger either the school's budget or its willingness to offer extracurricular programs, and that the liability waiver would provide much-needed protection.

Members who worked on the ad hoc committee said that the new form is written in clearer language and will be communicated clearly to parents. The form will be sent home separately from other documents and will have an explanatory cover letter and in some cases a translation. Administrators will be required to meet with Greenspan and Superintendent Joan Connolly to ensure a full understanding of the new form. The form will be distributed by January 16th of next year.

Lester Morovitz earned the "Outstanding School Partner" award from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC), and was honored at Monday's School Committee meeting.

Morovitz, the owner of Malden Taxi, was recognized for his record of service as a bus provider for the city. The award recognized Morovitz' aid to the school budget through a stable transportation contract as well as his support of field trips and other activities for students.

"Mr. Morovitz, instead of focusing on the bottom line, has made it a priority to help our district," said Ward 1 member Gary Christenson in nominating Morovitz for the award.

The award was presented by Glenn Koocher, the executive director of MASC.

Click on the photo above to see it at full size.

A flap broke out over a School Committee motion to change the kindergarten age--an argument that revolved around procedure than the policy itself.

Ward 1 member Gary Christenson, Ward 3 member Frank Russell, and Ward 7 member Gladys Rivera-Rogers had been meeting for two months with Dr. Frank DiChiappari is an effort to examine whether the kindergarten age cutoff should be changed. Since 1999, Malden children who turn five by September 30 can enter kindergarten, and Christenson, Russell, and Rogers, proposed moving that date back to August 31.

A packet of conclusions prepared by Christenson, Russell, and Rogers was made available to members Friday in preparation for a Monday meeting. Christenson argued that the importance of passing the policy transcended the normal procedural process.

"We all consider this to be a very important issue," Christenson said. "I voted for the change in 1999, but members of the school community have requested further study of the issue. It's responding to the people who are in the classroom dealing with this every day. Time is of the essence, because notice has to go out fairly early."

Two members of the school community who work directly with kindergartners argued in favor of the change.

"Parents and teachers struggle with children who enter at four years old," said Donna Segretti-Reilly, the school adjustment counselor at the Ferryway School. "The curriculum demands of our youth much more than it did 20 years ago. I'd recommend we roll back the cutoff date to five years old by August 31, which is in line with most of the cities and towns in the state, and in line with what is educationally sound."

Kindergarten teacher Bonnie Page said that including children who are too young in kindergarten hurts the educational environment for all the children in the class.

"We have many concerns," Page said. "We're concerned about the maturity of these children and their ability to deal with school, their developmental level, their ability to deal with the demands of the curriculum, attention spans, and their ability to do tasks independently, which is critically important. We have large classes, especially if we need to spend much of our time on four-year-olds. Let's help all of our children have a chance to succeed.

The change was ultimately tabled until January. Voting in favor of tabling the motion were Howard, Bucci, Mini, Anderson, and Lucey. Voting against tabling the motion were Christenson, Rogers, Russell, and Spinelli.

There is the old saying that all politics is local. Ward Councillor-elect Gary Christenson is a walking example of that. Christenson has lived in the same neighborhood his entire life, both growing up and as an adult. He is about to move into the old Belmont School that is now being converted into condominiums-the very same school he attended as a child. He used to deliver newspapers to many of his constituents. Most of all, he has a very strong sense of duty and loyalty and a desire to give back to his neighborhood.

Mr. Christenson's first opportunity to serve Malden came back in 1999. He had a contact in the mayor's office that informed him that due to a legislative change, a seat on the school committee was going to be created. This seat was going to be filled by appointment and they encouraged him to apply. He really wasn't sure, but several people, including his sister, were persistent and convinced him to submit his resume for consideration.

It was 3 p.m. on the Friday leading up to Memorial Day weekend and he was working his job as Budget Manager at the office of Middlesex Sheriff (and Malden resident) James "Jimmy" DiPaola when a call came through. It was Mayor Richard Howard telling him that he was going to submit his name that Tuesday to the city council to nominate him to serve as his candidate on the school committee. "Of course, on the phone I was 'thank you' but once I hung up, I sat there wondering what just happened. I'll never forget that phone call as long as I live."

For Christenson, it was a chance to serve closer to home. Up to that point, he had done quite well for himself. In 1994 he was selected by House Speaker Thomas Finneran to serve as Budget Analyst for the Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee. He was promoted to the position of Revenue Director and then again in 1997 to Special Assistant. A year later he accepted the position in the Sheriff's Office, where he oversaw a budget of nearly $50 million. But now it was time to return to Malden.

During his time on the school committee, he worked on a number of issues. He chaired an MCAS subcommittee that proposed measures to help students perform better on the exam. He helped improve the function of the Business Department that oversees the $42 million school budget. He also served on the Budget Subcommittee during this especially tough economic period.

The decision to move from the school committee to the city council was prompted by departing councilor Ellie Cushing. She contacted Christenson last winter and informed him that she was thinking about stepping down. "At first I was disappointed because of my love for the school committee, but as time went on, I came to the conclusion that nothing would really change if I ran for city council because my background and base is the Malden Public Schools and that would come with me to the council. This would also be an opportunity to get a taste for city issues." And, Christenson professed, his goal as a student back at Malden High was to someday be elected to the city council.

One of his funnier stories from the campaign involved him going to a house and speaking to a woman who told him the only thing she wanted from her city councilor was for a car tire that was discarded in front of her house to be removed. As he left, he grabbed the tire and put it in his trunk. Christenson promises that he will bring the same sort of attitude into the council.

Like all other candidates in the election, Christenson found the process a bit grueling. "Once you decide to file your nomination papers, you just block off the next six months of your life for the campaign." He went door-to-door, met with residents, and listened to their concerns. He found most people welcomed the opportunity to share their views.

The biggest concerns he discovered among his constituents were about the condition of the streets and sidewalks. "People feel they are doing a lot to improve their homes and lawns and want the same in return from the city when it comes to their streets and sidewalks," Christenson said.

Other things he found were a desire for better communication about city affairs, especially about upcoming issues on the city council docket which might affect them or their neighborhood, the hope that the Green Street park will be improved like some of the other city parks, and something done about cars speeding down Cross and Main streets.

Mr. Christenson's respect and admiration for Councilor Cushing is quite obvious. He says she was "instrumental" in helping him getting elected. "She has served for 12 years in a commendable fashion. When I was campaigning door to door, one of the big things people said to me was how much they were going to miss Councilor Cushing. For her to have called me six months before nomination papers were available and tell me I would be a worthy candidate meant the world to meand hopefully I can do half the job she's done.

Christenson also commended his opponent in the election, Eda Daniel. "I have a lot of respect for anybody who seeks office because it is a daunting task. I am going to work with her to make Ward One the best it can be."

For the time being, Christenson is focusing his efforts and energies mainly upon the ward-specific issues expressed by his constituents. On a citywide scope, renovating and upgrading the high school is one project near and dear to him. He also recognizes that Malden's downtown is at a crossroad in terms of which form it will assume and the mix between resident and business property.

Above all else, Gary Christenson can't wait to start serving. "I have a great passion for the city. It was great to me growing up and I want to do what I can to return the favor."

 

The subcommittee will next meet on Wednesday, December 3, 2003 at 6:00 pm at the Ferryway School Library and is scheduled to release its findings to the School Committee as a whole on Monday, December 8, 2003.

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Turnout higher than expected
(Excerpts from the Malden Observer, Friday, November 7, 2003)

Despite cold weather and few contested races, turnout was higher than expected in Tuesday's municipal election.

At the Ferryway School, the polling location for Ward 1, the mood was enthusiastic as volunteers were out in force for council candidate Gary Christenson. Two Ferryway parents said they supported Christenson due to his service on the School Committee.

He's done a lot for the kids at the Ferryway," said Gail Poirier. "He was very involved during the budget cuts."

Marizabel Benoit said that schools topped her list of issues, and that Christenson was attentive and responsive as a School Committee member. "He comes to all of our PTO events, and he volunteers at the school," Benoit said. "He's so committed to the kids."

"The sidewalks and the streets are important," she said. "I've noticed that when it gets close to election time, they get fixed a little faster."

Katherine Poirier and Lauren Benoit, both third-graders at the Ferryway, shared their mothers' support for Christenson, circling him with a song as he spoke to voters.

Christenson picked up 75 percent of the vote to beat political newcomer Eda Daniel and assume the Ward One seat being vacated by longtime Councilor Eleanor Cushing. Of the 926 votes cast, Christenson won 689-219 with 18 blanks.

