Category: Waltham Times

  • ‘We need more’: Waltham’s ICE policy draws praise, criticism

    As federal immigration agents have arrested people across Massachusetts and rumors of more ICE sightings swirl, the Waltham Public Schools policy says it won’t allow agents onto school property without a warrant.

    Kate Perez, speaking in her capacity as acting superintendent of Waltham Public Schools earlier this year, sent an email in January to employees, students and their families explaining how the school department intends to deal with any visits from Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

    “ICE agents will not be allowed access to our schools without proper judicial warrants and will not be allowed to disrupt our educational programming in any way,” Perez wrote. “The Waltham Public School District is committed to serving all children who reside in the District and to maintaining a safe and productive learning environment for all students.”

    The statement said the email was sent with the support of Superintendent Marisa Mendonsa, who was then on medical leave, and in collaboration with Waltham Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy and the Waltham Police Department.

    Waltham High School main entrance.

    The Waltham Times sought interviews with Waltham school officials recently to discuss the policy in light of a spate of ICE arrests in Massachusetts. Most declined to speak about the email or the district’s policy.

    When the Times contacted Mendonsa asking for an interview, she replied by sending a copy of Perez’s email and later her own statement. “There is no change in our approach and no updated information from when the information was sent in January,” her statement said.

    Edmund Tarallo, a member of the city’s School Committee, said in a brief interview that the January email represented the committee’s opinion on the matter, adding that they “will follow what the law says.”

    The Times also contacted more than 30 teachers and administrators to ask them about the district’s policy, but none of them was willing to speak with a reporter.

    In a brief interview Monday with the Times, McCarthy reiterated that ICE agents would have to go through the superintendent’s office with the proper warrants if they wanted to take action against any students.

    While some people in Waltham said they appreciated Perez’s email, some said the schools can — and should — be doing more.

    “It’s a step in the right direction,” said Jonathan Paz, a Waltham resident and former city councilor. “But we need more.”

    Paz said the policy is a “positive signal” that the city and school district recognized the threat and fear that ICE represents but added that he didn’t think it was anything different from what the rest of the state has been doing.

    “I would love to see more parameters, more measures, more ideas from our school’s leadership as to how they’re going to protect our youth,” he said.

    Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has been ramping up deportations. Border Czar Tom Homan announced in February, “I’m coming to Boston, I’m bringing hell with me.”

    That announcement was followed by an increase in ICE activity in Massachusetts. The agency conducted a sweep in March in which it arrested a reported 370 immigrants in Boston and surrounding areas. 

    Both the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Boston Public Schools have issued policies regarding ICE. While the state policy is similar to Waltham Public Schools’, the Boston schools policy is more detailed. It serves as a guide that staff can follow should ICE arrive at their school, with or without a warrant.

    If ICE agents show up at a school in Waltham, their first point of contact would be the school itself, not the Waltham police school resource officer assigned to the school, said Patrick Dean, a Waltham police detective sergeant.

    “The officers don’t control access to the school,” he said. “The schools control access, and the police are there just to assist the school with their functions.”

    Outside of the schools, Dean said the Police Department generally does not work with ICE.

    “Typically the way it works is when they come to town, they’ll give us a courtesy call, which is essentially for officer safety purposes,” he said. “But we’re not in the habit of actually calling them ourselves and saying, ‘Hey, just so you know, we got this guy in lockup.’”

    Dean said that the Police Department would not turn over someone in its custody to ICE. Waltham District Court would also not turn over somebody to ICE, since that person was in court for a state matter, and ICE is a federal agency.

    There have been several unconfirmed sightings of ICE in Waltham in the past few months, leading to rumors circulating on social media.

    With the threat of another sweep looming, some in the community worry about the effect the ICE rumors have had on children and families in Waltham.

    “[Deporting a parent] is the most inhuman and cruel thing that you can put a child through,” said Genoveva Tavera, a community organizer at WATCH CDC, a Waltham-based community development corporation dedicated to promoting affordable housing, providing adult education and leadership development, and empowering underrepresented residents through civic engagement.

