From the region.

COLUMN: From the region

Leominster

Incense led to fire at Mead Street home

LEOMINSTER - A house fire Wednesday afternoon at 70 Mead St. started when a piece of smoldering incense was accidentally tossed off of a deck. The fire was fueled by a small propane tank on a gas grill on the deck.

Lt. John Gendron of the Leominster Fire Prevention Bureau said the incense was unintentionally thrown off the deck by the young son of the owner. It burned grass, rubbish and a hose near a shed, before propane caught up and added to the blaze, which destroyed the house. He said it is unclear if the safety valve on the propane tank melted from the fire or if it was it was left open.

There were no injuries reported.

Lt. Gendron said 60 percent to 70 percent of the house has smoke and water damage and is uninhabitable.

Two adults and three children were living in the home. They were not home when the blaze started.

Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella has established an account at Fidelity Bank to assist the family displaced by the fire, including an Army Gulf War Veteran and his three children. To make a donation, make checks payable to: City of Leominster Relief Fund and mail or deliver it to Fidelity Bank, 9 Leominster Connector, Leominster, MA 01453.

Worcester

Charter school to start 3rd year with changes

WORCESTER - The Spirit of Knowledge Charter School will start its third year with a new location, a new executive director, and a drastically changed board of trustees.

The school did not find a permanent location after its lease expired at All Saints Church on Irving Street July 31, but it has moved to the former St. Paul's Elementary School at 19 Chatham St. for six months to a year, according to Richard Langevin, chairman of the charter school's board of trustees.

Mr. Langevin, who was chairman of the board for much of the school's existence, returned as chair last month after then-chairman Hemant Pendharkar resigned from both the chairmanship and the board. Two other members, Calin Galeriu and Shinya Watanabe, resigned within 24 hours, Mr. Langevin said. A fourth board member, Isidore Nosike, had resigned in the spring. The four were the board's officers.

Mr. Pendharkar said he left for professional and personal reasons but might stay active in charter schools in general.

The board has four voting members left and is in the process of bringing on four new members, Mr. Langevin said.

The school has a new interim executive director, Paula Bailey, who last year was head of the math department. The former executive director, David A. Chauvette, resigned at the end of June after six months on the job. At the time, he said, "I just had some disagreements with the board, and I don't see us being productive moving forward."

What the school needs now is some stability, Mr. Langevin said. He believes the school is "absolutely" viable and will add an 11th grade this year. He said the school has 183 students in Grades 7-11 and hopes to grow to approximately 200 by the time school starts next month.

Charlton

Infant program gone at St. Agnes day care

CHARLTON - Averting a September closing, the Guild of St. Agnes' day care on Masonic Home Road has shuttered its costly infant program but will keep open toddler and preschool programs, officials said.

Yesterday was the last day for infants, center director Debbie Welch said.

But it was called a win-win because placements were found for the five infants and two infant teachers at Growing Footprints Education Center Inc., a day care center on Griffin Road opening on Monday.

"They were able to stay together, which was nice for us," Ms. Welch said.

The guild, which is expanding its preschool program, is now accepting applications for toddlers and preschoolers, she said. Its capacity will be 40 preschoolers and 18 toddlers. It has about 49 children, but by month's end it expects to lose a classroom of preschoolers entering kindergarten.

Edward P. Madaus, executive director of the Guild of St. Agnes, has said the Charlton program lost up to $5,000 a year on each infant. In recent months, Mapfre Insurance in Webster announced it was turning over the Mapfre USA Early Learning Center to the Guild of St. Agnes.