Minutes - Wayland School Committee
Regular Session    December 21, 2009  

A Regular Session of the Wayland School Committee was held on Monday, December 21, 2009, at 7:00 P.M. in the School Committee Room of the Wayland Town Building.

Present were:
Dr. Louis Jurist, Chair
Mr. Jeff R. Dieffenbach, Vice Chair
Mr. Malcolm Astley (He left the meeting at 7:50 and returned at 8:50.)
Ms. Deb Cohen, Esq.
Mrs. Barb Fletcher

Also:
Dr. Gary A. Burton
Superintendent of Schools

Mr. Brad J. Crozier
Assistant Superintendent

Ms. Joy E. Buhler
Business Administrator

Dr. Marlene M. Dodyk
Director of Student Services

Chair Louis Jurist convened the regular meeting at 7:02 P.M. and asked for public comment.

1. Comments and Written Statements from the Public:
• A parent asked if the 2009 MCAS Report was posted and if the presentation would be available.
• A community member made several statements pertaining to the economic benefits to VHS. He also stated, if through the use of technology, it was the only way for the Town to save money.
• A parent encouraged the School Committee to keep the current positions in Fine Arts. She also suggested creating a fee for materials to offset consumable supplies.
• A former student spoke in support of keeping the current Art FTEs.

2. Discussion re: Capital Budget:
Mr. Dieffenbach and Ms. Leisha Simon, Technology Director, updated the School Committee on the last Technology Task Force meeting. Ms. Simon highlighted several important aspects of her memo dated 12/17/09. She answered questions from the School Committee members related to the technology capital requests. Mr. Dieffenbach and Ms. Simon will work together to answer some remaining questions and provide more detail in some areas for the next School Committee meeting.

3. Discussion re: Draft of New Policy (Request for Copies of Student Records):
The School Committee Subcommittee on Policy will review current policies and amend, if appropriate.

4. Discussion re: Waiver of Local Fees Pertaining to the WHS Project:
The School Committee reviewed a draft of a letter requesting a waiver of all local fees for the High School building project.

Upon a motion duly made by Mr. Dieffenbach, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, the School Committee voted unanimously (4-0) (Mr. Astley absent) to approve the draft and authorize the Chair to sign the letter.

5. Approval of Accounts Payable & Payroll Warrants:
Upon a motion duly made by Mrs. Fletcher, seconded by Mr. Dieffenbach, the School Committee voted unanimously (4-0) (Mr. Astley absent) to approve the following warrants:

• School Department Payroll warrant, dated 12/17/2009, in the amount of $1,080,485.87
• School Department Accounts Payable warrant, dated 12/16/2009, in the amount of $176,847.07
• School Department Payroll warrant, dated 12/21/09, in the amount of $2486.55 (final employee paycheck)

6. Acceptance of Gifts:
Upon a motion duly made by Mrs. Fletcher, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, the School Committee voted unanimously (4-0) (Mr. Astley absent) to accept a $3,000 donation to support and strengthen the “Just Like Me” program from the Katie Lynch Foundation with gratitude.

Upon a motion duly made by Mr. Dieffenbach, seconded by Mrs. Fletcher, the School Committee voted unanimously (4-0) (Mr. Astley absent) to accept the following donations to the Wayland High School Robotics Program.
• An anonymous donation of $2,500
• A donation of $2,500 from Mr. Frank Vanzler, c/o KV Associates
• A donation of $1,500 from Bluefin Robotics

7. Approval of Minutes:
Upon a motion duly made by Mr. Dieffenbach, seconded by Mrs. Fletcher, the School Committee voted unanimously (4-0) (Mr. Astley absent) to approve the following minutes, as written.
• Regular Session of December 7, 2009
• Executive Session of December 7, 2009

8. HSBC Update:
Dr. Burton updated the Committee on the KV Associates contract amendment. He also discussed the
HSBC’s meeting with the Conservation Committee.

Upon a motion duly made by Mrs. Fletcher, seconded by Mr. Dieffenbach, the School Committee voted unanimously (4-0) (Mr. Astley absent) to amend the KVA contract and authorize the Chair to sign the contract.

9. Middle School Principal Search Update:
Dr. Burton updated the School Committee on the progress of the Middle School Principal search. Mr. Dieffenbach will send out a reminder to the School Committee listserv about the interview committee and the date for the public forum.

10. Continued FY’11 Budget Discussion:
The School Committee reviewed questions that were submitted to Mrs. Fletcher related to the personnel budget. The Committee discussed feedback from parents and staff related to positions on the cut list. The Committee discussed possible offsets. Dr. Burton reported on the information he learned from his research on School Choice.

11. Comments from the Public:
There were no public comments.

12. Executive Session:
Upon a motion duly made by Mr. Dieffenbach, seconded by Mr. Astley, the Committee voted unanimously
(5-0) in a roll call vote to convene in Executive Session at 11:04 P.M. for the purpose of matters pertaining to Collective Bargaining, as set forth in Section 23B of G.L. Ch. 39.

The Chair announced that the Committee would reconvene in Open Session immediately following the adjournment of the Executive Session for adjournment purposed only.

13. Adjournment:
Upon a motion by Mrs. Fletcher, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, the Committee voted unanimously (5-0) to adjourn the Regular Session at 11:30 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Gary A. Burton, Clerk
Wayland School Committee

Observers:
John Ames, 18 Old Farm Road
Basil Halperin, WSPN
Claire Sehringer, 26 Rice Spring Lane
Tom Sciacca, WVN
Shawn Kinney, 6 Dairy Farm Lane
Melanie Wang, WSPN
Paul Grasso, FinCom