    “By talking casually with members of my community, especially children, they don’t understand the world,” she said. They think that [deportation] is as radical as killing a parent.”

    The children are not the only ones affected by the idea of deportation, Tavera added.

    “I cannot say that I’m feeling OK to have this over my head, like a black shadow, like a black cloud following you, thinking that one day I can learn that someone in my community is being affected like that,” she said. 

    This story is part of a partnership between The Waltham Times and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

  • City Councilors debate hours of marijuana sales, hotel permit and parking on private ways

    The Waltham City Council at its meeting last week unanimously approved zoning amendments for medical and recreational marijuana establishments, with the amendments allowing dispensaries to operate from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., including Sundays, aligning Waltham’s regulations with state rules.

    Valerio Romano, attorney for UMA Flowers Waltham LLC, spoke in favor of the changes, emphasizing the need for consistency in operating hours to avoid confusion for customers and staff. The proposed hours would be 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays.

    Ward 1 Councilor Anthony LaFauci noted that the amendment would streamline the process for businesses like UMA Flowers, which has been navigating the city’s zoning regulations for years. 

    Also at its meeting last Monday night, the CIty Council discussed a special permit request for a six-story hotel at 1265 Main St., raising concerns about the building’s height and its potential impact on the surrounding community. 

    However, the council took no action, noting that the permit request will be reviewed in future meetings.

    The council also addressed an amendment to Chapter 17 of the general ordinance concerning parking on private ways. A motion to table the amendment was made, as the city solicitor recommended creating a new ordinance to ensure proper Fire Department access. 

    Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy highlighted the challenges of regulating private ways and suggested involving the Traffic Commission and police chief to address the matter.

    The council will revisit the matter in future meetings.The full April 28 City Council meeting can be seen here.

  • Waltham’s new high school brings career training to life

    It doesn’t feel like a high school.

    Walking through the kitchen, the salon, the auto body shop, the carpentry shop — all of it looks, feels and even smells professional.

    Which is exactly the point, said Waltham High School Principal Darrell Braggs.

    “You forget you’re in high school,” he said. “You don’t feel like you’re in a school that has a space trying to learn [a trade]. You feel like you’re actually in that space. You’re temporarily out of the high school, and you’re in the field.”

    The school, which cost $374 million and opened to students last September, is home to 14 vocational programs, also known as Career and Technical Education programs. 

    Mike Grace, director of CTE at Waltham High School, said the school was built with the CTE programs in mind.

    “The new building allowed us to increase our programs from 10 to 14,” he said. “And with the new, larger spaces we were able to update our equipment to match what students will be working on in the industry.”

    Students explore all the programs as freshmen, and then are able to pick one to continue pursuing as sophomores and beyond. Some 608 students — 34% of the school’s population — are enrolled in a CTE program, Grace said.

    Offerings include culinary arts, cosmetology, automotive technology, early education and care, health assisting, TV broadcasting, carpentry, electrical, HVACR and environmental science.

    A few of the programs will offer their services to the public: culinary arts, cosmetology, automotive technology, and early education and care. The school hopes to have a restaurant and salon open as soon as the fall 2025 semester, while the opening date of the child care center has not been determined.

    Open for business

    Meanwhile, the automotive technology shop is already open to Waltham residents and school district employees.

    WHS autoshop. Photo by Bailey Scott.

    “Auto tech was already public facing [at the old high school], so they hit the ground running on day one,” Braggs said. “In fact, in the first week of school, my car was down there on the lift, and they were taking care of it.”

    The shop provides only minor work, such as brake repairs, oil changes, cosmetic fixes and routine maintenance. 

    ‘A dream kitchen’

    Jean Hunt, a CTE culinary arts teacher, has benefited greatly from the new spaces, especially the updated kitchen.

    “In the old building everything was harder and took longer,” she said. “And I had to explain [to the students] what they were missing. But now we’re able to use all these amazing pieces of kitchen equipment, really state-of-the-art stuff.”

