FY13 Budget Update May 17, 2012

This afternoon, the Superintendent received a communication from the Town Manager announcing that because of increased confidence in the amount of state funding for North Andover, he will be proposing to the Board of Selectmen on Monday, May 21, an amended budget recommendation for next year. This amendment to the budget will increase school funding for next year by $77,945.

Public Input re: FY13 Transportation Fee

The North Andover School Committee is soliciting input from the public before taking action on the proposal to increase the FY13 transportation fee from $300 to $330 and eliminate the discount for early payment. Input can be provided during public comment at the committee meeting scheduled for May 17 at 7:00 p.m. at Town Hall or via email.  The FY13 School Budget and supporting documents are available for review on the Budget Planning page.

BRC Assessment Survey for Parents and Staff Online

Since 2008 Building Respectful Community (BRC) has been a North Andover Public Schools initiative to advance positive learning environments and social emotional skills across the district. These goals are being pursued in many ways including through implementing the values of RAISE. To help measure its effectiveness over time and guide our continuing efforts, students, staff and parents and teachers are asked to complete a BRC Assessment Survey every two years. The survey collects observations of both the systems and behaviors that affect social and academic learning in your respective schools. Please take ten minutes to complete either the BRC Assessment Survey for Parents or the BRC Assessment Survey for Staff. The surveys are available from April 2 through May 4. 

Town Manager's Recommended Budget Calls for 3.5% Increase to School Budget

Town Manager Andrew Maylor released his FY13 Recommended Budget for the town of North Andover. The budget calls for a 3.5% increase to the school budget. The amount of the recommended budget is $38,206,896, which is $100,000 less than the School Committee's FY13 Budget of $38,306,096. On February 16, the School Committee approved the budget as recommended by Superintendent Christopher Hottel.

The Superintendent and school administration will be reviewing the budget and any needed reductions over the next two months. During the budget Public Hearing Presentation, a priority list of possible reductions was identified, and if that list remains the same, the $100,000 in needed reductions would consist of a part-time receptionist position planned as an addition to the high school clerical staff, a part-time special education position, and two paraprofessional positions. Any reductions are dependent on enrollment and staffing needs as well as on the final amount of the budget as voted at Town Meeting on June 12.

School Committee Approves FY13 Budget

On February 16, the School Committee voted to approve the FY13 Superintendent's Budget as presented. The budget calls for $38,306,096, a 3.76% increase to the FY12 school budget and includes critical needs such as the addition of a special education vocational skills program and an additional position in the area of instructional technology. The special education program for students age 18-22 is a partnership with the Andover Public Schools and Northern Essex Community College. Recently, Andover and North Andover were notified that the two districts have been awarded a DESE Improvement of Services Grant for $56,000 to help fund the program. A detailed presentation of the FY13 School Budget and supporting documents are available online on our Budget Planning page.

At the School Committee meeting of February 16, Superintendent Christopher Hottel also presented a plan to fund critical technology needs through Capital Improvement requests which have been recommended by the Town Manager, and through a leasing program which is still in the design stages. The School Committee and Superintendent are also seeking a renewed committment to an educational foundation which could help in the funding of crucial techology for 21st century learning. To access the brochure that presents the goals of the 21st Century Technology Plan, click here.

NAHS Competitive Student Debate Team

Due primarily to the efforts of 10th grade student Soham Kudtarkar, the NAHS has formed a Student Debate team, consisting of a core group of 8-12 students who are mostly 10th graders, along with a few freshman and juniors.  They meet with their advisor, Social Studies Department Chair Matthew Tangney Tuesday afternoons, and so far they have competed in two interscholastic tournaments against teams from over Eastern Massachusetts as well as New York.  In both tournaments so far NAHS teams have been recognized for both individual speaker and team honors in the novice divisions.  The team members hope to compete in at least 3-4 more events this year before the interscholastic debate season winds down in late March.  

63 Students Named AP Scholars at NAHS

Sixty-three (63) students at North Andover High School have earned the designation of AP Scholar by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement Program (AP) Exams.

The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program offers students the opportunity to take challenging college-level courses while still in high school, and to receive college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP Exams.  About 18% of the more than 1,600,000 high school students in more than 16,000 secondary schools worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to merit the recognition of AP Scholar.  Students took AP Exams in May 2011.

The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on student’s performance on AP exams.  Fourteen (14) NAHS students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3.0 or higher on five or more of these exams.  Members of the Classes of 2011 and 2012 recognized as AP Scholars with Distinction are:  Julia Cataldo, Kevin Cavanaugh, Margaret Chen Shivani Seshmukh, Kristen DiTroia, Danielle Emmons, Garrett Galvin, Hannah Kim, Eileen Ly, Raymond Shih, Alexandra Specht, Nick Thomas, Kati Tudisco and Brian Varga.

