We agree on sumptin' MFD!!
Before I read anything on here, I scroll down to see how long it is. The post you replied to, and the original one on this string were definite 'nos'.

Say what? Who pays for the bond?

I can't believe the "Yes" folks and MEF mommies want one of these trailers hooked up behind their tidy little neighborhood elementary school.

You know folks, we all have to be honest with ourselves, that includes every single person that lives here in melrose. If they have children in the melrose public school system or they don't. Or if they have graduated from the melrose public school systems. Do we want trailers, or do we not want trailers as classrooms? Here's the problem. We have our backs up against the wall, there are only two choices; either we move the fifth graders to the middle school or we have these portable classroom trailers. Here's a thought for all of you, it's not how it affects the child, believe it or not, how it affects mom and dad. Yes, you mom and dad. The child will adjust to this very quickly. But you, no. Because your child has gone from grammar school to middle school. My message would be, please grow up, isn't it like you taking a job somewhere and not having an idea of what lies ahead and taking the risks? I think so. Know why? Because of the reward, having that paycheck with benefits. The difference here is in the quality of education, and experience that these children will receive. Personally I just don't have a vision of these portable classrooms. They're going to bond them, so the money has to come from somewhere overtime. I'm sure it'll come from the school department and not the city side. But maybe I'm wrong, that's a good question that needs to be answered. For those of you, that don't like to read long things, move on. Because I'm talking about the truth. It's not about Abraham Lincoln or anybody else, our president at one time. It's not a question of who's going to remember this. It's a question of some of you folks get more involved, but how can that happen? A lot of you are away on vacation for the summer, so we have a disconnect here.So when you come back home, and you see these new classrooms and these parking lots at these elementary schools, do us all a favor and don't complain about it. Because some of you could have the courage to say that it'll affect us mom and dad and not the children. I want to give a little credit to where it is deserved tonight; our mayor didn't vote in favor of this, and I think that he has a vision that a lot of other people may have. I want to give credit to another person. The person that I spoke to on Sunday, that's on the Melrose school committee by the old johnny foodmasters which is whole foods now. I think from what I understood from our conversation was that the members of the melrose school committee went by what they heard from us younger moms and dads, where the children are not even near entering the melrose middle school. Some of you might not like what I am speaking about, it is just my opinion. The bigger question may be here, our backs are up against the wall, but is it too late to make a decision here and go forward and do something that would be better for the education of these children. I know this is long, but I know none of you could sum this up any better, if you can, good luck. Because there is one thing that speaks for itself here. Let's talk about the real truth here about the whole thing, for those of you that can't read something long, take the time to read it. You might learn something. You either agree or disagree, that's fine. Let me tell you one more thing; all my children have graduated from the melrose public school systems, why am i taking the time to do this? It's a very simple answer, I still care. It is easy to talk about nothing out here, but we have to talk about the future. And for some of you, maybe that does not exist. What do I mean by that? Don't be quick to criticize. Because criticizing somebody else without experiencing what children do without going through the melrose public school systems means they have not done it. I am not trying to be mean here, but it's easy to get behind a keyboard and type. So let me leave you with this thought, for those of you who care, make those phone calls, those emails, visiting our politicians that have made these decisions, why? Simple. It has an effect, not only on you, their appearance in this community and how it looks at these schools. What do i mean by that? Trailer park. What is the impact of these children learning, if these trailers are parked in parking lots with cars coming and going. It's just a thought. Before any of you respond to this, please take the time to think about all of this. I didn't do this to criticize anybody, I did this because I am a parent. I am a tax payer. We can't just have a one way street, this is a two way street. And for those of you that are in a position maybe you can turn the heat up a little bit, where these folks will look at this whole thing and do things differently. That is the way that things work here in Melrose. I've been here a long time. And no matter how you look at it, sometimes it's just a phone call, sometimes it's a small gathering of people, and things get resolved. Let's talk about the truth. That is all this is about. Let me leave you with this thought; maybe this decision should have been made about eh trailers about three months ago, not this late in the year when people are gone. Okay folks, please enjoy the summer. Be safe. We definitely have a heat wave coming our way. Thank you.