"I just cannot say enough about the political system," said Christenson who began gathering signatures to get on the ballot all the way back on June 3.

In addition to thanking all the residents who turned out to support him, Christenson yesterday offered a very public thanks to outoging Councilor Eleanor Cushing, who endorsed his campaign early on.

"I owe her quite a bit," said Christenson. "She could have sat on the sidelines and watched, but she leant me her endorsement and that meant a lot to me and to the voters in the ward."

The Councilor-elect says after taking a couple days, "or maybe a week," to relax, he will begin transitioning, working with outgoing Councilor Cushing and incoming School Committeewoman Peg Crowe.

Christenson said once the new Council convenes in January he hopes to address some of the infrastructure issues residents of Ward One have discussed with him. He also said he will work closely with fellow councilors and Mayor Richard C. Howardís Office on the upcoming buget, which is shaping up to be another tight one.

Christenson currently serves as the Chairman of the School Committeeís Budget Subcommittee.

Election day countdown begins
(Excerpts from the Malden Observer, Friday, October 31, 2003)

With election season in its closing days, candidates are making a final push to meet and energize voters in the city's six contested races.

In Ward 1, Gary Christenson, the Ward 1 School Committee member, said he's hearing a lot of concern about the condition of city streets and sidewalks.

"The number one issue I've heard is streets and sidewalks," Christenson said. "People are trying to maintain their homes, but they feel that they're not getting enough help from the city. We need a comprehensive plan to deal with it.

As a result of our growth, Christenson also said that speed on the neighborhood streets is an issue. "I'm hoping we can expand our traffic department as the economy turns around," stated Christenson.

Christenson wants to focus on communication with constituents.

"People want to know what's going on," he said. "I'd like to set up an e-mail tree, like I did for the Ferryway parents. I have about 175 people on that list, and it's worked well for informing them about meetings and events. I also want to hold office hours in the ward."

The last few days will see continued campaign activities from the busy candidate.

"We're doing a number of standouts with signs, and sending out cards to people in the ward," he said. "We're doing a little bit of door-to-door. People have been extremely courteous, always willing to hear what I have to say. It's an effort that requires 100 percent, day in and day out."

There's more evidence this week that the schools are continuing on an upward curve. The School Committee voted Monday to restore critical staff positions lost in this year's austere budget.

Thanks to aggressive efforts in the School Department to seek out grants, teachers are being hired back after a lengthy and involved discussion at the School Committee meeting Monday. We don't claim to know which positions would have been best to hire, but we believe the School Committee gave its decisions due thought and discussion. If only more money could come in.

For those who are still skeptical about the path of Malden's schools, here's more proof that your tax money is going to good use, and the schools are something Malden can be proud of again.

An influx of new funding has made it possible for the School Committee to restore some of the more than 40 positions cut in this year's school budget.

Thanks to budgetary mechanisms at the federal, state and city level, the School Committee had an extra $596,300 to allocate to the school budget. The committee voted 6-3 to use the funding to restore key support staff at the district, including all four guidance counselors in the K-8 schools.

"We had two hours of spirited debate," said budget subcommittee chairman Gary Christenson, a member from Ward 1. "There were legitimate arguments to be made on both sides. My argument was that we spent six months looking to protect the classroom, and since we've been able to do that, let's use these funds to bring back some of that support staff. The opposing argument is, why should we reinstate these positions when we could very well have to cut them again in the spring? We decided to provide as many services as we could for this school year."

State and federal grants, including funding available under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, provided the School Committee with the opportunity to restore two kindergarten teachers, two high school teachers, and five teaching positions across the K-8 schools.

"The reason we looking to providing support staff is because the class size reduction grants came in," Christenson said. "If that funding hadn't come in, you would have seen the new money go directly to the classroom."

The $596,300 comes from a number of sources. More than half-$312,000-is in federal special education funds which pay for special education positions previously funded through the city budget. Another $200,000 comes from a decision by the Mayor and City Council to retain funding in the school district's personnel services account.

Restoring the K-8 guidance department will cost $240,000 of the new funding. Christenson said that guidance counselors provided an important contribution to school safety, the monitoring of student achievement, and student quality of life.

"These people have a lot of responsibility," Christenson said. "They're dealing with real issues."

Another $90,000 will restore secretarial positions at the Linden, Beebe, and Ferryway Schools, while $52,000 will restore paraprofessionals at the Forestdale, Beebe, and Linden Schools.

One of the more controversial provisions of the package was the creation of two new positions in the place of the existing Math and Science Director position. Using a complicated formula based on grants received under the No Child Left Behind Act, the School Committee created and funded positions for a director of math and data analysis and a director of science and health. Ward 3 member Frank Russell expressed concern about the potential uncertainty of the funding mechanism.

A reserve account of $100,000 was created to offset unforeseen future expenses.

Voting in favor of the overall package were Christenson and members Paul Anderson, Bill Mini, Greg Lucey, Donna Spinelli, and Judi Bucci. Voting against were Russell, Gladys Rivera Rogers, and Mayor Richard Howard.

Officially on the ballot for the upcoming Ward 1 election, Gary Christenson recently told the Malden Observer that he's already been knocking on doors in the ward looking for constituent concerns.

"I'm going to try to carry forward the things I learned on the School Committee," he said. "One is bringing government to the people, so I'm going to work on communication with the residents of the ward. I started an e-mail tree for the parents of the Ferryway School, which I think has worked well, and I'm going to try to have that on a ward-wide level. Another issue I've been hearing is that people are trying hard to maintain their property, and they're asking us at the local and state level to help more with streets and sidewalks. That was an issue that was overwhelming. I also want to look at Green Street Park. It's long overdue to get an upgrade."

The election will be held November 4 at the Ferryway School on Cross Street.

When the Malden School Committee convenes for their final meeting of the year tonight, they will have before them proposals for the reinstatement of certain positions in the FY04 budget. The proposed reinstatements are the result of an additional $148,000 the School Department will get in their $40.5 million FY04 budget.

The School Committee's Budget Subcommittee, led by Ward One's Gary Christenson, met prior to discuss how to use the additional funds. While several possibilities were reported to have been discussed, including bringing back teachers, librarians, nurses, and guidance counselors at the K-8 level, the proposals voted out of committee predominantly affect the high school.

Christenson tells the Malden Evening News the subcommittee will ask the full body to approve reinstating a house principal at the high school, and to support bringing back two secretaries (or administrative assistants) at the high school and one at the Salemwood School.

He said the biggest reason for recommending the reinstatement of a house principal is that with four, not three as we proposed in the budget, the staff can provide greater safety in the school environment. Restoring two secretaries at the high school will also ensure each house principal has an administrative assistant, while officials have recommended reinstating one at the Salemwood due to the size of the school's enrollment.

Ward 1 School Committee Member Gary Christenson and candidate for city council in this year's upcoming election in November congratulated Ferryway School's eighth graders on Friday. Gary encouraged the impending high school students to use the tools given by their parents and teachers to help them further their goals and dreams. Gary's remarks in their entirety were as follows:

Let me first begin by asking that you give a big round of applause for your parents who have given you love and support throughout your educational career at the Ferryway School. Let me also ask that you give a big round of applause for Principal DeVito, Assistant Principals Abare and Francescone, your teachers, and the rest of the Ferryway School staff for dedicating themselves to helping each one of you reach your potential academically.

But as you now begin your high school career, it is going to be up to you to put to good use the tools that your parents and the Ferryway School have so aptly given you and the best way I can think of using those tools is to start figuring out who it is you want to be and how you want to contribute to making the world a better place to live in. But I am a realist and know that summer movies such as The Hulk and Terminator 3 await and there has to be one good beach weekend left this summer so I simply ask that somewhere in between you start preparing to build on the strong foundation that you leave this school with today.

So again, congratulations, you truly deserve it but do not stop here because at this point in your life and it only comes once, the sky is the limit...all you have to do is reach for it!!! Thank you and best of luck in your future endeavors!

The Malden School Committee's Budget Subcommittee is set to convene this morning, two days after Mayor Richard C. Howard delivered his proposed FY04 municipal budget to the City Council.

The panel will meet with Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joan Connolly to discuss the $40.5 million budget Howard has proposed for the School Department, some $148,000 more than the Committee had formally requested.

Budget Chairman Gary Christenson (Ward One) said he is elated with the Mayor's budget proposal and thought it answered all the questions about how this Mayor would handle the fiscal crisis. He also credited the work of parents and community members in lobbying Howard on the importance of educational funding.

"As a teenager you dream about doing this stuff, but to actually be doing it shows you that dreams can come true," says Malden School Board member Gary Christenson about his career in city politics. And in the upcoming months he will be doing even more. Christenson plans to run for the Malden City Council for a spot that will become vacant when Eleanor Cushing steps down.

