Present and Accounted For: Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan Launches School Attendance Initiative

Keefe Tech Superintendent Honored at Annual Breakfast Featuring Schools and Law Enforcement

WALTHAM–  Today Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Middlesex Partnerships for Youth, Inc., brought together school superintendents, police chiefs and fire chiefs from the 54 communities in Middlesex County to launch a year of programming, training, prevention and collaborative efforts between schools and law enforcement for the annual Superintendents and Chiefs Breakfast.

At the event, District Attorney Ryan announced this year’s school-based initiative “Present and Accounted For.”  The goal of this year’s initiative is to improve attendance at all grade levels, keep students engaged, and address issues which may be impacting why a student is not regularly attending school.

“One of the most important predictors of success in school performance,  improvement in youth safety and the prevention of crime is having children at school every day,” said District Attorney Ryan.  “If schools and community partners work together to make sure students are at school we can address the issues that may be leading to truancy, be it a problem at home or a situation in school.”

In addition to District Attorney Ryan, Dr. Alan Ingram, deputy education commissioner from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and Thomas Malone, regional counsel, Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, also spoke about issues related to attendance and truancy.

At the annual breakfast, District Attorney Ryan presented James Lynch, Superintendent of Keefe Regional Technical High School in Framingham, with the fourth annual Dr. Patrick A. Schettini, Jr. Award.  The award was created in 2010 to honor Dr. Schettini’slegacy as an outstanding educator and leader and is awarded annually an active superintendent, police chief or fire chief.

“Jim Lynch puts students first.  He thinks creatively and brings people together to do what needs to be done,” District Attorney Ryan said.  “When Jim saw that students were waiting for buses without any shelter, he worked with the Metropolitan West Regional Transit Authority to build five enclosures at city bus stops – a benefit for students and the entire community.  It is that type of forward thinking that makes our communities welcoming, safe and secure.”

Lynch also successfully secured funding to continue to have a School Resource Officer at his school and also brought RAD – Rape Aggression and Defense – to the school for female students and staff to learn self defense and awareness of potential threatening situations.  Lynch has been an active member of the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators, the Framingham Youth Development Collaborative (FYDC), and the FYDC Youth Employment Subcommittee.

Dr. Schettini was Reading Public Schools Superintendent who passed away in 2009 from pancreatic cancer.  Schettini was a member of Board of Directors and actively involved in the work of the Middlesex Partnerships for Youth and the Board created the award in his memory in 2010.  The award recognizes Dr. Schettini’s leadership and compassion and honors a professional who keeps the health and safety of students as the top priority, while dealing with the complexities of administrating their agencies.

Middlesex Partnerships for Youth, Inc. is a non-profit organization which provides prevention and intervention resources and training to Middlesex school districts and communities.  District Attorney Ryan is the chair of the MPY Board of Directors.

Through the efforts of MPY, educators, parents, and students can regularly engage in collaborative trainings with law enforcement, social services, and community-based organizations as well as share the latest information and resources. Such interactions provide the foundation for creating solution-oriented, community-based, multi-disciplinary approaches to addressing youth violence, substance abuse, child abuse and neglect, hate crimes, and harassment across Middlesex County.

Middlesex County is the largest county in Massachusetts and one of the largest counties in the country with 54 towns and cities and 26 colleges in urban, suburban, and rural areas, comprising over one quarter of the population of Massachusetts.  The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office has offices throughout the county, including in Ayer, Cambridge, Concord, Framingham, Lowell, Malden, Marlborough, Newton, Somerville, Waltham and Woburn.