The vote are in, and at least 1,000 people believed the chief when he said he NEEDS a 6th full time officer, and a 12th car for the department that routinely has ON OFFICER ON PATROL ANY GIVEN SHIFT!
Our sleepy little town will now have 6 full time officers, and 10 part time officers. to fight crime in a town THAT ONLY HAD 8 DISPATCHED IN THE ENTIRE MONTH OF FEBRUARY!
For years Chief has tried to get his 6th officer. He likes to cite a 1993 FBI report suggesting guidelines of having 1 Ft officer for each 1,000-1,400 people. he ALWAYS neglects to mention that the FBI ALSO considers 2 PT officers to be the equivalent of 1 FT officer. So by the report he cites Atkinson which has 6,646 people, now has 11 FTE (full time equivalent)officers. This is 1.6 officers per thousand. He also neglects to mention that their report speaks of towns with business districts. It does not deal with bedroom communities like Atkinson.
But, hey, the voters are happy to throw money at this empire building megalomaniac. One officer on patrol per shift, but 12 cars to service this.
As former budget committee chair Mark Acciard pointed out at town meeting a few years ago, The PD in 2008 budgeted 20,000 man-hours. There are 8,360 hours in a year. They had enough money in their budget to schedule 2 officers every shift if they wish. And STILL have TWO full time officers left over. But they continued from that time until now to still maintain one officer per shift on patrol. SO although our bill has grown dramatically we are not getting any more protection than we were in 1998 when we had one officer on patrol every shift.
The problem here is one of management. We have an uneducated, untrained, unappointed police chief, who continually demand more while providing less.
And the voters keep buying it.
Atkinson Town Hall
The Norman Rockwellian picture of Atkinson
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School Board announced special meeting at the SAU building will now be held Monday April 9 at 7PM to discuss process for hiring a new superintendent.
Too bad you people have nothing better to do than fight in cyberspace. Why not pay attention to real news that really affects everthing? Biggest chunk of your tax bill pays what??? Think.
Lasalle drove your taxes higher, shool quality down and your property value down. Ya think we should be concerned about getting someone good in there? Ya think?
Naa let's keep making cat slander comments. Useless drivel.
To 12:34 I just dont see the ROI to save a 10 minute ride to haverhill. Bottom line is at what point do we give up being lazy and not driving 10 minutes. I could see if the closest stop was lawrence, but seriously...haverhill...
The superintendent of TRHS is stepping down. I wonder if he knew something ahead of time. It is a good step, but if we can just get a new HS Principal that does not want to get rid of grades, finals and midterms, and actually teach the kids, instead of begging for multimillion dollar locker rooms, maybe we could be a school that sets a positive standard.
I know the state ties the hands of the schools to some degree, but the focus should be on transfer of knowledge and skills. A school can do that. TRHS and TRMS can do it, but choose to be political. New top down leadership is required. Parents need to be involved more, but are not the source of a student’s failure, but can be a part. The state needs to change the way it governs education as well, as the legislature itself makes it more political. It’s just a mess and testing like this truly shows it.
April 4, 2012
N.H. schools fall short on federal test
By Doug Ireland
direland@eagletribune.com The Eagle Tribune Wed Apr 04, 2012, 01:41 AM EDT
The grades are in and most Southern New Hampshire school districts continue to receive failing marks.
The state Department of Education yesterday released its adequate yearly progress, or AYP, reports for school districts. The reports show whether districts achieved federal standards in reading and math.
The news isn't good, nor is it surprising.
All local school districts failed to make adequate progress in both reading and math. None received passing grades in math and only two — Windham and Sanborn — fared well in reading. A couple of individual schools did make AYP in both subjects.
Statewide, the numbers weren't much better.
Only 26 percent of schools, or 121, made adequate progress in all areas and 71 percent, or 332, did not make progress in one or more areas.
The goal is to improve standardized test scores so all students are judged "proficient" or better by 2014. Schools and districts that fail to achieve progress for two consecutive years are determined to be in need of improvement. They must then draft plans to show how they will improve.
The results aren't much different than those from previous years.
Last year, 70 percent of the 469 schools in the state failed to make sufficient progress in at least one category.
Windham was the only district in 2011 to make adequate progress in both reading and math. In 2010, like this year, not a single district did well in both categories.
State Education Commissioner Virginia Barry criticized the federal assessment method, established under the No Child Left Behind Act.
"This is ample evidence that the accountability system is broken, not that the vast majority of schools in New Hampshire are failing," she said in a statement.
Local school officials are taking the results at face value, saying they don't accurately reflect overall progress. But it's still an effective way to analyze if changes are needed to improve student achievement, they said.