Thirteen (13) NAHS students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3.0 or higher on four or more of these exams.  Members of the Classes of 2011 and 2012 recognized as AP Scholars with Honor are:  Janelle Caputo, Matt Cavallaro, Tim Chiang, Sapna Contractor, Courtney Galvin, Deepti Kumar, Peter Novello, Emily Phan, Peter Shaheen, Kathryn Solomon, Nihala Thanikkal, Michael Weisman and Elisabeth Ziehl.

In addition, thirty-six (36) North Andover High School students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams, with grades of 3.0 or higher.  AP Scholars from the Classes of 2011 and 2012 are:  Kim Bernardin, Katrina Buchta, Samantha Calderazzo, Lydia Carnevale, Emily Casey, Dan Connolly, Chris Driscoll, Paul Fionte, Elizabeth Gardell, Kiera Googins, Morgan Hancock, Ryan Holasek, Kevin Hood, Caitlin Houlihan, Aishwarya Jagtap, Kara L’Italien, Meagan Langton, Demetri Lemonias, John Manteiga, Laura McCarthy, Lauren Miller, Michael Moroney, Shelby Mosier, John Murphy, Matt Noyes, Zack Peterson, James Polino, Yelena Ravvina, Alice Rodgers, Kathleen Spanos, Alex Sullivan, Emaan Syed, Gwen Vozeolas, Jennifer Wen, Kaitlyn Whyte and Cody Young.  North Andover High School is proud of the accomplishments of these students.

NAHS Students Selected for Northeast District Music Ensembles

Eight NAHS students have been selected to participate in the Massachusetts Northeastern District Senior Music Festival. After auditions of 1037 students from more than 95 public and private schools held in November, 434 students from grades nine through twelve were selected to participate in this prestigious Massachusetts Music Educators Association event. The program is offered by the M.M.E.A. as an enrichment opportunity, providing a musical experience to talented young people. The students were selected to perform in the Senior District Orchestra, Concert Band, and Chorus. They will rehearse with guest conductors and then perform in a concert to be held at Lowell High School in Lowell, MA on Saturday, January 7, 2012. The highest scoring students in the state are invited to audition in January for the Massachusetts All-State ensembles with an opportunity to perform in Symphony Hall.

Representing North Andover High School in the concert will be:

Jackie Foley '13-- Soprano, Carolyn Noyes '14-- Soprano, Erik Hylan '12-- Tenor, Nick Thomas '12-- Tenor-- All-State Recommendation, Mark Fuller '13-- Bass-- All-State Recommendation, Arslan Sheikh '14-- Bass, David Baylies, '13, Orchestra, Trumpet, All-State Recommendation, and Ryan Curtin, '12, Band, Trombone, All-State Recommendation.

Special Town Meeting Approves School Green Projects

At the Special Town Meeting of November 15, voters unanimously approved an additional appropriation of $236,000 to fund the three Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) Green Repair Projects for the School Department.  The Green Projects include new roofs at the middle school and Sargent School, and the installation of new windows at the Atkinson School. Based on the final bids received, an additional $12,000 was voted for the Sargent School roof and an additional $224,000 for the middle school. Since the bid for the Atkinson School window project was $266,600 less than the amount appropriated at the June 2011 Town Meeting, an article will be proposed for the June 2012 Town Meeting to reduce the funding for that project.

These three projects represent the highest priority among our school projects for repair. Under the terms of the MSBA Green Repair Project, North Andover will receive a 47.4% reimbursement from the state.

With this approval, construction will take place during the summer of 2012. For details, consult our Green Project Cost Analysis spreadsheet.

NESBA Marching Band Competition

Saturday, October 15 was an INCREDIBLE night in North Andover with the hosting of the New England School Band Association marching band competition!  North Andover students made the entire town proud and the whole night, hosting 14 high schools, was momentous and astounding. Please enjoy watching our Band and Chorus Videos from the night - really incredible!

November is Family Literacy Month

Governor Patrick has proclaimed November 2011 to be Family Literacy Month. This marks the 15th year that the Commonwealth is acknowledging and celebrating the important role that families play in their children's literacy development. The Boston Children’s Museum, in partnership with the Massachusetts Family Literacy Consortium, is hosting a Family Literacy Month Celebration on Friday November 4.

