11/30/2006
Belly dancing returning to CHS
John H. Gendron , Daily Times

Last school year, the school department held a trial session for a program that afforded Coventry residents the opportunity to partake in certain activities - some educational, others recreational.

"We ran approximately eight classes, which included things from digital photography to international cooking," said Superintendent of Coventry Schools Kenneth DiPietro. "Actually, belly-dancing was one of them that was very well-attended. It's a great exercise for people who choose to do it. We also had an over-enrollment for a computer education class for the use of Microsoft Office."

DiPietro said he felt the program was successful enough to move forward for another two years, and asked the school committee to vote on the proposition of its extension at Tuesday night's meeting.

Committee members were unanimous in their decision to fully implement the program and appointed Jason Martin its director of operations. Martin had been in charge of the program during its experimental period.

"It has been a priority for this school committee to implement a community education program to use our facilities for the education of the public," said DiPietro. "We decided that it had a level of success that it could be implemented."

A major portion of the program's cost will go toward Martin's salary which will be two-thirds of the normal $7,500 this year, as only winter and spring sessions would run for the remainder of this year; $7,500 for next year; and, so long as the school committee keeps the program, $8,500 for the 2008-09 school year.

The school department has been working with a very tight budget this school year, and any expenditure is heavily scrutinized, DiPietro said. But he argued this program should, at the very least, pay for itself.

"It would not cost the community anything presuming that it doesn't lack revenues," said DiPietro. "It would become a cost if we lack the revenues."

"Last year we were able to run one session and profited about $2,000," DiPietro added. "We definitely have showed that the program would at least fully fund itself within the first year."

DiPietro also added that if for some reason his estimations are proved wrong, the "(school) committee always retains the right to discontinue a program" at the end of that program's session.

DiPietro said the program's winter session will commence in late January and run through March, and another from late April through May. Other class offerings have not been decided on as of yet.