2000-06-19 School Committee Minutes

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READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE Reading, Massachusetts Regular Session June 19,2000 Chair Dahl called the regular meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. in the Superintendent's Conference Room. Present were School Committee members Cavicchi, Twomey, Keigley, D'Antona and Dahl. Mr. Griset was not present. Also present were Superintendent Harutunian and Associate Superintendent Richards. EXECUTIVE SESSION At 7:05 p.m. Mrs. Cavicchi made a motion to enter into executive session for the purpose of conducting strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with Custodians and Maintenance Workers, and to discuss pending litigation. To return to regular session at approximately 7:30 p.m. Mr. Keiglev seconded the motion. The vote was 5-0. Mrs. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Keigley, Mrs. D'Antona and Mr. Twomey. At 7:40 Chair Dahl call the regular session meeting back to order. Chair Dahl read a statement written by the Reading School Committee. Over the past two weeks you may have read or heard that a civil lawsuit has been filed by a group of Reading citizens against the Town of Reading for hiring Earl R. Flansburgh & Associates as the architectural firm to design the new elementary school at Dividence Road and the renovations to the Barrows Elementary School. Earlier this year, in a change from past practice, the Reading School Committee issued a Request for Proposal (RFP)for architectural services on the two elementary building projects. Before the fall of 1999, school committees traditionally would hire the architect initially used to conduct a feasibility study, after a successful peer review of his work by an independent architect. At that time, school committees believed that they were not required to issue a second RFP when hiring the architect initially used to conduct the feasibility study. This changed in the fall of 1999 when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a decision involving the Town of Norwell that requires a change in the procedures municipalities must use for hiring an architect. The Court decided that municipalities could not hire the architect used to conduct a feasibility study without issuing a second RFP. Because of this ruling, the School Administration worked very closely with Reading's Town Counsel and Massachusetts Attorney General's office to develop an RFP and to follow a process that would comply with the designer selection law as mandated by the Supreme Judicial Court's decision.