    Hunt, a former chef who has been teaching in Waltham for 20 years, said the new space is “a dream kitchen.”

    “I tease the kids that they’re never gonna work in a kitchen that’s as pristine as this, especially year one, unless you’re walking into a brand new hotel or kitchen,” she said. “We’ve really got all the bells and whistles.”

    The kitchen connects directly to the restaurant, which is not fully furnished. It still lacks point-of-service machines where customers would order and pay.

    WHS culinary cafe. Photo by Bailey Scott.

    The school is still working out the schedule for the restaurant, Hunt said, but it will most likely only serve lunch, since she has her advanced classes around that time. Only those classes will be allowed to work at the restaurant.

    “Some of my classes are just freshmen who don’t even know how to properly hold a knife yet,” Hunt said, “so they obviously can’t be cheffing it up at a restaurant.”

    The goal is to have the restaurant open for business sometime early next school year, once the restaurant is complete and more of the students have been trained to work in it. 

    Salon services

    The school has added a cosmetology program that will include a salon where members of the Waltham community can make appointments.

    The salon will only offer non-chemical services in the beginning, said Yolanda Crowell, a Waltham High cosmetology teacher, because of restrictions from the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Cosmetology and Barbering. In order to provide chemical services, students are required to have 500 hours of experience, Crowell said.

    WHS beauty shop. Photo by Bailey Scott.

    “Because we’re new, our students currently in the program only have gained one year of experience,” she said. “Next year, once they start gaining those hours, they’ll be able to start using chemicals, and we hope to introduce those services by 2026 or 2027.”

    The non-chemical services the salon will provide include blow dries, smoothing and other hair treatments, manicures, facials and waxing, Crowell said.

    She hopes to have the salon open by the end of the fall 2025 semester. 

    Crowell — who for 10 years was the director of G2O Spa and Salon, a high-end salon in Boston — added that students who complete the program will leave with more than just some new skills.

    “It’s a big accomplishment, because once they complete the three years in the program, they will have the hours to gain a cosmetology license,” she said. “They can take a state board exam, and once they pass that, they’re able to work out in the field in any cosmetology career.”

    Asset for the city

    Braggs said that the career-readiness aspect of the CTE program is one of its greatest strengths.

    “A lot of people don’t realize that when our students are done here, they’re ready to go,” he said. “They are industry-ready from day one after graduation.”

    Braggs added that the school is taking the utmost precautions when it comes to the public-facing programs and student safety.

    “We’re making sure that the right people are coming in, but it’s very compartmentalized,” he said. “You have to ring a bell to go into these places, and when you come in, you don’t have access to the school. It takes like nine steps to get into the main building.”

    He said the new building — and its programs — are good for Waltham, because they inspire students to want to stay in public schools.

    “Students who may have chosen to go private or may have chosen to go to [another vocational school] are choosing to come here instead, and I think that’s exciting for the community,” he said. “People who live in Waltham are coming to Waltham public schools and not going elsewhere.”

    This story is part of a partnership between The Waltham Times and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

  • City Council accepts state grant money for firefighting and safety equipment

    Fire Chief Andrew Mullin presents a grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to the council. Photo: Vivian Ainomugisha.

    The City Council accepted a $17,150 state grant Monday night for the purchase of firefighting and safety equipment. 

    Fire Chief Andrew Mullin presented the grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security at Monday’s council meeting, noting that funds are in addition to a $135,000 grant received earlier this year. Under the grant, all equipment must be delivered by June 30. The city must approve the grant contract before any equipment can be ordered. 

    The City Council praised the Fire Department, along with police and EMS, for their work, noting that their response to a four-alarm High Street fire on April 1 “was a perfect example of your department and mutual aid saving people.” 

