New Edition of "ORCSD By The Numbers" Now Available

Old friend Mike McClurken has recently been in touch; he has revised and (greatly) expanded his earlier report on the ORCSD and it is now available from his website: www.orcsdnumbers.org. Mike tells me also he's planning to post there once or twice a month on topics of interest.

As for the new report when he said "greatly expanded" he wasn't kidding...the first edition was 87 pages and the new one is 42 pages longer! Mike describes it as "a data-driven examination of spending and outcomes in the Oyster River Cooperative School District" and it certainly is. I would further describe it as incredibly comprehensive; the amount of research and analysis that went into the report is mind-boggling.

Despite the fact that some of the math is beyond me (I was an English major) I found it quite reader-friendly. I strongly recommend that anyone interested in our schools take the time to look at it; even if you don't read every word there is plenty here to inform and enlighten.

Final 2013 Tax Rate Information for Durham

Fosters today reports that the NH Department of Revenue Administration has determined Durham's 2013 tax rate will rise 1.95%, or $0.55, as follows:  

• The school portion of the tax rate will rise $0.40 to $18.42 (an increase of 2.2%).
• The municipal portion of the tax rate will rise $0.04 to $7.61.
• The county portion of the tax rate will rise $0.11 to $2.72.

According to Town Administrator Todd Selig, the municipal portion of the rate comprises 26.47% of the overall tax bill received by property owners, the school portion comprises 64.07%, and the county portion comprises 9.46%.

All ORCSD Schools EXCEPT Mast Way To Reopen Tomorrow, 10/31

All schools will be open tomorrow, 10/31/12, except Mast Way Elementary School, which has not yet had power restored.

ORCSD Cancels Classes for Tuesday, October 30

All Oyster River schools will again be closed on Tuesday, October 30, due to Hurricane Sandy.

ORCSD Cancels Classes on Monday

Due to the coming storm, ORCSD has decided to close schools tomorrow (Monday).

Guest Commentary: "No parent should be made to feel unwelcome in their children's school because of politics"

Former School Board member Jocelyn O'Quinn has asked us to post the following:

Hello,

 

As some of you may know, last Wednesday ORCSD held a community forum at Moharimet with the new superintendent, Dr. James Morse, and assistant superintendent, Ms. Carolyn Eastman.

Unfortunately, our administration allowed FORE, a special interest group founded by David Taylor, John Collins, JoAnn Portalupi and others, to "co-sponsor" the event along with the PTO (much to the surprise of the PTO, which had received assurances that it alone was sponsoring the forum.)

Frankly, I am outraged that any special interest group would be allowed to sponsor a community event--and distribute literature to recruit new members--where parents were gathering to discuss our schools. But this is not just any special interest group: FORE is well-known for its tactics, which have included campaign activities on behalf of School Board candidates, and a series of false accusations directed against their political opponents, among others.

On a personal level, as a former School Board member I cannot help but feel dismayed that some of the people who worked hard to smear my reputation were allowed to sponsor the event and position themselves as a credible organization, all with the express endorsement of our District leadership. I walked through the doors that night to advocate for my two kids and found myself feeling bullied (again) by a group of people who for the most part do not have any children of their own in the school system, but with political axe to grind. How are we as parents, at an event supposedly set up to discuss issues facing our children, supposed to react when confronted with an organized, partisan group pushing its own agenda?

One thing ought to be clear: no parent should be made to feel unwelcome in their children's school because of politics. Whether you like FORE or not, please join me in letting our Superintendent and principals know that special interest groups should not be allowed to solicit during school events.  After all, these are everyone's schools, and partisanship should have no place in them. 

Dr. Morse can be reached via his assistant, at: wdifruscio@orcsd.org. 

Sincerely, 

Jocelyn O'Quinn

Mother of two Moharimet Students

School District Community Forum at Middle School

An additional Forum has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 16th, 7:30 – 8:30 pm in the Middle School Library.
A third is planned for Mast Way, but no date has been set.

School District Community Forum

The first of 3 Community Forum opportunities will be held at Moharimet this Wednesday, October 10, 7-8 PM.

Dr. Jim Morse, Superintendent and Carolyn Eastman, Assistant Superintendent will be holding 3 fall community forums in the school district to allow for community dialogue about overarching district goals and curriculum.

They look forward to feedback and ideas from the community. There will be other opportunities throughout the year to continue the dialogue that begins this fall. Babysitting will be provided in the art room, if needed. Please RSVP to Rebecca Kell, rebecca_kell@hotmail.com.

CATS Program Offers ORHS Students Courses at UNH

The CATS Program is open to motivated and academically strong local high school seniors and juniors who want to enrich their academic experience with an introductory college level course (400-500 level). It is designed to supplement the high school curriculum; NOT replace courses offered at the high school. High school students must submit a completed application (https://admissions.unh.edu/sites/admissions.unh.edu/files/media/pdf/CATS%20application%202012.pdf), an official high school transcript, and SAT Critical Reading and Math scores (if available) to the Office of Admissions. The CATS Coordinator will then review it for approval. Spaces fill on a first-come, first-served basis, so early registration is recommended.