I know that I have said this previously - but I guess it deserves repeating based on the previous poster. Not sure if she/he is the same person but I guess eventually this person will get the hint - at least if they are intelligent enough to comprehend the meaning of my comment.

"At the dedication of the Gettysburg battlefield on November 19, 1863, two speakers spoke, one Edward Everett, who spoke for 2 hours, the other was Abraham Lincoln, the President, who spoke for several minutes. Nobody remembers Everett's speech, while everyone remembers Lincoln's speech. Lesson: Brevity has its moments!"

Ted likes to ramble- and likes to use multiple names.

Whatever direction the City chose to address the overcrowding problem the anonymous complainers would find fault with it. Thats what they do. The boob who rambled on is a classic example of a do nothing loser with a room temperature IQ that shows up at school committee meetings and posts on this blog like he's an expert...even though he is barely functional in his own life...the poster child for Melrose Messages.

"The person that I spoke to on Sunday, that's on the Melrose school committee by the old johnny foodmasters which is whole foods now."

So the School Committee is by Whole Foods? Eh what?

Ted, or Ted-relative, please stop.

There are many things about the whole sick tamale that deserve serious attention. Your rambling incoherent rants do nothing to further any awareness, and in fact just make the string into a mockery. You mean well, but really, you need to stop. Your rants are cannon fodder for Clown/Vuvu fools.

And no, by the way, the mayor did not oppose this crazy plan. This was his plan and that's why the rest are going along with it. No, moving the 5-8 students is not the only option. This was all just part of the bulldozing of the administration to make it seem like they've chosen the One True Path. It is wrong and they are wrong. There was no process and there is no validity to the arguments. It was all just another part of Robbie's plan to punish the community for failing to go along with his stupid override. Now he wants to hose us with an even bigger expense, and he'll ram this through unless people wake up and smell the Corruption.

Unbaked, The moron above is the poster child for you and your merry band of fools. Its more of the same ignorant, semi-anonymous ranting and ravings from a group of people whose personal lives are a train wreck, living in falling down houses, pretending they have a clue about running a City. If the City moved the 5th and 8th graders you morons would have been up in arms, if they re-opened the Beebe or shut down the Pre-K program at Franklin you morons would have complained. Go mow your lawn and scrape the peeling paint off your house. Leave the management of the City to the people who had the guts to run for office.

has changing the charter helped the taxpayers or your "profile in courage" band of heroes?

This person is highly unlikely to get the hint at this point. I have been asking him/her to cease these incoherent ramblings for months, and all that's changed is the use of multiple screen names. Whoever this is quite clearly has some issues, and his/her complete inability to properly form a sentence or present a coherent thought only causes me to totally ignore the entire post.

Unfortunately, these incoherent posts open the door for Clown Patrol to post more of his/her ignorant vitriol, so this one time I actually did wade through the entire post, and it seems to me that whoever it is is actually more likely to be a Dolan supporter than a critic.

Still, you have to ask yourself - how did this person ever manage to graduate from high school (assuming he/she actually did graduate)? Then I realized - he/she must have gone to Melrose High.

Other towns that have been forced into using modulars have done so because they had no other available permanent buildings to use. Melrose, on the other hand, has three schools currently being used for other purposes - Franklin, Beebe, and Ripley. The administration argument seems to be that using any of those would cost the city whatever "rental" or "tuition" income the city currently gets from them, and that there would be costs associated with bringing them up to "standard". That's true - but balanced against the bond cost to purchase these modulars, not using them makes no fiscal sense at all. Melrose does not have a building space problem. Melrose has a leadership problem.

I am far from an expert in this area - so I am not sure what the best course of action would be in regards to school space issues. I know that many communities including those that surround Melrose use these portable classrooms to adjust to peaks & valleys of school enrollment. And I personally know that Bedford uses them successfully and they continue to expand their use for over-crowding until they come up with long term solutions. Sounds familiar to what we have in Melrose. I addition, many of the state community colleges use portable classrooms so there is nothing unique about their use to deal with temporary over-crowding.

Concerning environmental issues involving portable classrooms, from what I can research, these are now bogus issues - and any issues that once occurred with them have been corrected as their use has increased in education.

