Methuen High School Parking Fee Should Be Repealed

Methuen High School Parking  Fee Should Be Repealed

By: Dj Deeb – January , 2019 At its December Business Meeting, members of the Methuen School Committee voted unanimously to adopt a $100 student parking fee effective during the 2019-2020 school year. Unfortunately, I was one of those votes and after analyzing the issue further I regret my decision. I have placed a Motion […]

Methuen Schools, City Must Institute Hiring Freeze

Methuen Schools, City Must Institute Hiring Freeze

By DJ Deeb – Dec. 2018 Earlier this year (in the February, March, and April 2018 Valley Patriot editions) I outlined many suggestions for cuts in spending for the City of Methuen. Last year, the City filled 13 non-civil service municipal positions, hired 10 new firefighters and 3 reserve firefighters, hired 3 new police officers […]

Saba Shows True Leadership on Police Superiors

Saba Shows True Leadership on Police Superiors

By D.J. Deeb – Nov. 2018 Methuen City Councilor Steve Saba has shown true leadership in dealing with the outrageous Methuen Police Superior Contracts these last few months. In leading the charge, along with fellow City Councilor Jim McCarty, Councilor Saba proposed a reorganization that would have eliminated the Captain positions and maintained a necessary […]

Methuen School Committee Moves on Residency, Licenses, Superintendent Search

Methuen School Committee Moves on Residency, Licenses, Superintendent Search

B: DJ Deeb – Oct. 2018 At its September 10th and September 25th meetings, members of the Methuen School Committee wasted no time in voting to adopt policies to address student residency and educator licensure concerns. The latest moves are intended to increase transparency and accountability following revelations in August that the former Superintendent did […]

School Committees Play Vital Role in State Oversight

School Committees Play Vital  Role in State Oversight

By: DJ Deeb –  August, 2018 As of the deadline for this article the City/School budgets have not been fully resolved or finalized, but I hope to provide more information in a future article. In the meantime members of the City of Methuen Charter Review Commission recently discussed the possibility of recommending the elimination of […]

Prop 2 1/2 Override Not an Option for Methuen

Prop 2 1/2 Override Not an Option for Methuen

By: DJ Deeb – June, 2018 The Methuen School Committee held a budget workshop meeting on Tuesday, May 29, 2018 to discuss the upcoming Fiscal Year 2019 budget. In April, the School Committee voted to request that the Mayor and School Committee approve a budget of $82.5 million, a nearly 14% increase over last year’s […]

Methuen School Committeeman Releases Letter to City Council on School Budget/Layoffs

Methuen School Committeeman Releases Letter to City Council on School Budget/Layoffs

Dear Members of the Methuen City Council:   I am very concerned with the dismal state of our current budget in the City of Methuen and with the budget for Methuen Public Schools.  This is truly unfortunate, but was a predictable outcome of years of mismanagement.  City spending increases have averaged 3% annually for the […]

Methuen Methuen School Committee Increases Budget a Whopping 13%

Methuen Methuen School Committee Increases Budget a Whopping 13%

By: D.J. Deeb – May, 2018 Members of the Methuen School Committee voted to request that the mayor and School Committee approve a budget of $82.5 million, a 13% increase over last year’s budget of $72 million. This comes after years of not filling positions through attrition as enrollment numbers continue to climb and Special […]

Superintendent Gets High Marks from Methuen School Committee

Superintendent Gets High Marks from Methuen School Committee

By: DJ Deeb – Feb.2018 I have written numerous times that the City of Methuen is truly fortunate to have Superintendent Judy Scannell at the helm as the leader of Methuen Public Schools. Members of the school committee completed their annual evaluations of Superintendent Scannell in December and as expected, Superintendent Scannell received high marks […]

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