Upcoming meetings:
School Committee:
Tuesday, 11/29 at 7:30 pm in the WHS library.
Televised live on Comcast cable, channel 9.
On the agenda: Mathematics Curriculum Review -
Final Report.
LAST CHANCE ------- WHS
Project
Forum:
Wednesday, 11/30, 7:00 pm in the Sprague gym.
WHS Facilities Advisory
Commitee: Thursday, 12/1 at 7:30 p.m., DPW
2nd Floor Board Room.
School Committee:
Tuesday, 12/6 at 7:30 pm. On the agenda: 5-Year
Capital Plan; 8th to 9th
Grade Transition Goal; Programs of Study: Middle
School Proposed Changes and High School Proposed
Changes
School Committee:
Tuesday, 12/13 at 7:30 pm in the WHS library.
Televised live on Comcast cable, channel 9.
On the agenda: FY07 Operating Budget
Request.
Note: There will be a Public Hearing on the
Operating Budget Request on Tuesday 1/3 and the
School committee will vote on Wednesday 1/4.
|
|
| |
The budget process is underway with a FY07
Capital Budget approved by the School
Committee and presented to Advisory Committee for
review and comment. The details of this Capital
Budget and the implications are described below.
|
| |
| |
| |
| Capital Budget Update |
| |
Last week, School Committee voted to reduce the
$5.5M Capital Budget requested by the WPS
administration to a $1.2M budget + $2.1M modular
request, for a total Capital Request of $3.3 million.
The $1.2M budget is a 20% increase over the FY06
Capital Budget.
The initial $5.5M request included the
following:
- Equipment ($96,827)
- Furniture/Furnishing - includes furnishing for 4
new classrooms ($126,935)
- Fiske repairs (windows, ceiling, roof) ($1,183,832)
- Hardy boiler replacement ($300,000)
- WHS "aesthetic" repairs (carpet/tile, bathroom
partitions) and roof review ($470,002)
- WHS repairs (steam pipes, air quality, smoke
detectors) ($340,745)
- Maintenance, custodial ($101,600)
- General maintenance, priority 2 and 3 items
($152,300)
- Safety, incl. hazard material removal ($5,000)
- Technology replacement - following a 6-year
replacement cycle ($496,529)
- Instructional technology ($23,768)
- Seven modular classrooms ($2,156,775)
The modular classrooms were separated from the
budget request and will be presented as an
independent article at Town Meeting in the spring.
The following were cut from the budget:
- Fiske repairs (windows, ceiling, roof) ($1,183,832)
- Hardy boiler replacement ($300,000)
- WHS "aesthetic" repairs (carpet/tile, bathroom
partitions) and roof review ($470,002)
- In technology: iBook carts ($19,365)
- General maintenance, priority 2 and 3 items
($152,300)
The rationale: The WPS Administration is
finalizing a 5-year Capital Plan based on the SMMA
Facilities Report. Though the Plan is not final yet,
the maintenance items remaining in the budget are
consistent with the high priority items,
while items cut will be included in a subsequent
year. Further, some WHS repairs were cut with the
anticipation that they would be addressed in the
pending WHS project.
The move to separate the modulars to a
dedicated article to be brought before Town Meeting
is consistent with comparable requests in the past
and could enable flexibility in funding options,
including the potential to issue short-term debt. The
proposal to include modulars rather than redistricting
is discussed below.
Presentation to Advisory
Committee: School Committee presented this
budget request to Advisory Committee last Tuesday.
Ultimately, the role of Advisory in the budget process
is to examine the budget and make recommendations
to Town Meeting. Their recommendation is phrased
as recommending “favorable action” or “unfavorable
action.” These recommendations are published in a
written Advisory Committee Report that is
mailed to all residents and is considered carefully by
Town Meeting Members during their review of the
Town budget.
At this point, Advisory works closely with
School Committee, offering input and guidance,
taking multiple town priorities into account,
to help School Committee present a budget that will
likely be approved at Town Meeting. Usually, this
process results in budget reductions prior to Town
Meeting.
|
| |
|
| |
| Capital Budget Implications |
| |
Last year, School Committee and the
WPS Administration were criticized for what
was perceived as years of neglecting
maintenance of the school buildings. The issues
were raised as the needs of Middle School and High
Schools renovations were escalating. The
Administration agreed that many necessary
maintenance items have been deferred before ever
reaching Town Meeting in an effort to keep budgets
down and upon recommendation by Advisory.
