Saugus excited for Expanded Time and Learning grant

SAUGUS-Neither the economy nor probable budget cuts have dampened Superintendent Richard Langlois’ excitement for a potential Expanded Time and Learning grant.Langlois told the School Committee Thursday that the grant was officially filed Dec. 1, though there are a few minor technicalities that still need to be addressed. The primary issue that needs attention is the fact that the teachers must sign off on the program.Despite the change the grant will bring, Langlois is optimistic that teacher support won’t be an issue since 14 of them worked over and above the call of duty to get the grant completed.The ETL grant is aimed directly at extending the academic day at the Belmonte Middle School. If approved, it could bring as much as $936,000 into the budget, which can only be used for an extended day. Officials have not finalized the exact length of the extended day, but Langlois said it would likely average 1.2 hours.The middle school has taken a huge hit in the last few years, losing more teachers and programming than any other school in the system. Langlois said he pushed hard to get this grant written, in large part because he felt so bad for the school.”I feel bad for (principal) Charlie Naso,” he added. “He’s maintained the school, he’s actually raised (MCAS) scores but the school has flat lined. It’s like piloting a rubber raft upstream – every time you get a little ahead you just slip back again.”Langlois told the School Committee in September he planned to go after the grant despite the tight timeline and faltering economy.Langlois said he couldn’t be prouder of the teachers that came together on their own time to set the plan in motion. He said Saugus is the only district submitting a grant without the benefit of a planning grant fund, which surprised state officials.”They did this – this is teacher driven and it was done without compensation,” Langlois said. “We’re the only district to do so.”Langlois said preliminary feedback from the state was good. He said state officials were excited about the content of the proposal and surprised the teachers accomplished so much in the 10-12 week time span.”I want people to know that the teachers don’t always look for something in hand and this is an example of that,” he said.The grant targets three specific areas at the middle school: increasing math instruction, bringing back foreign language, and professional development.The trick is getting the competitive grant, but Langlois is optimistic.And while it’s a year-to-year grant, he said once a district gets it, chances are good it will retain it. He pointed to Revere and Chelsea as examples of districts that have continued to receive the grant year after year.Teachers are expected to sign off on the grant before the end of the year. Langlois said the School Committee would receive the final draft proposal and take its vote of support at its Jan. 8 meeting, the first meeting of the new year.