    Other CIty Council action

    Councilor Sean T. Durkee addresses fellow council members – Photo: Vivian Ainomugisha

    In other action at Monday’s meeting:

    • Councilors discussed possible changes to the city’s regulations on private ways, aiming to address public safety concerns – particularly fire truck access during emergencies. Previous efforts to regulate parking and signage on private ways, such as Stanley Road, were blocked because of legal issues. The proposed changes would allow the Traffic Commission to take action on these matters and improve safety in situations where emergency vehicles struggle to access certain private roads.
    • The council voted to approve a second reading of the city’s proposed regulations on accessory dwelling units, which moves the proposed ADU rules closer to a final vote. Councilors have been working to finalize the regulations over the past several months. 
    • The City Council approved street work at 64-66 Orange St. to allow for the installation of water, sewage and gas connections for a new residential building. The existing four-family home will be torn down and replaced, with construction expected to take about three months to complete. Street work will last two to three days, and the entire road will be repaved after the utility connections are completed. Orange Street is a one-way road in a busy area near restaurants and a funeral home. The petitioner agreed to follow city guidelines and use the proper procedures to notify the residents and businesses that will be affected. 
    • The council approved a resolution recognizing World Irritable Bowel Syndrome Day, observed April 17-19, to raise awareness for the disease. “Thank you to the court for showing that although it can be uncomfortable talking about this, it’s important because thousands of Waltham residents, and millions of Americans, suffer from this very serious condition,” said Ward 1 Councilor Anthony LaFauci, who introduced the resolution. LaFauci also cited the importance of the city’s biotech companies in developing breakthrough treatments, including companies such as Ardelyx, which developed an IBS medicine.

    This story is part of a partnership between The Waltham Times and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

  • Finalists for Waltham High School principal share visions for school’s future at parent forum

    The finalists for the Waltham High School principal position answered questions about their visions and plans for the school Monday night at a forum for parents and guardians.

    The candidates, who were revealed by the school district Thursday, are Donavan Tracey Jr., an administrator at a high school in Rhode Island; Courtney Gosselin, a principal at a K-8 school in Somerville; and Mike Sabin, a Boston Public Schools executive and the former principal of Waltham’s McDevitt Middle School.

    Katherine Peretz, administrator of human resources for Waltham Public Schools and head of the principal search committee, moderated the virtual forum. The candidates were brought into a breakout room one at a time and asked the same questions.

    Each candidate had 20 minutes to answer the questions and at the same time give their pitch on why they should be the next principal. 

    Afterward, they moved to a separate forum for staff, which was closed to the public. 

    The candidates did not have any interaction with one another throughout the process.

    The questions, submitted in advance by parents and guardians, covered a range of topics: what they would change about the school if they had a magic wand, how they would deal with phones in the classroom, and how they would work to improve the academic performance of the school.

    Other questions touched on issues like transparency and discipline.

    When asked about their vision for the school, the three candidates’ answers had common themes.

    Tracey said he wanted to make the school more welcoming, encouraging students and teachers to stay by increasing staff and parent involvement in the decision-making process.

    “For me,” he said, “a vision of school is one where students are excited about learning and they get to be heard and understood.” 

    Gosselin’s vision focused on creating a more welcoming community for students, encouraging them to grow through a challenging curriculum, and increasing involvement in extracurricular activities.

    “In my perfect high school every student would have an extracurricular that they’re really passionate about, and that they would want to attend beyond the school day,” she said.

    Sabin said he would primarily focus on transparency, adding that he would want to create a school where students felt supported and challenged.

    “It’s not really about my vision for the school, but it’s about the students’ vision,” he said. “It’s about the family and the community’s vision and the staff’s vision.”

    Asked how they support both high-achieving and struggling students, all three candidates talked about meeting students where they are academically.

    “One very important thing in the classroom is that everyone cannot be expected to always do the exact same thing,” Sabin said. “There has to be differentiation. Supporting every student and challenging every student is difficult for the staff, but it is possible. And so I think that needs to be a focus of professional learning and of the way that instruction is delivered.”

    Tracey agreed but mentioned that data collection was critical.

