m March 21, 2011

Minutes - Wayland School Committee
Regular Session  March 21, 2011  

A Regular Session of the Wayland School Committee was held on Monday, March 21, 2011 at 7:00 P.M. in the School Committee Room of the Wayland Town Building.

Present were:
Dr. Louis Jurist, Chair
Mrs. Barb Fletcher, Vice Chair
Dr. Malcolm Astley
Ms. Beth Butler
Dr. Shawn Kinney

Also:
Dr. Gary A. Burton
Superintendent of Schools

Mr. Brad J. Crozier
Assistant Superintendent

Mr. Geoffrey S. MacDonald
Business Administrator

Dr. Marlene M. Dodyk
Director of Student Services

Chair Louis Jurist convened the regular meeting at 7:03 P.M. and reviewed the agenda.

1. Special Matter – Change Order #3 for Shawmut Design Company:
Upon a motion duly made by Dr. Kinney, seconded by Ms. Butler, the School Committee voted unanimously (5-0) to approve Change Order #3 for Shawmut Design and Construction Company for $79,667.00 for Electrical Revisions to the Library, Revised Kitchen Equipment Schedule, Sound Attenuator Changes, Assistive Listening Receivers, Field House Wall Mounted Acoustical Panels, and Upgrades to Auditorium Seating for a revised contract value of $56,490,381.00 and to authorize Chairman Louis Jurist to sign the contract on behalf of the Wayland School Committee.

2. Comments from the Public:
Donna Bouchard asked the School Committee to reconsider the addition of an Assistant Business Administrator.

Tom Sciacca asked how the School Committee would react if members of the Technology Task Force moved at Town Meeting, if the Capital ballot question failed, to take the Technology Capital request from free cash. The School Committee would like to put the main discussion off to the next meeting. Mr. Sciacca also advocated teaching Environmental Science at the High School.

3. Principals’ Discretionary Funds:
Mrs. Dianne Bladon provided information, history, and practices related to the Principals’ Discretionary Funds. The PTOs have been supportive of the use of the PDF accounts and they hoped that several purposes would still be maintained regarding the intent of the gifts when providing funds to staff and students. She stated that these accounts, to her knowledge, do not mix donations and taxpayer funds. She also stated that the PTOs have the utmost respect for the principals and, as an organization, the PTO had great confidence in the integrity for the building principals.

The School Committee received two requests for records. Dr. Shawn Kinney requested the Principals’ Discretionary Accounts, as well as the Student Activity Accounts from each building. Mr. MacDonald stated it would take a week to copy the files. Dr. Burton invited Mr. Kinney to revise his request to come to Central Office and review the records.

The School Committee discussed Dr. Kinney’s Letter to the Editor on March 17, 2011 and touched upon the draft of The Abrahams Report.

4. Discussion re: Proposed New Fields at the Middle School:
Mr. Mark Lucier updated the School Committee on the meeting with the Parks and Recreation Commission, and the community members related to the proposal to construct two all-purpose athletic fields at the Middle School, as called for in the Town’s Capital Budget request. He discussed the amount of usage that is pushing the capital project. The School Committee still has more questions and would like to have a discussion with the appropriate committees before voting on the proposal.

5. Discussion with Rebecca Chasen, Chair of the Operations Review Committee re: the Process of the Operations Review Committee:
Rebecca Chasen provided context to a conversation she had with Mrs. Fletcher, which was referenced in Brenda Sharton’s communication to the School Committee. She also described the process and next steps for the Operations Review Committee.

6. Approval of Anti-Idling Policy (EEAB):
The School Committee reviewed and made one minor modification to the Anti-Idling Policy.

As the policy was posted for public comment for the past 30 days, upon a motion duly made by Dr. Kinney, seconded by Mrs. Fletcher, the Committee voted unanimously (5-0) to approve the amended Anti-Idling Policy (EEAB).

7. Preparation for Annual Town Meeting:
The School Committee discussed their preparation for Annual Town Meeting, which begins on April 7, 2011. The Committee reviewed a draft of a School Committee submission to the media outlets in support of the Capital Technology and equipment warrant. Ms. Butler will speak on TEC from the Town Meeting Presentation Book.

8. Energy Advisory Commission:
Representatives Ellen Tohn, Anne Harris, and Tom Sciacca updated the School Committee on the current greening and energy efficiency efforts being pursued within Wayland. They also proposed that the School Committee send a letter to NStar in support of working on a partnership to save/reinvest energy savings toward funding additional future efficiency investments.

Upon a motion duly made by Mrs. Fletcher, seconded by Ms. Butler, the School Committee voted unanimously (5-0) to authorize Chair Louis Jurist to join with the Chair of the Board of Selectmen to sign the draft letter to NStar. Mrs. Fletcher will be the contact person for the Wayland Energy Commission.

