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The Westfield News
“This world is
but a canvas to our imagination.”
Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
— Henry David Thoreau
www.thewestfieldnews.com WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2014
VOL. 83 NO. 83
75 cents
BPW approves road work changes
District principals make budget requests By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A $6,513,734 budget request was presented to the School Committee Monday by Ronald Rix, the district’s director of technology and business services, on behalf of the district’s principals. The total is to be spread out district-wide between new personnel ($1,749,000), programs and materials ($779,590), technology ($1,320,914), maintenance ($1,410,330), and equipment ($1,253,900). “In these times it’s important that you have absolute transparency going forward,” said Westfield Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Scallion. “We know that it’s out of reach for this year, but there will be a day that a grant or funds from the federal or state government will come to us and say ‘we’ve been RON RIX wanting to do this project, this building for a couple of years now, and it’s time’.” “We owe it to the citizens of this city, we owe it to the staff, we owe it to kids in the city, to know what it is that we need to be doing,” Scallion said. Scallion said that the $6.5 million requested is higher than the level service in place this year, and that the list of requests will again be presented at the April 14 budget meeting. “These are real needs for our schools in the 21st century,” said committee member Cindy Sullivan. “It’s a very comprehensive list. It’s computer licenses, it’s Imagine Learning, it’s things we’re already doing…” “We have a lot of schools in this district — two high schools, two middle schools, nine elementary schools, plus Fort Meadow — and I don’t think the general public realizes how much money it takes to run (these schools),” she said. “It looks like we have allotted $54 million, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what we need to educate our kids.” See Budget, Page 3
Westfield Vocational-Technical High School students, left-right, Dan Romanenko, Ed Chekhovskiy, and Dan Gavrilyuk, help stuff more than 500 Easter eggs with candy in preparation of the upcoming 20th Annual Easter Egg hunt at Shaker Farms Country Club, Saturday. The three are part of the National Technical Honor Society. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
City celebrates spring with egg hunt By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Peter Cottontail will be very busy this weekend as the city prepares for the 20th Annual Easter Egg Hunt. Mayor Daniel M. Knapik, in conjunction with Shaker Farms Country Club, has planned the egg hunt, which will be held on Saturday, April 12 at Shaker Farms Country Club. Line up for the egg hunt will begin at 11 a.m. and the egg hunt will begin promptly at 11:15 a.m. The Easter Bunny will arrive at 11:30. In case of rain, the egg hunt will be held on Sunday, April 13, at 11 a.m. Students in the National Technical Honor Society at Westfield Vocational Technical High School helped the Easter Bunny prepare for the big event last week by stuffing hundreds of brightly colored plastic eggs with assorted candy. Society Advisor Matt Gomes said there are 17 members of the Technical Honor Society at the school. To be eligible, students must maintain a certain grade point average, among other requirements. “They need to display consistent behaviors separate from their achievements and their application must include recommendations from both their academic and shop teachers,” said Gomes. “Juniors and seniors are eligible and there is a volunteer requirement,” Gomes added. WVTHS student Antonio Rivera helped stuff eggs last week and said volunteering was something he enjoyed. “The community does so much for us, we want to give back – the students here are all about helping others,” Rivera said of the honor society. Rivera said the egg hunt is an event that brings joy to children, which has a special place in his heart. “We liked when people did these things for us when we were younger, so it’s nice to be ale to do this,” he said. This event draws hundreds of children annually and has become a strong tradition in Westfield. There are separate egg hunt areas, divided by age
groups, several games, and arts and crafts are available after the egg hunt. Parents and children may also enjoy hot chocolate and juice refreshments provided by Mt. Moriah Lodge of Westfield. The Egg Hunt is made possible through the generosity of many local businesses, including Westfield Gas and Electric, and the Kiwanis Club of Westfield and the employees of Westfield City Hall.
