Member of the reality-based community of progressive (not anonymous) Massachusetts blogs
Tonight’s Lowell School Committee promises to be drama filled even by the standards of this mercurial group. Unfortunately, the agenda for this meeting is not available on their web site so I cannot link to it.
First there was the attempt by the School Administration to try to save some money. The school administration is evaluating contracting out the food service program. According to Jenn Myers’ article in the Sun serving food to the students “running an annual operational loss of $775,000, mostly due to the $671,000 in benefits paid out to the district’s 115 full- and part-time cafeteria workers.”
Then there was the public displeasure expressed by the Mayor at the School’s Administration for going ahead and issuing RFP; then of course there was the alleged threats made by a School Committeeperson against the Superintendent and staff.
I understand that the cafeteria workers will be in attendance tonight in full force to try to save their jobs. But the School Committee cannot have it both ways. They need to figure out where the cuts are going to be made. The more information they have, the more option they are given, the better the decision process will be.
The School Committee should listen to the person they honored earlier this year, when asked “to rank how bad the situation is on a scale of 1 to 10. Ten being the worst? he [State Senator Steve Panagiatakos] said. ‘This [recession] is a 9 or a 10’.”
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May 6th, 2009 at 9:47 am
the school committee should listen
to what pangy is saying, and act accordingly.
May 6th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
If the cafeteria workers turn out in force the SC will cave. Can’t risk it in an election year! That’s politics in Lowell.
OTOH it is rare that I agree with Bud, but it does seem to me that an RFP needs to be approved by the SC before going out unless the law/rules for SCs is very different than for the city.
May 6th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
I wonder if Miss Manners is in attendance tonight?
May 7th, 2009 at 6:24 am
According to the Sun there was “fury” at the SC meeting last night as 200 school food workers showed up. And of course this being an election year all 7 members caved in and voted to not open the bids until they got a legal opinion from the solicitor. I wonder how many teaching jobs will be lost so the kiddies can have home-cooked meals delivered by someones sister-in-law?
May 7th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
…or a particular City Councillor’s daughter.