Mayor Howard first appointed him to the school board, when the charter changed, making it possible for one member of the board to come on the recommendation of the mayor instead of being elected. After the end of his term as an appointee, he ran for the Ward 1 seat and won. "Nothing beats being elected," says Christenson, reflecting back on his two different terms. He believes that being elected makes him more accountable, makes him feel that he is really representing the people of his ward.

Christenson is taking that same attitude to his campaign for City Council. He is excited to begin a new challenge. He hopes that his financial expertise will be helpful to the board. Currently his day job is in Sheriff James DiPaola's office as his budget director. He has been with that office for nearly five years, and according to him "the good part about public service is that you get to see a bit of everything."

As far as the types of projects that Christenson hopes to undertake is getting the city its own grant writer, whose sole responsibility would be to assist various city departments in writing and applying for grants. As budgets are being cut, department heads are turning for outside funding. Grant applications are no small task and take a lot of time and research. Having a person whose job would be "to write grants day and night," would allow departments to focus on other needs.

Revitalizing Malden Square is a project that Christenson would like to lend a hand in. "I hear a lot of people saying that it's not what it used to be when we were growing up." He believes that the "perception [of Malden Square] needs to change," in order to attract people back to the downtown area. He looks to Melrose as an example of a community that turned its image around; that "has a buzz about it."

Christenson also has his sights set on fixing up the old high school. The city is close to the bottom of the list on the state funded school building assistance program, and Christenson believes that the "facility cannot wait that long." If elected, this is an issue that he plans to bring to the attention of the City Council. Even though there isn't money right now, he is hopeful that he can find the money to "revitalize" the high school.

While his priority right now is to finish out his school board term, Christenson has already been knocking on doors and talking to the constituents in his potential ward. So far the concerns that he has heard most from people are focused on how much they are going to miss Eleanor Cushing, who has been their councilwoman for ten years. Another concern among the people whom he hopes he will be representing is communication between the citizens and the council.

This is an issue that Christenson dealt with on the School Board, making sure that parents were aware of different events and meetings that were taking place in the community. One solution was to send out notes via e-mail, as well as print them up to give out to parents. Yet he is humble. When this recent Suffolk University Law School graduate speaks of some of his goals and long-term projects for Malden, he begins with "If I'm fortunate enough to get elected."

School Committeeman Paul Anderson, himself seeking a Council seat this November, described Christenson as methodical, someone who takes the time [with issues]; does his homework. "I like the kid, even though we don't always agree on everything. We used to bang heads all the time."

Anderson adds that when it comes to the school board, Christenson always "has the kids at heart, and I respect him for that." Anderson also said that he thought Christenson "has the tools to do it, to succeed on the city council."

The dream starts with a form you get at the clerk's office.

On Tuesday, the first day to pick up nomination papers, twelve candidates strolled up to the long glass window at the clerk's and "picked up papers," as this early rite of democracy is known. The candidates started to flow in at eleven a.m. The last one stopped by at 6:13 p.m. There will be more.

This was just the first day. The coming weeks will be busy with candidates. Usually, when you go to the clerk's, you see regular people in need of documentation for birth, marriage, death, and guns. In early June, you walk by the clerk's window and you are guaranteed to see excited politicians in pursuit of their particular sort of document.

Each had to sign a form to get the nomination papers. "I hereby request nomination papers for the office listed above" the form said. So who showed up on June 3rd, day number one of the official 2003 race?

One was Gary Christenson, Ward One's school committee member, plans to run for the Ward One Council seat, which will be vacated by Eleanor Cushing who is retiring after a decade in office. Christenson is a go-getter and when he talks at school committee meetings, people listen. He goes to law school and legal training is always helpful with council business, which is knee deep in ordinances and legalities.

Ward 1 School Committee Member Gary Christenson attended last week's first gathering of the Malden Hispanic Community at the Ferryway School. The event was deemed quite a success for many of the residents of the community who came out to meet and enjoy the company of the many in attendance.

The various countries that were represented by its citizenry included: Venezuela, Columbia, Puerto Rico, Chile, Costa Rica, and Honduras, just to name a few. Many parents attended the event interested in making a connection with the Hispanic Community.

The School Committee's budget team unanimously, but "begrudgingly," recommended a budget of $40,351,528 at this week's School Committee meeting.

The budget subcommittee described the proposal, which pares costs in every grade in the school system and includes ominous cuts to the ranks of both teachers and principals, as a nod to the state's fiscal crisis and the understanding that the school system, like every city department, must face up to its share of sacrifices this fiscal year.

"This figure represents a willingness of the subcommittee to recognize what we need to work together with the city to share in what could turn out to be the most tumultuous fiscal year in the city's history," the budget subcommittee reported.

But in proposing a budget millions smaller than two budgets proffered by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joan Connolly in March, subcommittee members stressed that any further cuts would direly threaten the quality of the Malden schools.

"This was a very difficult exercise but we are optimistic that our proposal still provides hope and opportunity for every student in the Malden school system to have the ability to get a good education," said budget subcommittee chair Gary Christenson. "However, if additional cuts are made beyond what is presented here this evening, then undoubtedly core courses will be cut and class size will increase across-the-board."

In reducing Connolly's budget proposals of $44.1 million and $42.4 million to the budget subcommittee's suggested $40.3 million level, the subcommittee was compelled to cut or reduce a mammoth number of costs-28 in all-throughout the school system.

Cuts include eight layoffs of clerical workers and ten paraprofessionals for savings of $238,899 and $140,000 respectfully. Also proposed were hits to professional development ($70,000), athletic programs ($30,000), a 5 percent cut to systemwide supplies ($102,500), and an across-the-board cut to instructional texts and supplies ($133,000).

The proposal includes a suggestion that lunchroom monitors be paid out of cafeteria earnings rather than school funding, a $54,000 savings that the budget subcommittee admitted could require an increase in the price of lunch. The budget includes the elimination of the transportation consultant for savings of $30,000.

Teachers and administrators were not spared by the subcommittee's proposed budget, though Christenson accentuated that the subcommittee tried to avoid laying off "core" teachers, those who instruct in math, English, science and history. In fact, Christenson said the subcommittee worked under the ideology that those positions were untouchable.

"We started by going through the budget a number of times," he said. "Every time we got to a core teacher, we skipped." Inevitably, however, Christenson's said his team realized some core teachers needed to go. "We got down to the point where we were short and we couldn't get down to our number without getting into the classroom," he said. "One of our goals was to come in Monday with no cuts at all."

The subcommittee suggested sacking teachers in several poorly-attended Advanced Placement classes-including English, science and math-for a savings of $262,500. "We felt that those students could take honors classes, these being students who have success no matter what setting," said Christenson. "We didn't want to do it, believe me, but we ran out of options."

A more vague cut-to "various teaching positions" in the K-8 schools for a total of $317,668-is the only other measure that may affect "core" teachers. "That will first cut into teachers in subjects like tech ed and foreign languages, but we left it to the Superintendent to figure out how to disperse it," said Christenson.

But the budget proposal is not vague at all when dealing with administrative positions. In the K-8 schools, two principals who are retiring will not be replaced for a savings of $188,890. Additionally, the subcommittee advised the elimination of two Assistant Principals at Malden High School for $114,856 in savings, a line item Christenson admitted provoked contentiousness in his mostly harmonious committee.

"It's controversial," said Christenson. "It was the last point decided at Saturday's meeting. Two members felt we should have kept them, and two members felt we should look at administration one more time."

Christenson said the subcommittee worked diligently to protect increases to teacher's increases to teacher's salaries negotiated last year. "That was part of our thinking-try to protect our classroom, but also protect the wage increases," he said. But he said the School Committee could legally request contract renegotiations if school funding provided by the state drops below last year's level.

Ward 1 School Committee Member Gary Christenson addressed the Cub Scouts Pack 603 at their annual Arrow of Light ceremony. The text of Gary's remarks were as follows:

Good Evening. My name is Gary Christenson and I represent Ward 1 on the Malden School Committee. Although we find ourselves in the midst of war and an unstable economy, it is groups like the Cub Scouts Pack 603 that gives us hope as we look toward the future.

Tonight, we highlight and congratulate four Scout members who have taken the next step forward to making the world a better place to live for them and for us. Khalid Antar, Carl Damas, Cory D'Entremont, and Robert Kostka have all fulfilled one of the main purposes of the Arrow of Light and that is they crystallize the Scout habit of helpfulness into a life purpose of leadership in cheerful service to others.

