Facilities Committee Meeting Minutes
Meeting Date: June 3, 2008
The Facilities Committee Meeting began at 7:10 p.m.
The following members were present at the meeting:
Kathy Rohan Co-Chairperson/Board Representative
Jim Shine Co-Chairperson
Terry MacDonald Board Representative
Kathy Hatczel Principal – CJH
Bill Smith Director of Buildings & Grounds
Pat Brosnan Architect
Helen Cuprisin NW Quadrant
Steve Grazevich NW Quadrant
Ken Langevin SW Quadrant
Daniel Mangin NW Quadrant
Renee Welch SE Quadrant
Charles Haun, NE Quadrant
Absent: Jim Gould, Keith O’Higgins, Teri Schulte, Mary Zofkie, Robert Simpson, Jill McGrath, Mike McGrath
The Facilities Committee met on June 3, 2008 to reach a consensus on a recommendation for the June 11, 2008 School Board Meeting.
Background: There is a need to address the lack of classroom space for Specials, ELL, At-Risk and IEP students, use of temporary classrooms, poor traffic flow at dismissal, aging mechanical/electrical/plumbing systems, an uneven distribution of students, and temperature control/air quality. The facilities committee met approximately eight times over the past school year to review past studies and survey results as well as data keep on classroom temperatures, develop new options, tour the buildings, review financing options, and architect reports. The committee recommended town hall meetings to be presented at each school and the community center to inform the public about the current state, options and informally poll tax payers about their preferences. Approximately 200 people in total attended those meetings.
Recommendation: The group reached the following consensus on a recommendation.
·
Moving
six grade students to Central Junior High would provide the most benefit to the
community for the cost. It would reap
educational benefit and alleviate space constraints at the quadrant schools
eliminating the need to use temporaries as primary classrooms.
·
There
is a need to upgrade mechanical and plumbing systems almost district wide. Most of our piping and boilers have reached,
or are reaching their useful life. The
board should anticipate upgrading these systems in the next 2 to 7 years
depending on the location.
·
The
committee recognized the need for air conditioned schools. Air is a major factor in human comfort and is
a vital role in student and teacher performance. Providing adequate air conditioned space is a
program need for summer school and should be addressed by the summer of 2009.
·
The
District should start to seek a referendum from the voters to fund the above
recommendations however due to the current economic state; it is not
recommended that we do this in November 2008.
·
The
group would like to continue as a standing committee. The next meeting would be in September 2008
to review enrollment (the effect of offering before/after school care may cause
this to increase), the economic state and review any actions that could be
taken until such time a referendum is placed on the ballot.
·
The
committee recommends that we launch an informational campaign whereby the
importance and status of this project is kept in the public eye through Perspective, as well as other avenues.
·
It
is also recommended that we survey parents at registration to reassess their
priorities and specifically ask them if they would vote “yes” for a referendum
given the proposed costs. This would provide
us with a more formal poll of parent’s support.
·
The
members were asked to notify us if they were not willing to continue to serve
on the committee so that a replacement could be sought so that we maintain an
appropriate cross section of the population.
The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
_________________________________
Board Representative
_________________________________
Superintendent