MFD, they are going to kick you out of the Bozo Club for that response. Any post not slamming Melrose for any decision they make warrants immediate confiscation of your rubber nose, suspenders and rubber feet. Rule #1 of being a full fledged member of the Bozo Brigade is to never use rational thought when it comes to a post. One more post like this and you will have to earn your way back to being the baton holder at the next Clown Parade.

I try to be balanced - although with the school leadership we have currently - I get stressed to be balanced.

Melrose has three existing permanent perfectly serviceable buildings that should be used. Bedford does not. It's not the same circumstance at all. Sure, use modulars if you have no alternative. Melrose does have alternatives - three of them, named Ripley, Beebe, and Franklin.

Has anyone noticed that Clown Patrol never ever actually responds to any legitimate point made? Instead, what you get from this nitwit is a rehash of every nasty comment he/she has ever made. His tactic is simple - if you can't dispute the message, attack the messenger. Right out of the Dolan playbook.

Mayor D said at the public meeting (where the public was not allowed to speak or engage verbally in questions and answers), that he prefers the mods because they can be bought using bonds. (Oh, honey, we can't afford that, let's put it on our credit card instead.) Of course, they will screw up this purchase as well. Probably buying bells and whistles they don't need or use (smart boards anyone?) and not paying for the right basics (air conditioning, running water, drains (think new science labs) because whoever they pick to choose the mods will know nothing about them and won't do any research. Like everyone else in this administration they will be posers too. Acting like they know everything when they know nothing.

Ahhh...Waka, Waka, Waka...

A ten-year bond for five-year buildings - with three perfectly serviceable buildings available. What's wrong with this picture?

We don't have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. Why is that so hard for some people to understand?

I'll come back & read this whole thread later but I do want to say that I was very glad that the overcrowding solution was paid by bond. And more importantly, resting upon the heads of the students who are actually causing the overcrowding. The K & other elementary students as they move forward in grades.

Before you think that I sound harsh, I have gotten disturbed by the older students of the middle school & most especially the HS paying the price for the "young families." So many decisions have been made in this city to placate these young families at the expense of families with older children or grown children. To even consider sending 8th graders to HS is abominable.

To above, I totally agree. They actually cut staff at the high school, so they could keep funding their elementary "curriculum coaches", which is ridiculous.

More "curriculum coaches" - code word for lack of competence? Didn't the current rating performance of teachers by the school admin staff indicate that over 18% of the teachers "Need Improvement"? Why bother firing or sending them to professional development seminars when you can just give them more "curriculum coaches"!

It seems a shame that it is much easier to move them aside, pay them full salary, and give them these curriculum coaches than to fire them - since the union would be dragging the admin staff to court.Why the hell do we still have these unions? Has anyone noticed that when Taymore is challenged about these issues and moving staff around, she always resorts to - "We need to check with the union first"!

We didn't vote for the union to control our school system - did we? Why should they have a voice in how our schools are run?

The reality is, there are many, many people working in the Melrose Public School system that have no qualifications for the job they hold, but were given the job anyway because they are from Melrose. This has been going on forever.

I'm surprised none of these young, college educated elementary parents haven't noticed how many paras are just local moms with no background in education , that were just handed the job because some former principal thought they were a team player and would get along with the teaching staff. If you advertised for their job on School Spring, you would get dozens of qualified applicants , many certified teachers and people with experience working with special needs students. Instead, you have a local mom who is supposed to be delivering special education services to a child with a learning disability, with no training at all. The real losers are the kids.

Look around....half of the teachers and administrators working in the MPS live in Melrose. Some are excellent at their jobs, but many are terrible. Many are people that would never have been hired in another, better performing district.

Adding another layer of unsupervised support staff to prop up underperforming teachers, rather than focus on hiring practices and holding principals responsible for being unable to recruit, identify, and retain qualified teachers.....that is the mark of an inneffective superintendent . The fact that she cut high school staff to afford to do this is unbelievable .

Do you really think the principals have the final call on these positions? Look at the most recent elevation of five Melrose residents to plum administrative positions: Business manager, high school principal and two assistant principals, and athletic/phys ed. director. All Melrose insiders and all clearly selected for their political allegiance to the dear leader. What do you expect, with the defacto school committee chairman having complete control of the committee and superintendent? When Taymore's fate is now completely dependent on the whim of the mayor, wouldn't you hire his recommendations for these positions?

