Ryan: Bearer of good news
Assistant Manchester Superintendent David Ryan announced more good news regarding the district’s A P scores at Monday’s meeting of the Board of School Committee. At the meeting, Ryan said The College Board, which oversees A P courses and exams, recognizes exemplary student achievement through its Scholar Program, as well as exemplary school districts in its A P District Honor Roll.
The first level, AP ScholarAwards, recognizes students who achieve grades of three or higher on at least three full year A P Exams. Central had thirteen A P Scholars, West had three and Memorial had one.
The next level, A P Scholar with Honors Award, recognizes students who achieve grades of three or higher on at least four full year A P Exams, and whose average A P Exam grade is at least three point two five. Four students earned the award at Central and one at Memorial.
AP Scholar with Distinction is granted to students who receive an average score of at least three point five on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. Five Central students earned this designation.
Finally, A P District Honor Roll recognizes school districts for increasing access to A P ®courses while simultaneously maintaining or increasing the percentage of students earning scores of three or higher on A P Exams. Last year Manchester was one of five hundred forty seven school districts in the nation named to the two thousand fifteen A P District Honor. Ryan said the district expects to once again be named to the Honor Roll as the number of students taking A P exams increased by twenty one percent. The district’s goal is to see eighty percent of students taking the exam score three or higher.
Avard: Concerned about AP Exam cost
During the discussion that followed Ryan’s report, Ward Ten Committeeman John Avard suggested the district develop some sort of scholarship program that would pay for the tests. Currently, students must pay eighty nine dollars to take each A P exam. Not all students who take A P courses take the A P test, and Avard was concerned that the cost was a deterrent to families that are less well off.
Gatsas: How’d Pinkerton do?
Mayor Ted Gatsas inquired of Ryan about Pinkerton Academy’s scores and how they compared to the city’s. Ryan did not have that information, but said he would attempt to obtain it. Girard at Large emailed Pinkerton Monday night requesting information on how their students performed on the A P exams, but have yet to receive a reply. We’ll let you know if we get one.
Picking up donated equipment in Concord are (from left) Gary Girolimon, GSD Director of Technology; Michael Pica and Nick Smith, tech support specialists.
The Goffstown School District announced it recently obtained a donation of computer equipment from the state Department of Social Security Disability Determination Services. The department had just refreshed their computer workstations and monitors and their old equipment, including twenty three monitors, thirty two workstations, and two servers, was made available to the district. Rebuilding this hardware and putting it to good use will be a project of the Goffstown High School Computer Repair program.
News from our own backyard continues after this.
Merrimack: The Taxman commeth
The town of Merrimack has released its tax rates for the coming year. In a press release issued yesterday, the town said the state Department of Revenue Administration confirmed the it two thousand fifteen property tax rate of $2 4 . 7 2 per thousand. This represents an overall increase of sixty three cents per thousand or two point six percent.
Merrimack: School taxes jump!
Looks like the Merrimack Town Council did it’s job. The municipal tax rate went up by one half of one percent, or just three cents per thousand. The Merrimack School Board on the other hand, served up a fifty three cent per thousand increase, representing a more than three and one half percent increase. The county tax bill was up by over six and one half percent or eight cents. The statewide property tax for education declined by a penny in town.
Osram Sylvania Plant: Major development announcement pending
Mayor Ted Gatsas will hold a press conference today at the site of the closed Osram Sylvania plant on South Willow Street. The plant has been idled since September of two thousand fourteen when the company said it was closed because of declining demand for traditional lighting products. One hundred thirty nine people lost their job when the plant shutdown, though Sylvania had, for years, been consistently whittling away at the workforce it employed on the site for decades. Requests to change the site’s zoning from industrial to commercial have been pending at City Hall as local developers Dick Anagnost, Arthur Sullivan and Shane Brady have sought to redevelop the site. Today, they will join Gatsas on site to unveil their plans for the building that has been a landmark in the city for generations and is something of a throwback to South Willow Street’s pre-retail development days.
Publisher’s Note: The media advisory was sent out by both Mayor Gatsas and Economic Development Director William Craig. Also, during this morning’s interview, the mayor said it was the developers who wanted the press conference and asked his office to facilitate the
Stearns: Derry Town Council says “buh bye.”
Derry will soon be looking for a new town administrator. At a special meeting of the Derry Town Council last night, Town Administrator Galen Stearns was terminated on a seven to zero vote without cause. Stearns, who has been out on medical leave for several months, was a central figure in the town’s budget battle. Instead of providing councilors with a budget that met their tax reduction goals, Stearns presented his own budget. He defended his proposal citing his authority under the charter and the opposition of the department heads to the council’s goals. His critics on the council faulted him for representing department managers against the council rather than adhering to the directives the council was within its rights to give as the governing body. To his credit, Stearns asked for the meeting to be in public.
That’s news from our own backyard, Girard at Large hour ___ is next.
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