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Board of Public Works approved two change orders to road improvement projectslast night at the request of the Engineering Department. City Engineer Mark Cressotti presented detail of the two contract amendments, one for Western Avenue and the other for the Feeding Hills section of the Route 187 reconstruction project, to the board members. Cressotti requested the board to approve change order #2 for the Western Avenue project, adding $29,000 to the cost of engineering. The state Department of Transportation (DOT) has accepted the city’s decision to break the Western Avenue reconstruction project into separate phases because the work will be funded from different sources. Cressotti said the first phase, which will focus on the road improvement between Lloyds’ Hill Road and Bates Road, is being financed through a $2 million federal earmark originally secured to construct an access road from Route 20 to Westfield State University. The DOT is requesting modification to the intersection of Lloyds’ Hill and Russell Road (Route 20) and the city is interested in other improvements, such as construction of a sidewalk. “We’ve added Lloyds’ Hill to the scope of engineering service and need to get the 25 percent submission to the DOT to get this project on the books within another week or two,” Cressotti said. “This piece is using the See BPW, Page 3
Information meeting slated for North Elm improvements By Dan Moriarty lane like in Southwick.” Staff Writer BPW Chairman John Sullivan WESTFIELD – City residents, asked if the lower section of Notre especially those of the Prospect Hill Dame Street, coming down from and lower Notre Dame Street neighProspect Hill, would be widened to borhoods, are invited to attend a 7 provide three lanes at the intersecp.m. informational meeting Monday tion of North Elm Street, one for left night at Westfield High School to turns to go up Clay Hill, another for hear details of a project to revamp traffic crossing North Elm Street the intersection of North Elm Street and a third for right turns into the and Notre Dame Street, sponsored southbound lane of North Elm by the Engineering Department and Street. the Board of Public Works. Cressotti said that the plan presCity Engineer Mark Cressotti said ently calls for just two lanes, a comMARK last night at the BPW meeting that bined left turn and crossing lane and CRESSOTTI the project involves construction of a right turn lane. dedicated left-turning lanes, both “There is not enough room to add north and south on North Elm Street at the another lane at that location,” he said. “The intersection located at the base of Clay Hill, and intersection will be widened a little to give a a widening on the east bound lanes at the base little more shoulder room for the two lanes of the Notre Dame Street hill. there now. Cressotti said the left-turning lane on North “None of this work will begin until the Elm Street south of the intersection will be Pochassic Street (Drug Store Hill) Bridge is extended to provide a safe island for vehicles opened, which is on schedule for a June openattempting to make left turns into businesses on ing,” Cressotti said. “Opening the Pochassic both sides of North Elm Street. Street Bridge should relieve some of the traffic “There will be some traffic dampening mea- pressure coming off Prospect Hill on Notre sures,” Cressotti said. “It won’t be a suicide Dame Street.”
WHS scores STEM grants MARY L. O’CONNELL
BRIAN HOOSE
RALPH FIGY
Ward reps weigh in on Westfield State By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – According to the Westfield State University website, Westfield State is dedicated to being an informative, accessible and vibrant community partner and good neighbor, and invites the community to “join us in making the neighborhood and city a beacon of educational and cultural opportunities.” But after a March 24 meeting at Landsdowne Place, the Thomas Street apartment complex that houses 200 Westfield State students, and the subsequent media coverage of that meeting, campus initiatives and student volunteerism are taking a back seat to accusations of public drunkenness and rowdy parties, as spring weekend looms. See Westfield State, Page 5
By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Monday evening saw first-year Westfield High School Principal Jonathan Carter step to the podium at the Westfield School Committee meeting and announce to thunderous applause that his school would be the recipient of a collection of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education grants totaling $545,352.53 for the school year 2014, with another $105,000 pending. The grants were obtained through the Massachusetts Math and Science Initiative (MMSI) and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, with the MMSI funding totaling in $445,916.53 to be implemented over the next three years. The funds will go toward continuing to improve the institution’s Advanced Placement programs, along with professional development for WHS teachers. The Mass. Life Sciences Center
grant of $99,436 will arrive during the 2015 school year and was given to Carter last Friday at Western New England University in Springfield. Carter stood before the school committee and also announced that his institution, the second largest in western Massachusetts, expects to acquire additional STEM-related competitive grant awards during this current school year, through the National Science Foundation, which will go toward implementing the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) Global STEM Classroom program and the Massachusetts Biotechnology Education Foundation. Pending approval, the National Science Foundation’s grant will bring in $100,000 over the next three years, while the Mass. Biotechnology Education Foundation will award the school $5,000 as the BioTeach Innovative School of the Year, also pending
approval. The acquisition of these latter two awards would bring the total haul Jonathan to $650,352.53 B. Carter in STEMrelated competitive grant awards for the 2014 school year. “Eighty percent of the jobs in our region in 21st century are going to require a strong foundation in STEM education,” said Carter. “We think that this very generous donation tells us that these folks are serious about making a sizeable investment in Westfield.” John Smolenski, director of the Massachusetts Math and Science Initiative, made a presentation highlighting goals of his organization for WHS and stressing the importance of AP courses. See STEM Grants, Page 3