To help celebrate this important and special occasion, I would like to personally hand to the recipients a citation prepared by the City of Malden. In closing, I would like to thank you Khalid, Carl, Cory, Robert and all the Cub Scouts for all that you do. Keep up the great work and God Bless America!

Concluding a three-month long study, the Malden School Committee has suggested scores of changes related to the retention, training and placement of substitute teachers, claiming the current system is troubled, especially at the high school level.

Issuing a 12-page report at Monday's School Committee meeting, members of the subcommittee on substitute teacher issues said they hoped that their 26 recommendations, none of which have yet gone into effect, would help alleviate a substitute teacher shortage in addition to other related problems.

Chaired by Ward 1 School Committee member Gary Christenson, the subcommittee took into account hours of exhaustive testimony by teachers, administrators, parents and students regarding an explosive issue which triggered heartfelt responses throughout the school system.

"It was an issue which I don't think had ever been looked at," said Christenson. "And now that it has, we really have to make improvements."

Training was a chief proposal of the subcommittee, said Christenson. "I don't think its real coherent now. It's a real hodgepodge across the system," he said. "Some are trained. Some aren't. So I think we have to come up with a systematic way of everybody being trained."

Committee member Christenson also pointed to the recommendation for two permanent certified substitutes at Malden High School. "Everybody felt pretty strongly about that, because you're dealing with graduation (requirements)," said Christenson. "I think it's a different scenario now that you have MCAS in place."

Christenson felt higher pay could lure teachers who have been hesitant, even "afraid," to teach at the high school, where students are customarily corralled into study hall in the cafeteria when their teachers are absent. "The bottom line is you can't have kids sitting in the caf," he said. "That's unacceptable."

Christenson also felt strongly that evaluation forms be instituted system-wide. "I think we have to have an evaluation form in place which the substitute is responsible for filling out at the end of the day," said Chairman Christenson. "One page-nothing drastic. Just how the day went, who acted up, what happened."

Christenson said he hoped the School Committee would push for some changes starting in March, with others better-suited to a September implementation. He added that the level of public outcry had convinced him of the need for change. "It's rare you see this kind of outpouring of support you see in a subcommittee," Christenson said. "It was standing-room only sometimes."

A Malden School Committee panel looking into aspects of substitute teaching throughout the system released a 14-page report last night, detailing its findings. In its report, the Substitute Subcommittee, led by Ward One Committeeman Gary Christenson, also submitted a list of 26 recommendations for the full School Committee's consideration.

In releasing the report, Christenson told the Committee the depth of the issue surprised him and that he was "glad it was brought to the attention of officials." "I don't think this is something we've ever looked at," said Christenson. "I'm glad we did because we found out a lot of things that surprised many of us."

Among the 26 recommendations the panel has asked the full committee to take under advisement are the elimination of the cafeteria as a study hall at the high school, the hiring of a "floating paraprofessional" to oversee a fifth study hall (there are currently four), a shift differential for substitutes assigned to Malden High, mandatory training seminars for all substitutes and the creation of evaluations to be filled out by both teachers and substitutes at all levels.

In addition, the subcommittee will ask the School Committee to look at initiatives aimed at keeping faculty from using sick and personal days. The panel proposes instituting an incentive policy for unused teacher sick days and a program which would allow faculty to trade an unused personal day for a sick day.

In an effort to address concerns School Committee members said were raised by parents about the impact of teacher absenteeism on the ability of students to be properly readied for the MCAS, the panel has asked the committee to consider adding two permanent substitutes to Malden High who are certified math and English teachers. "This addition," wrote Christenson, "would assist and support our high school students who must pass MCAS in order to graduate from the Malden Public Schools."

Christenson, who requested members go back to their constituents for further input, says he expects to start debate on the recommendations as soon as the Committee's March 10 meeting. "At the end of the day," he said, "we need to focus our effort on putting these things in place for September."

A Malden School Committee subcommittee formed to look at the needs of the school system in its use of substitute teachers, will make its findings known during tonight's meeting at the Ferryway K-8 School.

Chaired by Ward One School Committee member Gary Christenson, the subcommittee was formed partly in response to questions raised in a Dec. 17 Malden Evening News story about a lack of substitute teachers at Malden High, during the inaugural year of high-stakes MCAS testing.

Christenson said the committee, comprised of himself, Ward Eight's Judi Bucci, Ward Five's Greg Lucey, Ward Seven's Gladys Rivera Rogers, Asst. Supt. Elizabeth Keroack, Salemwood School K-4 Principal Maureen Tighe and Substitute Coordinator Marybeth Durant, worked hard to make sure everyone who wanted to, had a chance to be heard, from students to substitutes, parents to paraprofessionals.

In all, Christenson said the 14-page report being made public tonight includes some 25 recommendations as well as a summary of testimony from all concerned parties who took part in the meetings. "I was rather surprised by some of the findings," said Christenson. "After having spent a couple of months looking at this situation, I think we all realize it was a very important area for us to take a focused look at."

He said while the report will be presented tonight, residents shouldn't expect to see changes overnight. "We worked hard," he said, "but now I want all the members to be able to take it back to their constituents for more input before we start to vote on the recommendations."

On Friday, February 14, 2003, Ward 1 School Committee Member Gary Christenson spoke about the role of the Malden School Committee to Ferryway School's fourth graders. Specifically, Christenson told the students that budget and policy issues comprise a majority of the School Committee's time.

It was the policy angle that intrigued the students as a number of students wrote Gary about their own thoughts on ways to improve school policy. The students suggestions ranged from worldwide field trips to all students should be required to wear student identification passes. There was no shortage of students who expressed that a rule be passed giving them more time to eat lunch.

After eating munchkins and juice provided by School Committeeman Christenson, Gary thanked the teachers and students for allowing him the opportunity to speak to tomorrow's leaders.

Ward 1 School Committee Member Gary Christenson was part of a unanimous School Committee vote to overturn a Malden High School policy that had required students who forget their I.D. badges to go home to get their badges or risk sitting out of classes for the day.

Christenson stated that we should not have students roaming the streets of Malden while also missing class because they forgot to bring their I.D. badge to school. Rather, the Ward One School committeeman felt that those students who violate the policy should be issued detention after school.

What was slated to be the first full-scale discussion of next year's School Department budget, ended up being a discussion about this year's budget as well.

Meeting Saturday at the Ferryway School, the School Committee's Budget subcommittee outlined its procedure for assembling the FY04 budget according to subcommittee Chairman Gary Christenson (Ward One).

Not knowing what the numbers will look like in state aid, Christenson says the subcommittee, comprised of himself, Ward Two member Paul Anderson, Ward Three member Frank Russell, and Ward Eight's Judith Bucci will look at the budget in three forms.

"Until you have the number from the state," says Christenson, "it's kind of a guessing game." He says they will most likely begin crafting budgets that are level-funded, 10 percent less than level-funded and level-funded with fixed cost increases.

"The core goal of the subcommittee is to protect the classrooms," says Christenson. He says the subcommittee wants to take a look at all the data that is available and see if cuts need to be made, where they will hurt the least.

As for the last five months of this year, the chairman says even though Gov. Mitt Romney did not cut any Chapter 70 funds, he did make other cuts that will impact the Malden School system.

"I think people think the worst is over after last Thursday, but we're still in a precarious position," says Christenson. Cuts to school readiness, early literacy, universal school breakfast and nursing grants will all affect city schools.

"The nursing grant, that one without a doubt will have an impact on us," says Christenson. The grant administered by the Board of Education is paid for with money from the Department of Public Health, which Christenson says has been chopped.

He adds while the Governor has not cut any Chapter 70 monies thus far, the possibility still exists for him to do so if the Legislature rejects any, or all, of the $143 million worth of cuts he has asked them to approve.

The next subcommittee meeting is slated for Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 4 p.m. at Malden Government Center.

By a vote of 7-0, with one abstention, and one absence, the Malden School Committee last night unanimously approved a new teachers contract. Malden Education Association (MEA) officials and School Committee members say this was one of the most fluid negotiations of the past 20 years.

One day after the ratification vote, Kathy FitzGerald, who has served either as President of the MEA or head of its Negotiating Committee since 1981, told the Malden Evening News, "This was the most cordial round ever." Current MEA President Gerard Ruane said, "I want to thank the Committee. This is the first time I can really remember getting the contract done without any animosity."

Ward One School Committee Member Gary Christenson said he believed the tone of the negotiations was positive throughout because both sides had a deep desire to keep the focus on the students. Christenson is one of two members of the new ward-based Committee who took part in the last negotiations in 1999. He said the difference was, "Night and day."

