EVERETT
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LEADER HERALD NEWS GAZETTE February 8, 2018
WYNN RESIGNS
By Josh Resnek
Steve Wynn has resigned as the head of Wynn Resorts and a new president has been named. The resignation was expected but still comes as a surprise, especially to Everett officials and residents all concerned
about the new casino being built here. Company officials said after his resignation that everything will continue without interruption and that the hope was business would return to normal now that Wynn is gone. The future of the Everett
project is not in question. What is in question is exactly how the new president of Wynn Resorts carries on the legacy left The Everett High School Library was filled to capacity for Monday night’s School Committee meeting, during which administrators outlined budgetary concerns that might require layoffs. by Wynn and what he will do for and with the city to sustain the project in its entirety. This is a huge change of affairs See WYNN, Page 7
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Everett Public Schools Brace for Layoffs
Funding Shortages Creating Concerns in the Short and Long Term
Attempts to erase a nearly $9 million gap in the current school department budget might require massive layoffs later this month, with another round of cuts being prepared for March, as fears grow that the Everett Public Schools (EPS) won’t be able to sustain the programs and services that are essential to its success. Superintendent of Schools Frederick F. Foresteire announced at Monday’s School Committee meeting that 110 employees have been notified they will be laid off effective Friday, February 16, resulting in $2 million in savings. Teachers (58), paraprofessionals (18), clerks (12), and custodians and houseworkers (19) make up most of the proposed layoffs, which are spread across every building in the school system. Thirty of the layoffs will be made at Everett High School, including an English teacher, a science teacher, an art teacher, two Italian teachers, two physical education teachers, and three special education teachers. The Madeline English School will suffer 16 layoffs, followed by the Lafayette (11), Webster (7), Whittier (nine), Parlin and Keverian (eight each), Devens (four), and Adams and Webster School Extension (three each). Six staff members in the administration building are scheduled to be laid off, as well as five districtwide employees. The $2 million in savings from staff reductions will be added to $3.2 million the EPS is expected to receive from city government, and $1.3 million it can utilize from revolving accounts. That adds up to 6.5 million, reducing the budget gap to $2.5 million. Monday night, the School Committee voted to draft a formal request to the City Council
Reporters from several Boston news outlets were on hand for Monday’s meeting, Above, Superintendent Frederick F. Foresteire answers a question from WCVB’s Jorge Quiroga.
asking for the funds needed to avoid any layoffs. The Council meets again on Monday, Feb. 12. Looking into the future, concerns are mounting about how the schools are going to be funded over the long haul. School Committee member Frank Parker lamented national and statewide funding trends that are “going the wrong way,” and the school department’s struggles to formulate a plan that doesn’t require supplemental budgets “every 10 months.” “We’ve achieved so much,” Parker told the packed Everett High Library on Monday night. “How do we maintain that going forward?” UNEXPECTED EXPENDITURES In addressing the School Committee, central administrators detailed how the $9,128,998 budget gap results from $6,233,131 in unexpected expenditures and $2,895,867 in anticipated revenue the district is not receiving (or has yet to receive). The lost revenue includes $1.5 million in Medicaid reimbursement, $1,005,747 in Chapter 70 funds from the state, and the elimination of See SCHOOLS, Page 3
Exelon Legal Fees to Mintz Levin Nears $400,000 By Joshua Resnek The mayor has given the Boston law firm of Mintz Levin approximately $400,000 since 2015 to litigate the Exelon tax deal, the Leader Herald has learned in response to a FOIA filed with the city two weeks ago which was answered Monday. The Freedom of Information Act provides for otherwise unpublished information held in confidence by the city to see the light of day. City Solicitor Colleen Mejia noted that the services rendered by attorney are exempt under MGL. C. 30B, so there is no written contract between the city and the law firm. The purchase orders signed and paid by the city’s Purchasing
Department represent an agreement between the parties, according to the city solicitor. The vast majority of the money going to the law firm began flowing just about this time last year, on Feb. 8, 2017, when an invoice was paid by the city to the law firm for $25,404.50, according to records provided by the city to the Herald Leader. In subsequent months, and sometimes skipping a month, the following are the amounts that came out of the City Treasury for services rendered by the law firm. Two months legal fees totaled $69,842.00 in 2015. The breakdown for the payments reveals $19,842 paid to the law firm 8/10/2015 and a second payment of $50,000 on
9/29/2015. All the other payments made for the Exelon litigation were paid in 2017. They are: $54,445.55 paid on 3/07/2017; $56,711.69 paid on 6/22/2017; $41,588.18 paid on 9/12/2017; $30,211.92 on 9/12/2017; $57,325.07 paid on 11/9/2017; $39,432.63 paid on 11/15/2017 and $25,159.74 on 11/15/2017. City Solicitor Mejia did not return a call from the Leader Herald Monday in which we sought an explanation of the fees or how high the city would allow the fees to go and whether or not there are any conditions shared by the mayor and the law firm that have not been made public.