School Committee Discusses Redistricting, Capital Improvements and 2011-2012 Budget

The School Committee bid a poignant farewell to John Vanella during the meeting on Tuesday, March 22.  Vanella is stepping down after thirty years on the committee.  Member Steve Nelson called Vanella “a great friend and mentor” and member Mike DeSimone added “with you, it always came down to what’s best for the children.” After several presentations including a poster from Burlington schoolchildren and a proclamation from the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Vanella made his emotional exit.

“It was an honor and a privilege. Thank you.” said Vanella.

The committee heard a brief report on the progress of the two school construction projects. Memorial School is said to be one month ahead of schedule and the department expects to break ground on the addition in two weeks.

The Committee then discussed the elementary school redistricting plan which was presented with one revision. The change effects residents of Prouty Road, Chester Road and Harvard Road and was made to appease the concerns of parents in that neighborhood. The new plan calls for phasing the neighborhood to the school district over the next few years. Students from that neighborhood who are currently enrolled at will complete their elementary school experience at Pine Glen, while children entering kindergarten will begin at Fox Hill. Superintendent Dr. Eric Conti assured the committee that this revised plan will have little effect on class sizes at either school. The Committee voted unanimously to accept the redistricting plan. 

The next step in the redistricting process is for the School Department to mail letters to all elementary school parents informing them of their child’s school assignment. The letters will include instructions as to how to apply for a waiver. Once the waivers are received, the School Department can begin the task of reassigning teachers to accommodate the higher numbers of students at Memorial School.

Craig Robinson, Director of Finance and Operations, then presented the Committee with the department’s preliminary list of capital warrant articles for May Town Meeting. Robinson cautioned that this list is very preliminary due to the fact that the Department has not yet received a spending guideline from the Ways and Means Committee. The wish list in order of priority is:

1. Elementary school technology update - $250,000
2. BHS practice field project- $106,000
3. BHS bathroom renovation - $80,000
4. Pine Glen front entrance canopy repair and replacement - Amount to be determined
5. Fox Hill bathroom renovations – $80,000
6. BHS kitchen floor replacement - Amount to be determined
7. Air conditioning for Francis Wyman Library – $75,000
8. Floor replacement at Fox Hill – pods 2,3 and 4 - Amount to be determined
9. BHS Rubber gym painting - $40,000
10. BHS administrative area renovation work – $85,000
11. System wide pavement $500,000

The Committee asked few questions and voted unanimously to move all eleven items forward.

Member Murphy then questioned Conti about the status of the field project behind the new Memorial School. According to Conti, there are no final plans for the field at this time. The Memorial School Building Committee will present options at their next meeting which is scheduled for Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 7 pm. The building committee will then make a recommendation to the School Committee.  Options may include regular grass, sod or turf. If the School Committee decides to pursue an option other than the seeded field that was included in the original plan, the Department will to put forward a non-monetary warrant article in order to get input from Town Meeting in May 2011.

The School Committee then reviewed the budgets for Special Education and Elementary Education. The budgets were presented by Robinson who was joined by Dr. Cath Estep for Special Education and all four elementary school principals for the elementary school budget.

The budget for Special Education for the 2011-2012 school year is $2.96 million. The elementary school budget is $10.6 million. Conti noted that while the elementary budget came in at just .66% over last year, that figure does not include the costs of bringing the new Memorial School online. Conti predicted that the new school will likely require an additional special education teacher, an additional physical education teacher and possibly a new speech pathologist.

Lastly, the school committee discussed the need for an acceptable use policy for the school’s wireless network.  There is a strong likelihood of incidental users and visitors accessing the network and thus a policy must be developed to govern that use. Conti provided the committee with some standard language as a starting point for developing the new policy.

At the next School Committee meeting, residents can expect to hear discussions on this policy as well as the budget for bringing the Memorial School online and the budget for the . The meeting is scheduled for April 12, 2011.