USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Swampscott > Town annual report of Swampscott 1960 > Part 4
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That the Town amend Article XI of its General By-Laws by striking out the last sentence thereof and substituting therefor the following: "The list- ing, description and payment of all such fees shall be transmitted to the Town Treasurer within thirty days of receipt of any such fee by such officer."
35
Town, of Swampscott
VOTED ARTICLE 24. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That this article be indefinitely postponed.
VOTED ARTICLE 25. To accept the report of the Planning Board and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That Article III, Section 4 of the Zoning By-Laws be amended by striking out sub-paragraph 4 and substituting a new sub-paragraph 4 reading as follows:
Advertising signs, as regulated by law and by-laws, but no signs or other advertising devices shall be erected with a display area greater than 60 square
feet. However, a display area up to and including 120 square feet in size may ibe used when the sign is a physical part of the building and designed as part 'of the architectural decor of the building, provided that such building has a set-back distance from the highway line of at least 75 feet, and provided fur- ther that permit for one or more signs is obtained from the Board of Appeals as provided in Article VI, Section 5. Unanimous.
VOTED ARTICLE 26. To accept the report of the Personnel Board and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That this article be referred to the Personnel Board for further study.
VOTED ARTICLE 27. To accept the report of the Finance Committee, as amended, and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That the Town amend Article V of the General By-Laws of the Town by adding the following section:
Section 11. Any vehicle, truck or trailer transporting dirt, soil, sand, small pebbles or stones, leaves, rubbish, debris, or gravel on any Town way, or, way to which the public has access, must have the load properly covered. Unanimous.
ARTICLE 28. A motion to table this article was defeated. For-71. Against-140.
VOTED ARTICLE 28. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That the Town amend Article II, Section 7, of the General By-Laws by 'striking out the first two sentences thereof and substituting in place thereof the following:
"The meeting may decide to vote by ballot upon any motion properly be- fore it, and, upon the request of twenty or more town meeting members, the meeting shall vote by ballot upon any motion properly before it to amend the recommendation of the Finance Committee. In any such case, the Moderator shall state the question, and the Town Clerk shall prepare and distribute bal- lots to enable the town meeting members to vote "Yes" or "No" upon such question."
VOTED ARTICLE 29. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That the Town authorize the Board of Selectmen to purchase three-way radio equipment to be used by the Police Department and that the sum of $6,000.00 be appropriated therefor.
VOTED ARTICLE 30. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That the Town purchase two ambulettes to be used as patrol cars for the Police Department, and that the sum of $3,500.00 be appropriated therefor, and that the Selectmen be authorized to sell or trade two ambulettes now being used by the Police Department.
36
1960 Annual Report
VOTED ARTICLE 31. To accept the report of the Finance Committee, as amended, and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That action on this article be indefinitely postponed.
ARTICLE 32. This article was suspended and replaced by Article 1 of the Supplemental Warrant.
VOTED ARTICLE 1. That for the purpose of replacing existing water mains and laying new mains of not less than six inches but less than 16 inches in diameter and for lining such mains with linings of not less than one-six- teenth of an inch and for the acquisition and installation of original pumping station equipment, that the sum of $300,000.00 be appropriated to be raised as follows:
That $10,000.00 be transferred from water receipts and that the Treasurer, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, be authorized to borrow a sum not to exceed the remainder, viz., $290,000.00 and to issue bonds or notes of the Town therefor, payable in not more than 10 years from their dates. Un- animous.
VOTED ARTICLE 33. To accept the amended report of the Personnel Board and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That this article be referred to the Personnel Board for further study.
VOTED ARTICLE 34. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That the Town appropriate the sum of $10,000.00 to the Chapter 90 Ac- count.
VOTED ARTICLE 35. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That the Town authorize the Board of Public Works to widen and con- struct the intersection of Walker and Paradise Roads in accordance with Plan drawn by Howard L. Hamill, Town Engineer, dated January 25th, 1949, and that the sum of $2,850.00 be appropriated therefor.
VOTED ARTICLE 36. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That the Town enlarge the Administration Building Parking Lot and that the sum of $3,700.00 be appropriated therefor.
VOTED ARTICLE 37. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That this article be indefinitely postponed.
