February News Notes

Seekonk School Superintendent Announces Retirement
Seekonk School Superintendent Arlene Bosco announced that she is retiring at the end of August. Bosco served as interim superintendent from 2012 to 2013 and has been superintendent since the spring of 2013. She has been with the school district for more than 20 years and previously served as Special Education Director.

Seekonk Election Season Kicks Off
Nomination papers are available for the local election on April 2. There are several open seats including two three-year seats on the board of selectmen and two three-year seats on the school committee. For additional information, see Town Clerk Florice Craig’s column in this issue. Nomination papers must be returned to the town clerk’s office, with at least 50 signatures of registered voters, by 5 p.m. on Feb. 12.

No Decision Yet on School Redistricting
The school committee has not yet decided on a plan to reorganize the schools in the district in order to address the space problem in the elementary schools. Several proposals have been looked at, including moving fifth-grade students from Aitken and Martin elementary schools to Hurley Middle School, adding modular classrooms to the elementary school campuses, and re-opening North School for preschool and kindergarten (the last two are both expected to cost nearly $1 million). A consensus has not yet been reached, but the school committee has to make a decision soon because budgets for the next fiscal year need to be worked on.

Dyeing Factory Cleanup Could Cost Millions
A representative from a consulting firm that assessed the site of the former Attleboro Dyeing and Finishing Factory off Maple Avenue told selectmen the cost to clean up the area could be $2 million, according to a Sun Chronicle article. The site consists of a building, which caught fire in May 2012, three industrial settling ponds and a dam. The town’s conservation agent has been working with the state’s Dept. of Environmental Protection on the project. The town can apply for funding from the federal EPA to help with the cleanup costs.