Left In Lowell

Back to work! Before I share my views on some of the political events that have occurred in the past couple of weeks, it appears that one of the small benefits of this economic downturn might be the beginning of the de-commercialization of Christmas; I hope!

In case you did not have a chance to view the December 17th meeting of the Lowell School Committee or did not read Jenn Myers article in the Sun, “Lowell school board reluctantly OKs Canada trip,” there was a spirited discussion regarding a school trip the Lowell High School International Language Club was planning to take to Quebec, Canada. By the way, a trip which has been taking place for 20 years.

Two weeks later, there are still some rumblings at the reaction of two of the SC members. I watched the replay of that meeting on LTC’s streaming video site and I am still not sure what is at the root of the anger and frustration displayed during the meeting. At the end of the day, the kids were going on a trip paid by their parents and they would only miss one day of school. There are plenty of sanctioned trip organized for the band, athletic teams, Jr. ROTC, where kids miss school, why this trip was the target of this harsh reaction is still not clear to me? I guess the School Committee felt it was ignored and disprescted. Obviously, the policy was not clear enough.

Whatever the kids would have learned on that one day, I am sure can be made up during the school year but no one can bring the experience of visiting Quebec into the classroom. I guess my definition of an “educational forum” differs from that of the School Committee. For the record, in my three years at LHS, I missed on day of school and that was to be sworn-in as a U.S. Citizen. So I do agree that it is important to be in the classroom but it isn’t as if this trip was to Cancun? One more thing, the teacher got some harsh criticism but shouldn’t the Headmaster have been the one to receive “the clear message?” If the SC did not receive enough information, whose fault is it? Isn’t it the Headmaster’s and the Superintendent’s?

Also SC Jackie Doherty presented an excellent motion to have the Superintendent present two budgets, one level funded and the other with a 10% reduction; the SC should reserve its energy for this issue. The reduction ($5 – 10 M) is “inevitable” and we will all need to focus on where to make the cuts and how to implement them.

One more thing about the School Committee, a lot of their discussion takes place in their sub-committee meetings which are not broadcast. Furthermore, when the Superintendent is requested to provide information to them, those reports are not usually made public. The School Committee should request that the Superintendent and her staff provide the same level of information on the School’s web site that the City Manager and the Administration do on the City’s web site.