Westfield350.com WEATHER Westfield350.com TONIGHT WEATHER WEATHER Partly Cloudy. TONIGHT
The Westfield Westfield News News The Serving Westfield, Southwick, and surrounding Hilltowns Serving Westfield, Southwick, and surrounding Hilltowns
Low of 55. TONIGHT Partly Cloudy. Partly Cloudy. Low of55. 61. VOL. 86 NO. 151 Low of
www.thewestfieldnews.com www.thewestfieldnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2017
VOL. 86 86 NO. NO. 246 151 VOL.
TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 14, 2017 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2017
Search for The Westfield News
Search for The Westfield News
ime The N only TSearch he“T W estfield ews for Theis Westfield News will run its masthead criTic wiThouT in pinkime , in isrecognition The only.” ambiTion ofcriTic October being JOHN STEINBECK wiThouT Breast Cancer ambiTion Awareness Month. JOHN STEINBECK
“T
.”
75 cents
75 75cents cents
School and police officials respond to concerns of repeated robocalls from WHS to parents, guardians By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—Westfield school officials and Westfield Police reiterate that there is no threat to students at Westfield High School after two robocalls were made to parents and guardians of the school’s students over the past two days. The robocalls had stemmed from an incident at the school, which was investigated by both the Westfield School Department and the Westfield Police Department and found to not be credible, according to School Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski and Westfield Police Capt. Michael McCabe. However, officials believe social media has played a role in propagating a rumor related to the incident, which has caused a lingering concern among students and parents. “What happened is that the situation from yesterday (Thursday) is lingering to today. Rumors are going around, people are on edge,” Czaporowzki said. Czaporowski said that the incident began when an anonymous tip had come in through the school’s anonymous tip system on Thursday related to a possible threat. “We investigated that in conjunction with police and that’s where we were able to determine that it was not a legitimate threat after a joint effort,” he said. According to McCabe, the incident had worsened after a picture of a student with a school resource officer and a vice principal at the school had made its way around social media with “They got him” as a caption. “The picture was of a student being escorted to a quiet location to have a conversation, which is procedure,” he
School Committee and transition Westfield Public Schools Superintendent Stefan team member Diane Mayhew. (WNG Czaporowski (WNG file photo) File Photo)
Decision on Intermediate and Middle School locations to be voted on Monday
A submitted photo of a Westfield Police vehicle at Westfield High School Friday. said. However, McCabe said, the picture had reached what he said were hundreds of students. Officials believe that this is part of what caused the resulting uneasiness on Friday and is what also prompted the second robocall from the school. “The latest robocall was basically reassuring people that this is a rumor going around of the threat to safety. There was no credibility to that rumor,” Czaporowski said. “It’s unfortunate that people are using social media to spread the rumor further, but I certainly understand the circumstances and appreciate people’s concerns,” Czaporowski also said. In addition to the robocall, additional police presence was at the school in order to “reassure people Westfield High School is safe,” accord-
ing to Czaporowski. McCabe said that regardless of the situation, his department would continue to work toward the safety of students. “We, as a department, are dedicated to the safety of our children and we will continue to work and investigate possible threats,” McCabe said. McCabe though, voiced concerns with the way that electronic media played a role in the situation. McCabe said that with “unconfirmed and unknown sources” it can be difficult to determine what is and is not misinformation. “The reality is we have people at the school, both staff and police on site, who are paid specifically to maintain and investigate issues as they relate to school safety,” he said. “Those efforts are hampered by misinformation. Whether well-intentioned or See Robocalls, Page 7
By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – Westfield Public Schools Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski said the transition team has been working on the plan for redistricting, which includes making one of the middle schools a 5th/6th grade intermediate school and the other a 7th/8th grade middle school. On Monday, the team will present their recommendation to the School Committee on which location (North or South) to use for the 5/6 intermediate school, and which for the 7/8 middle school. The School Committee is then expected to vote Monday on the recommendation. Prior to the vote, there will be an opportunity for public participation and input, and Czaporowski said the community is encouraged to attend. The meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. with a presentation by Franklin Avenue elementary school students. He said the plan will be presented immediately following. The plan is the result of the redistricting decision made last year which is to bring Russell Elementary students back to Westfield, move the fifth grades out of the elementary schools, and to create one 5/6 intermediate school and one 7/8 middle school. Those decisions were made after multiple public hearings. The leadership team for the transition includes Czaporowski, Ronald R. Rix, chief financial officer, Susan Dargie, director of curriculum, South Middle School principal Paul Newton, Paula Ceglowski, director of human resources, School Committee member Diane Mayhew and parent representative Rachel Bullock. On Friday, Mayhew said the transition team