VOTED ARTICLE 38. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That the Town authorize the Board of Public Works to lay out a new section of the Cemetery, and grade the Avenues and Parks and that the sum of $36,000.00 be appropriated therefor.
VOTED ARTICLE 39. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That the Town authorize the Board of Public Works to purchase three (3) 1960 trucks, two (2) 1960 ranch wagons, two (2) Lockepower mowers. one (1) 1960 sidewalk roller and one (1) traffic line marker machine, and to sell or trade in two (2) 1956 Ford trucks, one (1) 1951 Ford truck, one (1) 1955 Ford Ranch Wagon, and two (2) 1948 Lockepower mowers and that the sum of $19,000.00 be transferred from the Stabilization Fund for the purposes of this article. Unanimous.
37
Town of Swampscott
VOTED ARTICLE 40. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That the Town carry on a Sidewalk Replacement Program and that the sum of $5,000.00 be appropriated therefor.
VOTED ARTICLE 41. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That the Town authorize the Board of Public Works to reconstruct Forest Avenue from Walnut Road to Laurel Road and that the sum of $19,000 be appropriated therefor.
VOTED ARTICLE 42. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That the Town authorize the Board of Public Works to reconstruct Aspen Road and that the sum of $14,000.00 be appropriated therefor.
VOTED ARTICLE 43. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That this article be indefinitely postponed.
VOTED ARTICLE 44. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That this article be indefinitely postponed.
VOTED ARTICLE 45. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That this article be indefinitely postponed.
VOTED ARTICLE 46. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That this article be indefinitely postponed.
VOTED ARTICLE 47. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That this article be indefinitely postponed.
VOTED ARTICLE 48. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That this article be indefinitely postponed.
VOTED ARTICLE 49. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That this article be indefinitely postponed.
VOTED ARTICLE 50. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That this article be indefinitely postponed.
VOTED ARTICLE 51. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That this article be indefinitely postponed.
VOTED ARTICLE 52. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That the Town authorize the Board of Public Works to acquire or take by eminent domain the land at the junction of Roy Street, Jessie Street, and Eureka Avenue for the purpose of widening said way, upon condition that all abutters sign the necessary waivers and that the sum of $3,000.00 be appro- priated therefor.
38
1960 Annual Report,
VOTED ARTICLE 53. To accept the report of the Finance Committee and adopt their recommendations as follows:
That this article be indefinitely postponed.
The motion for reconsideration of Article 28 was lost on a roll call vote. No, 122; Yes, 88.
Dissolved at 10:45 P.M.
Collector of Taxes
Daniel W. Wormwood, Jr., Collector of Taxes In Account with the Town of Swampscott - 1960 DR.
Real Estate
$2,170,782.70
Sewer Assessments
3,492.71
Sidewalk Assessments
125.34
Water Liens
5,084.82
Committed Interest
864.67
Personal Property
150,053.90
Poll
8,258.00
Excise
315,627.16
Water Rates
117,568.80
Water Service
15,810.98
Water Rent
1,500.00
Sale of Material
169.93
Unapportioned Sidewalk Assessments
1,239.17
Unapportioned Sewer Assessments
1,962.02
Departmental Accounts Receivable
19,439.06
Estate of Deceased Persons
1,188.96
Apportioned Sewers Paid in Advance Refunds
15,030.60
Collector's Costs
1,314.55
$2,830,381.24
CR.
Cash Paid on Real Estate
$2,073,842.57
Cash Paid on Sewer Assessments
3,245.66
Cash Paid on Sidewalk Assessments
125.34
Cash Paid on Water Liens
4,871.22
Cash Paid on Committed Interest
819.08
Cash Paid on Personal Property
139,414.50
Cash Paid on Polls
7,118.00
Cash Paid on Excise
278,994.60
Cash Paid on Water Rates
101,301.60
Cash Paid on Water Services
13,885.95
Cash Paid on Water Rent
1,500.00
39
867.87
Town of Swampscott
Cash Paid on Sale of Material
169.93
Cash Paid on Unapportioned Sidewalk Assessments
1,092.00
Cash Paid on Unapportioned Sewer Assessments
1,962.02
Cash Paid on Departmental Accounts Rec.
