A parent, who attended the School Board meeting on Sept. 18, was furious about the condition of the Stewart School almost two weeks after the schools had reopened. The specific incident in question was the falling of a part of the ceiling in one of the classrooms. Luckily no one was injured.

The discussion relating to this incident and reporting in general divulged that there was a three week delay in the commencement of the school renovations and that some of the contracts did not contain liquidated damage clauses. Without such leverage completion dates stated in the contracts aren't worth the paper they are written on. There are "no teeth" in the contract to hold late completion over the head of the contractor.

When a liquidated damage clause was discussed with the Advisory Committee, before the contracts were formulated, we were told that we could save money by not including it. Apparently we were paying a high price for such thinking. When will the work in Stewart or Stratford be completed? October? November? Who knows?

The new budget advisory committee, when formed, will proceed in secret without public attendance. I voiced my disapproval with no results.

Joseph Calamari