A letter from a student

A letter from a student  I think needs attention. Unfortunately it will fall on deaf ears. PVRS is on a decline and will more than likely be closed by the state in the next few years. Miller started the destruction and Bacon and Perry sealed the deal, with the help of the School Committee who have consistently have shown  poor leadership with the rest. School choice has chosen to not choose PVRS and I don't see that changing in the near future with how its being run. Lord knows they  don't care about the children  or what matters to them. Paychecks and raises ..at all cost even if it means loss of teachers and lack for students.
Olivia we stand with you . We miss our school as well.
At the end is the rest of her letter .

 

Olivia Lanoie

August 14 at 7:29pm ·

I'm sharing this because I think it's still relevant to recognize what's happened to our school upon the arrival of our new administration. This past summer, some of you may have heard news of Ms. Coburn being reassigned to Warwick Elementary, as well as Peggy Fallon, our only guidance counselor, resigning. Some of you may not even care about the matter anymore, but I still do. We don't have a single guidance counselor as of now, nor do we have a band director, and the school year is right around the corner. They took away a huge part of Pioneer and I think it's important to step up and say something rather than simply talk about how little confidence you have in Jean Bacon. If you really do have little to no confidence in her for what she's been doing to our school, I would encourage you to say something. Remember how mad we all were when we heard about Killeen and Rouge and all of our best teachers leaving? It totally slipped my mind to even mention Ms. Boulay, but her as well. Remember that school committee meeting that one of our fellow classmates encouraged us all to go to? All of the students, teachers, and parents who stood up and said something? This issue still matters, and with the school year quickly approaching, we need to continue to recognize that our school is still not our school considering the changes that have been forced upon it. We may not be able to get some of our best teachers back, but we could at least make the leap to get that welcoming, loving, and close-knit community that was once known as Pioneer back.
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A school walk out and protest would get their attention and that of the state. Personally I think the state needs to be more involved in the abuse going on in this school . 

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BE VERY AWARE BACON, PERRY, MILLER AND SCHOOL COMMITTEE  WE ARE WATCHING YOU .

Not new to Miller

If you have  followed along you will know that one thing Miller does is divide to conquer. Open meeting law violations are also not new to her agenda , it happen in Templeton too.

Ruth Miller open meeting law violation

(You will find more on this by searching archives on Google.)

The only one who got it right was Debra Gilbert. You have two different camps on this SC. Young needs to learn to sit down and shut up. I can guarantee you Young and Shearer are camp Miller.
They will also be the two Miller will throw under the bus when push comes to shove.

This deception and divide and conquer has been heating up since Millers first day and its not over , buckle up its just beginning. Just be aware we are watching you .

NORTHFIELD — As a result of wording in the July 13 Pioneer Valley Regional School District School Committee’s agenda, the School Committee received an open meeting law complaint from Pioneer parent Anna Joseph.
According to the district’s attorney, Russell Dupere, the complaint lay with the meeting not being correctly posted, an error which centered on the agenda item “FY18 budget.” It was while discussing the budget that eight members of the School Committee voted five-to-three to eliminate the school resource officer’s position, a cut that would save the district about $28,000.
“If some people knew there was going to be a discussion of the SRO, that’s something that should have been posted,” Dupere explained. “I don’t know how it came about, if it was a spontaneous thing or if people knew it was going to happen.”
Though the School Committee members had different opinions concerning whether members knew in advance, there seemed to be agreement that the way agendas are written should be changed.
“This is overly broad, it lacks specificity and it’s not acceptable,” School Committee member David Young said of the posting. “There needs to be enough specificity for the public to know what we’re up to.”
Had the agenda read something more specific, like “examination of potential cuts,” Young argued that, perhaps, principals might have attended the meeting with ideas for trimming the budget.
“Our agendas are not clear enough,” School Committee member Sue O’Reilly-McRae agreed. “I usually look at them and don’t know what they mean.”
Though O’Reilly-McRae and Martha Morse felt the discussion came about spontaneously during the meeting, other members weren’t so sure.
“I have my own suspicions and I believe we have two camps on this School Committee,” said committee member Debra Gilbert. “I feel blind-sided as a School Committee member. I feel there was outside discussion with certain people.”
Joseph, who said she filed the complaint with the School Committee on July 21, proposed resolving the problem by adding discussion of Igor Komerzan’s position to the Aug. 24 agenda. At Dupere’s recommendation, the committee voted unanimously for the next agenda to read “FY18 budget discussion regarding potential reductions including but not limited to the SRO position.” Dupere also said he would review the agenda before it is posted.
While discussing the Open Meeting Law, Young also emphasized the need to list yea and nay votes in the minutes and for members who might have a conflict of interest to leave the room when discussing certain topics.
The School Committee’s response and Joseph’s original complaint will be sent to Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s office, Dupere said.
Given the committee’s agreement to discuss the school resource officer’s position again, Joseph said she was gratified by the outcome, but would be more gratified if there was a more positive perception of Pioneer’s School Committee and administration, saying there’s a “dedicated, interested, heartfelt core of parents distressed by the public’s impression.” However, she said she holds no malice for the committee.
“These are earnest people who say ‘I want to step up and support my community,’” she explained. “How can you be opposed to that?”
Still, Joseph declared the School Committee cannot continue unchecked or without consideration for regulations, like the open meeting law.
“They realized they made an error,” she said. “To me, the system worked.”