Based on this, the Administration presented
a complete list of all items they considered high
priority maintenance items, a total of $3.4M + $2.1M
for the modulars. In considering the Capital Budget
Request, School Committee consulted with the
Advisory Committee sub-committee and reconsidered
this approach. The expectation is that the 5-year
Capital Plan will
provide clarity on the system priorities. The
Administration will present the proposed 5-Year
Capital Plan to School Committee on December
6th, with this year's Capital Request consistent with
year one.
Next, $2.1M of the Capital Budget Request
was for seven modular classrooms to accommodate
the immediate need for more classrooms at Fiske and
Schofield. Both schools are currently using the Art,
Music and/or Library spaces as classrooms to
accommodate enrollment. Based on the enrollment
projections, there will not be adequate space to
deliver the curriculum in these schools nor maintain
class sizes within guidelines.
|
| |
|
| |
| Redistricting: Not an Option? |
| |
Wellesley has long had a commitment to small,
neighborhood schools. The benefits are numerous,
but the downside is an inability to absorb enrollment
fluctuations in a given school. To address
increasing enrollments in the past, the WPS has
redistricted students, erected modular
classrooms and built a new school. Because the
system is near capacity at this point, the
Administration has determined that redistricting will
not be an option and is therefore proposing the
construction of seven modular classrooms.
At Advisory Committee meeting, the
Administration outlined the projected
"classroom inventory" in relation to projected
enrollment in FY07 to the peak in FY09 (spare
classroom capacity in FY07 ---> FY09):
- Bates (+1 --> -1)
- Hardy (+1 --> 0)
- Upham (0 --> 0)
- Hunnewell (0 --> 0)
- Sprague (-1 --> -1)
- Schofield (-4 --> -4)
- Fiske (-2 --> -3)
As enrollments rise, the spare classroom
inventory continues to decline to a low of (-9)
classrooms in FY08. The Administration concluded
that there is no
capacity in the system to accomodate shifts in
districts and therefore, modular construction is the
best solution. Advisory Committee will likely press
the Administration for more information on what a
redistricting plan could look like and the
increased transportation costs associated with it.
What is being done in the schools now?
In the current year, the schools with negative
classroom
inventory had two options: increase class sizes or
annex another space (such as the library, art or
music room). This year, Schofield (at -2) has kept
class sizes down by using its Library as a 5th grade
classroom and the Art room as a Kindergarten; Fiske
(at -1) is using the Art room as a classroom. While a
short-term means to address an enrollment bulge,
annexing these spaces is not a solution. When a
dedicated space is not available for Art, Music or the
Library, delivering the program as designed is
jeopardized.
Advisory Committee encouraged the School
Committee and the Administration to provide more
details of the impact of increased class size on
programming and the impact of annexing
Library/Art/Music space on curriculum delivery in
order to truly understand what is at stake.
|
| |
|
| |
| Priority Maintenance |
| |
The WPS Administration reported the pending 5-Year
Maintenance Plan will detail the criteria and plan for
facilities maintenance. They noted that the items
remaining in the FY07 Capital Plan are consistent
with year one of the draft plan.
The chief concern expressed by the
Administration was that the level of funding over the
past few years has been deficient and has
created an expanding balloon of needs yet unmet.
These fall into two categories: facilities construction
and facilities maintenance.
Facilities maintenance has been held fairly
constant over the past five years at under $1
million. The Administration however notes that the
deferral of many items which would have been less
expensive to address earlier are now critical and
carry a significant premium. For example, the
replacement of windows at Fiske has been included in
the Capital Budget
Request for six years and has been cut each time.
Replacement costs have escalated significantly since
that time.
It is anticipated that the 5-Year Maintenance Plan
will help define the needs going forward, include an
effort to level the expenses over a longer period, and
finally, minimize future expenses caused by deferral.
|
| |
|
| |
| The Last Word |
| |
The Advisory Committee and the Board of Selectman
will be trying to gauge the extent of support for
adequately funding the budget and the willingness of
the town to support an override in 2006 to
accomplish this. While still early in the process, your
involvement and expressed opinions on specific
issues will form this body of opinion. Now is the time
to be involved, attend meetings, become informed
and voice your opinion. Check out the upcoming
meetings and
agendas and stay informed!
|
| |
|
| |
|
Committee for Education in the 21st
Century 
