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”