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Junket-Gate at the
Gr. Lawrence Tech
Kathleen
Corey Rahme, Vice Chairman, Methuen City Council
08/02/06
 Junket-Gate At The Greater Lawrence
Technical School When the City Council of Methuen
voted 6-2 (Lahey and Andrew) against approving the
Greater Lawrence Technical School budget on July 27, it
came as a complete surprise. Councilor Cronin was not
allowed to vote because he is employed at the school.
The City of Methuen represents one fourth of the approval
process. The cities of Lawrence, North Andover, Andover
and Methuen support this school. The budget would
certainly go through with only one of four cities voting
against it. The gesture was a reaction to the disregard
by Superintendent Vacirca and Assistant Superintendent
Fox to produce the information I requested. The majority
of the City Council felt this information should have
been forthcoming.
I had just successfully argued to reduce their
budget by $25,320 out of the non-net school spending part
of the budget (transportation-bussing) which represents
40% of the $63,300 allocated for travel and conferences
because Superintendent Vacirca and Assistant
Superintendent Fox failed to respond to my questions
regarding spending at conferences. I had planned to hold
this money in the General Government Reserve Fund until I
received the information I requested. We have no power to
reduce Net School Spending.
Then, the City Council made a stunning move. In a
symbolic gesture, they didn’t approve Methuen’s
share in the amount of $1.3 million.
Why would Methuen City Council make such a move? It all
began when I read the article on April 12, of the Eagle
Tribune about the trips taken by the Greater Lawrence
Technical School Committee to various conferences. This
article prompted about a dozen constituents to contact me
and ask how a non-elected person, Kenneth Hamilton, a
former school committee member, was able to go on a trip,
paid for by public money.
They questioned the reasoning of elected school committee
members Leo Lamontange, Richard Hamilton, Ken Henrick,
Michael Condon, Gerald Silverman, and  Jack Driscoll all of whom
unanimously agreed this should be allowed because he had
served for four years and “he did a good job and he
was a good member” and “he earned the
trip” and he would lose the deposit he made a week
before the election that he subsequently lost, according
to the article. While it is within their legal
authority to approve this expenditure, it certainly
raises questions about their spending priorities not to
mention the fact that three of them are related to each
other.
Academic conferences are intended to bring professionals
together for the purpose of information sharing and think
tanking. Hopefully, attendees will return to their home
districts with cutting edge innovations in education and
technology. Like others in my constituency, I am hard
pressed to imagine what a non-elected person could bring
back to the table except for receipts.
I asked Mr. Frank Vacirca and Mr. Charles Fox for a
record of all conferences and trip spending from the past
five years. Under the Freedom of Information Act I was
advised by the City Solicitor that this was a reasonable
request. I later discovered under Massachusetts Public
Records Law, Chapter 66 section 10 that they should have
responded to me within 10 days. This did not happen. It
was 19 days before I received a primitive and inaccurate
fax only after I called the school on the day we had the
workshop with Vacirca.
After I requested it again in person at the budget
workshop, I received an email on June 26 from Mr. Charles
Fox stating I would need to pay $90 for this information.
This arrived on the same day we were to approve the
budget. I was advised I was able to go to the office and
inspect the records but had to pay for the copies.
Several of my fellow councilors were outraged at this and
voted down the entire budget.
Ironically, the Eagle Tribune was able to obtain this
year’s spending and it was revealed the trips
included stays at lavish hotels and top shelf meals
amounting to more than $5100 (source: ET, June 26,
2006). The day after this report and with the
knowledge an elected official’s request was denied
unless payment was received; Mayor Manzi notified the
school and was able to secure the information.
During the past five years, more than $33,000 has been
spent on trips that included reimbursement for
unauthorized spending on liquor. The School Committee
intends to cap and examine their policies for conferences
in the future and have stricter guidelines in place.
Councilors Quinn and Leone plan to join me in drafting
legislation in order to protect the Methuen
taxpayer’s interests.
Chairman Zanni has arranged for a special meeting
scheduled for August 14, 2006 at 6:30 in the Methuen City
Hall. He has invited the surrounding communities who
support this school. We will be given the opportunity to
discuss Councilor Leone’s proposal for a Resolution
calling for a Management Audit of the Greater Lawrence
Technical School.
During the Greater Lawrence Technical School budget
process, as a City Councilor I felt disrespected in the
lack of response by the school officials during my
queries. I felt there was an attitude of entitlement and
arrogance.
The School District Examination Report published by the
Office of Educational Quality and Accountability ranked
GLTS number 276 out of 278. In hopes of a brighter future
for our children who study the trades, I am eager to see
this school come off of the watch list of the Department
of Education.
Under the leadership of the new Superintendent Dr. Judith
Ann DeLucia, I am confident this will happen. Within six
months she managed to get Whittier Technical School off
the watch list.
As elected officials, we need to protect not only our
taxpayers we need to be sure our children are getting the
education they deserve.
Kathleen Corey Rahme is the former
Central District Councilor in Methuen and was elected as
a city councilor “at large” last year. She is
also the founder of the Methuen Youth Corps and hosts
"Call to Serve." You can email her at
kcoreyrahme @comcast.net
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The August, 2006 Edition
of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2006, Valley Patriot, Inc.
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