Come enjoy an outside concert

This looks like a night of fun . Come enjoy and help support a worthy cause and hear some great music .

TURNERS FALLS — With a goal of raising money for the American Civil Liberties Union, Pioneer Valley Regional School fine arts instructor Mandy Oliver is directing a chorus concert Saturday.
The concert will be held at 7 p.m. at the bandshell in Peskeomskut Park, located off Avenue A, between 6th and 7th streets. The suggested donation is $5, with all proceeds benefiting the ACLU, according to a concert flier.
The culmination of 10 rehearsals, the concert will include music with themes of solidarity and empowerment, with songs by Sia, The Beatles, Ingrid Michaelson, John Legend and the Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen.”

You have got to be kidding me

OK, lets be real here. No faculty or staff member wants to talk one on one with Miller. She can't be trusted for one and the majority of the ones laid off spoke out against her to begin with.

Miller said she doesn’t believe it’s appropriate to use them right away with this year’s large number of laid off or resigning faculty and staff.“Given our current situation, I think it’s better for some of the tensions to reduce before we ask them for feedback,” she said.

Now why is that? I think its very important we start using them now and copies be made by those who do use them and kept to further ensure they stay accurate. I also think that these interviews need to be done by the school committee and need to be made public as well. To much under handedness has gone on in this school since Miller has arrived and it needs to end and this SC needs to ensure more openness with the taxpayer and parents. As it stands our school has basically been black balled due to her under handedness and  it needs to end here and now. I am sure that these teachers have alot to say and I also think we should have Dupreys , Jones and Wehrli as well. Its time the truth comes out and these past administrators and teachers and other staff know they have the full support of the people and parents. Maybe a member of the dept of ed should also be in these interviews to enure that things are handled properly, its bluntly visible to us all that  unless you read it here we have been kept in the dark.

Its clear to everyone Miller is not a good addition to Pioneer nor is Bacon or Perry. People who have spoken out against them are now unemployed  and will fear retaliation if they speak out. For the sake of our school and those who remain , the Dept Of ED needs to be involved. This abuse of power also needs to end and they all need to be removed from the Education system for the sake of other schools down the road. It ends here.

Speak out and speak up. You chose this profession to educate kids and protect them. Your words now matter more than ever.

NORTHFIELD — The Pioneer Valley Regional School District curriculum and personnel subcommittee approved exit interview forms, answering requests community members voiced repeatedly last year.
Subcommittee members agreed that given a large number of layoffs this year, it was particularly important to have an exit interview procedure established to conduct with all faculty and staff who retire, resign or are laid off.
The curriculum and personnel subcommittee released a copy of the exit interview form, which includes nine questions such as, “Do you feel you were given adequate support to do your job well?” “Did you feel that you were provided good opportunities for professional growth?” and “Were you satisfied with the working environment?”

Pioneer Exit Interview by Joshua Solomon on Scribd

Faculty and staff will also be asked if they have suggestions for changes to the work environment, or if they have concerns.
Once forms are done, faculty and staff will contact their respective principal to arrange an appointment to go over the completed forms. Interviewees are also invited to call, email or make an appointment with Pioneer Superintendent Ruth Miller to share concerns or comments regarding working in the district.

Form vs. conversationsHowever, according to Miller, the practice of conducting exit interviews isn’t new, but the use of these forms is new. Miller said she routinely conducts interviews with some, but not all departing faculty and staff, preferring face-to-face conversations.
“Typically, if someone has left or is going to leave, they come in and meet with me at some point,” she said. “If you can catch them and have a conversation and take notes about what they said, I find that more purposeful.”
Miller said she believes faculty and staff might not be interested in filling out forms.
“I find that people, in all my years, 99 percent of the time they’re not filling it out,” she said. “But if you ask them for a conversation, they’re willing to have a conversation that doesn’t require them to write and analyze. And you get what they want to talk about, rather than on a piece of paper.”
Miller said she plans to meet with the five district principals to discuss how the form will be used. However, she said she doesn’t believe it’s appropriate to use them right away with this year’s large number of laid off or resigning faculty and staff.
“Given our current situation, I think it’s better for some of the tensions to reduce before we ask them for feedback,” she said.
Miller said she will likely start using the forms and conducting interviews “closer to September.”