Criteria for CATS approval:

· Enrollment in a strong and balanced selection of college preparatory coursework, including mathematics, laboratory sciences, and foreign language.
· An overall “B” average and rank in approximately the top 25% or higher of your class.
· Typically, a combined SAT Critical Reading and Math portion score of 1120 or higher.
· Ultimately, the student must be on track to be admissible to a 4-year college.
· Exceptions are made for home-schooled students who may have less than junior or senior standing and elect to take laboratory sciences or world languages that are not as easily accessible to a home-schooler.
When approved, students should bring a completed registration form, along with their CATS approval, to Registration in Stoke Hall, 11 Garrison Avenue or mail it in with a copy of your CATS approval. Spaces fill on a first-come, first-served basis, so early registration is recommended.

Cost:

CATS students pay the continuing education per-credit cost for courses. In addition to the cost of the course, students are required to pay a registration fee of $20 and a technology fee of $14.50 (1-4 credits) as well as lab fees and the cost of required text(s).

Oyster River High School students, or students who are home-schooled from Durham, Madbury, and Lee, qualify for a one course per semester tuition waiver.

More half-truths and distortions from David Taylor

David Taylor had a letter to the editor published in this Saturday’s Fosters.  Ostensibly an attack on Jenna Roberts, who is running in a contested primary for a second term in the NH House, it reads instead like a paranoid revision of School Board politics over the last several years.  That doesn't do it justice; really, you have to see it to believe it: (http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120908/GJOPINION_0102/709089990/-1/FOSOPINION). 

Jenna, who I should note for the purposes of full disclosure also happens to be my wife, wrote a nice rebuttal to the factual inaccuracies contained in David’s letter, which you can read here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Re-Elect-Jenna-Roberts-for-NH-Rep-91112-primary/159013590793214.

This blog has never concerned itself with state or national politics and isn’t going to start to do so now, but the letter struck me as odd on a couple of counts, reflecting as it does David’s obsession with rewriting history to suit his own views.

First of all, the last time I checked Henry Brackett isn’t running for anything.  So why does David spend two whole paragraphs (comprising almost 50% of the space allotted to his letter) talking about Henry?  I can only surmise that after filing two lawsuits in an attempt to, among other things, embarrass Henry, David still isn’t satisfied, and feels the need to drag Henry’s name through the mud again, no matter how little he and his actions might have to do with the issue at hand.

Second, and more pertinent, is David’s myopia when it comes to the “culture of mistrust that has plagued our school district for years” and to his own role in creating and sustaining that culture.

An (admittedly selective) review of the fruits of David’s tenure on the Board reveals:

• Poorly-managed facilities: David and his contemporaneous Board members led the charge to build a badly-constructed (not to code and already requiring more than $280,000 in repairs) high school that turned out to be too large for the District’s needs, meanwhile ignoring the CIP budget that could have funded desperately-needed maintenance at our crumbling middle school (currently requiring more than $1.8 million in repairs) (reference: http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120405/GJNEWS_01/704059630&template=GreatBayRegion)
• Failure to properly supervise administrators: David and his fellow Board members essentially gave administrators carte blanche to spend whatever and however they saw fit, including implicit permission to violate policies on bidding and purchasing.  Not surprisingly, abuse and wasteful spending abounded, as documented in the September 2008 Citizens Audit (available elsewhere on this blog).
• A lack of responsiveness to the public: to take just a couple of examples, David and his fellow Board members fought what turned out to be a nearly decade-long struggle to change OR’s grading scale to one that would not unnecessarily penalize our high school seniors applying to college.  Or, who can forget the debacle that ensued after the TIP was voted down in 2009, when administrators decided to tap a slush fund to pay for the purchases voters had rejected, and our Board simply signed off on the spending?  (Also documented elsewhere on this blog.)

The truth is, this blog did not create the “culture of distrust and disrespect” as David claims.  Rather, this blog was a response to the distrust engendered by our elected officials and administrators’ actions, and a reflection of the disrespect with which they treated the citizens of this District.  The plain truth of the matter remains: if David (and others) had simply done their job as School Board members, none of this would ever have happened.

Furthermore, I’m proud of the work we’ve accomplished through this blog.  We brought to light the fiscal wrongdoing that pervaded our previous administration and exposed the misdeeds of the elected officials who covered it up.  We energized a previously-silent sector of the electorate and brought new leadership to the District.  And we created a culture of accountability that has guided the actions of subsequent Boards and administrators, so that never again will such egregious violations of the public’s trust be tolerated.

I said at the outset that this blog was not going to get into the business of state or national politics, but I will go this far: I hope that if you had not considered voting in the primaries this Tuesday that you will.  I urge you to go out and vote for whomever you want, but do it on the basis of facts, not on the kind of distortions and half-truths that David Taylor and his compatriots deal in when it comes to their political enemies.

--Tom Bebbington