Minutes - Wayland School Committee
Regular Session April 25, 2011
A Regular Session of the Wayland School
Committee was held on Monday, April 25, 2011 at 7:00 P.M. in the School
Committee Room of the Wayland Town Building.
Present were:
Mrs. Barb Fletcher, Acting Chair
Dr. Malcolm Astley
Ms. Beth Butler
Mrs. Ellen Grieco
Dr. Shawn Kinney (by phone)
Also:
Dr. Gary A. Burton
Superintendent of Schools
Mr. Brad J. Crozier
Assistant Superintendent
Mr. Geoffrey S. MacDonald
Business Administrator
Vice Chair Barb Fletcher convened the regular meeting at 7:06 P.M. and reviewed the agenda.
1. Comments and Written Statements from the Public:
Sheila Carel read a letter that she provided to the School
Committee regarding the proposed Middle School soccer fields and
concerns expressed by the abutters. The letter asked for the
reconsideration of the placement of new soccer fields at the Middle
School.
Edwin Miller expressed concerns about parking for the proposed fields.
Tom Sciacca commented on the process by which
the School Committee approves proposals like the Middle School soccer
fields. He also noted that adequate time is necessary.
2. Discussion re: School Bus Fees:
Geoff MacDonald presented several recommendations (also in an
email dated 4/11/2011) for FY12 bus fees and the proposed bid spec
changes for transportation. He answered questions posed by committee
members. The School Committee will also look at the transportation
fees for FY13 at a future meeting.
The School Committee supported Geoff’s recommendations by consensus.
3. Continued Discussion re: Alumni Association:
Dr. Astley provided the School Committee with an update on actions
to date and a recommendation to establish a WHS Alumni/nae
Association. Dr. Astley answered questions posed by committee members.
The Committee would like Dr. Astley to continue with the organizing
and establish a working group to create a formal plan for next steps.
Dr. Kinney will assist work with the subcommittee.
4. Review of Town Election and Town Meeting Matters:
The School Committee reviewed committee assignments, articles from
Annual Town Meeting, date for reorganizing the School Committee,
reviewing Executive Session minutes from the past, and logistics for the
School Committee Retreat.
5. Superintendent’s Report:
(a) Continued Discussion re: Full Day Kindergarten:
Dr. Burton reviewed a memo he authored to the School Committee and
dated April 22, 2011 regarding his recommendation for FDK in
September 2011. Brad Crozier, Brian Jones, and Dr. Burton answered
questions posed by the School Committee members.
• Diane Liu asked about the future of FDK in the district
• Laura Swank asked what will happen to FDK when the pilot is finished
• Sheila Carel asked if the state plans to mandate FDK
• Cecily Kiefer asked if the district had done research as a follow up
from the FDK regarding districts who had fees or whether they moved to a
town-funded program.
Upon a motion duly made by Dr. Astley,
seconded by Ms. Butler, the School Committee voted (4-0) (Dr. Kinney
abstained, as he was attending the meeting by phone) to approve 6
sections of FDK and 3 sections of Wayland traditional.
6. Approval of Accounts Payable and Payroll Warrants:
Upon a motion duly made by Ms. Butler, seconded by Dr. Astley,
the School Committee voted (3-0) (Dr. Kinney abstained, as he was
attending the meeting by phone and Mrs. Grieco also abstained) to
approve payment of the following:
• Wayland Public Schools Payroll warrant, dated 4/21/2011, in the amount of $1,125,557.27
• Wayland Public Schools Accounts Payable warrant, dated 4/25/2011, in the amount of $175,946.73
• Wayland Public Schools Payroll warrant, dated 4/25/2011, in the amount of $4,831,108.82 (High School Project)
7. Acceptance of Gifts:
Upon a motion duly made by Mrs. Grieco, seconded by Dr. Astley,
the School voted (4-0) (Dr. Kinney abstained) to accept the following
gift with gratitude to the Wayland Public Schools:
• A donation in the amount of $250.00 from Mr. Ted Henning of Wayland to the Middle School Sandwich Program
8. Approval of Minutes:
Upon a motion duly made by Ms. Butler, seconded by Dr. Astley,
the School Committee voted (3-0) (Dr. Kinney abstained as well as Mrs.
Grieco) to approve the following minutes:
• Executive Session of March 21, 2011 (as written)
• Regular Session of April 4, 2011 (as amended)
• Special Session of April 10, 2011 (as written)
• Special Session of April 11, 2011 (as amended)
At 9:15 the Committee lost contact with Dr. Kinney via the telephone.
9. Superintendent’s Report continued:
(a) Custodial Grievance:
The School Committee will hear the custodial grievance on May 9, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. in Executive Session.
(b) Overnight Trip Request:
Upon a motion duly made by Ms. Butler, seconded by Mrs. Grieco,
the School Committee voted (4-0) to approve the upcoming
Wayland/Weston crew team trips: 1) Saratoga, NY, April 30 – May 1; Oak
Ridge, TN, June 10-12, subject to Mr. Pat Tutwiler’s approval.
(c) Letter from Paul Stein:
The School Committee will respond to Dr. Stein’s letter and the Committee will discuss the details at a future meeting.
10. Follow-up and Future Agenda Items:
The School Committee reviewed the follow-up items and will create a
rough draft for the next four meetings. Members gave input for future
agenda items.
The School Committee will also send out a communication to inform the school community regarding transportation fees.
11. Comments from the Public:
• Betsy Brigham commented on the bus fees and capacity of each bus.
She asked if counts are tallied for ridership. She also expressed
concern for the precedent that this may be setting for other groups,
such as softball.
• Tom Sciacca commented on cost per pupil for Wayland Public Schools compared to Holliston Public Schools.
12. Executive Session:
Upon a motion duly made by Ms. Butler, seconded by Dr. Astley, the
School Committee voted unanimously (4-0) to convene in Executive
Session at 9:57 P.M. to discuss matters pertaining to WESA, Custodial,
Food Service, and non-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
Mrs. Barb Fletcher, Vice Chair
Dr. Malcolm Astley
Ms. Beth Butler
Mrs. Ellen Grieco
|
Yes
X
X
X
X
|
No
|
The Vice Chair announced that they would reconvene in Regular Session following the adjournment of the Executive Session.
13. Ratification of WESA MOA:
Upon a motion duly made by Ms. Butler, seconded by Dr. Astley, the
School Committee voted (3-0) (Mrs. Grieco abstained) to ratify the
WESA MOA.
14. Adjournment:
Upon a motion duly made by Ms. Butler, seconded by Mrs. Grieco, the School Committee voted unanimously
(4-0) to adjourn the Regular Session at 10:30 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Gary A. Burton, Clerk
Wayland School Committee
Corresponding Documentation:
1. Committee Member Information and Organization Assignments
2. Superintendent’s Recommendation for September 2011 Kindergarten Classes
3. Recommendation of Research Article, “Full Day Kindergarten Effectiveness: Preserve the Investment”
4. Wayland-Weston Crew Trip Request
5. Handout from Dr. Astley – “Feasibility Work re: Wayland Alumni/nae Association”