Again, democracy run amuck in Melrose: The mayor influences the board of alderman to make a democratically elected school committee seat his alone via changes to the city charter. The city solicitor says "no problem here" and now we have the inevitable result of a once independent school committee under the complete control of a tyrant. And how is that working out for the Melrose taxpayers and the kids??

Making out pretty good I'd say. I voted for Dolan every election, am happy with my kids education and love living in Melrose.

Whoopie. I didn't. I'm not. I don't.

. That was a very insulting statement you made about the hard working paras that work in the MPS. They make 12.00 an hour so do you really think someone with a masters degree will do this job for this pay! I almost forgot they get to do cafeteria lunch duty , cover classes,etc. l am sure certified teachers are all applying for the para positions. Haha

. No I think starting pay is around $10

I agree with everything you said. We are not there for the money. We do it because we love the kids and enjoy what we do. Anyone with a master's does not want this job. We also teach what the teachers are asking us to teach. You should be thankful that there are paras/mothers that have brought up and taught their own children and now want to help you with yours. Again, it certainly isn't for the great pay! You should be a little more thankful especially in kindergarten classrooms where there could be 25 children. You should be a little more thankful in a class where we can help with special needs. I could go on and on. We love your kids. That's why we do it.

There are many paras in the district that have a degree in education. It's not hard to find them, if the jobs are posted. Many of you were hired at a time when the jobs were not publicly posted. If you post the job online in an education job search website, you get hundreds of applicants.

It's a part time job with full time benefits, mothers hours, all vacations and holidays, plus summers off. It comes with a health plan worth 22k, vacation and sick time, plus a pension, and healthcare benefits for life after retirement. The pay is not why people take the job.

I believe you still have to pass a Paraprofessinal profiency exam to be able to work as a para if you do not have a degree.

Finally - someone with some honesty! The only issue with these pubic school jobs is tolerating incompetent school admin staff - and the constant changing of curriculum and responsibilities when the "musical chairs" begin - which is so prevalent in Melrose.

Yes you do have to take a para professional exam to become a para. But I'm sure MFD who knows everything about everything will have something to say about that as well. Any person with a master's degree does not want a para position. I have worked as a para for many years and anyone who has a master's applies for teaching jobs. Again, there may be a few perks about being in a para position, but speaking for myself and others I know very well, we do it for the love of the children, and take great pride when we see these same children succeed. It's amazing how many can throw stones but really don't see the whole picture.

. Para "moms" are the best. They have a lot to offer in the classroom. These are the people that stay for years. Qualified teachers only stay until they are hired for a permanent teaching position. I don't blame them this is what they went to school for. If you want qualified paras with masters degrees right from school the system needs to remember they won't stay.

How about a bachelor's degree? Do the paras have this? In education?

Meaning well is one thing but actual training & knowledge are important too. There are some established & respected ways to help a child with reading for example but you have to know how to implement them.

The original post mentioned getting a job with MPS based on who you know, not what you know. The paras were used as an example but there are many other positions where this is the case too.

If you're are willing to look beyond your family, your friends & your literal neighbors, you would discover people with actual qualifications who might work for the school system.

That is why we have professional development in all areas.

Listen Para #2, I have family members who are in education so I know of which I speak. And please don't give me this bull about that is why we have professional development in all areas. There have been recent studies which have indicated that prof develop is not the most effective way to train or develop good teachers - and you must know this.

You need the ability to get rid of poor or non-performing teachers and admin staff, quickly, at all levels and the current system can't do this - with union rules, government regulations, and administration bureaucracy, it is easier to move these people aside, or move them to different jobs, or tolerating their incompetence and hope nobody finds them out before you leave for another job.

In the dreaded private sector, with no excellent retirement pensions and benefits, you are simply fired! Great way to clean house and to make progress in reaching goals and objectives.

