Moving from Common Core Back to MCAS on Special Town Meeting Warrant

Special Town Meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. at Tewksbury Memorial High School.

Among the 17 articles on the Special Town Meeting Warrant is one asking if Town Meeting members to vote to discontinue the use of the Common Core State Standards and return students to using the previous Massachusetts academic standards and associated testing known as MCAS.

Below is a brief summary of each of the 17 articles on the Special Town Meeting warrant:

Article 1: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $843,507 to fund the following Fiscal Year (FY2015) Budgets; or take any action relative thereto.

• The additional funds are available since State and Local revenue will be higher than projected. Funds for the School Budget will be used for: Legal, Building Maintenance, Utilities, Technology and Special Education. Also Funds are needed for School Exempt Debt Interest for the final borrowing for the High School Construction. The Town line-items fund budgets that have projected to have deficits and finally the Tuition Cost for Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School District which is no longer part of State Assessments and need to be appropriated within the Budget

Article 2: To see if the town will vote to transfer from the certified General Fund Free Cash the sum of $59,400 for the following purposes; or take any action relative thereto.

• This article raises and appropriates funds to FY15 Budgets. The additional funds are available since State and Local revenue will be higher than projected. Funds for the School Budget will be used for: Legal, Building Maintenance, Utilities, Technology and Special Education. Also Funds are needed for School Exempt Debt Interest for the final borrowing for the High School Construction. The town line-items fund budgets that have projected to have deficits and finally the Tuition Cost for Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School District which is no longer part of State Assessments and need to be appropriated within the Budget.

Article 3: To see if the town will vote to transfer from the certified General Fund Free Cash the sum of $110,420 for the following purposes; or take any action relative thereto.

• If approved, funds will purchase 29 new Tasers, an unmarked vehicle for the Detective Division, and a new base radio for the Detective Division.

Article 4: To see if the town will vote to transfer from the certified General Fund Free Cash the sum of $397,590 for the following purposes; or take any action relative thereto.

• If approved, the town’s DPW will purchase equipment for road maintenance, brush cutting and sanding/plowing operations. The new loader supplements a 2000 loader in the Highway Department; one Truck will have the dump body replaced and two Dump Trucks will be fitted with permanent sanders; a new Holder Tractor will be used to cut roadside brush and vegetation encroaching park facilities and municipal properties and plow sidewalks.

Article 5: To see if the town will vote to transfer from the certified General Fund Free Cash the sum of $58,407 for the following purposes; or take any action relative thereto.

• If approved, the funds will purchase a three year caterpillar engine warranty on the two recently purchased Pierce Engines, purchase two power stretchers and new laptops with EMS Software for the Ambulances, and new modems for all Fire apparatus.

Article 6: To see if the town will vote to transfer from the certified General Fund Free Cash the sum of $485,000 for School Department Capital Expenditures; or take any action relative thereto.

• If approved, the funds will be used for one-time expenditures: Funding will pave the parking lot at Strong Field located at the High School; finish painting and repairing areas of the Wynn Middle School and Ryan School; replace a sidewalk at the Wynn Middle School and purchase new cafeteria tables for all the Elementary schools.

Article 7: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum $41,821.67 to Fiscal Year 2014 budgets in order to pay for the following outstanding bills from the previous year; or take any action relative thereto.

• According to Massachusetts General Laws, bills that are late must be approved by Town Meeting before payment. This article authorizes the charges to be paid.

Article 8: To see if the town will vote to re-allocate $16,854.67 or any amount remaining from the original appropriation of $65,000.00 as approved at the Oct. 1, 2013 Special Town Meeting for Article 5 concerning the 15 foot Wide Gang Lawn Mower. This re-allocation of funds shall be for the purpose of purchasing attachments for a Parks tractor; or take any action relative thereto.

• At Special Town Meeting in October 2013, funds were approved to purchase a new lawn mower for the Parks and Recreation Department. The $65,000 appropriation has a balance of $16,854.67 and this article is asking the town for approval to use those remaining funds to purchase attachments to the Parks tractor to maintain the town’s recreation fields.

Article 9: To see if the town will vote to transfer $11,397.64 from the Fire Department Protective Gear Stabilization Fund for the purpose of purchasing protective gear for new Firefighters; or take any action relative thereto.

