School Committee Tackled a Full Agenda

The School Committee welcomed its newest member at the Tuesday, April 12, meeting at . Kristen Russo was elected to fill the spot left by retiring member John Vanella. The committee also reorganized, electing Steve Nelson as Chairman and Mike DeSimone as Vice Chair, and reassigned members to various subcommittees.

The School Committee then quickly moved on to the business at hand tackling an agenda that included the at Burlington High School (BHS), an update on the construction project at (MSMS), a review of the supervisory staff budget, and a discussion of warrant articles for May Town Meeting.

Principal Patrick Larkin addressed the School Committee and invited all interested parties to attend the 1:1 implementation committee meetings which are held every Tuesday. The group recently attended a workshop held by Apple in Boston. Larkin mentioned surrounding communities such as Natick and Millis, which are piloting 1:1 programs next year.

“Do we want to wait and follow someone else’s path?” queried Larkin. “We are leading the way,” he concluded.

“I would not want to wait,” said member Christine Monaco. “I’m excited.”

Larkin went on to explain that Apple educators would be at BHS June 22-24, 2011 and that teachers would have three days of professional development devoted to the 1:1 implementation prior to the start of school in September. Larkin also referenced parent orientation sessions which will occur in August.

Larkin outlined two filtering solutions that the school is considering. One would allow parents to set up filters at home to protect their children from unacceptable use. Larkin also detailed a solution that allows teachers to control access within their own classrooms. The teacher can set up a link that prevents students from accessing anything outside of that link during class time.

Monaco asked about keyboards and Larkin explained that while the school will provide the iPads, parents will be responsible for accessory purchases such as keyboards, earpieces and cases.

The Committee then moved on to discuss new staffing requirements related to opening the Memorial School in September. The department plans to hire two new custodians, one physical additional education teacher, a speech therapist and a special education teacher.

Chairman Steve Nelson concluded “These are not luxuries. These are needs.”

Nelson also commented that there is no allocation in the budget for an Assistant Superintendent/Curriculum Coordinator and added that Superintendent Conti will be required to continue wearing those hats for another year.

Director of Finance and Operations, Craig Robinson, informed the committee that the MSMS Building Committee met earlier in the evening and voted to recommend that the School Committee enter into a $19.8 million contract with the Construction Management at Risk firm. The nearly $20 million contract is for construction only and does not include HVAC, design and architecture costs, furniture and fixtures, equipment or contingencies. The total amount approved by Town Meeting for the project is $32 million.

 Conti updated the committee on a plan to close most schools every Friday this summer. The employees would work longer days Monday through Thursday. One exception to this change is the Francis Wyman School which houses the town’s after school program. This program runs five days a week to accommodate working parents. Conti also noted that because MSMS construction will be in full swing this summer, the MSMS camp for entering sixth graders will be held at BHS this year.

Robinson then presented the committee with next year’s supervisory staff budget which is up 33 percent over the current year’s budget. The increase of $439,237  includes $200,000 for the 1:1 initiative, a new computer technician who will be shared with the Town, and a new student data management system. In addition, when the salaries of technicians at the School Department were compared with those in Town Administration, inequities were discovered. Those inequities will be resolved by giving raises to the school’s computer technicians.

Dr. Conti informed the committee that the School Department had been notified by Town Administrator Robert Mercier that the department’s target for capital improvement warrant articles this year is $700,000. In order to meet this goal, the department decided to hold off on a few of its capital projects including new flooring at Fox Hill elementary school, new flooring for the BHS kitchen, renovations for the a guidance and data center areas at BHS, and repainting the rubber gym at BHS. The new list of warrant articles to be presented at Town Meeting 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 - $108,300
5. Fox Hill bathroom renovations – $80,000
6. Air conditioning for Francis Wyman Library – $75,000

Also removed from the list of warrant articles was $500,000 for system wide pavement improvements. The committee discussed that the schools needs are included on a master list of town wide paving projects.

According to Town Administrator Robert Mercier, there are no plans for paving of town or school parking lots this year. The paving committee, which includes Conti and Robinson, is in the process of evaluating the fifty town wide parking lots and determining needs. The decision as to what lots will get paved, and when, will largely depend on funding. Because there is no warrant article planned for the May 2011 Town Meeting, it is unlikely that any parking lot paving will occur before spring of 2012.

The next school committee meeting is scheduled for April 26 at 7:30 p.m.