Paula Porten's
North Andover Notebook
Paula Porten
There’s a new sheriff in
town
Can a North Andover police officer walk
into a local liquor establishment and
have bottled alcohol opened without any
search warrant? We are not sure but
apparently that is one of the perks or
being a North Andover Selectman/Licensing
Board Commissioner. And since the North
Andover Board of Selectmen voted last
month to appoint members of the police
department as official agents of the
Licensing Commis-sion to carry out
enforcement of liquor law violations in
the town, one has to wonder what the role
of the North Andover police officer is
now.
When North Andover police officers were
asked about being agents of the licensing
commission, they said that they were
still waiting specific direction on their
responsibilities. This is the first time
the Town has brought the police
department under the auspices of the
licensing commission.
Will Thomson parents need
choice?
According to the School Committee
discussions last week, it appears that
Thomson School will likely fail to meet
the “No Child Left Behind”
adequate yearly progress(AYP) standards
for the second year in a row. If that is
the case, then all students/parents of
Thomson School must be given at least two
other schools in the district that they
would have the option to send their
students to. They would indicate “first”
and “second” choice. The Town
would try to accommodate their first
choice, but could, based on available
resources, give them their second choice.
If the school they end up at is more than
two miles from home, the Town would have
to provide transportation, otherwise
transportation would be the parents’
responsibility. Thomson school failed to
meet AYP last year and the school
committee and many parents are
speculating that they will fail the ELA
portion of MCAS this year, thereby
failing AYP two years in a row. But, as a
parent of two children who went through
the Thomson School, I wonder how many
parents will actually move their child. I
always felt that Thomson was a “family”
with many parents actively involved in
school functions. It was great last year
to see Thomson parents fight for extra
money for teachers. With my second child
finishing at Thomson last month, it was
bittersweet at the 5th grade night,
saying goodbye to everyone. I have
to say that my two children were taught
well at Thomson and my elder currently
thrives at the North Andover Middle
School. I have every reason to believe
that my younger one will also. So, this
will be a very difficult decision for
Thomson parents. I am glad not to have to
make it.
Cyber bullying concerns continue
As a result of parental concerns and an
article in The Valley Patriot, the North
Andover Middle School held a forum on
cyber-bullying in conjunction with the
Essex County District Attorney’s
office and The North Andover Police
Department. The goals were to impress
upon the students the importance of
protecting one’s identity when on
the internet, to discourage cyber
bullying, and to teach students safe
practices while on the computer.
According to our sources in the school,
most kids took the lecture seriously and
many students followed the direction of
the D.A., going home and deleting
personal information on their profiles
such as names, pictures, where they go to
school, etc. One student said that what
she heard was “scary” and that
she was glad to learn the information.
The students also learned to stay off of
“my space” and that you need to
be 16 to join. Thank you DA John
Blodgett, Officer Tracey, and the North
Andover Middle School for continuing to
keep cyber bullying in the forefront and
keeping kids informed of the dangers of
the internet. We hope that the students
spoke with their parents after the forum
to keep an open dialog on what they are
doing when on the computer.
Paula Porten is an attorney
and former member of the North Andover
Finance Committee. If you have a news tip
or any additional information about this
story, please email her at plporten@comcast.net
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pictures and material are
(C) copyright, Valley Patriot, Inc., 2008
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