Editor's note: This story is part of a nationwide Patch series probing the economy's effect on local schools. The Dedham School Committee voted to adopt a $33.5 million budget Wednesday evening after little discussion amongst the group and it now moves to Town Administrator Bill Keegan’s desk. Despite the weather and the snow day for schoolchildren, the committee met Wednesday with two residents in attendance. The committee approved the budget 6-0 with committee member David Roberts absent. The proposed budget is a 2.64 percent increase over this year’s budget, which according to …

Editor's note: This story is part of a nationwide Patch series probing the economy's effect on local schools. Three months into building a new $23.3 million school, officials overlooking the construction of the Avery School are pleased with its progress – and where its budget stands. “We remain within the budget that was established by the School Building Rehabilitation Committee and Town Meeting’s appropriation. We are within budget as we speak,” SBRC chairman Andy Lawlor said. The committee established a contingency fund as it always expects charges that it didn’t foresee. “We’ve had some …

The Dedham School Building Rehabilitation Committee continued the road to building the new Avery Elementary School on Monday night by voting to approve two change orders that officials say will help save money. Committee Chairman Andy Lawlor said that some areas of the Avery School project came in higher priced than expected so they have been developing other areas of saving. "Steel, concrete and gypsum wall bids came in higher than expected," said Lawlor. One of the change orders was for $9,017. Lawlor explained that the Dedham Westwood Water Department has required the Committee to install …

Editor's note: This story is part of a nationwide Patch series looking in-depth at several areas of concern in local schools. A draft of the district's bullying policy is attached to this article in PDF form. The Dedham School Committee had planned on voting on a bullying policy, but decided to wait until it's next meeting on Dec. 1. According to state legislature, the School Committee has until Dec. 31 to submit a policy. Committee member David Roberts explained to the board that after meeting with the policy's subcommittee earlier this month, they thought it would be more appropriate to …

AYP and MCAS scores were all the rage in August when Dedham school officials broke the news that parents would be given school choice after the Avery School didn't meet AYP. But at a meeting last Wednesday, no more than a half-dozen parents attended presentations from all six school principals that broke down MCAS scores by grade in each MCAS test category. "A lot of discussion that happened in August and September regarding AYP was really foremost in the community's mind. A lot of their concerns about MCAS were inter-related with AYP," committee chairman Tom Ryan said. While principals gave …

Editor's note: This story is part of a nationwide Patch series probing the economy's effect on local schools. Dedham schoolteachers lucked out in the last budget cycle, unlike many school districts across the Commonwealth and the country. That means that $275,000 designated to hire back laid off teachers can be used in other necessary places from now until the first quarter of fiscal year 2013. "Dedham was very fortunate not to have layoffs, that's not typical for the area," said Dedham Education Association president Timothy Dwyer. "[We] seemed to have weathered the storm a bit better than …