• This article utilizes funds from an account specifically set up to pay for protective gear for the Fire Department. $11,397.64 is being transferred from the fund to purchase protective gear for new Firefighters.

Article 10: To see if the town will vote to transfer from the certified General Fund Free Cash the sum of $40,000 for a Town Center Master Plan; or take any action relative thereto.

• If approved, funds will be used to hire a consultant to work with the Town Center Master Plan Committee to undertake and develop a study and plan for the Town’s Center.

Article 11: To see if the town will vote to transfer the sum of $1,000,000 from certified Free Cash to the town’s Health Insurance Claims Trust Fund; or take any action relative thereto.

• Since Free Cash has been certified as of July 1, 2014, and a major portion of the amount was from town and school Health Insurance, this article seeks approval to transfer that amount into the Health Insurance Claims Trust Fund for future medical costs and that the Town would responsible to pay as a self-insured health provider.

Article 12: To see if the town will vote to transfer from the certified General Fund Free Cash the sum of $350,000 to the Other Post Employment Benefit (OPEB) Account; or take any action relative thereto.

• If approved, the funds will be transferred from Free Cash certified as of July 1, 2014 into the Other Post Employment Benefit Account to fund the Town’s outstanding unfunded liability of $166 million for Retiree Health Insurance.

Article 13: To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate $230,000 and in addition transfer the sum of $1,538,579 from certified Free Cash to the Town Stabilization Fund; or take any action relative thereto.

• New local revenues are higher than originally projected and there is Free Cash certified as of July 1, 2014. This article seeks approval to be set aside these funds in the Stabilization Fund and used for future emergencies or one time purchases or projects.

Article 14: To see if the town will vote to amend the Tewksbury Zoning Bylaw with the following underlined insertions as follows:

• a) Section 2300 (MAP), paragraph 3 insert 25017C0279E, between panel numbers 25017C0278E, 25017C0281E.
• b) Section 8120 (Floodplain District Boundaries): insert 25017C0279E, between panel numbers 25017C0278E, 25017C0281E.

In order to continue participation in the Flood Plain Insurance Program, the above referenced floodplain map needs to be incorporated into the Town’s Floodplain Overlay District. These maps are updating previously existing maps already on file.

Article 15: To see if the town of Tewksbury will vote to amend the Tewksbury Zoning Bylaw and the Zoning Map by adding the land area described below to the zoning map comprising a portion of Community Village Overlay District (CVOD), Section 8680, or do anything in relation thereto.

• Map 76 Lot 23 – 737 Livingston Street, Tewksbury, MA
• Map 76 Lot 24 – 731 Livingston Street, Tewksbury, MA
• Map 76 Lot 25 – 721 Livingston Street, Tewksbury, MA
• Map 76 Lot 26 – 715 Livingston Street, Tewksbury, MA

The adoption of the article will include the land above in a new zoning overlay district along Livingston Street. This Overlay District recognizes the existing nature of the land described above and allows for this as well as other uses, while underlying zoning rights remain intact.

Article 16: To see if the town will vote, pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 82, Sections 21-24, as amended, and any other applicable statutes, to accept the laying out as a town way by order of the Board of Selectmen:

• A certain parcel of land situated in Tewksbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts shown as Wells Drive and Drainage Easements on a plan entitled, “Street Acceptance Plan, Wells Drive, Wells Estates, Tewksbury, MA dated August 13, 2014, prepared by Cuoco & Cormier Engineering Associates, Inc., 170 Main St., Unit 212, Tewksbury, MA 01876,” a copy of which plan has been filed with the office of the Town Clerk and the Department of Community Development; and such plan is referred to for more particular description and to authorize the Board of Selectmen to take by eminent domain, an easement, or in fee; or take any other action relative thereto.

The purpose of this article is to accept Wells drive as a public way (Town Street).

Article 17: To see if the town will vote to discontinue the use of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the associated testing known as PARCC within the Tewksbury school district, and return to using the previous Massachusetts academic standards and associated testing known as MCAS.

• This article is to authorize the town to discontinue the use of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the associated testing known as PARCC within the Tewksbury school district, and return to using the previous Massachusetts academic standards and associated testing known as MCAS, which has made Massachusetts’ education number one in the nation and competitive with the top ranking countries on international standardized tests.

View the full warrant with descriptions of all the articles going before Special Town Meeting on Oct. 7 >>>