18,829.89
Cash Paid on Apportioned Sewers in Advance
867.87
Cash Paid on Collector's Costs
1,314.55
Cash Paid on Estate of Deceased Persons
399.58
Abatements on Real Estate
50,882.36
Abatements on Personal Property
4,739.60
Abatements on Poll
1,104.00
Abatements on Excise
11,487.05
Abatements on Water Rates
73.56
Abatements on Water Services
47.00
Abatements on Departmental Accounts Rec.
39.60
Abatements on Unapportioned Sidewalk Assessments
33.91
Uncollected Real Estate
51,430.64
Uncollected Sewer Assessments
247.05
Uncollected Sidewalk Assessments
113.26
Uncollected Water Liens
316.80
Uncollected Committed Interest
45.59
Uncollected Personal Property
5,967.80
Uncollected Poll
58.00
Uncollected Excise
34,610.04
Uncollected Water Rates
16,193.64
Uncollected Water Services
1,878.03
Uncollected Departmental Accounts Rec.
569.57
Uncollected Estate of Deceased Persons
789.38
$2,830.381.24
The Planning Board
John F. Milo, Chairman
James R. Maddock, Secretary
A. B. Way, Jr.
Glenn W. Bartram Ralph L. Williams
The untimely and sudden death of the beloved Planning Board Chairman, Harold M. King, in March 1960, necessitated that the Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board appoint a successor. The unanimous choice was Glenn W. Bartram who was duly elected.
Ralph L. Williams was elected to serve as interim Planning Board Chair- man for the Town Meeting period.
At the first meeting of the Planning Board after the Town Meeting, John F. Milo was elected Chairman.
The Board held fifteen meetings during the year all open to interested citizens, at times posted in the Administration Building. Board members at- tended the annual meeting of the "Mass. Federation of Planning Boards" and meetings of "Region 5A".
40
1960 Annual Report,
School Department
SCHOOL COMMITTEE-1960
William H. Rothwell, II, Chairman, 11 Little's Point Road Term Expires 1961
George A. Chadwell, Vice-Chairman, 96 Stetson Avenue
Term Expires 1963
Theodore C. Sargent, 9 Clarke Road
Term Expires 1962
Walter H. Forbes, Jr., 28 Greenwood Terrace
Term Expires 1962
Charles F. Buckland, 46 Lewis Road
Term Expires 1963
Regular meeting, second Thursday of each month. Public is welcome
Robert D. Forrest
Philip A. Jenkin
Superintendent of Schools
Administrative Assistant
The office of the Superintendent of Schools, located at 24 Redington Street, is open every week-day from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
School Principals
James H. Dunn, High School LYnn 2-2574
Keith L. Jordan, Alice Shaw Junior High School LYnn 2-7540
Jane T. Rogers, Stanley School LYnn 2-1945
Esther K. Heikel, Machon School LYnn 2-5730
J. Richard Bath, Hadley School LYnn 3-7973
Madelaine M. Murphy, Clarke School
LYnn 8-2659
To the Citizens of Swampscott Ladies and Gentlemen:
In 1960, the Swampscott Public Schools reflected to a marked degree the effects of improvements made in the recent past. With the new term last fall, the Shaw Junior High came fully into its own, having surmounted during a first year of operation the many difficulties that accompanied its 1959 open- ing, expansion, and reorganization; by the close of 1960, it was well into a highly successful second year. Similarly, the Hadley School, after its period of readjustment, began to reap the full benefits of adequate and attractive quarters that in the summer of 1959 were provided exclusively for an elemen- tary program. Faculty salaries, thanks to budget provisions for 1960 and to judicious revisions of the schedule in past years, kept pace with the times and helped recruit and retain a strong and professionally able teaching staff. School buildings, too, were sound, a policy of continuing maintenance having brought them to the point in 1960 where they stood in no pressing need of major re- pairs. Other careful planning in the past, for curriculum as well as for staff and for plant, made itself felt. It was, in many ways, a year for consolidating previous gains.
