Schools
Fees for Galvin Middle School's Extracurricular Clubs Will Change
The school committee voted at its most recent meeting to place Galvin Middle School clubs under the purview of the Wakefield Academy and to adjust the fee schedule for clubs.
Some fees for students to participate in certain clubs and extracurricular activities at Galvin Middle School may change, as these clubs will be moving away from management by GMS to be run through the Wakefield Academy.
At its Sept. 28th meeting, the School Committee voted to move most extracurricular clubs to Wakefield Academy, thereby changing the fee schedule for extracurricular clubs, and to charge a $50 participant fee for the drama club and the science olympiad.
The change came about because individual schools’ administrative teams had been responsible for the facilitation of extracurriculars and a consistent fee schedule among the district did not exist.
The new fee schedule would charge $25 per 5-hour course, $40 per 10-hour course, $55 per 15-hour course, and $70 per 20-hour course. The fee schedule also proposes standard rates for instructors based on the lengths of the course they run.
Superintendent Joan Landers and Business Manager Joe Connelly previously said that fiscal management would be simplified if placed within the control of a single entity, like Wakefield Academy.
More about the vote
At issue during the most recent school committee meeting was whether or not the move would indicate the school department’s failure to run clubs and whether or not Wakefield Academy would be successful.
School Committee Vice-Chairman Tom Markham said, “It seems a little draconian that we do not have the capacity to change what we want to want to change in the school district, that we have to move these programs to another entity.”
Other members said that a move would be natural and would not be meant to intend lack of confidence in the schools.
“I think it’s a natural progression,” School Committee Member Anne Danehy said. “I think it makes sense, I don’t think it’s really anything against the middle school or how they do it, and I think it’s more of an expansion of Wakefield Academy.”
Other members argued that school administrator’s should be more focused on strictly educational activities and less on extracurriculars.
“Our administrators are more and more strapped for time and, to be focused on all of these after school things when they really should be more focused on our day-to-day educational activities,” School Committee Member Chris Callanan said, “it’s far more appropriate to let the academy take it because that’s what they do best.”
The school committee voted 5-1 to pass the motion. Markham was the only member to vote against and School Committee Member Kevin Piskaldo abstained due to his personal involvement with Wakefield Academy.