Pointing back to the state's fiscal situation, Christenson last night told the Malden Evening News, he thinks a key part of the three-year contract, that includes a 10 percent raise, eight percent in-pocket, is the "re-opening provision."

The "re-opening provision" would bring the MEA and the Committee back to the bargaining table should the amount of Chapter 70 money the city gets from the state in Fiscal Year 2004, fall below 2003 levels.

"I think that was a huge key for the contract being agreed to," said Christenson. "It will allow us to come back and work together to address any shortfall next year."

At last night's regularly scheduled meeting, Ward One Committeeman Gary Christenson and Ward Two Committeeman Paul Anderson proposed the creation of a Blue Ribbon Finance Commission.

The men say they envision the commission as a way for the city to ensure education is fully funded in Malden every year. "We're tired of the 'wave effect' financing of education in Malden," said Christenson.

He says the commission would look for ways to centralize the resources coming into the school system, be it money, physical donations, or the volunteering of time or resources. The motion authorizing the creation of the committee was voted on and passed unanimously.

The commission will be appointed by Mayor Richard C. Howard and be made up of teachers, local residents, members of the School Committee, other elected officials, business people, insurance agents, real estate agents, and people from a variety of clubs and organizations inside the city.

A large number of cadets were on hand to hear Ward 1 School Committee Member Gary Christenson congratulate them as they graduated from the Middlesex Sheriff's Office Youth Public Safety Academy. The text of Gary's remarks were as follows:

Good morning. Often we hear the phrase "it is an honor" and not really think much about it. But let me state that when I say "it is an honor" to be here with you this morning, I mean every word of it because the Middlesex Sheriff's Office Youth Public Safety Academy epitomizes everything that is right in this crazy world we live in today.

For the past week, the Middlesex Sheriff's Office has taught Malden, Marlborough, and Medford youth about public safety. Specifically, the Academy has had local police officers, firefighters and EMT's work with the graduating cadets to show them the importance of public safety; how to act in the event of a fire or an emergency situation; and the role they can play in making their homes, schools and communities safer, all worthy goals particularly in light of the events that took place on September 11th.

In addition to the invaluable lessons gained by the cadets this past week, the Middlesex Sheriff's Office Youth Public Safety Academy also gives new meaning to the word "determination" because just two months ago at the height of the state's budget crisis, the Academy was in serious jeopardy of not happening. But thanks to Middlesex Sheriff James V. DiPaola's leadership, he advocated and ultimately got funding for this great program.

So on behalf of Malden School Committee members Bill Mini, Gladys Rivera Rogers, Superintendent Joan Connolly, Mr. Duffy representing Mayor Howard, and myself, I would like to thank you Sheriff DiPaola for your leadership and I would also like to commend the Middlesex Sheriff's Office staff led by Captain Chris Green and company for fulfilling Sheriff DiPaola's commitment to preparing the next generation of leaders that are sitting here before you today.

Good luck cadets and remember you will make a difference one day because its events like the Youth Public Safety Academy that will allow you to make that difference. Thank you.

Last night's Malden School Committee meeting had a virtual buffet line of issues on the discussion list. First and foremost, the committee began to address what some said was the uneven dispersal of students across the city's five brand new K ­ 8 schools. Ward 1 School Committee Member Gary Christenson said Thursday night that there are 980 students attending the Ferryway School while it was built to accommodate 850 students.

During the open forum part of the meeting several Ferryway parents, and Christenson, who in a symbolic gesture rose from behind the tables where the committee was sitting and spoke at the podium where parents and residents were allowed to speak, pleaded with the committee and Superintendent Dr. Joan Connolly to "start recognizing the rights of children at the Ferryway," and begin to ease the overcrowding there.

Christenson indicated the overcrowding has to do with how students are towards the school population, and how parents coming into the city are informed about the size of the population at each of the five K ­ 8 schools. According to Christenson, Dr. Connolly recently told him she will work diligently to ease the overcrowding at the schools where overcrowding is a problem. "All people want is equity," said Christenson.

It was the numbers provided by Dr. Frank DiChiaparri that the Ferryway School was running at 150 percent capacity of its measured capacity of 850 students with approximately 950 students that had School Committeeman Christenson hopping mad.

ÒI hope that we begin to see a marked decrease in the amount of students at the Ferryway School in September of next year," said Christenson. "If not, I might have to show up at the Ferryway School every morning and act as a bellboy, checking in the backpacks of each of the kids."

Christenson added, "I don't have a lot of patience when the special-ed classrooms attendance read off 13, 15, 20, and then the Ferryway School is at 60." Superintendent Connolly responded that there would be changes in place come September.

Despite a willful minority faction which fought for a fatter budget, the School Committee passed the budget subcommittee's $41,071,550 budget for FY2002, a revised version of Superintendent of Schools Joan Connolly's proposal.

"The budget is five percent below this year's appropriation," said budget subcommittee chair Gary Christenson. "Thus, we had to adopt a number of strategies to absorb a five percent cut while at the same time continue to provide a strong foundation from which Malden's students can grown, learn, and be productive citizens."

Christenson explained the budget subcommittee's thinking. "At the end of the day it was decided that rather than passing the buck to the city council and the mayor who have to look at all other budgets, we felt it incumbent on us to make the tough decisions. We're just trying to work as a team," he explained. "We were thinking too that if you look at other communities they are in dire situations because they just really looked at cuts. We were responsible enough to face the situation back in February."

Christenson preferred submitting a budget that would be "respected by the city council," rather than "losing control of the budget which would be the worst situation for us, I think." However, Christenson recommend to the Mayor and the council that any funds restored to Chapter 70 be added back to the Malden Public School budget.

Budget Subcommittee Chairman Gary Christenson submits budget for School Committee review
(Excerpts from the Malden Advocate, Friday, April 12, 2002)

The school budget subcommittee helmed by Ward One School Committee Member Gary Christenson presented a proposal which takes into consideration both public opinion and a severe situation which is looking more likely by the day: a five to ten percent cut in state funding to the schools likely resulting in a $2 million bite out of Malden's $41 million budget.

Two areas of Superintendent Connolly's budget proposal to the School Committee that had drawn fire was her plan to expunge the technology education department which instructs students in wood and metal shop, car repair, and graphic design and to gut the already meager numbers of musical instrument teachers from three to one.

But e-mails, letters, and packed public hearings were sufficient to sway the Budget Subcommittee, said Christenson. "We respect what Dr. Connolly had submitted," he said. "Our next step was to hear from the public. It was overwhelming. They felt very strongly you couldn't eliminate a department in one fell swoop--which has some merit."

So Christenson and company went to work reworking the budget so that it regained those two departments again. "What we had to do was balance what she had to do versus what the community wanted," said Christenson. But there were no easy answers, he said. Adding shop and music teachers meant cutting elsewhere, said Christenson.

The budget subcommittee "begrudgingly" decided to eliminate five Magnet Theme Coordinators for one year. The feeling was that this fiscal year we wanted to turn inward to the classroom," Christenson said. "Instead of not being in the classroom now the five Magnet Theme Coordinators will be in the classroom." Christenson hoped the cutback is short-term. "It's our hope that as the funding comes back we would go back to what we were doing with magnet coordinators," he said.

Additionally, the subcommittee had two other suggestions. First, they requested cutting some busing back to the state minimum for a savings of $40,000. "In a normal year, we're not visiting that area of the budget but when we're faced with this type of budget, it's a different matter," Christenson said. "It is going to impact ridership." Second, they also decided to forgo a planned campaign to reduce kindergarten class size for the time being.

Despite the heartfelt pain engendered by the budget battles, Christenson implied that the quarrels and quibbles had done some good, bringing to light two issues that required resolution. First, the community was unsure whether schools truly needed two principals and two assistant principals, a feature many weren't even cognizant of before now. In addition, despite the public's demand for it, the technology education department has come into question because Malden allots funds to the Northeast Regional Vocational School that teaches the same subjects, reported Christenson.

If the Malden School Committee has its way, elementary school students will be attending smaller classes in the near future.

The committee adopted a report on the optimal class size for kindergarten through third grade in the Malden school system during its meeting this week. The subcommittee, led by School Committee Member Gary Christenson, was created to devise ways of shrinking class sizes in the five newly constructed schools.

"My resolve about the issue of smaller classes in grades K-3 is as strong tonight as it has ever been," said Christenson. "We hear about the issues of respectful behavior within the classroom, listening to teachers in the classroom, and many other behavioral issues all come back to classroom size in the crucial early years of a child's education. We believe that this report is a blueprint that make a difference and lay the best educational foundation for the children of Malden."