Yet it was by no means a year without innovations. For one thing, we held our first summer school, and this found such favor that we plan its ex- pansion in 1961. There were two evaluations of our high school program, one by the New England Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the other by a group of lay citizens. Pupils and pupil organizations won major distinc- tions -- in National Merit Scholarship competition, college admissions, pub- lications, athletic programs, and music. These and other developments of 1960 the Superintendent's Report will cover in detail. They were important high- lights in an outstanding year.
41
Town, of Swampscott
Despite these many reasons for encouragement, however, the School Com- mittee remains concerned about problems ahead. It seems appropriate here to pin-point the most acute.
Of these, the High School is most definitely one. How are we to overcome the limitations of the existing building so that it will accommodate the over- load of pupils entering from the Junior High? There are 556 pupils in the High School now. In all probability the number will be 600 by the fall of 1961 and 670 by 1963. It will not be satisfactory merely to seat them in crowded classrooms, very likely on double sessions or platoons, and to press the cafeteria, as we have already planned to do next year, into service as a study hall. The demands of college admissions, the challenging examples of outstanding high schools not geographically far from Swampscott, recommend- ations of the Conant report and other studies - these and a sense of duty towards the boys and girls we must prepare for the future should spur our thinking in regard to the High School building and the program it can offer.
Other problems face us on the grade-school level. How can we bring the Machon School structure up to the standards of our other elementary schools? What can we do to give Hadley pupils a better playground than its present black-topped area sometimes jammed with parked cars? We must plan so that the physical resources of any one elementary school will compare favorably with those in the other three.
Thus, though 1960 gave us many reasons for satisfaction, it left us also with far-reaching questions. To these, with the help of the citizens of Swamp- scott, we must seek immediate and complete answers.
William H. Rothwell, II, Chairman George A. Chadwell Theodore C. Sargent Walter H. Forbes, Jr. Charles F. Buckland
To the Members of the School Committee:
I submit herewith my annual report as your Superintendent of Schools for the year 1960.
Faculty Grows in Number and in Stature
In September, fifteen new teachers joined our faculty, bringing the staff total to 137 or five more than a year ago. The additional members served to decrease class size in the Stanley School and the Shaw Junior High, to staff the Shaw library, and to provide guidance services for children in the elemen- tary schools. The other ten new teachers replaced personnel who, for various reasons, are no longer with us. Thirteen of these people have had previous teaching experience. Five have masters' degrees.
A recent analysis of the educational backgrounds of our teaching staff gives us reason for some pride in the pattern which evolves. Fifty per cent of our staff now hold a master's degree or more. In 1955, the corresponding figure was 30%, and only 20% held a graduate degree as recently as 1950. In 1955, 33% of our teaching staff held no degree while today only 12% are teaching without a college degree.
Latest statewide studies reveal that only Belmont, among towns of 10,000 population or more, surpasses Swampscott in the percentage of high school teachers who hold graduate degrees. Among elementary teachers, higher per- centages are found only in Brookline and Wellesley.
42
1960 Annual Report,
to the Shaw Junior High School. Only nine of the total staff of thirty-four In the past two years a large number of new teachers have been assigned
were in the Swampscott system prior to September, 1955. Since many of these are relatively young people, the proportion holding masters' degrees is some- what lower than in our other schools. These teachers have embarked on grad- uate programs, however, and I am convinced that, within three to five years, this school will also rank among the leaders in the state in terms of the educa- tional preparation of its teaching staff.
Our staff holds twenty-seven graduate degrees from Boston University, nine from Salem State College, seven from Harvard University and a total of twenty-eight degrees distributed among seventeen other institutions. Eight teachers have been elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Swampscott staff members continue to participate in professional activi- ties other than graduate work. In 1960 Keith Jordan, principal of Shaw Jun- ior High, served as president of the Massachusetts Association of Junior High Principals and was their representative at the national convention in Portland, Oregon. School Committeeman Theodore C. Sargent is vice-president of the National School Boards Association.
Miss Madelaine Murphy, Clarke School principal, was a Massachusetts delegate in April at the White House Conference on Children and Youth. Miss Eileen Soper, French teacher at the High School, and Robert Byrne, science teacher at the Shaw, received federal grants last summer for study in their fields at the University of New Hampshire and the University of Rochester.