9. Approval of Accounts Payable and Payroll Warrants:
Upon a motion duly made by Mrs. Fletcher, seconded by Ms. Butler, the School Committee voted unanimously (5-0) to approve payment of the following:
• Wayland Public Schools Payroll warrant, dated 3/10/2011, in the amount of $1,038,490.65
• Wayland Public Schools Accounts Payable warrant, dated 3/7/2011, in the amount of $185,211.57
• Wayland Public Schools Accounts Payable warrant, dated 3/21/2011, in the amount of $287,666.44
• Wayland Public Schools Accounts Payable warrant, dated 3/21/2011, in the amount of $2,996,621.10 (High School Project)

10. Acceptance of Gifts:
Upon a motion duly made by Mrs. Fletcher, seconded by Dr. Kinney, the School Committee voted unanimously (5-0) in accord with Policy KHE to accept the following gifts with gratitude to the WHS Sailing Team:
• A donation in the amount of $1,000.00 from James and Cherry Karlson, Wayland
• A donation in the amount of $400.00 from John and Marcia Flagg, Wayland

11. Approval of Minutes:
Upon a motion duly made by Mrs. Fletcher, seconded by Dr. Astley, the School Committee voted unanimously (5-0) to approve the following minutes, as amended:
• Regular Session of March 7, 2011
• Executive Session of March 7, 2011
• Executive Session of February 7, 2011

12. Superintendent’s Report:
(a) Summer Program Review:
Mr. Crozier updated the Committee on the expansion of the summer reading program.

(b) Kindergarten Update:
Mr. Crozier and Dr. Dodyk updated the School Committee on the kindergarten enrollment.

(c) Gossels Family Fund for Academic Excellence:
Dr. Burton informed the Committee that he planned to approve Pat Tutwiler’s request for a .2 FTE environmental science educator.

(d) G-4 Update:
Dr. Burton and Dr. Dodyk updated the Committee on the G-4 efforts to combine resources for the four communities (Wayland, Sudbury, Lincoln, Lincoln-Sudbury High School).

(e) Anti-Bullying Letter from the DESE:
Dr. Burton reviewed the letter received from the DESE dated March 17, in which they talk about our Anti-Bullying Report. They gave Wayland high marks.

(f) Modular Classrooms:
Dr. Burton informed the School Committee that we are considering moving the modular classrooms. The School Committee would like to discuss this move in the context of the broader discussion of the long-range plan for the district and the elementary configuration.

(g) Public Records Request:
Mr. George Harris has requested records related to The Children’s Way and the BASE Program. Several portions of his request will be difficult to obtain, specifically #1 and #3. Items 2 and 4 can be readily produced; however, Dr. Burton will continue to review and then respond to Mr. Harris.

13. Follow-up and Future Agenda Items:
The School Committee will consider possible options if the Capital Warrant for technology fails at the polls. They will discuss this at the next meeting.

14. Comments from the Public:
• Ellen Grieco asked a question related to teaching reading at the kindergarten level.
• John Flaherty commented that the School Committee should revisit the assistant business administrator position and hire one immediately to support Geoff MacDonald.
• Tom Sciacca commented on the environmental issues related to the proposed middle school fields. He commented on the notion that everyone can be trusted.
• Donna Bouchard supported John Flaherty’s comments to hire an assistant business administrator. She also commented that perhaps the environmental science course be considered an honors level course. She also provided kudos to the Wayland Business Department for the great work they are doing for students.

15. Executive Session:
Upon a motion duly made by Mrs. Fletcher, seconded by Ms. Butler, the School Committee voted unanimously (5-0) to convene in Executive Session at 10:30 P.M. to discuss matters pertaining to WESA and custodial union negotiations, as set forth in Section 23B of G.L. Ch. 39. The School Committee agreed that discussion regarding the WESA and custodial union negotiations would be in Executive Session, as conducting these discussions in open session will have a detrimental effect on the School Committee’s negotiating position.

A roll call vote was taken as follows:

Roll Call

Dr. Louis M. Jurist, Chair

Mrs. Barb Fletcher, Vice Chair

Dr. Malcolm Astley

Ms. Beth Butler

Dr. Shawn Kinney

Yes

X

X

X

X

X

No

 

The Chair announced that they would reconvene in Regular Session for adjournment purposes only.

16. Adjournment:
Upon a motion duly made by Mrs. Fletcher, seconded by Dr. Kinney, the School Committee voted unanimously
(5-0) to adjourn the Regular Session at 11:00 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Gary A. Burton, Clerk
Wayland School Committee

Observers:
Lea Anderson, HSBC
Dianne Bladon, PTO Board Treasurer
Donna Bouchard, Wayland
Tom Sciacca, Energy Advisory Committee
Ellen Tohn, Energy Advisory Committee
Anne Harris, Energy Advisory Committee
Rebecca Chasen, Operations Review Committee
Ellen Grieco, Wayland
John Flaherty, Wayland

Corresponding Documentation:
1. Change Order #3 for Shawmut Design Company
2. Anti-Idling Policy (EEAB)
3. Wayland Summer Literacy Extension Program Review
4. Letter to NStar Electric and Gas Company re: Green Community Initiative
5. Letter to Pat Tutwiler re: Gossels Family Fund for Academic Excellence
6. Letter from DESE re: our Bullying and Intervention Plan
7. Handout “Let Kids Rule the School”

Website by SchoolMessenger Presence. © 2024 SchoolMessenger Corporation. All rights reserved.