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M e d f i e l d ’s H o m e t o w n

Newspaper Since 1922

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MEDFIELD PRESS Established to provide an intimate portrait of the community and its people THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2009

Community Newspaper Company

Maguire: Fees to save programs, class sizes

What’s

up

Spring fling

Come celebrate spring at the Center at Medfield, 1 Ice House Road. Friends of Medfield seniors are hosting a dance May 2, 7-11 p.m. Music will be provided by Musical Rendezvous with interactive DJ Stephen Berardineli, who joins in to teach the audicence dance steps. Beer, wine and light refreshments will be provided. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door.

Board to vote on raising costs for athletics, lunches, activities April 27

Treasurer to speak at Chamber April 14

By Cathy Pray CORRESPONDENT

State Treasurer Timothy Cahill, “Leadership Challenges and Opportunities in the 2009 Economy”, Tuesday, April 14, PHOTOS BY JOHN TARANTINO 7:15-9 a.m. at the Neponset Val- Lindsay Soderlund gets a temporary henna tattoo on her hand at the Indian culture day Tuesday afternoon, courtesy of Janaki Mohan of Medfield. ley Chamber of Commerce’s “Spring Speaker Series”, Dedham Hilton Hotel, Allied Drive, Dedham. The event is open to the public. Chamber members $30; By Rob Borkowski Music non-members $40. Register at STAFF WRITER www.NVCC.com, or 781-769Sam Bajpai played the saranji for On March 25, Blake Middle School students and parents during Blake 1126. sponsored an Indian Culture Night at

Blake School explores Indian culture

the school to teach students, teachers and parents about Indian culture. Social Studies teacher Michael Gow, who teaches sixth grade, said he and fellow teachers Geri Tasker and Mary Ann Jalkut decided that an evening of exploring the culture of On Wednesday, April 22, at India would be a good learning tool 2:30 p.m., magician and balloon for their students. They approached twister Ed Popielarczyk will pre- computer teacher Shuchipa Rao and sent a magic and comedy show at asked for her help. “She had a series of contacts,” within the Greater the Westwood Public Library. If Boston Indian community, Gow said. The four were able to schedule about you’re going to be around over 25 presenters, who displayed examApril vacation week, this proples of Inidan food, dance, dress and gram is a must! Registration is sports. required and limited. Please regCricket, a British sport similar to baseball, is very popular in India, and ister at the library or by calling also in that region of the world, Gow 781-320-1042. If you could said. The sport is part of the country’s publish these events, or possibly heritage from their days as a colony of send a photographer to cover England, he said. “Everybody had a connection to them, it would be greatly appreciIndia,” Gow said. ated. About 150-200 people, including grade six students and their families and teachers attended the event. “So, there was a good turnout,” Gow said, “Our goal was for them to witness or experience a culture that they hadn’t seen before.”

Middle School’s Indian Culture Night. The saranji is a traditional Indian musical instrument.

Magician, balloon artist at library April 22

Animal World Experience April 23

April Vacation Program: Animal World Experience at the Islington Branch Library for ages 3 and up on Thursday April 23 from 9:30 - 10:30 am. Come meet and learn about some interesting animals! Registration is required. Call 781-326-5914.

INSIDE Town Report Learning Opinion Senior news, obits Religion Sports Bulletin Board Travel

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36 Pages ■ Vol. 82, No. 19 ■ $1.00

Mathematics Kathleen McCrossan listens to a presentation on Vedic Mathematics by Parul Nanavai. Vedic Math was presented by Jagadguru Swami Sri Bhârati Kòa Tîrthaji Mahâraja, a Hindu scholar and mathemetician, during the early 1900s. He toured the U.S. and England in the 1950s to teach his math, which was based on 16 sutras, or verbal formulas.

The next one “I would love to do something in the future next year,” Gow said, this time for the entire community, perhaps with a guest speaker from Togo in Africa or with a representative of Chinesse culture. This will be the last one for this school season, though.

Superintendent Robert Maguire plans to cut an additional $539,000 from the FY10 school budget, relying, in part, on an increased athletic fee, new parking and activity fees. The School Committee will vote on the plan April 27. “If I don’t implement these fees, where do I go? ” asked Maguire, who said his goal is to “protect the core of what we do, by maintaining programs and average class size.” The cuts are in addition to $1 million already taken out of school spending and were needed, Maquire said, to balance the town’s budget. One proposed increase is an additional $25 for athletic fees. The FY10 budget had already included a $50 increase. The total $75 increase would bring the fee per sport to $225 or $250, depending on the sport. Maguire expects the athletic fee to be around the median of that charged by area towns. Other proposed fees include a one-time activity fee of $25 at the middle school and high school and a $1 per day, per driver parking fee for high school juniors and seniors. The activity fee would be charged for the first activity a student joins during the school year. No fee would be charged for participation in additional activities. Most school districts charge parking fees, Maguire noted. The parking fee would provide a total of $36,000 in revenue, the athletic fee hike will bring in another $25,000, and the activity fees will raise $3,000, Maguire said, for a total of $64,000. Committee member Susan Cotter said she “doesn’t like fees,” especially parking fees to park in public lots. Cotter said she is also concerned about the total impact of all the fees on an average family. School Committee Member Carolyn Casey asked Maguire if a mechanism exists to waive fees for families unable to pay them. Maguire said there is such a policy in place. The balance of $475,000 in cuts includes $40,000 in staffing, $33,000 in special education reorganization, $50,000 in professional development, $50,000 in technology, $15,000 for field maitenance, $7,800 in school operations, $10,000 for waste disposal, $10,000 in electricity from conservation efforts and $258,910 in special education. All of the special education cuts and half of the professional development SCHOOL COM, page 7

Wheeler, Komine honored for Scouting deeds Volunteers of the Year: BSA, GSA focuses service ethic By David Domeshek SPECIAL TO THE PRESS

Medfield residents Gary Wheeler and Tessa Komine, honored last Saturday as the Medfield Foundation Inc.'s (MFI) Volunteers of the Year for 2009, are not, at first glance, two-of-a-kind. Wheeler, the father of a teen-age daughter and son, is in his mid50s, a professional software developer whose college years are long

behind him; Komine is a senior at Medfield High School, who plans to attend Northeastern University in the fall. But in fact they have much in common - far more than winning an award. They share a deep commitment to community service, and credit their participation in Scouting as helping to spark that commitment. VOLUNTEERS, page 7

PHOTOS BY SEAN BROWNE

From left, Gary Wheeler, a winner of the Medfield Foundation’s Volunteer of the Year Award, listents to State Rep. Richard Ross R-Wrentham, read a citation during Saturday evening’s award ceremony at the Kingsbury Club on Ice House Road.