Page 12 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, April 29, 2022 Haitian Club Bake Sale Jon Norton on hand for MVES retirement party a great success Jon Norton (center) of the Mystic Valley Elder Services (MVES) Board of Directors is shown with former MVES CEO Daniel O’Leary (right) during O’Leary’s recent retirement celebration at Anthony’s in Malden. They are joined by MVES Chief Operating Offi cer Sean Hubacz. (Photo Courtesy of Mystic Valley Elder Services) ~ Op-Ed ~ The Malden High School Haitian Club held a very successful Bake Sale on Wednesday, featuring many cultural items and baked goods. The most popular items were the homemade brownies and the chicken and beef patties, a Haitian specialty item. MHS Foreign Languages educator and Haitian Club advisor Paul Degenkolb was very pleased with the results. "Our students work so hard to represent and honor the Haitian culture here at Malden High School," he said. The bake sale was a complete sellout for the second time in two months, as the girls show in the photo here. (Advocate Photos) School Committee must stand up and lead By Isaac Slavitt F or 70 years, Malden has had some form of program to serve the needs of students who achieve signifi cantly ahead of age-based classrooms. Despite their well-documented necessity, a distorted view of equity has made it fashionable to tear down programs like ours. While New York City just reversed course and announced it is expanding its capacity to serve thousands more of their advanced children, Malden is denying opportunities to ours and pulling the rug out from under those already enrolled. On March 17, 2022, the MalBanking with a hometown touch. Open a free checking account with no monthly fees, and get access to Mobile Banking, Bill Pay and other features. Because no matter where you go, we’re right by you. Call or visit us to sign up. 419 BROADWAY, EVERETT MA 02149 61 7-38 7 - 1 1 10 7 7 1 SALEM ST, LYNNFIELD, MA 01940 781-7 76- 4444 WWW.EVERET TBANK . COM den School Committee’s Equity and Opportunity Ad-Hoc Subcommittee held a meeting after 360 consecutive days of inactivity. Following a brief presentation from the superintendent, they voted to dissolve the only advanced learning program available to K-8 students in the city of Malden. The public uproar caused by this unprecedented maneuver was so great that the full committee refused to vote on the matter at their April 4th meeting, sending the matter back for further review. The following weeks saw Right by you. Member FDIC Member DIF teachers, parents, and children come together to save the program. A petition to unpause enrollment garnered nearly 200 signatures. Supporters worked together to bring in statewide experts to help review research and best practices that could enable Malden to be a leader in a state where programs like these are drastically neglected. When it emerged that the administration had not kept up with best practices for enrollment, training, or even basic recordkeeping, parents responded with a concrete list of evidence-based recommendations based on policy research from around the country. Nevertheless, when the subcommittee met on Wednesday, they voted once more to dissolve the program with no discussion of how to improve it, no discussion of research or evidence, and no acknowledgement of the overwhelming preponderance of support from the public. Neither the subcommittee nor district administrators presented any plan to serve these children. Instead of taking responsibility and working to address issues, the district’s own policy failures are being used as fl imsy excuses to throw away a program that serves children who have the right to a rigorous and challenging course of instruction. Challenge is what develops their talents, keeps them from losing interest in school, acting out, and failing to develop the skills and grit that they will need as adults. Malden could be a city on a hill for advanced learners in the Commonwealth. But unless our school committee shows leadership and creativity at its Monday meeting, our city is poised to take a massive step backwards while pointlessly harming a vulnerable student population in the process. Worse than that, we are helping ensure that advanced learners are only served in affl uent school districts like Newton, Brookline, and Lexington, or by parents who can afford expensive private enrichment options. Tell us, where’s the equity in that?
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