Update from newspaper

As you can clearly  see Millers so called CLOSET space was really Cathy Hawkins- Harrison. Does this woman EVER tell the truth? She knew this was Cathy's.

hmm really!!

 Hmmm....... I remember this being different last year concerning the school resource officer. Parents did not want this and felt it made the kids uncomfortable and them as well and we were turning our school more into a prison than a school. This idea was pushed onto parents and the towns by the Police Chief and Miller , the majority did not like the idea one bit nor did school choice who chose this school because it wasn't like BUHS.Now School choice has about disappeared from PVRS in the last two years and parents since Miller has come have pulled them from the school. Now local parents are finding other choices for their children's education.This did not help PVRS anymore than Miller, Bacon  or Perry did and losing so many teachers these kids did depend on and trust, this is the final straw.

 May 2, 2016
Some residents questioned whether a school resource officer was necessary in a small, rural school like Pioneer and asked why Northfield — one of four member towns of the district who would benefit from the officer — must front the cost for it.
 Ruth Miller, the Pioneer superintendent, detailed the various roles the resource officer would serve, which include acting as a confidant to the students.
Read here
Resource Officer
Thursday, May 26, 2016
 “A school that has a police officer on duty is a huge negative in my mind, and I’m against that unless there is a need for it,” he said. “I don’t see any reason. I can’t see how our school or the reputation of our school is helped by having an armed officer for my kid to see every morning when he walks in.”
 Read it here
http://www.recorder.com/Sparks-fly-at-PVRSD-Committee-Meeting-Thursday-2425180

Confidant to the students? I can name a number of teachers these kids felt were safety to them and trustworthy to talk to , but whoops thats right Miller fired all of them! I never heard the kids state it was Igor. They liked him but they did not trust him. As for safety and drugs and weapons, well ask the parents of the kids Bacon humiliated and went thru parking lot cars with, Igor was NOT present . Oh and a couple of them kids were removed from the school due to this abuse by the parents. ( Another bad idea by the administration)

Igor is a great guy  but he is not needed at PVRS and this is Millers idea and along with the rest of her ideas it proved to be a poor choice and hurt PVRS as far as students are concerned and parents who felt the need to by pass this choice as a school and others looking elsewhere.

FYI -- Kids did not feel more secure seeing an armed officer in the school or the boys being supervised  when going into the bathrooms. Not to mention certain children due to race and color were targeted. (Nothing stereotype here going on.) Bacon & Perry did this as well with the females .I was told by many students they no longer felt safe at PVRS and they didn't like going to school anymore. I asked these same students at the end of the year  how they felt , a few said I am glad to be graduating or would not come back and others said they wanted to go to another school.

When will this SC realize the destruction this  and losing so many over two years has caused?

NORTHFIELD — Based on a Thursday vote of the Pioneer Valley Regional School District School Committee, the district may be without a school resource officer next year.
While looking at items to cut to meet the $14.2 million spending plan approved for next school year, eight members of the committee voted five-to-three not to fund Igor Komerzan’s position. Cutting it would save the district about $28,000.
However, it’s possible the decision might not hold, according to Superintendent Ruth Miller.
“There are people in the community that are very unhappy that this discussion occurred,” she said, noting discussion of the school resource officer’s position was not on the agenda. “I think they were feeling a little bit blindsided ... From what I’m hearing, people are going to demand that they vote with all the School Committee members present.”
School Committee members Robin L’Etoile and Jeanne Milton weren’t present, and Debra Gilbert left midway through the meeting before the vote, though the committee was able to reach a quorum.

