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Education

Candidates: Would You Close a School?

by Mary Serreze | Oct 27, 2009 3:51 pm | Comments (0)

Daily Hampshire Gazette staff editor Stan Moulton, at last night’s debate, pushed both mayoral candidates—incumbent Mayor Clare Higgins and City Councilor Michael Bardsley—to reveal the circumstances under which they would support a school closure. Bardsley has made a campaign pledge not to close any one of the city’s four elementary schools.

“Why do you feel comfortable making this pledge,” Moulton asked Bardsley, “without having a crystal ball to accurately predict the state of the city’s budget over the next couple of years, particularly in the face of likely increasing cuts in local aid from the the state? Under what circumstances—for example the massive layoff of teachers—would you reconsider this pledge?”

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Holyoke’s High Performance Computing Center Moving Right Along

by Mary Serreze | Oct 24, 2009 3:00 pm | Comments (0)

Watch out, Northampton. Here comes Holyoke.

Partners MIT, UMass, BU, EMC, Cisco, Accenture, and the City of Holyoke have completed, after an intensive 120-day period, a working plan for Holyoke’s High Performance Computing Center (HPCC). According to Massachusetts News Wire, the partners have:

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Candidate Silva Clarifies Classroom Size Remark

by Guest Columnist | Oct 19, 2009 2:45 pm | Comments (0)

Kathy SilvaDuring last Wednesday’s at-large councilors’ debate at the Bridge Street School, candidate Kathy Silva was asked by an audience member if she would stand by a remark she was purported to have made regarding class size in city schools. Silva was said to have remarked that 38 students, maximum, could be accommodated in a classroom. Silva responded in the affirmative, which elicited an audible reaction in the audience.

Kathleen Silva has submitted a statement to NorthamptonMedia in which she clarifies her position.

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Rumbles from the Neighborhood

by Mike Kirby | Oct 21, 2009 9:49 am | Comments (1)

A friend of mine recently noted that the same architecture firm—Caolo & Bieniek—that was awarded the new police station contract in 2007 was also granted the city’s Lily Library expansion and renovation contract in 2005. He remarked that a former Northampton planning board member, Ken Jodrie, works for that firm, which specializes in municipal construction.

It seems that the fine old Irish political doctrine of “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” is still working pretty well around here.

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