News

Tue Mar 24 15:29:02 EDT 2009
Sen. Tarr and Rep. Ferrante have rescheduled their appearance to the Wed. April 29 School Committee meeting. They will not be attending the March 25th meeting.

Sun Mar 15 12:14:50 EDT 2009
The Rockport School Committee will be releasing the Online Policy Manual by the end of March 2009. A new web page has been added to the School Committee website to access the manual. The link on that page will be activated once the Policy Manual is ready.

Wed Dec 10 21:54:45 EST 2008
At its budget hearing this evening, the Rockport School Committee voted to recommend a level-services budget for FY10. This amount totals $9,767,473 and represents an 8.11% increase over the FY09 appropriated budget. The School Committee will also submit a level-funded budget as requested by the Town Administrator and Board of Selectmen in order to create a balanced budget based on current revenue projections for FY10. The School Committee and Superintendent King are scheduled to present the budgets to the Board of Selectment on Tuesday, Dec 16, 2008. The School Committee is expected to present arguments for considering the level-services budget.

Mon Dec 01 19:45:51 EST 2008
The School Committee website erroneously posted the budget public hearing for FY10 as taking place on Wed Dec 3. The public hearing will be held the following week on Wed Dec 10, 2008. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Fri Oct 10 08:06:36 EDT 2008
The Rockport School Committee is looking for an individual who will serve as the Rockport representative on the North Shore Technical High School - School Committee. Meetings are held monthly at the school in Middleton. Rockport sends students and tuition to this school every year and needs to have a voice on its school board. The position is appointed by the Rockport Town Moderator. If you are interested, please contact Ingrid Keating in the Superintendent's office @ 978-546-1200.

Tue Aug 05 20:55:35 EDT 2008
The School Committee meeting schedule has been updated for the 2008-09 school year. Please view the schedule on our Meetings page.

Tue Jul 01 20:35:40 EDT 2008
Changing of the guard

The Rockport School Committee would like to welcome our new Superintendent, Dr. Susan M. King in her new role as leader of the Rockport Public School system. We are excited to have her on board are are looking forward to working with her in this exciting new chapter for our schools. The School Committee would also like to wish former superintendent Dr. Rosemary DiTullio the all the best in her new found retirement. We thank her for her years of dedicated service and we owe a debt of gratitude for making the Rockport Schools an excellent learning establishment.

Sat May 17 07:23:53 EDT 2008
At the Wed, May 14th meeting, newly re-elected members Brian Sullivan and Melissa Tingley were welcomed back to the Committee for 3 year terms. The meeting opened with the annual Committee reorganization, whereby Carl Engel was voted as Chairman and Michael Caffi was voted as Vice Chairman. In addition, two new subcommittees were created: Facilities Planning Subcommittee to which Nancy Mears and Melissa Tingley were appointed; and the Hallmarks of Success Subcommittee to which Carl Engel and Michael Caffi were appointed. These new subcommittee were defined as part of the Committee's long-range plan. Michael Caffi and Brian Sullivan were also re-appointed to the Policy Subcommittee to continue their on-going work.

Sun Apr 06 07:26:42 EDT 2008
Town Meeting voted to appropriate an additional $100,000 to the recommended FY09 school budget by restoring the original guideline budget offset for School Choice to its FY08 level of $480,000.

Sat Mar 22 08:12:05 EDT 2008
After meeting with the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee on March 18th and 19th respectively, the School Committee will not seek an override at Town Meeting in an attempt to secure funding for a level services budget for FY09. The School Committee will remain hopeful that additional free cash will become available by April 1 so that it may petition Town Meeting to add up to $100,000 in order to restore the school budget to minimum funding levels as outlined by this year's guidelines. The School Committee will still have to seek cuts in the FY09 operating budget even with the restored $100,000.

Sat Mar 08 08:09:57 EST 2008
Sen. Bruce Tarr and Rep. Anthony Verga will be providing their annual legislative update to the Rockport School Committee at their regular meeting on Wed, March 12 at 7pm. As in prior years, we expect there to be an open question and awswer period following their report.


Tue Feb 26 08:18:38 EST 2008
The Rockport School Committee voted last evening to extend the offer of the superintendent's position to Dr. Susan King, current superintendent of the Montvale, NJ school district. Dr. King has accepted the offer pending the successful conclusion of contract negotiations with the School Committee.


Sat Feb 23 08:11:23 EST 2008
The Rockport School Committee will conduct a special meeting on Monday, February 25, 2008, to deliberate the choice for Superintendent of Schools amongst the three finalists: Dr. Paul Burnim, Dr. James Connolly, and Dr. Susan King. The public is invited to attend provide input into the process. The meeting will begin at 7pm and will be held in the MS/HS library in the school complex at 24 Jerden's Lane.

