School Committee Looking for Suitable Bus Facility, Reviewing Budget Articles

Pamela Gannon, chair of the Concord School Committee, provides an update on recent school related work.

  The following was written and submitted by Pamela Gannon for the Concord and Concord-Carlisle School Committees. School Budgets The School Committees reviewed and provided input on the presentations prepared by Superintendent Diana Rigby and Deputy Superintendent John Flaherty for the Concord Public School (CPS) and Concord-Carlisle Regional School District (CCRSD) budgets and other school-related articles in preparation for the Public Hearing and Town Meeting. School-related Articles for the 2012 Concord Town Meeting are: • Article 7 Concord Public School Budget • Article 8 Concord Public School Renovations • Article 9 Concord Public Schools – Supplemental Appropriation for Current Year • Article 10 Concord-Carlisle Regional High School…

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Patch Facts

5 Things You Need to Know Today: Feb. 28

The school committees meet and businesses are looking for your vote.

  "Five Things you Need to Know Today" is a Patch column that provides readers with essential, daily information at a glance. 1. The sunshine comes back today with partly cloudy skies and a high temperature of 47 degrees. The overnight low will be around 32. 2. We asked readers who makes the best sandwich in Concord and they have spoken! Country Kitchen and Sally Ann Food Stop are both running neck and neck for the early lead, but The Cheese Shop and Nashoba Brook Bakery are nipping at their heels, with several other establishments not far behind. Make your voice heard and cast you vote today.  3. The Concord and Concord-Carlisle School Committees will hold a joint meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Concord Carlisle High School. Committee members…

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School Committee Statement Addresses Budgets, Transportation Issue

Both committees recount recent meetings and look ahead to Feb. 28.

  The Concord School Committee and Concord-Carlsile Regional School Committee released the following statement today. The same statement can also be found as a PDF on the right hand side of the page. The School Committees would like to make sure that everyone has up-to-date information regarding the intertwined issues of the school budgets, the high school building project, and transportation options. School Budgets One of the primary responsibilities of the School Committees is to develop budgets that meet the educational needs of our students and are respectful of the taxpayers. Since the CCHS capital building project was approved in November 2011, the Committees have been especially mindful of the increased tax impact on the citizens of…

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School Bus Outsourcing Delayed; User Fees Discussed

Both committees met to discuss the transportation issues Tuesday night.

  With public emotions running high, Deputy Superintendent of Finance and Operations for Concord Public Schools John Flaherty and Superintendent of Schools Diana Rigby were tasked with answering many of the questions surrounding the bus transportation issue Tuesday night. In the end, a decision was made to delay the idea of outsourcing. Speaking to the school committees of Concord Public Schools and the Concord-Carlisle Regional School District, Flaherty and Rigby went into detail on several issues that have the community buzzing, including the possibility of user fees, leasing a bus repair facility and utilizing a private contractor for bus services. “We need to make a decision now. Outsourcing is a viable option,” said Rigby, who shared …

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School Administration Recommends Consideration of Privatized Transportation

Residents have more questions after School Committee's presentation on the potential fate of the Transportation Department.

  Residents are still looking for a lot of answers regarding the future of the Transportation Department, but they're going to have to wait until next Wednesday to get them. The school administration's tentative recommendation, however, is to possibly privatize transportation services.  The Concord Public Schools and Concord Carlisle Regional School Committee met last night to hear the results of a transportation assessment conducted by a consultant hired to look at the options facing the Transportation Department given the impact of the CCHS building project. The new Concord Carlisle Regional High School will utilize the space that is currently occupied but the Transportation Department, forcing the bus yard and maintenance building off …

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CCHS Building Project Approved

$92.5 million project is set to proceed following approvals from Concord and Carlisle.

