As many as 200 Arlington High School students crowded into Town Hall on Monday, Feb. 1, flooding every inch of the selectmen's chambers as six youthful speakers called for the board to pursue an override. The pleas came after the top Arlington budget leaders heard a financial update forecasting deficits on the town and school side.

"We will do everything we can to pass it," said Molly Lobel, co-president of the Young Arlington Democrats Club at AHS.

"We agree with everything you said," Selectmen Chairman Kevin Greeley, told the young speakers, but he cautioned that much remains unclear, including the amount that might be sought in an override.

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He said that he expected board members to know by Feb. 22 whether they will pursue an override.

"We are here to show you how much we care about our school. We are here to offer a solution."

That solution, to seek an override, drew much support and some criticism, based on comments on the Arlington e-mail list on Feb. 2. Supporters praised students for their activism; detractors wanted to know the adults who organized the event.

Asked about that, Lobel wrote in an e-mail Feb. 2:

"I would like to make it very clear that there was hardly any teacher involvement. This effort came entirely from the students, was organized by the students, and was carried out by the students. 

"We are not the puppets of our teacher or parents. We merely wanted to show how much we care about the future of AHS, as we will be impacted the most."

Marie Krepelka, a longtime town employee who has been the selectmen's administrator for nine years, said Feb. 2 that she has never seen a crowd so large at a selectmen's meeting. She estimated it at as many as 150 in the selectmen's chambers.

She said she never seen students stand behind the selectmen. "It was never allowed," she said.

In reaction to the students' speeches that night, Selectman Clarissa Rowe said: "We're dealing with a feeling of distrust in this town. We need to have some positive thinking."

She encouraged students to go to their parents and grandparents and try to change their minds about the underlying distrust, which would undercut any potential override effort.

Selectmen Annie LaCourt said she was "not very optimistic" about passing an override.

At the Budget & Revenue Task Force before selectmen met, as many as 30 members of the public plus Arlington's entire Beacon Hill delegation heard some improved numbers in the town budget and that the school deficit was now projected at $4 million, down from $5.8 million last week. The budget forecast overall remains grim.