The school administrators said they are generally pleased with students' progress, but know there is room for improvement.
They are just beginning to look at the reports and studying whether changes need to be made in curriculum and instruction. The results simply say "yes" or "no" to indicate whether a district made adequate progress.
"Our schools, I believe, made nice progress," Salem assistant superintendent Edith Soley said. "That doesn't show up in 'yes' or 'no. It doesn't tell the whole picture."'
Although 94.6 percent of Salem High School students were determined to be proficient in reading, the school received a failing grade in that category, she said.
That's because a small number of students with learning disabilities did not make sufficient progress, meaning the entire district doesn't make the grade, Soley said.
"It can be frustrating and we don't want to be defensive," she said. "We are looking very hard at how we can support them in the classroom."
The problem is not limited to Salem.
what school is this?
I bet she could get a warrant after all your slanderous remarks.
Poor Phil is having a career crisis. With the AG's office investigating his electioneering. His Personal attornies threatening the town, and anyone who criticizes him. MRI writing the SOP's for the police dept., And Phil screaming at the selectmen whining that he wants a hearing, Maybe he should get the hint and retire before he is forced to.
I saw this comment above.
He is being sued again? OMG, when will it end?
I am tired of these legal bills. Get rid of him!
What kind of boneheads are on the BOS that they are just letting all of this happen?
Bill, Fred, Todd - ya think you can do what is best for the Town?
Good thing we voted to make them pay for their own lawyers and he better be.
Why not push him and his attorneys to see via motions of discovery to see what evidence the AG's office has. That way the town may save time and money if the evidence shows he is guilty in the eyes of his attorneys of wrong doing[s]. If there is enough guilt then the Conman will have the option of facing the courts that will send him packing . He may end up in prison even at his age and lose his benifits or he could finally disappear from the towns eye by walking away. These seem to me the only options he has. I'm not saying his attorneys are foolish but if I were them I'd give him the option to disappear from officialdom and retire rather than go forward with the case that is building up on him. JMHO
I agree in that he is very foolish to be walking this path. The latest electioneering stunt is just one of many documented cases and it is solid evidence, was discussed at a BOS meeting and cannot be refuted. He would be crazy to not quit at this point and has no more free legal to boot. I heard there were so many people that complained that there aren't enough animals to name them after.
You only need to file a RTK with the AG to get this information.
Someone should file a RTK to ask the selectmen if they are enforcing the voters wishes and having them pay for their own personal legal bills.
As anonymous I made comment to the 11:03 blog. It was an opinion of what could be done by the lawyers and the Conman. What happened to it? Was it a recommendation to save the town money and time or not?
I don't think this is going to do it. Conman is thumbing his nose at us right now. Electioneering is a misdemeanor. He'll just get a slap on the wrist. Now if it were a felony...
JMHO
Lots and lots of misdemeanors are too hard to ignore.
What about Sgt. Caggiano showing the Chief how it's done?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YxpDEpngko
I got a feeling about the future and I know it ain't good.
It works for me dude.
Glad to here it . What is it all about. That is if you can tell us what they were are all about. There were more than one recommended to see.
Dear Mrs. Principal...how does your garden grow when your trees are poisoned??
It grows very well, thank you.
The neighbors can't look anyone in the eye, the cops refused to respond to the crime have reduced themselves to blogging here, or they quit, or they were fired. They call a respectable resident a cat lady. How do you feel about these mostly former leaders?
Isn't this a repeat of many incidents of abuse and slander and bullying?
Yes.
So have a Happy Easter folks, the time of new beginnings, of hope and a better world in Atkinson. We have so earned it.
Signed, a tree hugger.
The forensic evidence indicated that the poisoning came from the neighbors property who had a history of complaining about the trees. Rose and Rick O'Leary. A family member identifed the poison and had knowledge about the crime but the APD not want to take a complaint.
SO nice of you to inquire.
This issue with the O'Leary family poisoning Mrs. laFrances' trees reminds me of the time Mark Acciard's car and house were vandalized.
The Police Chief complains about Mrs. laFrance in public. He might have a vendetta against her.
the pd didn't take the complaint, so what else is new? if you want to move to another crappy town, go ahead, we are happy with our crappy town and crappy leaders
so convenient, everyone he hates is vandalized. bos protects him, so stupid.
tree poisoning is a felony in the rest of the country.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/The-Auburn-oak-tree-killer-is-in-custody-but-da?urn=ncaaf-322882
This is Atkinson, NH, nothing is a felony. Move if you don't like your trees poisoned.
I want to start a new movement in town, using the blog to create a better community for everyone. We would be better off promoting an environment of community support for everyone and having a zero tolerance for cronyism and favors and trouble.