Strategic District Improvement Planning

The North Andover School Department has embarked on a process for district improvement planning based on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) Standards and Indicators and Conditions for School Effectiveness. The Superintendent has written a vision and appointed a steering committee and six working committees, one for each of the DESE Standards. A timeline has been established and the process, which will include surveys of staff, students and parents, will take us through the fall months up to the presentation of the FY13 school budget. If you would like to provide input on district improvement planning, please send an email to District Improvement Planning. 

MVRTA Adds Bus Shuttle for Students

Thomson Among 18 Schools Commended Statewide for Meeting AYP

The annual MCAS state testing results have been released along with AYP determinations. Congratulations to the Thomson Elementary School community! In a press release today by the Governor and the Commissioner of Education, Thomson was among 18 schools commended for meeting state testing requirements and "exiting accountability status." 

The press release included the following statement: "Commissioner Chester today. . .released school and district AYP determinations, which measure progress toward annual performance targets in ELA and Math as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. In 2011, a total of 18 schools made AYP for the second consecutive year and exited their accountability status. The 18 schools that exited status this year are located in the following 16 districts: Billerica (Billerica Memorial High School); Boston (Dante Alighieri School, James Otis School, New Mission High School); Concord (Concord Middle School); Easthampton (Neil A. Pepin School); Harvard (Harvard Elementary School); Leverett (Leverett Elementary School); Lowell (Charles W. Morey School); Medway (Medway Middle School); Milton (Glover School); North Andover (Thomson School); Norwell (William G. Vinal School); Norwood (F A Cleveland School); Quincy (Squantum School); Blackstone-Millville (John F. Kennedy Elementary School); Gill-Montague (Gill Elementary School); and Nashoba (Mary Rowlandson Elementary School)."

We are so proud of the students, the teachers, the support staff, the principal and the entire Thomson community. The full text of the press release can be found at mass.gov.

The district will be disseminating individual student test results on Friday, September 23. The School Committee will be discussing results at a meeting in October.

Kindergarten Programs Receive Accreditation

All five elementary schools in North Andover have now received formal accreditation for their kindergarten programs from the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Congratulations to the teachers, support staff and administrators at Atkinson, Franklin, Kittredge, Sargent and Thomson Elementary Schools. They continue to achieve outstanding results for our young children in North Andover.

North Andover Athletics Joins Merrimack Valley Conference

Two Outstanding Former Teachers Inducted into Hall of Fame

Town Meeting Approves Consensus Budget for Schools

At the Town Meeting on June 7, the Town approved the consensus FY12 Budget of $36,916,601 for the schools. This budget represents about $68,000 less than the FY11 School Budget and will result in the loss of 7.1 current positions in the schools, as well as two positions introduced as part of new programs. The reduction list can be viewed in the Budget Reduction Plan to Meet the FY12 Approved School Budget. The recommended capital improvement items included in the Green Project Proposal were also approved. These projects will fund a new roof for the middle school, energy-efficient windows for the Atkinson School, and needed roof repairs at Sargent. The town will save approximately $1.7 million by securing the work through the Massachusetts School Building Authority's Green Project Program.

Extensive work was done by the School Committee and the School Department to minimize the effect of the anticipated budget cuts. One of the important successes of the current school year has been the approval of the new contracts for teachers, nurses and food service employees. Town officials agree with the interpretation of the Superintendent of Schools that the settlement of the teacher contract has absolutely no impact in the area of teacher pensions, as these are funded not by the Essex County Retirement system, but rather by the Massachusetts State Retirement system, to which North Andover does not contribute. Also, in the area of health care costs, the effect of the teachers' contract has been to SAVE the town well over $1.5 million in health care premium costs over the duration of the contract.

As we approach graduation for the Class of 2011, and with the exciting news that 94% of the Class of 2011 will be attending college next year, including a significant increase in attendance at four-year colleges, this is indeed the time to celebrate the success of our school system in North Andover.

Graduation Plans for Seniors

In preparation for graduation on June 10, the NAHS Guidance staff is compiling information on the plans of our 303 graduating seniors. The DESE collects information on the plans of graduating seniors and produces reports on the percentage of college-bound students, students entering the military, students going into the workforce, and students who have other plans. Each year, we produce a number of reports showing the status of North Andover in relation to comparable communities. Using online data from the DESE, we have compiled a report of June 2010 Graduation Plans and have added the current status of plans for the NAHS class of 2011. The information in this report testifies to the strong achievement level of our students and the dedication of our teachers in North Andover. 

We are proud of all graduates and the work they have done over the past four years to achieve the milestone of high school graduation in North Andover. We are particularly proud that our college-bound percentage has risen from 90% to 94%, that a number of our students go on to military service, and that all graduates are poised for making the important decisions that will be facing them in the future.