Sun Dec 16 16:51:25 EST 2007
The Rockport School Committee voted at its annual budget hearing this past Wednesday to recommend a FY09 budget of $9,678,749, which represents a 9.6% increase over its current appropriation for FY08, an increase of $847,454. This past year the school budget was reduced by 1.3% after the town failed to secure a general Proposition 2½ override in May. At that time, the schools needed a 5.25% increase in order to maintain FY07 services. The resulting cuts to the school system were difficult and have resulted in a 14.5% reduction in teaching positions, affecting all school departments including special education.


Sun Dec 09 08:41:48 EST 2007
The annual school budget hearing for FY09 will begin at 7:15pm on Wednesday, Dec 12, 2007 in the Rockport Middle/High School Library in the school complex. All are invited to participate.

Thu Nov 08 14:09:56 EST 2007
The Rockport School Committee voted last night to create a Superintendent's Search Committee with the following members:

Debra Bloomingdale and Cathy Swenson: Co-Chairs
Scott Larsen, George Ramsden, Dr. Charles Symonds: RPS Representatives
Susan Brisson, Patricia Favaloro: Parent Representatives
Bonnie Gray, Barbara Reed: Community Representatives
Margaret Stanton, Julian Waller, Ian Sonia: Student Representatives

The Committee also decided on a specific time line to select the new superintendent, as well as the starting salary which will be within the range of $125,000 - $140,000.


Thu Oct 04 07:33:48 EDT 2007
At last night's School Committee meeting, Dr. Rosemary DiTullio, Superintendent of Rockport Public Schools, formally announced her intention to retire at the end of the school year. She will not seek an extension to her contract which is effective through June 30, 2008.

The School Committee will need to begin the search for a new superintendent, which will be discussed at the next meeting on October 17.


Sun Aug 12 10:04:35 EDT 2007

The School Committee website has been updated with the latest meeting schedule for FY08.

Thu May 10 07:25:32 EDT 2007

At last night's meeting School Committee meeting, Brian Sullivan was elected as the Chairman and Carl Engel was elected Vice Chairman. The board also welcomed its newest member, Nancy Mears.


Sun Apr 08 08:24:50 EDT 2007
The School Committee has now posted its most recent document containing budget cut/restoration information for FY08, combined with a revised Citizen's Budget Guide. These are available on our Documents page.

Sat Mar 24 16:37:57 EDT 2007
The School Committee will hold an open question and answer session regarding the FY08 budget and town-wide Override as part its regular business meeting on Wed March 28. The Open Session will commense after the session with the state legislators.

Sat Feb 17 16:52:42 EST 2007
FY08 budget cut and restoration information is now available on our Documents page.


Thu Feb 15 12:19:16 EST 2007

The School Committee met last night in an abbreviated session to review the FY08 budget recommendations from Superintendent DiTullio. At their meeting on February 7, the Finance Committee asked the school department to provide a revised guidelines budget (which was reduced from the original guidelines by an additional $180,000), plus several additional scenarios so that the Finance Committee and Board of Selectmen can study the feasibility of a Prop 21/2 override for FY08. The School Committee agreed with Dr. DiTullio's assessment and recommended that she forward her proposal to the Finance Committee.

Also at that meeting, veteran member Debra Bloomingdale announced that she will not seek reelection for her seat that expires in May 2007. The School Committee urges anyone with an interest in the school system to consider filing nomination papers for running for this open position (contact the Town Clerk for more information). Please contact any member of the committee if you have any questions about the roles and responsibilities of the School Committee.

Thu Jan 25 09:42:18 EST 2007
The Rockport School Committee will be meeting with the Finance Committee on Wednesday, February 7, 2007, to review the FY08 budget. The meeting will be held in the conference room at the Police Station at 7pm.


Thu Jan 11 15:08:30 EST 2007
The Rev. Robert Markham and the Rockport PTO were honored last night for their years of volunteer service and support for the Rockport Public School system. The awards were from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) which annually seeks nominations from it members in three categories. Hundreds of nominations were entered this year with only a few dozen awarded. The Rev. Markham was recognzied as Outstanding Community Leader for Public Education, while the Rockport PTO was recognized as Outstanding School Partner.


Thu Jan 11 10:00:23 EST 2007
The Rockport School Committee voted unanimously last evening to release its new website for public access. The site can be accessed from the homepage of the Rockport Public School website (http://www.rockport.k12.ma.us) by clicking on the School Committee link. The Committee will continue to post meeting notices and agendas on the town website, but the public is encouraged to utilize this new website as its primary source of School Committee information.