The town should be working with residents, not against them and not ignoring them. The town officials could be doing alot for the town spirit by getting involved when they can, rather than to always look for reasons why they should not get involved or why they should hide things from the public eye. If the misbehavers knew they'd be outed for their actions, it would give them pause.
I'm dismayed when I see residents like the Davis' and how the town could have done the right thing and prevented all the trouble yet they stood by and let it happen. I am glad they seem to be enforcing the restrictions they imposed on the Osborn family and they should.
It never ceases to amaze me that we live amongst such trash. I like the new movement idea, bring quality of life to our town.
Blog admin - please remove porn links.
Thank you. Happy Easter.
Happy Easter principal lafrance. I hope your trees are doing better these days. Sorry to hear about all your bad luck with the pending suit and all. Oops. Shhhh
Mayor
I can't find anything about tonight's SAU meeting on selecting the new superintendent. It must be secret meeting. Nobody invited.
April 10, 2012
Search for new superintendent will cost Timberlane $30,000
PLAISTOW - The Timberlane Regional School District will be starting a national search today for a new superintendent, hoping to find the right candidate by July 1.
At a meeting last night of the SAU 55 Board, 15 Timberlane and Hampstead school board members voted to pay the New England School Development Council $30,000 to search the country for the right person to replace superintendent Richard La Salle, who announced two weeks ago that he will be leaving this summer for a new job at an educational nonprofit center. La Salle makes $138,679 a year.
Chairman Gregory Hoppa explained the board had four options to search for a new superintendent and they debated each one.
"We can perform a national search for around $30,000," he said. "Next is a regional search by the New Hampshire School Board Association that would cost $10,000 and take 12 to 16 weeks. The next process is an in-house search, which would cost about $2,000. I don't consider anything a coronation, but we do have the option to select an internal candidate if we have someone of merit."
Business director George Stokinger said the district budget could absorb the cost of any of the four search options without a problem. But Hoppa said the real issue for the district is time, since they need a new superintendent to start well before the next school year.
"Other districts have had five or six months to do this," he said. "We have a start date of July 1 and this affects the talent pool. But I'm opposed to putting in someone as an interim superintendent. You gain more time, but that person does not have the authority to do what needs to be done."
Board member Peter Bealo said the board shouldn't shy away from paying more for a thorough search.
"It will cost us more in the long term if we don't make a good decision," he said. "I have great difficulty with this committee doing all the work to hire a candidate. No one on the Timberlane board are seasoned HR pros that can hire executives. I don't believe we can do all of this ourselves."
And Jaye Dimando said it might be possible to get the done more quickly than they might expect.
"Derry started their search for a superintendent in January and had a new superintendent in March," she said. "We could give a deadline."
But some board members did not believe the search process was necessary at all.
"I'm a proponent of hiring from within," Judy Graham said. "Existing employees generally require less training. They're familiar with the staff, the facilities and the culture. They know the people on the board and they can hit the ground running. It will save money. I would not feel bad about making a decision tonight."
She did not name assistant superintendent Winfried Feneberg as her preferred candidate, but did imply that he should have the job,
But other board members urged caution, including Nancy Steenson.
"I don't think anyone here would buy a car without doing research first," she said. "This is so much more important. It would be irresponsible to make a decision without doing research and getting resumes. If we get resumes from in-house candidates we can give them an edge for those reasons. But we need to at least open this up regionally."
Though La Salle is leaving, he also gave his advice to the board.
"As you go through this process, there's a lot of optimism in the beginning but you're going to run into some realities," he said. "The state of New Hampshire pays about 40 percent less than Massachusetts and less than many other states in the country. There is a critical shortage of district administrators. If you look at searches done by local districts, the number of candidates is relatively modest. It's the same short list of candidates applying to the same jobs."
PARTIAL ARTICLE
So outside NH he thinks he's worth $200k? Kinda like being a meteorologist, you don't have to ever get it right to be paid.
Has the identity of the burned body ever been disclosed?
Ha Ha, I'll bet Sumner Kalman knows, but he's trying to decide whether to redact the last name.
Now why would that be? Does Kalman have the only key to the answer? What about the right to know law.
They just ignore that.
How about the RTK law being used by the Eagle Tribune? I almost forgot , they're under the control of the town officials who tell them what they want in print.
Where are the new Trib articles about the entire town getting renumbered thanks to Friel?? You can watch his act on VIMEO off the town website under videos.
missing out on a great story.
Where are the new Trib articles about the entire town getting renumbered thanks to Friel?? You can watch his act on VIMEO off the town website under videos.
missing out on a great story.
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