Torrisi Applies to Replace North Andover School Committeeman Burzlaf who Resigned to Take Job In Town Managers Office,

Torrisi Applies to Replace North Andover School Committeeman Burzlaf who Resigned to Take Job In Town Managers Office,

North Andover School Committeeman Laurie Burzlaff has resigned her seat on the committee to take a job with the Town as Executive Assistant to the Town Manager. The job pays approximately $48,000.  Burzlaff was elected to the School Committee in 2009 and was reelected in 2013. School Committee members in North Andover serve a three-year term […]

Everyone gets a Trophy in North Andover – School Committee Dumbs-Down Grades

Everyone gets a Trophy in North Andover – School Committee Dumbs-Down Grades

VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL   January 2013 The North Andover School Committee has decided that grading children in the school system with the time tested letter grades which reflect their achievement on tests and projects, is no longer needed. Instead, they have decided to create a complicated number grading system that parents say do not reflect […]

VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL: Cris Allen Should Step Down

VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL: Cris Allen Should Step Down

UNBECOMING! 12-07-11 Over the years, embattled School Committee Chairman Chris Allen has worked very hard to help the public school children of North Andover get a better education. But, Allen’s behavior of late has overshadowed much of the good her efforts might have accomplished. First, Allen was engaged in using school department resources (and employees) […]

Superintendent Hottel Tries to Charge $7,099 for Public Documents

Superintendent Hottel Tries to Charge  $7,099 for Public Documents

December, 2012 North Andover School Superintendent Christopher Hottel handed The Valley Patriot a bill for $7,099 to fill a freedom of information request last month. The Valley Patriot had requested copies of all emails, sent and received by members of the school committee and the superintendent covering a 30 day period just prior to and […]

North Andover School Chairman’s e-mail Touches Off Firestorm

VALLEY PATRIOT EXCLUSIVE!! Tom Duggan – Valley Patriot Publisher NORTH ANDOVER – School Committee Chairman Chris Allen thinks that the Merrimack Valley Tea Party and town activist Ted Tripp are “small minded” for opposing the proposed meals tax on the town meeting warrant last week. She also believes, or at least says she believes, that […]

Public Deserves Answers From School Committee Chair

Public Deserves Answers From School Committee Chair

Paying Attention! with Tom Duggan October, 2008 Last May the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) notified the North Andover Public Schools that their high school was being put on warning of losing its accreditation. But, it wasn’t until August 25th that North Andover Superintendent of Schools, Marini notified the public that the […]

Police Investigate Middle School Death Threats

By: Tom Duggan – April 2008 NORTH ANDOVER – Several North Andover Middle School students are being investigated by the North Andover police for personal profiles posted on the America On Line Internet service threatening to harm fellow students and naming at least one teacher and a classmate the student pledges to “kill.”  These threats […]

Former North Andover’s Acting Superintendent Gave Himself Illegal Raise of $4,484 Raise

VALLEY PATRIOT EXCLUSIVE!   By: Tom Duggan – January, 2008   The North Andover School Committee is suing their former acting Superintendent Richard Bergeron for illegally giving himself a $4,484.34 raise without school committee approval.  A complaint filed in Lawrence District Court claims that Bergeron ordered a payroll clerk to put the additional money in […]

Valley Patriot Editorial: Come Join the Circus in North Andover

  May 5, 2007  We are looking forward to the circus that will take place at this year’s May 14th North Andover Town Meeting.  On the town warrant to be decided by North Andover voters is a Proposition 2 ½ Override. A memo of agreement signed on by the Board of Selectman, the School Committee […]

Perry Registers Car in New Hampshire

Perry Registers Car in New Hampshire

By: Tom Duggan – March, 2007 North Andover School Committee Chairman Al Perry has been seen driving around town in a new 2007 Cadillac Escalade with New Hampshire license plates. This week he admitted that he registered his new car in the state of New Hampshire, explaining that, “after March, I plan to spend much […]

Audit Shows North Andover School Committee Incompetence

PAYING ATTENTION! WITH TOM DUGGAN   By Tom Duggan, February, 2007 Maybe the North Andover School Committee really isn’t incompetent. Perhaps it is completely capable of running the schools efficiently and just refuses to do so. Whatever the case, an education audit released last month on the condition of the North Andover school system showed that […]

Parent Power in North Andover

VALLEY PATRIOT EDITTORIAL    August, 2006 Parents of children in the North Andover school system revolted this past week and demanded that the School Committee get back to work. While individual motivations varied, the common theme was that the schools were facing numerous challenges and the School Committee needed to provide leadership and guidance. Hundreds […]