Dance lessons, a new scholarship, and how to overcome odds By Diana Bravo Globe Correspondent,Updated January 26, 2021, 11:50 p.m. Email to a Friend NORTH The Medford Public Library is hosting a series of free lessons with a local ballroom team known as Dance Caliente. The second session of the three-part series will take place on Feb. 18 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and will teach participants how to dance Bachata, which originated in the Dominican Republic. The classes are free and open to all skill levels, but participants must register in advance at www.dancecaliente.us. The Salem-based Lappin Foundation is holding a virtual live screening on Feb. 8 of the film âSpace Torah,â about the copy of the sacred text that astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman brought with him aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. After the 7:30 p.m. screening, executive producer Rachel Raz and Hoffman will lead a question-and-answer session. The event is free to attend, but requires registration at lappinfoundation.org.
Reply Only three of Framingham s nine elementary schools are south of Route 9. (Shutterstock) FRAMINGHAM, MA The Framingham School Committee has taken a major step toward the construction of a new elementary school south of Route 9, although it may be years before shovels hit the ground. The committee on Wednesday unanimously voted to enter the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) funding process, which could bring tens of millions of dollars for a new school. But it s just the first step in a long process. The city s newest building, the under-construction Fuller Middle School, began the MSBA process in November 2013 which ended in Framingham getting $39.5 million from the state for the nearly $100 million school. It was another five years until Framingham voters approved a debt exclusion to pay for Fuller in 2018.
Framingham schools may drop its busing contractor Durham in favor of NRT FRAMINGHAM After several years of spotty transportation service, Framingham Public Schools may drop Durham School Services as its busing contractor. In a memo to School Committee members, Lincoln Lynch IV, executive director of finance and operations, recommended that the district instead enter into a five-year contract with North Reading-based NRT starting July 1 and concluding on June 30, 2026. Durham s $29 million contract with the district expires on June 30. I am confident that NRT can provide the services our district requires, wrote Lynch. The district recently went out to bid and received bids from just two companies: Durham and NRT. Durham put forth a $37.1 million bid, offering to transport students in new buses. It also submitted a $35.3 million offer in which it would utilize used buses.
FRAMINGHAM Karen Foran Dempsey, a Framingham School Committee member and fierce advocate for those with disabilities, died suddenly on Christmas Eve, according to her family. In a Facebook post, Dempesy’s sister, City Councilor Janet Leombruno, said it “was sudden and unexpected and we are all heartbroken.” She said Dempsey, 54, left behind “a world that loved her, one she spent her life making better.” “Her life wasn’t the easiest, but you would never ever know it. We want to say thanks to the first responders for everything they did, and for the huge outpouring of love. She’s flying high with angels now, and free of pain forever,” wrote Leombruno.
Individual school board members who are apparently standing in their way. trace gallagher is live in los angeles. what are the tactics that they re using. reporter: the back story, the teachers union and the school committee have been going back and forth on the contract negotiations for several months. apparently the president of the teachers union, sam misskin decided he was going to ratchet up the pressure on the school committee a couple of notches. he sent an e-mail out to his one thousand plus members reading in part, i m quoting here, it is time that we start focusing our actions specifically on the members of the framingham school committee. they need to feel the same level of stress that we have been for the past year. he then directed the teachers to an online survey about the committee s members, right? he was asking questions about them. check this out. their names were at the top of the the survey and then he went on to ask questions like their home address, home phone, all of this information, their employer s address, their work e-mail, their time on the school committee and get this, the