If I had a child with a learning disability like dyslexia or autism, would I rather that child have a para who was highly qualified, with a degree in education, and training and experience working in a classroom with children with similar disabilities, even though they may only be there a few years.....or would I rather have Jonny's mom up the street from me, whose a nice lady, but who has no particular training or experience in education, and may be a little tempted to gossip with her girlfriends about what she sees in the classroom after a few glasses of wine at the next neighborhood cookout, but will be there "forever"?

I'll take the teacher.

Not trying to pick on the paras, they are just the most obvious example of patronage jobs in the district. If you don't think that's true, try to find me an example of a "mom" para that doesn't live in Melrose. Virtually all of them do.

Coaching and teaching jobs are also given out to connected locals, whether or not they are remotely qualified. And THAT is the real issue. When qualified applicants are either turned away, or not even considered, for jobs in favor of unqualified local residents....that is why our school system will never be as good as it should be.

A good example of nepotism and favoritism was the hiring of our business managers over the past 4 years by Ms. Taymore. Jay was a friend of the Taymore family - and he was a disaster - and of course we know that Ms. Farrell is a favorite of Ms. Taymore. The big joke around the school admin is that Taymore had over 20 applicants for the job and interviewed about 3-4 of them but found them all lacking in ability and experience. Yet she goes and hires her friend who has NO business experience or education - as if the fact that Farrell taught math at one point in her career, was such a positive factor - it overrode all other factors needed for the job. Quite simply, Taymore wanted a "yes" person, the same kind of job Farrell fulfilled as a principal.

What fools you all are for voting for Mayor Dolan and the current school committee to allow this stuff to go on without any questioning. Well - you got what you wanted - so here it is for all to enjoy - portable classrooms, incompetent business manager, no clear direction to ensure educational excellence for the district, on-going admin staff musical chairs, and a dysfunctional school committee - enjoy indeed!

Yes and Casey brought his cronies Zammuto and White-L here. MPS has an increasingly stellar record of managing to make the worst hiring decisions possible. Have known several highly qualified candidates even in the last week who were literally not given a second look by CT (with her amazing record of appalling judgment), so that the preselected totally unqualified candidates could sail into their final interview and "win" (never a legitimate race) the positions via the sham search processes. It's just a great big crooked mess.

Which is better than nothing but a few hours here & there do not equate to a four year degree in teaching with practicum experience. It simply doesn't.

Some of you are very nice women with your hearts in the right place who withstand a lot from challenging children but like it or not, there is serious academic work that if accessed could really make a difference to the children served.

As "Mom" said above, the trained professional for a few years vs the mom up the street is not even a question.

Another poster brought up the business manager situation. No qualified people applied? I don't believe it. Were any of them licensed? That places them above the principal who is not yet licensed but was busy studying for the job while the sham of the job search was taking place.

Then there is the gym teacher who is the acting principal. His resume didn't list any experience with curriculum or serious academics but he is going to act in the capacity as principal? How is he going to make informed decisions during his tenure?

For which position?

P White-L defies all comprehension. She is terribly inept at her job, lazy and largely responsible for the civil rights findings. Yet, she remains not only employed but occasionally commended?

Melrose school district is the laughing stock of the Middlesex schools and why not? Margaret Driscoll must be so proud of the school system that she helped put together - now that I think about it - she probably is hearing angels singing her praises!

So now creepy Clown Patrol says he knows exactly who is posting on Melrose Messages? How weird is that? Reminds me of Steven King's movie.

You will not have this because the highly qualified will not work for $12 an hour!

I am asking this with sincerity: Does Melrose really employ unqualified paras to work with special needs children- I mean to actually fulfill their Ed plans? If so, I think that is illegal. I the district where I work, any Sped para must be certified. Really, I am wondering.

Shouldn't be surprised given the track record of Super Taymore and her accomplice Ms. Driscoll. Don't expect straight answer from them.

The answer is yes....there are many paras working now who have no background or training in education. They were simply mom volunteers who were given para jobs. Many parents of students on IEPs just assume that the para working in their child's classroom is an educator, which isn't true.

Over the years, parents who were aware of the lack of qualifications of many paras would refuse to sign their child's IEP unless they were in a classroom with a qualified para, someone who wasn't just a local mom. If more parents had done this, the district would have been forced to start posting the jobs a lot sooner, and hiring more qualified paras.