  There will be a new Concord Carlisle Regional High School. The Special Town Elections in both Concord and Carlisle approved the debt exclusion for the $92.5 million construction project yesterday. Polls closed at 8 p.m. last night, and by 8:30 Concord's preliminary results showed the project passed with an 84-percent affirmative vote. At 9:15 p.m., Carlisle announced a final tally of 965 "Yes" votes and 184 "No" votes. The project passed at last week's Special Town Meeting in Concord by approximately 80-percent, and was passed the following night at Carlisle's Special Town Meeting 494-14. A total of 4,234 Concordians, or 34.6-percent of registered voters in town, went to the polls yesterday to cast their ballots. In Carlisle 1,150 voters…

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Christopher Tanguay

12:57 pm on Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Good question. Those figures are based on a 73:27 assessment ratio; meaning roughly 73-percent of CCHS students are from Concord while approximately 27-percent are from Carlisle. So the remaining cost of the project, after MSBA's $28 million, is divided as such: Concord is responsible for 73-percent of the project, and Carlisle for 27-percent.   more ›

Don't Forget to Vote Today

The fate of the CCHS building project is decided today.

  Don't forget to vote today. The polls are still open for a few more hours. Polls in both Concord and Carlisle will be open until 8 p.m. tonight. The only question on the ballot: whether or not each town will approve the proposed Concord Carlisle Regional High School building project. According to Concord Town Clerk Anita S. Tekle, "A Yes vote allows the Town to exempt from the limitations of Proposition 21⁄2 Concord’s share of the cost of constructing the new Concord-Carlisle Regional High School." Whereas, "A No vote does not allow the Town to exempt from the limitations of Proposition 21⁄2 Concord’s share of the cost of constructing a new high school." A "Yes" vote is required in both towns for the project to proceed. A "No" vote in …

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Showing Support for Their Cause

Residents backing CCHS take to the streets this weekend.

Concordian Louisa Paushter shared this photo of parents and students encouraging people to get out and vote this week. Annabelle Paushter, Rob Paushter, Katie Baum, Rob Baum, and Anna Brooks are seen here outside Dunkin' Donuts on Thoreau Street Saturday morning holding signs in anticipation of the final vote on the proposed Concord Carlisle High School building project this Tuesday. The $92.5 million construction project must be approved by both Concord and Carlisle on Tuesday to officially proceed.

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Carlisle Town Meeting Votes "Yes" on CCHS

The project proposal now has to pass a ballot vote in both towns on Nov. 15.

Voters at Carlisle's Special Town Meeting last night voted in favor of the proposed Concord-Carlisle Regional High School building project, 494-14. The $92.5 million building project still has to be approved by ballot vote in both Concord and Carlisle on Tuesday, Nov. 15. CCHS senior and student representative on the Building Committee Benjamin Rizkin said when he first became involved in the process a year ago, he was not sure just what was the best solution for the district to fix all of the problems that plague the current high school. "At first, I wasn't originally convinced we needed to do it," Rizkin said. What changed his mind was the price tag on the project. With a no-build option estimated at $70 million, and other hybrid …

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Christopher Tanguay

1:13 pm on Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Phebe, the vote count, 494-14, is in the very beginning of the article.   more ›

Special Town Meeting Passes First of Four CCHS Votes

An overwhelming majority of Concord voters gave the first approval to the proposed CCHS building project.

The proposed Concord Carlisle Regional High School building project passed at the Special Town Meeting last night by a nearly 80-percent majority. The $92.5 million project will go before Special Town Meeting voters in Carlisle tonight, and pending approval at that meeting, will be brought to a ballot vote in both towns on Tuesday, Nov. 15. Last night’s three-article Special Town Meeting was one of the largest convened in Concord, according to Town Moderator Eric Van Loon, who said there were approximately 1,000 voters checked into the meeting at 7:30 p.m. By 8:30 p.m., the auditorium, cafeteria, and upper gymnasium at CCHS were filled with 1,629 people. Article 1, which sought approval for the school district to borrow $88.5 million for …

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