IMAGE GALLERY: Titan Tee Ball Season Begins

State Rep. Jim Miceli visits to throw opening pitch at Titan Tee Ball's opening day.

At the Ryan School Sunday, the Titan Tee Ball program kicked off with a guest appearance by State Rep. Jim Miceli. The tee ball program is a project of the Tewksbury based group Friends of Special Ed Kidz (FOSEK) which offers children with special needs to participate in team sports. In addition to Titan Tee Ball on Saturdays, FOSEK is also running TOPSoccer through early November on Saturdays. Also, in the winter will be basketball, kickball in the spring, and golf during the summer. For more info or to support FOSEK please view their website here.

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VIDEO: "Absolute Fraud And Waste And Mismanagement"

Local officials met with the Legislative delegation to discuss the fallout from the MSEC scandal and possibility of retrieving money for Tewksbury.

Town and School Department officials met with the Tewksbury Legislative delegation to discuss the fallout from the MSEC Scandal. There are hopes that the rate being charged Tewksbury for each of the 30 students being serviced by the collaborative can be adjusted. There is also hope that past overcharges can be retrived. Editor Bill Gilman attended the meeting and filed this report.

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Barranco Fired As Head Of Special Education Center

Former director had been on administrative leave from $500,000-a-year job as a result of state investigation.

O'Connor To MSEC -- "Show Us The Books"

Superintendent of Schools wants Merrimack Special Education Collaborative to prove it hasn't overcharged towns for services. Town may seek financial settlement.

Tewksbury Superintendent of Schools Dr. John O'Connor has asked the board of directors of the embattled Merrimack Special Education Collaborative (MSEC) to provide a detailed analysis of the fees it has charged the Town of Tewksbury for the past five years, and to prove that those fees were fair and accurate. In light of charges brought by the state auditor's office claiming the collaborative's former director, John Barranco, may have misspent millions of dollars in taxpayer money, O'Connor wants the colaborative to open up its books to its clients, one of which is the Town of Tewksbury. Tewksbury's school department will spend close to $2 million paying MSEC and its partner company, the Merrimack Education Center (MEC) to provide special …

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Patch Facts

5 Things You Need To Know Today: Thursday, Sept. 8

Bits of knowledge to help you be the smartest egg in the carton.

Here are five pieces of information to get your Thursday off to a great start and make you the smartest person at the watercooler. 1. Today's Weather Forecast: According to the NWS, today will feature showers, mainly before noon. Patchy fog before noon. High near 71. East wind between 3 and 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.  Tonight there is a slight chance of showers. Patchy fog after 9pm. Otherwise, cloudy, with a low around 61. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%. 2. Quote of the Day: "Those are two big losses, that's for sure. They were both great all-around athletes with excellent speed." Tewksbury field hockey Coach Pat Ryser, on trying to replace …

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More Bad News for Tewksbury Special Ed Department

Mass. Dept. of Education's Mid-Cycle Report is critical of town's special education performance

The rocky road continued for the Tewksbury School District's Special Education Department Wednesday night, as Superintendent of Schools Dr. John O'Connor informed the School Committee that the department received poor grades from the state after an on-site review of its practices and procedures was conducted earlier this year. O'Connor distributed a letter his office received from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MDESE) dated Aug. 11 that requested "written assurance" that corrective actions will be taken in light of a sub-standard performance evaluation by the state in its Mid-Cycle Report that was based on an on-site visit conducted last February. The report found that Tewksbury's Special Education …

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MG

9:32 pm on Sunday, October 9, 2011

I agree, this does not surprise me at all. My daughter is on an IEP, and we have nothing nothing but trouble with the school, first the Dewing and now the Ryan. We've had to fight for every single thing on her IEP, and it STILL is not followed by the teachers. It is honestly a full time job to ensure that she is getting the services outlined in her IEP, and because the school does not want, or …   more ›

O'Connor: I Received No Money From MSEC

Tewksbury Superintendent Dr. John O'Connor bristles at Lowell Sun report linking him with federal probe into spending practices at Merrimack Special Education Collaborative

Tewksbury Superintendent of Schools Dr. John O'Connor wants to make one thing perfectly clear. In spite of reports to the contrary, O'Connor says he has never received any form of payment from the embattled Merrimack Special Education Collaborative (MSEC). According to a story that appeared in Wednesday's edition of The Lowell Sun,federal prosecutors are investigating whether or not MSEC has misspent millions of dollars in taxpayer funds in recent years. The Billerica-based MSEC is a fee-for-service provider of academic, therapeutic and vocational services to special education students referred to the collaborative by area school districts and social service agencies. The Tewksbury School District currently contracts with MSEC to provide …

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Bill Gilman

3:07 pm on Friday, August 12, 2011

Dan the original story came out in June and no one from Tewksbury past or present was implicated. Several other superintendents from the region were named in connection with the investigation. I'm guessing the Feds are asking for the records of everyone on the board to cover their bases.   more ›