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The Westfield News
VOL. 84 NO. 061
Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2015
Gov. Baker seeking public’s input on 2 standardized tests
Baker proclaims Fresh Air Fund Day BOSTON – In recognition of The Fresh Air Fund’s 139th summer of bringing together New York City children and volunteer host families in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Governor Baker has proclaimed March 20 “Fresh Air Fund” throughout the state. This summer, The Fresh Air Fund will once again allow thousands of inner-city boys and girls to escape the hot, noisy New York City streets to enjoy the simple joys of summertime fun in the country! Families who participate in The Fresh Air Fund’s Volunteer Host Family Program open their hearts and homes to New York City children in the summer. “Sharing your home and the surrounding community with a Fresh Air youngster can be the beginning of a worthwhile and meaningful experience – for both the child and your family,” says Jenny Morgenthau, Executive Director of The Fresh Air Fund. “This year, we are looking for new host families in Pioneer Valley to celebrate our 139th summer and give children a chance to run barefoot through the grass or gaze at the star-filled skies.” Volunteers simply want to share what they have with city children and introduce them to the joys of suburban or country life. “It helps us to slow down and enjoy the summer a bit more. Fresh Air children enjoy just catching fireflies and watching the stars come out,” says Lisa, a Fresh Air host Families find hosting so rewarding that more than 65 percent of all Fresh Air children are invited to visit the same host families year after year. First-time Fresh Air visitors are six to 12 years old and all it takes is the willingness to welcome a New York City child to your community. The Fresh Air Fund, an independent, not-for-profit organization, has provided free summer experiences to more than 1.8 million inner-city children since 1877. For more information about hosting this summer, please call Susan Morrello at 413-687-3820 or visit The Fresh Air Fund online at www.freshair.org.
Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional Schools Superintendent John Barry, center, speaks to the school committee as Business Manager Stephen Presnal, at left, and committee member William Stevenson, right, listen. (File photo by Hope E. Tremblay)
Southwick schools to have level budget By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – Superintendent John Barry and Business Manager Stephen Presnal continue to crunch numbers to create a balanced budget for the Southwick-TollandGranville Regional School District. The school committee was updated this week on the latest figures, which included a $391,000 gap between revenues and expenditures. The state numbers came in after the update, and Presnal is now reconfiguring the budget once again. Presnal had anticipated a 1.5 percent increase in assessments for the three towns that comprise the district. “That’s 1.12 percent for Southwick, 1.42 percent for Tolland, and 1.48 percent for Granville,” Barry told the committee. “We purposely considered a modest increase, not knowing what the state would do.” The budget reflects level funding and shifting of funds between schools over past years
because of the grade changes. Presnal said the high school has the largest budget with the inclusion of grades seven and eight. Woodland School’s budget decreased because two grades moved to powder Mill, and Granville Village School’s budget also decreased with the move of grades seven and eight. ` The energy budget increased by an expected $180,000. “We are at the conclusion of a five-year arrangement that has advantageous gas rates, and our electric contract is also up,” said Presnal. Barry said there are no new positions in the budget but there is a differential for a data managament position. “There aren’t any drastic changes in class size,” said Barry. “It’s really trying to do next year what we’ve done this year with new grade configurations.” Barry said there were not cuts to essentials and a final budget should be ready soon.
WITNESS:
Hernandez DNA matched cigarette butt at crime scene By MICHELLE R. SMITH Associated Press FALL RIVER (AP) — Former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez’s DNA was found on a cigarette butt at the scene of a murder near his home, a crime lab scientist testified Friday. Hernandez is on trial for murder in the June 2013 killing of Odin Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee. Lloyd’s body was found in an industrial park, and prosecutors have said previously a marijuana cigarette was found near his bullet-riddled body. Diane Fife Biagiotti of the state police crime lab told jurors that she received rolling paper from a 2-inch-long cigarette butt to test for DNA. She said she found it had the DNA of at least two people on it. She said she first compared it with Lloyd’s DNA and discovered he could have been one of the people whose DNA appeared on the butt. She said she then was able to use Lloyd’s DNA to deduce the second DNA contributor. “I did a comparison between the profile I deduced and the profile of Aaron Hernandez,” she said. “I found that the profile from Aaron Hernandez matched the deduced DNA pro-
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AARON HERNANDEZ file.” She then ran a statistical analysis and determined the likelihood it was someone else is one in more than a quadrillion. “How many zeros does a quadrillion have?” prosecutor William McCauley asked her? “One with 15 zeros after it,” she replied. He then asked her the world’s population: 7 billion — and pointed out a quadrillion is one million times a quadrillion. Hernandez lawyer James Sultan went after other DNA evidence in the case, including
some collected from a spent shell casing found inside a car Hernandez rented. Police found the casing in a trash bin at an Enterprise rental car, stuck to some blue bubble gum. An Enterprise employee said she found both items under the driver’s seat of the car and threw them away. Biagiotti testified she found Hernandez DNA on the shell casing, but she also acknowledged she did not know the gum had been stuck to the shell before she did her test. “Would you agree with me, Ms. Biagiotti, that there is a high likelihood that the DNA contained in the saliva on a chewed blue chewing gum would be transferred to that shell casing?” Sultan asked. “Yes, I would agree with that,” she said. She also acknowledged that it is uncommon to find a testable amount of DNA on a spent cartridge casing and that the lab had never tested the chewing gum for DNA. Sultan also asked her if she had received a DNA profile for Hernandez co-defendant Ernest Wallace to compare it with evidence in the case. She said she had not. Wallace and another man, Carlos Ortiz, have also been charged in the killing. They have pleaded not guilty and will be tried separately.
BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Charlie Baker wants to hear from the public about which of two statewide student assessment tests Massachusetts should adopt. Baker said during last year’s campaign that he felt the state should stick with the existing Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam, rather than adopt the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, test. Baker said it’s time for a public discussion about the merits of the tests. Baker on Friday appointed Paul Sagan as chairman of the 11-member Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and asked him to schedule a series of public hearings around the state starting in June to hear from officials, teachers, parents and students on the tests. “Paul Sagan brings decades of executive and philanthropic experience to the Board, but more importantly, a deep commitment to expanding high quality educational opportunities for Massachusetts’ students, especially in our highest need communities,” said GOV. BAKER Baker. “Paul understands the critical role public schools play in providing our young people with the knowledge and skills they need for future success in their pursuit of higher education and careers,” said Secretary of Education Jim Peyser. “His sense of urgency about ensuring these opportunities are available to all children is inspiring.” “I look forward to working with Paul Sagan, and I welcome Governor Baker’s plans to gather additional information during our trial of the PARCC assessment,” said Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell D. Chester. “The hearings and analysis will only strengthen the Board’s discussion and vote this fall.” Sagan will replace BESE Board member Karen Daniels whose term expired in January. Outgoing Chair Margaret McKenna will remain on the Board; her term expires in 2019. “I am honored to be joining the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and I welcome the chance to work with the Baker administration to close the achievement gap and ensure that all students across the Commonwealth have access to a worldclass public education,” said Sagan. “As an immediate matter, I look forward to establishing an open and fair-minded process to inform the administration and the Board about how best to maintain and strengthen the state’s well-earned reputation for highquality standards and assessments.” “I want to thank Karen Daniels for her dedication and hard work on behalf of the children of Massachusetts, not only through her service to the Board, but through her many years as a public school educator,” said Peyser. “I am equally grateful to Margaret McKenna for her service as board chair and I look forward to working closely with her in the years to come.” The Governor has asked the new Chair to schedule not fewer than five public hearings around the Commonwealth, starting in June, See Baker, Page 3