Since Komerzan was hired as the school resource officer last summer, Northfield has paid for about $40,000 of his income, not including health insurance and a retirement plan, according to Northfield Police Chief Robert Leighton. The school district pays the remainder, with Komerzan resolving bullying issues, getting involved in teaching classes, and dealing with crime from weapons possession to drug dealing.
Leighton said he hasn’t officially been notified that the position has been dissolved, and won’t change anything until then. He said he hopes the decision will be reversed, noting that Komerzan was in fact able to save the district money.
“At one point, a lot of the certifications the teachers had for CPR expired,” he said. Ordinarily, the district would supply training, Leighton said, but Komerzan is a certified instructor.
“He was able to certify all those teachers and do it on the premises, with very little disruption to their schedules,” Leighton said. “And it didn’t cost the school a dime.”
For members of the School Committee who voted in favor of not funding the position, a tight budget was at the forefront of their decision.
However, the position was also approved by voters at last year’s annual town meeting.
“This is what parents and taxpayers want,” Leighton said.
Under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 71, Section 37P, it is a requirement for a chief of police to assign, in this case, a regional school district, with at least one school resource officer. However, upon written application, a school district can seek to have the state commissioner of elementary and secondary education waive the requirement if the commissioner agrees a school resource officer wouldn’t help the district in ensuring school safety. Or, if the chief of police in consultation with the superintendent determines there aren’t sufficient resources to assign a school resource officer, the chief will in turn consult with state police to ensure one is assigned.

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXII/Chapter71/Section37P

If you think you can pull that one think again, that law was basically made for city and inner city schools not rural. Stop Lying! 

Yep we have something to say

Not only is it BS that Pioneer has contended with morale and staffing this year but the previous  year as well.It seems that since Miller has come here we continue to lose employees and herself and others in her office get raises. Why is that? Also, why is it that this program owes so much money and why is it we have not heard the answers to that ? How can a program that you have to pay for to eat or is subsidized by the state for free lunches be this deep in debt? Again people lost their jobs to fix a problem that should of never gotten this far outta control.

Example.
Miller- Her income went up -639.00
Plus expenses -total 5000.00
Asst Superintendent-Healy went up -11,150.00 WHAT THE HELL IS THAT
ADMIN Asst to Superintendent- went up 4,210.00
Oh theirs more but lets move on
Bacon salary went up 3.070.00
VP salary  went up -54,946.00 WHAT!
oh and more
653,457.00 WAS SAVED BY REMOVING TEACHERS! Seriously! You give yourselves and admin raises and trash the teachers!
Read yourselves here, flipping unbelievable.. look at what went up and what went down. .
FY18 Budget
Miller I have to hand it to you , your history doesn't change.

Now how about you and Healy tell us how this school lunch program got so bad ? This you can't blame on Dayle Dorion. So who are these two jackasses  gonna throw under the bus now?

 Sadly more people are without an income and will struggle while our administration gets raises and acts like nothing happen. I'm sorry but Gail Healy deserves no respect or recognition when it comes off the backs of those who need jobs. PERIOD. 

 Also what was not mentioned was lunch was going up .10 cents.

Pioneer Valley Regional School, which has had to contend with some fiscal, morale and staffing difficulties this past year, seems to have ended the year with some success.
Changes in staffing in the food service operation will start cutting into its $220,000 deficit, discovered unexpectedly this year. The changes are expected to save the district $46,248 in its first year and $77,076 in the second year.
According to Assistant Superintendent Gail Healy, who is also the district’s food service director, the savings comes primarily from staff reductions. Bernardston Elementary School’s cafeteria manager was laid off, and Northfield Elementary School’s assistant cafeteria manager retired. We are sure it was a difficult move for Healy to make, but it’s her job to make her program live within its means.
This plan came after parents and others objected to an earlier plan to consolidate food preparation at Pioneer Valley Regional School. By not filling the two positions and shifting roles of those who remain, Healy said the new plan will actually save the district more money than an earlier one proposed in April.
The main goal is to reduce the school lunch fund deficit, which topped $201,000 last year and startled the auditors, who said such a deficit for a district the size of Pioneer is enormous. Since then, the figure has continued to grow to about $220,000.

By additional consolidation before the 2018-2019 school year, Healy expects to save an additional $30,829 the second year.
When Pioneer Cafeteria Manager Sue Wood retires after next school year, her position will be eliminated. Instead, the district will seek a district-wide cafeteria manager who will be responsible for tasks like food bidding, filing state reports and ordering food through the Department of Defense’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.
“We’re trying to save money by cutting down who does all these things,” Healy said.
Next school year, one Pioneer cafeteria helper, who assists with food preparation, serving and cleanup, will instead split her time between Northfield Elementary School and Bernardston Elementary School, working the same number of hours, Healy said. The helper, she said, already practiced the rotation before the school year ended.
Additionally, Pioneer’s two cashiers will each work two hours per day instead of three. With the helper working at the elementary school, Pioneer will have five food service staff instead of six.
Healy said between managers and helpers, staff will always have assistance.
While some of the changes won’t be welcome by everyone — especially those directly affected — they were tough but necessary changes to start the process of returning the food service to fiscal health at a cost taxpayer’s can afford. Healy and her team should be commended for their effort