    “It’s very important that we are looking at the data and classrooms and communicating with families often about where each student is in their journey in order to move the student to where they need to be academically,” he said.

    Gosselin added that it was crucial to use discipline as an opportunity to teach students.

    “How are we teaching students how to make better choices?” she said. “How are we getting to the root cause of why students chose that particular action, even though it was not the right one? And how are we supporting them to move forward with that?”

    All three candidates expressed similar goals of increasing transparency and working to incorporate cellphones into the learning environment instead of just banning them.

    They also all agreed that discipline must begin with setting expectations and recognizing that students need to understand the rules, values and culture of the school in order to meet those expectations. 

    Peretz said the search committee will email a form to parents and guardians soliciting their feedback on the candidates. Superintendent Marisa Mendonsa will analyze the responses, which will factor into the hiring decision.

    Darrell Braggs, the current principal, announced his decision to step down at the end of the school year last December. No reason was given for his departure, and neither Braggs nor Mendonsa responded to questions from The Waltham Times.

    This story is part of a partnership between The Waltham Times and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

  • Waltham Public Schools announces finalists for high school principal job

    A search committee has chosen three finalists for the position of principal at Waltham High School.

    The committee selected Donavan Tracey Jr., Courtney Gosselin and Mike Sabin, the school district announced Thursday.

    Darrell Braggs, the current principal, in December announced his decision to step down at the end of the school year. No reason was given for his departure, and neither Braggs nor Superintendent Marisa Mendonsa responded to questions from The Waltham Times.

    Braggs was named interim principal in 2022, replacing principal Brenda Peña, who had announced her resignation just weeks before the start of the 2022-23 school year. Peña had served as principal for roughly a year, having started in the position during the summer of 2021.

    All three finalists have experience as a principal, along with extensive backgrounds in education.

    Tracey is the chief academic officer for YouthBuild Preparatory Academy, a high school in Providence, Rhode Island. He has worked as teacher, dean and principal for elementary, middle and high schools.

    Gosselin is an educator with 14 years of experience as a classroom teacher and 10 years of experience as an administrator. She is in her sixth year as principal at Winter Hill Community Innovation School in Somerville, which educates students from prekindergarten through eighth grade. Before that, she taught Spanish at Salem High School.

    Sabin is the executive director of school transformation for Boston Public Schools, providing support and guidance to schools that have been identified as needing accelerated improvement. He previously worked for seven years as the principal of McDevitt Middle School in Waltham. Sabin had also worked as the principal for a K-8 school in Dorchester and a middle school in Charlestown.

    The finalists will visit the high school either Friday, March 28, or Monday, March 31. Two virtual forums will take place on Monday from 6 to 7 p.m., with one forum for parents and guardians and another for staff. Questions for the candidates will be selected from a list of submitted questions. 

    Links to the forums will be shared on Monday. The link to submit a question is available here.

    This story is part of a partnership between The Waltham Times and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

  • Waltham man’s abduction in Uganda sparks demonstration at State House

    By

    Vivian Ainomugisha

    and

    Bailey Scott

    Charles “Muvawala” Bukenya was found alive with signs of torture

    In a social media post by Bobi Wine, leader of the National Unity Party in Uganda, shares news about Charles “Muvawala” Bukenya’s abduction.

    About a dozen members of a Ugandan political group demonstrated from Copley Square to the State House in red berets on Friday, following the abduction of a key figure in their organization. 

    Charles “Muvawala” Bukenya — a Waltham resident — was abducted in Nakulabye, Uganda, shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday on his way to withdraw money from an ATM, according to Ugandan news media. He was found alive Friday, according to photos posted on social media. His captors, who have not been identified, dropped him off at a swamp, brutally beaten and scarred. 

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    “He went on vacation and disappeared,” said Maureen Kalemba, president of the Uganda Boston Community Association. “Before we knew it we were seeing pictures of him bruised and tortured. We don’t know what happened to him.” 

