Hey all. Apologies for a long hiatus on posting to B2. I wanted to write this evening to inform the B2 readership about two important events to put on your calendars. The first is a very important opportunity to discuss (and help shape) the future of our public schools at a community dialog hosted by the Belmont Public Schools on October 27 at the Field House at Belmont High School. The entire community is invited to participate in this: parents, school administration and staff, civic and business leaders and elected officials. There’s a great presentation from Superintendent Entwistle  available on the BPS Web site that explains the program. In short: participants will take part in both some directed “big topic” discussions on issues important to the future of our public schools, and then in short (50 minute) self-directed dialogs on educational and organizational topics suggested by participants themselves. This isn’t some empty “team building” exercise — the output of these sessions will be operationalized by the BPS leadership team and will help inform an 18 month improvement plan adopted by the School Department.

Take part in a Community Dialog on the future of the Public Schools

The dialog runs from 4:30 to 8:30 pm on the 27th, with a short break for dinner at around 5:00pm. The first Session begins at 5:35 pm.  and the second at 6:30 pm.  You must RSVP for the Dialog to attend. Call 617-993-5401 or by sending an e-mail to Cathy Grant - CGrant (at) belmont.k12.ma.us!!

The second event is an opportunity to speak with Massachusetts House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Murphy. He’ll be dropping in to Belmont on October 13 for a conversation with residents at 7:00pm in the Selectmen’s room in Belmont Town Hall. Murphy will be accompanied by State Representative Will Brownsberger. The Belmont Citizen Herald and Brownsberger are co-sponsoring the discussion, which is sure to hit on the State’s precarious finances and the impact that will likely have on local aide to Belmont and other towns.

One area of discussion and concern with preliminary plans for the new school is around the impact of the new building on parking and drop-off/pick up space. Some Wellington neighbors have voiced concerns about traffic on adjoining streets, and fire and public safety officials want to make sure that the new school will be easily accessible by emergency vehicles in the event of …well…an emergency. Needless to say, there are also State mandates and codes that the building must conform to. While the Wellington Building Committee is responsible for many of the design decisions affecting the construction of the new school, many of the traffic issues fall outside of the group’s realm of responsibility.

Now an important meeting has been called to help address the concerns of neighbors and get all the responsible parties in the room to discuss the issues at hand. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, September 16 at 7:30 PM in the Board of Selectmen’s room at Town Hall. The meeting was called by Pat Brusch, Vice Chair of the WBC and Chair of the Permanent Building Committee and will involve members from the Planning Board, the Traffic Advisory Committee, the Board of Selectmen, the School Committee, Wellington PTO, the WBC and the Fire Chief, Police Chief, and Building Inspector.

There has been a lot of inaccurate or incomplete information floating around about the Wellington project. Some of that is due to the slow trickle of information from the WBC that’s been released to the public. Some of it is due to concerns from those involved in planning the new school that  information that’s released before it is in its absolutely final form just leads to confusion, misplaced concerns and other distractions.

One thing’s clear: more and more open lines of communications between all of the many parties involved will help clear the air and alleviate tension. So if you’re a neighbor, Wellington Parent or simply a concerned citizen and want to have your voice heard on this important issue, make a note of the meeting date and time. We’ll see you there!