Over 100 Braintree Residents Protest Teacher Job Cuts: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Monday, May 10. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• More than 100 parents, students and educators in Braintree protested a proposed school budget that would cut 28 teacher jobs.
• The Boston Symphony Orchestra is currently evaluating and planning the July 4 Boston Pops Fireworks Extravaganza.
• The University of Massachusetts suspended the three freshmen — and kept their tuition — because they posted a photo of themselves not wearing facemasks at an off-campus gathering.
• Worcester taxpayers have paid more than $4 million since 2010 to settle almost 30 lawsuits against the police department.

Scroll down for more on those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Today's Top Story

More than 100 people gathered outside Braintree Town Hall on Thursday afternoon to protest a proposed school budget that would cut dozens of teacher's jobs.

The protest saw parents, students and educators, calling for Mayor Charles Kokoros to use more of the town's coronavirus pandemic relief money and "rainy day" funds to save 28 teacher jobs, including eight reading and math specialists at the elementary school level. Protestors held signs reading "Dear Mayor: You can make this rainy day go away" and "Worst Teacher Appreciation Week ever." Some even carried umbrellas as symbolism for their demands to use "rainy day" funds to prevent teacher cuts.

"My daughter, she really needs a reading specialist in her life, and I fear she's not going to get the help she got this year," parent Sarah Raad said. "I'd hate to see all these kiddos fall behind because they don't have the help that they need."

The school budget and other town departments took hits from revenue losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But Superintendent Frank Hackett said at the May 3 school committee meeting that most of the teacher cuts are necessary regardless of the budget situation.
He said the cuts are mostly because of declining student enrollment. Staff cuts from declining enrollment include nine elementary school teachers and 10 at the middle schools.

Read the full story.

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Monday's Other Top Stories

Supreme Court review may come for MA COVID-19 restrictions: Ten plaintiffs asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review December's Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling upholding Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's executive orders that placed restrictions on businesses and residents during the coronavirus pandemic. The New Civil Liberties Alliance, which represents the small business owners, the head of a private school and the head of two religious organizations who filed the lawsuit, filed a petition Monday arguing the executive orders were based on the 1950s Cold War-era Civil Defense Act and should not have been used for a health emergency.

"Wait-and-see" approach on July 4 Esplanade show: Salem and Worcester have already canceled or postponed their Fourth of July fireworks celebrations, but the biggest celebration of them all is apparently holding out hope that Gov. Charlie Baker's repeated hints that he may move up the Aug. 1 date for the lifting of all remaining state business and gathering restrictions will allow for some sort of esplanade show this Independence Day. "The Boston Symphony Orchestra is currently evaluating and planning the July 4 Boston Pops Fireworks Extravaganza," says a message on the Boston Pops website as of Saturday, "but an official announcement will not be forthcoming until late spring. The safety and well-being of everyone involved will always remain the highest priority in our decision-making process."

Related story: Here's What's Reopening Today As MA Eases Coronavirus Restrictions

Police paid $4m to settle lawsuits: Worcester taxpayers have paid more than $4 million since 2010 to settle almost 30 lawsuits against the police department, according to records gathered by the group Defund WPD. The group released details about the lawsuits Monday as part of a push to reduce the police department budget as Worcester prepares for the 2022 budget process. The payouts across the 27 settlements range from as low as $8,000 up into the millions. There are also more than a dozen lawsuits against Worcester police that haven't been settled yet.

Learn more about getting a COVID-19 vaccine in Massachusetts at Patch's information hub.

Picture This

Police reunite ducklings with mama: Malden police officers spotted the duck's babies, who had taken a "detour" down a storm drain Sunday. Under the direction of Capt. Hopkins, the officers pulled them to safety and reunited them with their "grateful" mother, the police department said. Police shared the above photo of the newly reunited family waddling to safety.

In Case You Missed It

UMass suspends maskless students: A snapshot and social media post are costing an Andover teen and her two classmates dearly at UMass-Amherst. The parents of the Andover freshman told WBZ-AM the University of Massachusetts suspended the three freshmen — and kept their tuition — because they posted a photo of themselves not wearing facemasks at an off-campus gathering, which violated strict campus coronavirus protocols.

Whales "hug" off coast of Cape Cod: National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry filmed two of the critically endangered whales embracing in an apparent hug. The aerial footage came from a Feb. 28 trip, where Skerry and Michael Moore, a scientist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, caught a glimpse of a group of whales playfully engaging with each other at the ocean's surface. Whether a whale hug means the same as a hug does for people is anyone's guess, according to Moore.