As a way of improving communication between the School Committee and the Ferryway School community, Ward 1 School Committee Member Gary Christenson announced that he would be hosting office hours once a month at the Ferryway School.

As part of his day at the Ferryway School, Christenson stated that he would be available to parents before and after school and in between, Gary hoped to spend the majority of time in the classroom observing and learning about the issues that students face every day.

Christenson's office hours all from 7:30 am until 3:30 pm are as follows: Thursday, January 31, Friday, February 15, Friday, March 15, Friday, April 26, Friday, May 17, and Friday, June 14.

The Malden School Committee held its first meeting of 2002. It was a historic evening, as Malden School Committee chairman and Mayor Richard C. Howard presided over the first meeting of the first ever ward-based school board in the city.

Among the topics addressed was a proposal to drop rental fees for school facilities to any nonprofit organization in Malden led to some interesting discussion amongst committee members. Proponents of the measure said dropping rental fees would ìhelp promote a more civic identity for Maldenís citizens and help bring the community closer together.î Ward One Committee Member Gary Christenson disagreed, ìPassing this proposal would be unfair to the children and taxpayers who shouldnít have to pay for someone elseís activity at their expense.î

ìThe School Committee members assume their positions on the historic occasion of being the first members elected under the new formula of ward-based representation...The overriding purposes for making the change was to encourage more participation in the election process and to attract more high quality candidates to seek this important position. It is clear from the past campaign season, and from the quality of new members, that in making the change the council accomplished those goals.î

Mayor Howard went on to swear in the new members of the Malden School Committee including Ward 1 member Gary Christenson. The evening ended with a post-inaugural reception at the Ryder Art Gallery in the Malden Public Library.

After months of campaigning, Gary Christenson came out on top over Sherrill West, 491 to 392. Afterward, the newly elected School Committee Member who will be representing Ward One beginning in January credited Sherrill on a well-fought campaign. "I started with a lot of respect for Sherrill and end the campaign with that same level of respect. She's a great person and I hope we can work together to help the Malden Public Schools move forward."

Monday, October 15, 2001

Citizens of Malden:

On Thursday, July 16, 2001, the Malden School Committee voted 6-1 to accept the School Facilities subcommittee's recommendation of a new "Community Use of School Facilities" policy along with an updated fee schedule.

The subcommittee's report was in response to an audit generated by the public accounting firm of Tucci & Roselli, who for the second straight year concluded that our policy was not being administered properly including the fact that some organizations were not paying for the use of our school facilities. Furthermore, Tucci & Roselli felt that our fee structure was inadequate to cover the true costs associated with the rental of our school facilities.

Since the Committee's vote, however, some concerns have been raised about the new fee structure particularly as it affects Malden's youth groups. Based on this concern, the subcommittee reconvened to address this issue and to also look at any other unanticipated issues that may have arisen since the adoption of the policy.

After two meetings, the subcommittee voted unanimously to recommend that we establish a separate fee structure to accommodate Malden's youth groups. Specifically, youth groups that are comprised of 75 percent or more of Malden kids will be charged a flat rate of $40 per hour beginning November 1, 2001. This reduced fee will allow our youth organizations to affordably use our school facilities and will permit the Malden Public Schools to cover some energy and preventive maintenance costs associated with Malden youth group activities.

The subcommittee also recommends that we change the person responsible for the administration of the policy from the Superintendent to the Business Manager. Finally, we adjusted a number of other fees and we rewrote the fee schedule to make it more readable for our users.

We feel that the attached proposal will keep our goal intact of ensuring that a fair system is in place for the community use of our school facilities, including the goal that every organization that uses our school facilities must share in the cost of that activity.

For the subcommittee,

Gary Christenson

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CITY OF MALDEN
MALDEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

POLICY AND PROCEDURE

COMMUNITY USE OF SCHOOL FACILITIES

Table of Contents
.01 Date Issued
.02 Policy
.03 Applicability
.04 Procedure

.01 Date Issued
The issue date of this Policy and Procedure is June 21, 2001 and will be effective on July 1, 2001.

.02 Policy
It is the policy of the Malden School Committee that all of our school facilities be made available to and enjoyed by the entire community through academic, recreational, cultural, and social activities.

.03 Applicability
Community use of school facilities includes:

1. Public school activities;
2. Parent-teacher activities;
3. Official city public hearings;
4. School Committee meetings and activities;
5. Parks and playground activities (during school hours);
6. Local non-profit and non-commercial organization activities;
7. Civic, educational, social, and religious organization activities; and
8. Other activities as approved by the Superintendent of the Malden Public Schools.

The request for use of the school facilities will be prioritized as follows:

1. Malden Public School activities;
2. City meetings and other community activities; then
3. All other activities with preference given to Malden groups and organizations.

.04 Procedure
The Superintendent Business Manager of the Malden Public Schools, hereinafter referred to as "Superintendent Business Manager," shall approve the community use of school facilities in conformity with the following procedures:

1. The Malden School Committee shall annually review and approve a fee schedule for the use of school facilities.
2. Requests for the use of Malden Public School facilities shall be made to the Business Office at least 14 days prior to the date of use. Requests that are not in compliance with this requirement will not be considered unless otherwise approved by the Superintendent Business Manager.
3. Applicants must designate a contact person upon filing a request for the use of school facilities and request any special services and/or equipment upon the submission of the request.
4. A standard contract form and a Certificate of Insurance indicating minimum limits of general liability and property damage must accompany all requests for use of school facilities submitted to the Business Office.
5. Upon approval of a request, a rental fee will be charged and collected by check before the activity takes place. The rental rate per hour beginning July 1, 2001 and ending June 30, 2002 shall be in accord with the attached fee schedule.
6. Malden Public School groups and organizations, including all school councils, the Malden School Committee, all school Parent/Teacher organizations, all Malden Public School athletic teams, and official City public hearings shall not be required to pay a rental fee.
7. The long-term rental of a school facility may be negotiated by the Superintendent Business Manager separately from the aforementioned procedures and any approved request involving the rental of a school facility for eight weeks or more in duration shall make payments as follows: 25 percent of the rental contract sum shall be due on or before the first day of use; an additional 50 percent shall be due at the halfway point of the contract; and the remaining 25 percent shall be due at the end of the contract.
8. Where a mutual exchange of facilities is possible between the Malden Public Schools and another school or organization, rates may be modified or eliminated by the Superintendent Business Manager with Malden School Committee subject to the Superintendent's approval.
9. Once collected, the rental fee shall be deposited into the School Facilities account within 24 hours of receipt and shall be expended according to a schedule approved by the Superintendent Business Manager.
10. Groups receiving permission are restricted to the dates and hours approved and to the building areas and facilities as specified. unless otherwise approved by the Superintendent.
11. For safety purposes, the doors to the school facilities must be locked at all times. It is the responsibility of each group that uses a school facility to appoint a person that will be responsible for monitoring the school facility doors and the surrounding area of the activity.
12. No food or drink may be brought in or consumed inside any area of a school facility unless otherwise authorized by agreement. Smoking is not permitted inside any school building and alcoholic beverages cannot be brought on to or consumed inside any school building.
13. Failure to adhere to any of the preceding policies and procedures will result in the termination of all rental privileges.
14. The Malden School Committee reserves the right to cancel the use of the school facilities at any time.

