CUMBERLAND – With school renovations and additions now happening, school officials have restarted discussions on “right-sizing” district boundaries to make sure the appropriate number of students is attending each local
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Lisa Beaulieu and Bill Dennen
Guest columnists
Lisa Beaulieu is a member of the Cumberland Town Council, and she and Bill Dennen formerly served on the School Committee. School Committee members Paul DiModica and Karen Freedman and former Town Council member Stephanie Gemski also contributed to this commentary.
In the March 31 Providence Journal, it was reported that Governor McKee said “charters, which are publicly funded, do not siphon money away from the traditional public schools.
As current and former elected officials in Cumberland, we know from first-hand experience that they often do. The money for charter tuitions has to come from somewhere.
3/31/2021
Members also talk full return to school, other matters
CUMBERLAND – The final 2021-2022 school district calendar approved by the School Committee last week keeps religious holidays as days off.
Chairwoman Karen Freedman, whose family celebrates Jewish holidays, said she believes the district should start considering making celebration of religious holidays a personal choice and not including them on the secular school calendar, as many other districts have done across the country.
Freedman and Amy Rogalski were the two no votes on approving the calendar, as it passed 5-2.
Also part of the finalized calendar presented by Supt. Bob Mitchell is moving two professional days originally scheduled near the Aug. 30 start of school to later in September and October, making for a more consistent first few days of the next school year.
CUMBERLAND – Since going to an online streaming platform last year, the Cumberland School Committee has seen engagement with its meetings skyrocket, going from three or four in attendance before the pandemic to sometimes hundreds of participants. During one meeting last August, some 600 people were on the call for a meeting.
Chairwoman Karen Freedman said it’s clear that a virtual component should remain as “what’s best for the public,” with increased accessibility bringing “way more engagement than ever,” even as the committee now considers ways it might get back together in an in-person setting.
There are a lot of logistics to figure out for a return to in-person meetings, said Freedman, but school leaders are here to serve the public and do what’s best for them.