News

Scanlon to reveal school plan tonight

By Paul Leighton
Staff writer
Published: May 14, 2008

BEVERLY — Mayor Bill Scanlon said yesterday he won't reveal his last-minute school plan until tonight's School Committee meeting, setting the stage for what one School Committee member called "political theater at its finest."

Scanlon stunned observers at the end of Monday night's public hearing at the high school by announcing he had come up with a "painful, but less painful" plan to deal with a $2.67 million school budget gap.

But he said he won't divulge his plan until tonight's 7 o'clock meeting at City Hall, where the School Committee is scheduled to vote on Superintendent James Hayes' consolidation plan that was proposed six weeks ago.

Asked yesterday what he could reveal about the plan in advance of tonight's meeting, Scanlon said, "Absolutely nothing."

The mystery surrounding Scanlon's proposal has left School Committee members in the dark. Some said yesterday they are not sure if they will vote at all tonight after having the mayor's plan dropped in their laps at the last minute.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we voted, and I wouldn't be surprised if we waited until the next meeting," School Committee member Paul Manzo said.

School Committee member James Latter said he was "very frustrated" at the timing of Scanlon's proposal, but wants to hear what the mayor has to say.

"The political theater is at its finest, but at the end of the day how we get there is much less important than where 'there' is," Latter said. "You need to put your emotions in check. This is serious business."

Hayes' plan calls for laying off 61 teachers and staff, turning the Cove School into an early childhood education center, and turning the McKeown School into a secondary alternative school to close a $2.67 million budget gap.

Meanwhile, a special election is scheduled for June 3 to vote on a $2.5 million property tax override, the first such election in the city's history. The School Committee had planned to vote tonight on two budgets — one if the override passes and one if it doesn't.

Asked why he waited until the last minute to propose his plan, Scanlon said, "I hoped for a reasonable solution to get developed over the past weeks, and I've concluded there's a better solution than the one currently on the table so I intend to bring it forward."

Scanlon, who is a voting member of the School Committee, said the committee does not have to vote tonight.

"I'll be ready to vote, but if they want to think about it longer they can think about it longer," he said. "People might complain about the lateness of the hour, but we still have time and this is very important to our future."

As for criticism that he is devising a plan by himself and at the last minute, Scanlon said, "I've got a job to do and I'm going to do my best to do it."

Scanlon was asked if his description of his plan as "painful but less painful than the proposal on the table," meant that only one elementary school would close instead of two.

"You're free to interpret that anyway you like," he said.

City Council President Tim Flaherty said he did not know what Scanlon has in mind. If the plan involves transferring money from city accounts, the City Council would have to approve those transfers, he said.

"I'm cautiously optimistic to see what he has to offer," Flaherty said. "Unfortunately time is running out."

School Committee member David Manzi said he is willing to listen to what the mayor has to offer.

"I'll listen to anybody," Manzi said. "I just don't know where the money's going to come from."