Old Fee Schedule
LOCATION	NON-PROFIT	FOR PROFIT
Malden High School	$50 per hour for a minimum of three hours	$50 per hour for a minimum of three hours
K - 7 Schools	$50 for the first three hours and $25 for each additional hour	$50 for the first three hours and $25 for each additional hour
New Fee Schedule
LOCATION	NON-PROFIT	FOR PROFIT	MALDEN YOUTH GROUPS (75% or more of Malden youth)
Malden High School - Jenkins Auditorium **	$100 per hour for a minimum of $225 for first three hours and $50 for each additional hour *	$175 per hour for a minimum of $300 for first three hours and $125 $75 for each additional hour *
Malden High School - Finn Gym **	$75 per hour for a minimum of $225 for first three hours and $50 for each additional hour *	$125 per hour for a minimum of $375 for first three hours and $75 for each additional hour *	$40 per hour
Malden High School - Marshall Gym **	$50 per hour for a minimum of $75 for first three hours and $50 for each additional hour *	$50 per hour for a minimum of $125 for first three hours and $75 for each additional hour *	$40 per hour
Malden High School - Cafeteria A or B - Without Kitchen **	$200 for first three hours and $50 for each additional hour *	$250 for first three hours and $50 for each additional hour *
Malden High School - Cafeteria A or B - With Kitchen **	$250 for first three hours and $50 for each additional hour plus the additional cost for kitchen personnel *	$300 for first three hours and $50 for each additional hour plus the additional cost for kitchen personnel *
Malden High School Classrooms	$50 per hour	$50 per hour
Salemwood - Whole Field House **	$125 per hour for a minimum of $375 for first three hours and $100 for each additional hour *	$250 per hour for a minimum of $500 for first three hours and $250 $150 for each additional hour *	$40 per hour
Salemwood - One Section of Field House	$50 per hour for a minimum of three hours and $25 for each additional hour	$100 per hour for a minimum of three hours and $50 for each additional hour
Cafeterias - All Schools K - 8 - Without Kitchen **	$75 per hour for a minimum of for three hours and $50 for each additional hour *	$75 $100 per hour for a minimum of for three hours and $50 for each additional hour *
Cafeterias - All Schools K - 8 - With Kitchen **	$100 per hour for a minimum of for three hours and $50 for each additional hour plus the additional cost for kitchen personnel *	$100 $125 per hour for a minimum of for three hours and $50 for each additional hour plus the additional cost for kitchen personnel *
Gyms - K - 8 Schools **	$75 for first a minimum of three hours and $50 for each additional hour *	$75 $100 for first a minimum of three hours and $50 for each additional hour *	$40 per hour (if applicable)
Classrooms - K - 8 Schools	$50 per hour	$50 per hour
LOCATION	ALL GROUPS	SEASONAL - FALL, WINTER, SPRING
Malden High School - Pool	$2,000 each season *	6:00 A.M. - 7:15 A.M.
Malden High School - Pool	$3,600 each season *	2:30 P.M. - 7:30 P.M.
Malden High School - Pool	Rate to be negotiated ***	Additional hours as needed
* Rates do not include custodial fees which are subject to date and time of event
** Three-hour minimum rental requirement
*** If added hours are necessary, fee will be negoitated with rental group

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City reinstates kindergarten aides

(Excerpts from the Malden Observer, Thursday, July 26, 2001)

Never underestimate the power of public opinion. Parents concerned over the impending loss of paraprofessionals in Malden's kindergarten classrooms learned this lesson well last week as their continued support for reinstatement led to action.

After much consternation from Malden parents, Superintendent of Schools Joan Connolly announced to the School Committee and interested attendees that she and the principals of the five K-8 schools had identified resources within each school's existing budget to redirect toward the positions.

As a result, all kindergarten classrooms whose enrollment reaches 22 students or higher will have a full-time paraprofessional to assist the teacher and improve the student-to-adult ratio. As of now, 10 of the 15 kindergarten classes in the city meet the paraprofessional enrollment requirement. Classes at the Linden and Forestdale schools are still underenrolled but may meet the criterion by school's start in September.

Though Connolly did work with the school department staff to appease this particular concern related to kindergarten students, she does not believe that the major problem has been solved. "I feel strongly that there is a larger issue of class size across the grades, " said Connolly.

To address the larger issue of class size, Connolly created a task force to examine national research on optimal class size. The task force will be co-chaired by committee member Gary Christenson and one of the K-4 principals. They will look for teacher and parent involvement in the process and report back to the School Committee in the fall.

Thursday, June 21, 2001

To the citizens of Malden:

On Wednesday, March 21, 2001 Mayor Richard C. Howard, Chairman of the Malden School Committee established a subcommittee to review our "Community Use of School Facilities" policy. This review was in response to a report generated by the public accounting firm of Tucci & Roselli, who for the second straight year concluded that our present policy was not being administered properly.

The subcommittee consisted of myself as Chairman, Frances Baker, Ellie Fitzpatrick, Ruth Luca, all members of the Malden School Committee, Paula Neville, Business Manager for the Malden Public Schools, John DiGiammarino, Assistant Superintendent for the Malden Public Schools, and Domenic Fermano, City Controller for the City of Malden. Together, we spent the past several months reviewing our present policy and conclude, along with Tucci & Roselli, that there are significant shortcomings in our policy.

Before we present our findings, however, one unanimous recommendation that we propose is that every organization using our school facilities must share in the cost of that activity. Anything but a sharing of costs by all participants using our school facilities is a direct violation of the trust placed in the School Committee and the Malden Public Schools by the taxpayers whom we ultimately serve.

In light of the fact that we will be operating five new schools with greater energy needs and better preventive maintenance measures, our second unanimous recommendation is that we propose replacing the present fee schedule, which was last modified in 1992, with a new fee schedule that will more accurately reflect the true costs of supporting each activity within our schools.

We hope that you will take some time reviewing the report. Please feel free at any time to contact members of the subcommittee with further comments and additional recommendations.

Thank you.

For the subcommittee,

Gary J. Christenson

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The Malden Public Schools has always made it a priority that its school facilities be made available to and enjoyed by the entire community through academic, recreational, cultural, and social activities. The primary goal of these activities is to foster community spirit and thus a number of the events have been administered at a minimal cost.

In fiscal year 2001, it is expected that the fees from the rental of our school facilities will generate $100,000, an amount that will primarily cover the cost of related custodial and other maintenance costs. All fees garnered from these activities are deposited in a separate account and expended on the aforementioned costs.

On December 11, 1999, the public accounting firm of Tucci & Roselli issued a report entitled Procedural Report on the Rental of Surplus Space and Other School Property. In that report, Tucci & Roselli found that the community use of our school facilities was being compromised due to a lack of understanding by school personnel of the legal requirements involved in the renting of school property.

For example, Tucci & Roselli found that rental agreements did not exist in most situations and in those situations where they did exist, they were informal and were not executed or approved by the School Committee. Also, the scheduling of activities lacked an organized format, resulting in some inaccuracies with respect to the billing process. Additionally, school personnel collecting rental fees were not bonded and some fees were paid in cash. Finally, Tucci & Roselli concluded that an inconsistent fee structure existed between users of the rental facilities meaning that some organizations were not being charged for use of the school facilities while other similar organizations were paying a fee.

In response, the School Committee revamped its policies shortly thereafter but on February 15, 2001, Tucci & Roselli concluded that although the revamped policies appeared complete, they were not necessarily being followed administratively. Moreover, the public accounting firm stated "the greatest areas of deficiency lied within the fee schedule because several organizations were still being allowed significant use of the school facilities free of charge and with no formal approval by the School Committee."

Some of the specific flaws found within the present fee schedule by Tucci & Roselli, included the fact that none of the Little Leagues were billed for the 2000 season usage; several dance studios had rentals in arrears despite repeated attempts to collect; and at least 8 organizations were allowed to use the facilities free of charge.

After Tucci & Roselli issued the second report, this subcommittee came into existence. Attached to this report is a proposed Policy and Procedure along with a new fee structure that will address a number of the concerns raised by Tucci & Roselli and our citizenry at large. Some of the highlights from the attached proposal include:

In conclusion, the subcommittee believes wholeheartedly in the idea that our school facilities should be available for use by the entire community but we also believe that the costs associated with that use be spread evenhandedly. By requiring that all participants share in the costs for energy and preventive maintenance measures, the Malden Public Schools will be able to keep our five new schools in excellent condition for generations to come.

Table of Contents
.01 Date Issued
.02 Policy
.03 Applicability
.04 Procedure

.01 - Date Issued

The issue date of this Policy and Procedure is June 21, 2001 and will be effective on July 1, 2001.

.02 - Policy

It is the policy of the Malden School Committee that all of our school facilities be made available to and enjoyed by the entire community through academic, recreational, cultural, and social activities.

.03 - Applicability

Community use of school facilities includes:

1. Public school activities;
2. Parent-teacher activities;
3. Official city public hearings;
4. School Committee meetings and activities;
5. Parks and playground activities (during school hours);
6. Local non-profit and non-commercial organization activities;
7. Civic, educational, social, and religious organization activities; and
8. Other activities as approved by the Superintendent of the Malden Public Schools.

The request for use of the school facilities will be prioritized as follows:

1. Malden Public School activities;
2. City meetings and other community activities; then
3. All other activities with preference given to Malden groups and organizations.

.04 - Procedure

The Superintendent of the Malden Public Schools, hereinafter referred to as "Superintendent," shall approve the community use of school facilities in conformity with the following procedures:

1. The Malden School Committee shall annually review and approve a fee schedule for the use of school facilities.

2. Requests for the use of Malden Public School facilities shall be made to the Business Office at least 14 days prior to the date of use. Requests that are not in compliance with this requirement will not be considered unless otherwise approved by the Superintendent.

3. Applicants must designate a contact person upon filing a request for the use of school facilities and request any special services and/or equipment upon the submission of the request.

