Volume 19, Number 49 Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
www.TownTimes.com
DMYFS trains Community Peer Mediators
School budget unchanged at 4.39 percent By Mark Dionne The Town Times In its regular meeting, on March 6 at Strong School, the Board of Education left the proposed 2013-2014 school budget intact, suggesting elements to be examined at future meetings. The proposed budget, with a net increase of 4.39 percent over the current budget, has several notable features. It eliminates a kindergarten and a grade 1-2 teacher from John Lyman Elementary — through retirement — while adding six new tutors who
By Elisabeth Kennedy The Town Times
Peace and conflict posters adorned the wall of the meeting room at the Durham Public Library during a recent DMYFS Community Peer Mediation training session. Girls sat in a circle with their trainer, Claudia White, working on listening and cooperation skills. “Conflict is inevitable,” explained White, “but the bridge to peace is conflict resolution.”
“The peer mediation program will provide youth with the skills needed to assist in promoting a positive social climate and decrease unhealthy youth interactions,” explained Betsy Dean, executive director of DMYFS. “These are life skills that everyone could benefit from,” Dean said. With funding from the Community Foundation of Middlesex County/Herb and Ellen Patterson Memorial Fund, DMYFS hired Durham resident Claudia
Photo submitted by Elisabeth Kennedy
See Budget, page 19
White to provide peer mediation training. Durham Public Library is donating meeting space and Carmine’s Pizza donates a See Peer, page 7
Town Times photo by Mark Dionne
Current BOE chair Kerrie Flanagan presents former chair Tom Hennick with a plaque from the BOE honorcome to attend. The presenta- we assess student learning, ing his years of service to the school district at the tion will include a student what our critical strengths start of the March 6 meeting. video, remarks by CRHS principal Andre Hauser and an overview of the school. “It’s an introduction because the visiting committee has never been to Durham or Middlefield, never been to this school,” said math teacher Craig Bradanini in an interview with the Town Times. Science teacher Erika Anderson added, “It’s a highlight of our core values and beliefs. It’s a highlight of how
and needs are, what our two year and five year targeted See Accreditation, page 15
In this issue ... Calendar ..........................4 Government ....................8 Obituaries .....................16 Schools...........................12 Seniors...........................18 Sports.............................21
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This Sunday, March 17, 16 outside administrators and education professionals representing the New England Association of Schools and Colleges will arrive on the Coginchaug Regional High School campus and begin a four day intensive review for accreditation of the school. The visit opens Sunday at 1:30 p.m. with a panel presentation in the CRHS auditorium, which the public is wel-
work at 18 hours per week without benefits. The proposed budget funds a building utilization study at $75,000 and tools, including textbooks, for the conversion to the Common Core State Standards. The 2013-2014 budget also has to withstand a drop of close to $300,000 in state transportation funds and a 10.4 percent increase in health insurance costs. Expenditures in the proposed budget go up 3.27 percent, with the drop in revenue bringing the net in-
Mediators Mary Kulasenski, Dana Hoffman, Carlie Arnold, Becky Ford, Cassidy White-Ryan, Abbi Zido, Sarah Loccascio, Abbi Ford, and trainer Claudia White.
CRHS accreditation visit begins Sunday By Mark Dionne The Town Times
Friday, March 15, 2013