has a lot of work ahead of them. She said in addition to the leadership team, there are five transition work groups, each in charge of different areas. The list includes redistricting K-4, led by Rix and Pamela Kortarski, director of transportation; create a 5-6 Intermediate School, led by Dargie and North Middle School principal Katherine Bourque; create a 7-8 Middle School, led by Newton and administrator of student interventions Chris Rogers; staffing for reconfigured schools, led by Ceglowski and Denise Ruszala, director of assessment and accountability, and the communication plan led by Czaporowski and grants director Shannon Barry. Mayhew said one of the biggest jobs, and one of the earliest due on a timeline established by the committee will be figuring out the curriculum both for the elementary schools and the intermediate and middle schools. She said a deadline has been set to make those decisions by January. Only after the decisions are made on curriculum, will they really be able to determine staffing needs, according to Mayhew. “I’m confident we’ll get it done for the fall, but it’s a lot of work,” she said. Also on the agenda on the School Committee Monday will be a presentation by Czaporowski on Alternative Structured Learning Days, or “Blizzard Bags,” as they are more commonly known. Blizzard Bags are comprised of work sent home for students to complete when schools are closed due to snow, in lieu of snow days. Last year, Gateway Regional implemented Blizzard Bags for all students, and had a release date of June 14, as opposed to Westfield Public Schools release date of June 28. Westfield is considering implementing the program this year.
Kiwanis seeks sponsors to honor veterans and first responders By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—The Kiwanis Club of Westfield is looking for sponsors for flags in honor of those who help protect the country. The Kiwanis Club is asking for individuals, families or companies to sponsor a flag or flags for the “To Serve and Protect Park of Honor.” The 3-foot by 5-foot American flags will be used to honor veterans and first responders and will be displayed in front of South Middle
School from Nov. 4 to Nov. 25. “We are selling flags to honor veterans past and present, first responders, firefighters or any law enforcement agency” Kellie Brown, Kiwanis Club president-elect, said. The flags, according to Brown, will be used to represent an honoree that can be chosen by whoever purchases a flag or flags, and information of those honorees will be displayed with the flags. The funds raised will go toward a scholarship, Brown said. The schol-
arship will go primarily toward children of veterans and first responders. This is the second year that the Kiwanis Club has done this project, Brown said, and they sold just over 100 flags last year. “Our hope this year is that will double,” she said. “We can’t do this without the support of the community, so we really hope they step up and help us out,” See Kiwanis, Page 7
Granville holding third special town meeting for capital borrowing vote By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent GRANVILLE – The town of Granville will be holding a special town meeting on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. at the Granville Village School in order to vote on the Southwick-Tolland-Granville regional school district’s FY (Fiscal Year) 2018 capital borrowing plan. Granville residents are voting on the plan for a third time as it was rejected the first two times it was voted on at Granville special town meetings. Approving the capital borrowing plan would allow the school district to have a budget of $525,000 that would be used towards the following areas: • Transportation Vehicles $200,000 • Technology $150,000 • Equipment $50,000 • Buildings $25,000 • Playground $100,000 Most notably, $200,000 of that plan would be utilized for transportation vehicles. Since the school
committee voted to close the Granville Village School, Superintendent of Schools Jen Willard indicated that buying mid-size buses is a more affordable option since full-size buses wouldn’t be able to travel down some of the side streets in Granville. The school committee voted on Sept. 6 in favor of approving the capital borrowing plan. Needing approval from all three towns, the school committee sent out letters to all three communities in the district. Each town had 60 days to respond to the letter and were given two options. They could hold a special town meeting to vote or the town could choose to take no action which would mean that once the 60 days passed, the vote would automatically pass in that particular town. As both Southwick and Tolland have decided to take no action, the result of Granville’s special town meeting on Oct. 23 will have an impact on what happens next with the FY 2018 capital borrowing plan.
Granville residents attended a special town meeting on May 9 and ended up voting down the capital borrowing plan. (WNG File Photo)