4. A standard contract form and a Certificate of Insurance indicating minimum limits of general liability and property damage must accompany all requests for use of school facilities submitted to the Business Office.

5. Upon approval of a request, a rental fee will be charged and collected by check before the activity takes place. The rental rate per hour beginning July 1, 2001 and ending June 30, 2002 shall be in accord with the attached fee schedule.

6. Malden Public School groups and organizations, including all school councils, the Malden School Committee, all school Parent/Teacher organizations, all Malden Public School athletic teams, and official City public hearings shall not be required to pay a rental fee.

7. The long-term rental of a school facility may be negotiated by the Superintendent separately from the aforementioned procedures and any approved request involving the rental of a school facility for eight weeks or more in duration shall make payments as follows: 25 percent of the rental contract sum shall be due on or before the first day of use; an additional 50 percent shall be due at the halfway point of the contract; and the remaining 25 percent shall be due at the end of the contract.

8. Where a mutual exchange of facilities is possible between the Malden Public Schools and another school or organization, rates may be modified or eliminated by the Superintendent with Malden School Committee approval.

9. Once collected, the rental fee shall be deposited into the School Facilities account within 24 hours of receipt and shall be expended according to a schedule approved by the Superintendent.

10. Groups receiving permission are restricted to the dates and hours approved and to the building areas and facilities specified unless otherwise approved by the Superintendent.

11. For safety purposes, the doors to the school facilities must be locked at all times. It is the responsibility of each group that uses a school facility to appoint a person that will be responsible for monitoring the school facility doors and the surrounding area of the activity.

12. No food or drink may be brought in or consumed inside any area of a school facility. Smoking is not permitted inside any school building and alcoholic beverages cannot be brought on to or consumed inside any school building.

13. Failure to adhere to any of the preceding policies and procedures will result in the termination of all rental privileges.

14. The Malden School Committee reserves the right to cancel the use of the school facilities at any time.

 

Payment Fee Schedule

LOCATION	* NON-PROFIT	* FOR PROFIT
Malden High School	$50 per hour for a minimum of three hours	$50 per hour for a minimum of three hours
K - 7 Schools	$50 for the first three hours and $25 for each additional hour	$50 for the first three hours and $25 for each additional hour
Proposed Fee Schedule
LOCATION	* NON-PROFIT	* FOR PROFIT
Malden High School - Jenkins Auditorium	$100 per hour for a minimum of three hours and $50 for each additional hour	$175 per hour for a minimum of three hours and $125 for each additional hour
Malden High School - Finn Gym	$75 per hour for a minimum of three hours and $50 for each additional hour	$125 per hour for a minimum of three hours and $75 for each additional hour
Malden High School - Marshall Gym	$50 per hour for a minimum of three hours	$50 per hour for a minimum of three hours
Malden High School Classrooms	$50 per hour	$50 per hour
Salemwood - Whole Field House	$125 per hour for a minimum of three hours and $100 for each additional hour	$250 per hour for a minimum of three hours and $250 for each additional hour
Salemwood - One Section of Field House	$50 per hour for a minimum of three hours and $25 for each additional hour	$100 per hour for a minimum of three hours and $50 for each additional hour
Cafeterias - All Schools - Without Kitchen	$75 per hour for a minimum of three hours	$75 per hour for a minimum of three hours
Cafeterias - All Schools - With Kitchen	$100 per hour for a minimum of three hours plus the additional cost for kitchen personnel	$100 per hour for a minimum of three hours plus the additional cost for kitchen personnel
Gyms - K - 8 Schools	$75 for a minimum of three hours	$75 for a minimum of three hours
Classrooms - K - 8 Schools	$50 per hour	$50 per hour
LOCATION	* ALL GROUPS	SEASONAL - FALL, WINTER, SPRING
Malden High School - Pool	$2,000 each season	6:00 A.M. - 7:15 A.M.
Malden High School - Pool	$3,600 each season	2:30 P.M. - 7:30 P.M.

* Rates do not include custodial fees which are subject to date and time of event

 

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Kindergarten controversy
(Excerpts from the Malden Observer, Thursday, June 26, 2001)

More than 50 community members came to last week's School Committee meeting to make their voices heard concerning the recent cut of paraprofessionals from the city's kindergarten classrooms. They appeared before the decision-makers to let them know, loud and clear, that they adamantly oppose the recent action.

Though many constructive comments were made to the committee, the general tone of the session could be characterized as angry. Among the 15-20 residents who spoke in favor of the paraprofessionals' presence in the kindergarten classrooms, the underlying message remained the same: Reinstate the kindergarten paraprofessionals.

Stepping down from his seat on the School Committee to enter comment on the public record, member Bill Mini accused the school system of operating for the benefit of the administration and not for the children.

Mini later returned to his post on the committee panel and put forward a motion that the superintendent be instructed to reinstate the kindergarten professionals immediately. The motion failed. Following discussion, a second motion to table the issue in favor of further review passed by a vote of 5-2.

Howard approved the creation of a subcommittee to examine the budget carefully for ways to shift funds and reinstate the positions. Mini insisted that only he and fellow member Gary Christenson sit on the subcommittee because of their past successful working relationship and their experience with budgets. Though several members of the School Committee did volunteer to join, Mini said that he and Christenson did not need anyone else on the subcommittee.

"The next step is to come back July 16, hopefully with some movement," said Christenson. "I'm sitting down with the superintendent next week and I'm hopeful that we'll be able to make some kind of compromise."

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MHS curriculum gets a face-lift

(Excerpts from the Malden Observer, June 19, 2001)

Come September 2001, Malden High School will reveal a new face. Make that four new faces, as the city's public secondary school is about to embark on an ambitious restructuring plan that will divide the school into four distinct administrative houses based on different career pathways and serve as an extension of the current magnet school themes at the primary school level.

"Instead of getting a diploma for a diploma's sake, students will get a diploma that has relevance to their future aspirations in the work field or further education, " says Principal Peter Lueke.

For nearly two years now, the high school council and administration have been working on the development of a delineative structure plan for the school. With the assistance of a Chamber of Commerce subcommittee, the group identified four themes that provide a range of opportunities for students and are relevant to today's world beyond the classroom walls.

The four themes are health and human services, technology and engineering, arts and humanities, and business management and telecommunications. As far as possible, the high school complex will be divided into four separate house arenas.

The proposed changes " came out of a feeling at Malden High School and urban schools in general that a significant percentage of the population was not having as good a high school experience as possible, " says Lueke. He bases that notion on student performance and the students' sense of satisfaction with the overall experience.

To combat apathy and poor performance, the council sought to design a scheme that would connect students to their learning. Thus, a major component of the MHS restructuring is the personalization of each student's schooling according to his or her needs and interests. Additionally, it will provide a smaller, more nurturing environment in which students feel more connected to their schooling.

During the drafting of the plan, Lueke invited school committee member Gary Christenson to attend a site-visit at the Fenway School in Boston - a school that has recently adopted a similar restructuring plan. Upon return, Christenson described his positive impressions of Fenway's progressive direction and the apparent success of the program.

"What captured my attention most was in the middle of the day when the headmaster (principal) had a meeting with teachers and counselors talking about various students who were not meeting expectations and what they could do to help them. That was the most enticing part of the program," said Christenson.

According to the plan, 9th and 10th grade students will spend the majority of their time in their houses with only minor overlap or flux between groups. Each house will have core instructors in English, social studies, math and science, as well as a housemaster, secretary and paraprofessional. Eleventh and 12th grade students will see more flexibility in their schedules and contemporaries as they flow more freely throughout the schools corridors to attend higher level courses, electives and collect graduation requirements.

Seniors will also be encouraged to participate in internships throughout the community that relate to their educational plan and future aspirations. Christenson points to "the concept of using senior year as a transitional year for a student from high school into the real world" as a real advantage. "They can use that year as a way of preparing resumes and making contacts."

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Ward-based representation nears for school committee

(Excerpts from the Malden Observer, June 19, 2001)

Malden residents will have a few more chads to punch on their November ballots this year, as the city's 1999 decision to move to a ward-based School Committee takes effect. The change in policy will stretch the committee's voting population from seven to nine, thus incorporating what some say is a more equitable demographic representation. The formerly unpaid positions will also garner $6,000 per seat annually.

In the past several years, Malden has seen the construction of five brand new K-8 magnet theme elementary schools. In bringing the citywide schools online, the notion of neighborhood elementary schools in Malden suffered a setback.

The transfer to a demographically representative school committee at a time when local demographic schooling is gone. Students and parents now choose a particular school based on whatever criteria they deem most critical. For some, that may always be the locatio