    Muvawala plays a key role in the Massachusetts Ugandan community as the vice president of the Ugandan North American Association and a member of the National Unity Party (NUP). He traveled to Uganda last month to visit family, according to people at the rally.

    NUP members believe his association with the party was the reason behind his abduction. 

    “They stopped him to put fear into people like us, in the diaspora, maybe to stop us from going there [Uganda],” said Robert Kabuye, an NUP member.

    Local pro-democracy activists seek change in Ugandan government

    NUP is a Ugandan political party led by Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu. Kyagulanyi, also known by his stage name “Bobi Wine,” is a Ugandan singer, musician, actor, activist and politician. He created the slogan “People power, our power,” which led to the formation of the People Power Movement.

    Since its formation in 2017, the People Power Movement has stood for democracy, human rights and reform. The NUP is the political arm of the People Power Movement.

    The movement has fought to remove the National Resistance Movement (NRM), led by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, from power. Museveni has been in office since 1986. 

    The NUP was defeated by the NRM in the 2021 election, leaving Museveni in power until the next election in 2026. 

    To some Ugandans, that is far too long for any one person to stay in office.

    “I’m turning 41 soon, and guess what? This president that we’re talking about has been in power for the last 40 years,” said Marvin Bbale, Massachusetts NUP chapter leader. “My generation is literally gone, you can imagine.”

    “But this is the new generation,” he said. “We believe in peace. We believe in freedom for all. We believe in democracy. We believe in human rights. We believe in justice.”

    NRM’s opposition associates the party with dictatorship, violence and election fraud. Despite six elections since 1986, no one has succeeded in replacing Museveni.

    “Looking at things that are happening back home, there’s a lot of injustice,” Bbale said. “Each time we go into elections, you see the kidnapping and the killing.” 

    Demonstrators want U.S. to stop aiding Uganda

    Others in the Ugandan community say that going back to Uganda has now become a risk.

    “We do not have a guarantee that when you go home, you come back alive, or you won’t be kidnapped, or you won’t go missing, or your property won’t also go missing,” said Maureen Asiimwe, also known as Afande Momo, chairperson of the Uganda Boston Community Association.

    “I know that when I go home, I may not come back alive, or that something may happen to me, so I decide to stay,” she said. “It’s a decision I have to make on my own for the security of my kids, my parents and my family.”

    “But do I have to do that when that is my nation? That’s where I hail from?” she added. “No. So that is what we are coming and standing for.”

    Asiimwe said that despite the law saying that they are free to go to Uganda, and that Uganda is free and safe, it doesn’t feel that way at all.

    “The example which they have just shown to Charles Bukenya shows us that we are not free, and that is why I’m here today in this protest,” she said.

    Being part of this movement comes at a great cost for many, including 33-year-old Habib Male, who no longer travels to Uganda after experiencing repeated acts of brutality.

    “I’m a survivor of kidnapping. I’ve been arrested four times in Uganda,” Male said. “I’ve been detained and tortured two times.”

    In captivity Male was beaten by batons and hit with a weapon.

    He grew up in a household affected by domestic violence and was inspired by figures like Kyagulanyi to become a human rights activist. His passion has driven him to continue resisting oppression.

    “The people that inspire me have never given up,” Male said. “I don’t see a reason to give up.”

    At the end of the demonstration, Bbale and other group members presented a petition to Senate President Karen E. Spilka and House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano. Their goal is to advocate for the United States to stop sending aid to the Ugandan government, citing the harm it has caused its people.

    “We’re scheduled for more meetings,” Bbale said. “We’re going to be coming up, and we’ll get to amplify our message, to stop funding the Ugandan government, our message that Ugandan voices need to be heard.”

    This story is part of a partnership between the Waltham Times and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

    Robert Kabuye addresses the public on the group’s reason for rallying.

    Habib Male, a human rights activist, holds a sign and wears the Ugandan flag in solidarity with Ugandan human rights.

    Arnold Nsubuga shouts, “People power, our power,” during a demonstration Friday at Copley Square.