Paras are supposed to be more that just kind ladies who serve as baby sitters.....they are supposed to be delivering special education services to children with specific learning disabilities. I have spoken with SPED teachers who find it appalling that the district administrators believe that anyone off the street can be an educator, that it requires no training or skills or education.

As far as the low pay, that has been the justification for years, but the truth is that, if the jobs are posted online, they get many, many qualified applicants . There is virtually no job in the private sector where you can work 30 hours a week and get these kinds of benefits...Summer's off, school vacations off, health plan sick time, pensions, and union protection. District leadership likes to pretend that no one else would take these jobs because of the low pay, but the reality is, when posted, there are many qualified candidates that apply. Because the current paras have seniority , and are protected by the union, they cannot be replaced.

A lot of what "Mom" said is true, but some of it isn't. First, the regulations now are so strict that even those hired without prior qualifications have had to become certified in a number of areas. The district tries to get out of paying for this, outrageously (bad enough that under/unqualified staff are hired and then put in front of the toughest, most needy students, but then that they have to fight even for fractional reimbursement of required coursework is disgraceful). Many of our long-term paras are by now quite highly qualified (including one who is braille-certified, some for hearing loss, etc.), though they are still treated quite contemptuously by this administration as a whole. They make peanuts, and their benefits are only small consolation for annual take-home wages that are an actual embarrassment. These and the couple of remaining hall monitors ($13,000 annually and CT just cut one of them!) are the district's lowest-paid staff, and they are tasked with helping our most vulnerable students, including even taking over whole classrooms when IEP meetings are taking place, for example.

"Because the current paras have seniority , and are protected by the union, they cannot be replaced." CT wiped out their seniority clause, and any "protection" from their union is a mere joke. They don't even have a real union attorney, just a former teacher from Framingham or someplace who is a nervous nellie (of whom CT and her unethical legal hack take full advantage) with only the barest of qualifications for representing them.

This now predominant Melrose practice (can't call it a "standard") of hiring/promoting locals is extremely damaging, even getting beyond the nepotism and patronage factors. But demonizing the paras is wrong. They deserve our thanks because generally they have become a core of extremely hard-working and under-valued staff, and they take care of the students that literally no one else is looking after, thanks to the appallingly awful SPED administrators. That being said, these paras are not "co-teachers," and never should be conflated with fully trained and experienced educators. Nor should our vastly underpaid substitute teacher pool be considered anything other than a total disgrace, one that Rob Dolan and the Melrose School Committee must wear. $50 per day isn't even minimum wage, when all is said and done. The federal laws require fully certified teaching staff be the ones educating our children, and that's what our tax dollars are suppoed to be paying for. Melrose's disgraceful $50/day negligent end-run around the laws should be exposed and corrected. (Even if it's now $60/day, if that got approved, that is still so far below anything acceptable that Melrose should be ashamed, outraged, and demanding of correction!)

Basically this mayor and school committee have managed to ruin the schools with hiring practices that are laughable at best. There are no "Best Practices" in effect when it comes to MPS Hiring and RETAINING qualified staff. Quite the opposite in fact, as even a cursory view shows. (The PR Firm Guilfoil just can't hide all the skeletons or euphemize all the ridiculous things happening!) The only rules are the defaults that result from atrocious mismanagement, despite the extensive window-dressing verbiage in all the school committee and superintendent documents around policy, etc. Proof is indeed in the pudding. The MPS pudding is now quite rotten at its core, despite the dedicated and sincere professionals still remaining and the decades of fine work by so many. MPS used to be a reputable and in fact good system. Not so anymore. Worsening almost by the week with each new revelation. If the public continues to allow this, there won't be anything but the massive verbiage and pretentious incompetent officials left.

At one point, the district was using a co teach model, with actual MSN teachers in the classroom, instead of just hiring paras all the time. They reduced the number of classroom paras, and hired an MSN to float between classrooms. My understanding from parents was that this was successful, and a much better model for students. What happened to that? Why did we stop doing it?

And if we need more skilled SPED teachers, why didn't the override focus on that? Why did the override ignore the problems with staffing and substitute pay?