Alley: No further info.
Quote:
“The community forum on Tuesday, December 15 to meet the final candidates for Webster Elementary School principal has been canceled after Phil Banios withdrew his name for consideration. If and when another forum date is scheduled, we will provide that information.”
That statement was issued on Friday morning by the Manchester School District. Banios was one of two finalists slated for the district’s dog and pony show at Webster School tomorrow night. The other is Northwest Elementary Assistant Principal Christopher MacDonald, who was also a finalist for the principal’s position at Henry Wilson Elementary. Will MacDonald, as the last man standing, get the job? Why can’t the community meet him? Will another finalist be dug up? Will the position be reposted? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
MSD: Test results going home.
Parents and guardians of Manchester’s school children might want to be asking them if they’ve received their individual scores from the Smarter Balanced Assessment. The Manchester School District announced on Friday they’d be coming home quote”next week” which we assume starts today. The district said technical challenges between the assessment’s score reporting system and school rosters delayed the printing of individual reports. Students in grades 3 though 8 and 11 took the assessment, which supposedly established a new baseline for academic progress.
Parental notice: Some understanding required
Along with the student score reports for each subject, families will receive a guide produced by the school district to describe the assessment, explain what the results mean, and offer additional resources for information. A sample score report also is included in the parent packet to provide more detail on how to read the scores.
Individual reports for students include a breakdown of their performance, along with comparisons to school wide, district wide and state averages. We’ve posted the sample score report and score guide being sent home to parents from this news read at Girard at Large dot com.
News from our own backyard continues after this.
Edelblut: Allow protection of National Guardsmen
Wilton State Representative and potential Republican candidate for governor Frank Edelblut has introduced legislation that would prohibit the New Hampshire National Guard from adopting a force protection policy that declares any facility owned or maintained by the Guard to be a gun free zone. Edelblut’s bill, H B 1288 would also permit members of the Guard to carry concealed weapons while at Guard facilities.
Edelblut was among those who called on Governor Margaret Wood Hassan to remove restrictions on fire arms at Guard facilities after the terrorist attack on a recruiting station in Chattanooga, TN back in July. Hassan ultimately decided against allowing soldiers in uniform to be armed. Edelblut seems to think the people who may be called upon to serve their country in combat and those who support them out to be enabled and trusted to defend themselves in case they are attacked.
We’ll see what happens if and when this one gets to the governor’s desk. We’ve linked to an article published by our Politically Buzzed anchor Kimberly Morin on the topic following an interview with Edelblut.
Tentative Agreement with Firefighters union up for vote
The Bedford Town Council will take up a contract with its firefighters’ union at its meeting on Wednesday night. The Bedford Firefighters Union contract with the town expired on December thirty first of last year. The one year deal, which provides a two and a half percent pay raise, was tentatively agreed to on December seventh, bringing negotiations which had been ongoing since September eighteenth to a close.
A sticking point has been what to do about health insurance. According to information provided on the council’s agenda, the one year deal was agreed to to provide the town with quote “time to thoughtfully assess what should be accomplished for the health which is the second largest employee expense.” If approved by the council, the agreement, which is for calendar two thousand sixteen, will be placed as a warrant article on the ballot for voter approval in March.
The council will also decide on public hearing dates for an amendment to the town’s charter that would affecting the residency requirement for the town manager.
Metzler: The Great and Powerful Oz!
Quote:
Superintendent Dr. Earl Metzler is pleased to announce the establishment of TPAF, the Timberlane Parents Advisory Forum. TPAF will meet every other month, beginning in January, and be co-chaired by parent Julie Hammond, former Citizen Advisory Committee member Kate Delfino, and District administrators Deb Armfield and Christi Michaud. TPAF is charged with providing a forum for parents of Timberlane students to share their concerns and offer feedback to District leaders regarding program, curriculum and instruction. All parents of Timberlane students are invited to attend these meetings. Dates, times and locations of these meetings will be posted at https://public.timberlane.net/projects/paradv/default.aspx.
Parents may suggest agenda topics for these forums by emailing forum members at TPAF@timberlane.net.
Hey, and I thought that’s what school board’s were supposed to do! And, no, the Timberlane Regional School Board cast no vote to further separate itself from the people it serves, though they no doubt would have.
That’s news from our own backyard, Girard at Large hour ___ is next!
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Parents should ask to see the Smarter Balanced assessment questions along with their child’s answers, which they have to right to request, RSA 193-C:10. Is Smarter Balanced an academic assessment? Or does it contain too many behavioral questions like some have reported. This is a parent’s right to know.
School board members should also ask to see what is being asked of students. Transparency is needed. Results based on arbitrary cut scores does not provide sufficient information.
Thanks, Doris.
Is there a procedure for parents to ask? Do they ask their local principal or superintendent, or do they have to make a request of the state Department of Education?