Daily Five: Lawyer Advises Groton School Board to Comply With Racial Balance Rule

1.  Today is Tuesday, March 6.  The National Weather Service predicts sunny skies, a high temperature of 39 degrees and a wind of 9 to 14 mph. It will be clear tonight, and the low will drop to 31 degrees.

2.  A lawyer for the school department has advised the school board that it’s in Groton’s best interest to come up with a plan that satisfies the state’s requirement for racial balance in the schools. In a letter read at the board of education meeting Monda, the lawyer said the plan can be creative.

The letter confirmed that the state department of education does not have authority to grant a waiver of the racial balance law and is unlikely to do so. The lawyer added that if Groton challenged the law in court, it would likely end up ordered by the court to come up with a plan to create racial balance or could end up with a plan it does not want.

3.  The Town Council will hold a special committee of the whole meeting at 6 p.m. today in the Town Hall Annex. State lawmakers are invited and school board members are expected to attend. Topics for discussion include the school board’s desire for a waiver of the racial balance rule and the status of the Mystic Education Center.

4.  The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce has launched a new mobile website, that you can visit with a mobile device by going to www.mysticchamber.org. The website was developed by Mystic Mobile LLC, which is also launching Business Mobile Direct, a web application to help businesses reach people using mobile devices. For more information, go to www.mysticmobile.com.

5. Panera Bread of Groton will hold a fundraiser to benefit Riverfront Children’s Center, from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Monday at the café in Groton Square Shopping Center on Route 12.  For $5, you attend this   “Raise the Dough” event and taste unlimited samples of Panera’s upcoming and returning foods like the Cuban chicken panini, new roasted turkey fuji apple salad, low-fat chicken tortilla soup and low-fat peach nectar smoothie. All proceeds will go to Riverfont, which was nominated by the community and chosen by Panera as the featured charity.