Mrs. Eleanor McKey, High School English teacher, was a panelist this fall at the convention of the National Association of Teachers of English meet- ing in Chicago. Miss Bernice Chaletzky, special class teacher, was recently on the program for the annual meeting of the Northeastern Region of the American Association on Mental Deficiency. Your superintendent is again scheduled to be a panelist at the meeting of the American Association of School Administrators being held in Philadelphia in 1961.
As faculties grow and change, we also suffer many losses. We were par- ticularly saddened in February by the sudden death of Mrs. Gertrude Ham- mond. Mrs. Hammond had been a member of the junior high staff since 1951, although she had an earlier period of service in the twenties.
Two department heads retired from the High School faculty. Miss Mil- dred O'Leary, who came to Swampscott in 1931 and had been head of the business department since 1938, and Mrs. Charlotte Oliver, head of the home economics department since 1940, terminated their services in June. Their contributions to the education of hundreds of Swampscott young people were substantial indeed, and they are sorely missed by us all.
Teachers who left Swampscott through resignations or leaves of absence include Jeanne Ch'ary, Olga Drougas, Charlotte Ettinger, Shirley Foley, Thelma Hessel, Francis McDonald, Sue Ann Smithwick, and Philip Tatten.
Crowded Conditions Intensify at High School
Nirety-seven additoinal pupils enrolled in the Swampscott schools in the fall of 1960, bringing our total enrollment to 2720. The increase was the big- gest in five years and created some immediate problems. We found it necessary to divide the Stanley third grade into three sections, and eleven first-grade pupils were transferred to the Hadley School from the Stanley. These adjust- ments enabled us to maintain all elementary classes at thirty-five or below, a goal which we have always endeavored to meet.
43
Town, of Swampscott
In the following table I have summarized the enrollment pattern since 1950.
Date
K-6
7-9
10-12
Total
1950
1070
366
356
1792
1952
1256
455
349
2060
1954
1388
519
413
2320
1956
1433
582
496
2511
1958
1441
614
554
2609
1960
1466
698
556
2720
For the past five years our elementary enrollment has stabilized at ap- proximately 1450, and we expect it to remain at that level for the next few years. The most dramatic increase since 1950 has been at the junior high level, and our new building is now filled to its capacity of 700. Fortunately, our pre- dictions show no further increase.
In the senior high school, too, enrollments climbed sharply in the last decade. But at this level the increase is not yet over. We expect to have 600 pupils there next fall, and by 1963 the total will be at least 670. These cannot be housed in our present building. We are already making plans to return study halls to the cafeteria for next fall. We should like to consider the in- stallation of a language laboratory but have no available space for it or for other program advancements.
The decision to leave the High School in its present building created a situation for which there can be no ideal or completely adequate solution. But in 1961 we must effectively initiate a program to provide vastly improved facil- ities for pupils at this vital grade level.
No major maintenance projects were completed in 1960. At the High School, we did borrow some study hall space for much-needed guidance offices. These offices, while still inadequate, are an improvement over the library work room formerly used, and the library has regained the use of its work area. We also painted two classrooms at the High School and installed fluorescent light fixtures in four rooms.
For some time the Swampscott Fire Chief has recommended that we park no automobiles adjacent to the building. By making a parking lot in the rear of the building we were able to grant his request.
Our High School is Evaluated
Throughout 1959 our high school faculty members prepared for an evalua- tion of our High School by the New England Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges. Courses of study were revised; educational objectives were de- veloped. Enrollment figures and statistics were compiled for future use by the visiting committee.
In March of 1960 the visiting committee of fourteen educators spent three days evaluating the school on the basis of their own observations and the information which had been prepared for them. The report of the evaluating committee was adequately covered in a recent issue of Focus.
While there were few surprises in the report - in essence they said that we have a relatively strong teaching force, a good student body, inferior phy- sical facilities, and a sound basic curriculum in need of modernization and ex- pansion - there is much to engage our attention in the years immediately ahead. Already some progress has been made to meet the criticisms and sug-
44
1960 Annual Report
gestions of the report and when Principal James H. Dunn writes his follow-up report in two years, as he is required to do, we hope he will be able to point to substantial progress in the implementation of the recommendations of the evaluation.
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