Swampscott fills new school positions from within

SWAMPSCOTT – The school committee appointed two department veterans to new administrative positions in order to address curriculum needs critical for the high school to retain its accreditation.”This has been done with the recommendation and advice of the school leadership team, and curriculum and instruction have been a continual focus of this committee,” Celli said at the school committee’s Wednesday meeting. “This is all within the bottom-line budget,” she added.The positions were part of a “restructuring” of the current assistant superintendent position which Celli proposed at the board’s April 27 meeting. Later that same meeting, High School Principal Layne Millington reported that the high school would be sanctioned by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges for not meeting three out of the seven standards by which schools are evaluated. Celli told the committee at that meeting that the restructuring would help the school unify the district’s curriculum to help Millington address one of the major criticisms of the report.Maureen Bingham was unanimously appointed the assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and professional development, grants. Bingham currently serves as the assistant superintendent for student and instructional services, where she oversees special-education, guidance, and nurses services in addition to special-contract services provided to the district. Her new position will focus solely on curriculum development, and Celli specified that her position would focus only on grants not related to special-education. Bingham currently earns $119,151, and Celli said that her contract would not be renegotiated.”You have a big job ahead of you with curriculum review,” Celli warned Bingham at the meeting, after offering her congratulations.”Very big,” Bingham acknowledged.Mona Blumstein was appointed administrator of student services, taking over part of Bingham’s former role. Celli said that Blumstein was familiar with the role – having served in a similar position for interim periods several times in the past. Blumstein is currently a team chair for pre-kindergarten to grade 6, and said she has “done the job about five times before” during her 17-year career.She told the school committee that she firmly believes that special-education students should have the same education as all students and that she would work to provide as many special-education services as possible in district. Blumstein made $99,659 in 2010, but Celli said her contract will need to be changed to reflect her new responsibilities. She did not specify whether there would be any salary change, but said that both positions could be funded from the approved 2012 budget.In other business:? The board formally accepted a $1.032-million grant from the Gelfand Trust to institute a four-year enhancement of its Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education programs.? The board will vote at their next meeting whether to increase school lunch prices by 5 or 10 cents in response to changing federal subsidies for lunches.