Superintendent John Robidoux is working with the town, neighbors of the high school and youth sports leaders to come up with a deal to keep the lights on more nights at Piper Field.
At a Sept. 4 School Committee meeting, Robidoux said he had met with all parties involved and planned to come to a Planning Board meeting on Sept. 16 to present an updated proposal that would allow the lights to stay on until 9 p.m. 180 nights a year. That Planning Board meeting has been moved to October. Currently, the lights are on at night only 56 nights a year, according to the superintendent.
“The updated proposal would be to use the lights mid-August through November, which is 105 nights,” Robidoux said. “Then again from mid-March through May, which is approximately 75 nights. The lights will only be turned on when needed and turned off right at the end of the athletic contest, thereby minimizing the impact as much as possible.”
Robidoux said neighbors had questions about the PA system at Piper. He said the PA is only used for play-by-play during the five or six home games per season, and for the national anthem.
Neighbors also complained about students “urinating over fences” and leaving trash after night games at Piper. Robidoux said he would address that with students, coaches and parents.
Budget & enrollment
School Committee member Jenn Schaeffner pointed out that she is the sole member of the budget subcommittee, and the district may be falling behind in the budget process for next school year. She said she would reach out to Robidoux, Assistant Superintendent Mike Pfifferling and the town’s Finance Committee to get those conversations started. The School Committee had discussed asking its newest member (who is expected to be chosen Sept. 10) to join that subcommittee. Chair Al Wilson said he is available as a back-up.
The budget process could be more challenging this year due to educator raises that are scheduled to take effect.
Schaeffner also said the latest enrollment figures show that the district is down about 170 students.
Contacted by the Current, Robidoux wrote, “I am looking into this further to ensure that the enrollment has been captured correctly in the new year’s roll-over of data and to identify where the preponderance of reductions lies.”
Roof watch
The School Committee named several members of its new high school roof subcommittee to help oversee that project. Members include: School Committee member Henry Gwazda, Ralph Wallace, Sam Altreuter, Karima Moloney, Marc Liebman and Brian Serafin.
Assistant Superintendent Mike Pfifferling will also be on the committee, along with MPS Facilities Director Todd Bloodgood and two reps from the architect and project management teams.
New teachers
Robidoux said he had hired 22 new teachers to start the school year, six of whom were already employed by MPS. He said there is a “decent amount of leaves of absence” with long-term subs stepping in. The district is still actively looking to hire three special education teachers.
Flags down
The Pride flag and Black Lives Matter banner have been removed from Marblehead High School this fall. The Current asked Robidoux how many flags and banners were removed from Marblehead’s five schools and when they came down. He responded, “All of the schools are in compliance with the flag policy.”
After 18 months of heated discussion, the School Committee voted last spring to approve a flag policy that allows, by right, only U.S., Massachusetts and POW/MIA flags, along with six heritage month flags.
According to the policy, the superintendent will be able to make recommendations for additional flags to the School Committee, which has veto power.
Robidoux did not answer questions about how he is operationalizing those requests this year.
