2001-06-06 School Committee Minutes

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4 COMMUNPIY MEETING 2 June fi 2001 Mr. 'Fucker stated that he has been watching the School Committee meetings and reading the papers and he feels there are a lot of silent voters that want the School Building Committee to bring forward alternatives to the complete renovation of the high school. He stated that he did not believe that a $50 million high school project would ever pass. He stated that by presenting only one option the School Building Committee was essentially saying I'm smart and you are stupid. He stated that the attitude needs to change. Mr. Tucker asked why the project could not be done in stages and questioned the SBA regulations and requirements for reimbursement for renovations. Dr. Harutunian advised that he had written to the SBA to ask if the project would be reimbursable if done in stages and was waiting for a response from the SBA. He then outlined the regulations of the SBA and talked about the formula changes. Mr. Dahl stated that he agreed with Mr. Graham in bringing forward only one solution to the high school project but that after listening to Mr. Tucker he could understand that it may be advantageous to bring more of the options that were reviewed by the School Building Committee to town meeting so that they could see that options had been explored. Monette Verrier asked about the status of the new school. She stated that the override is not an issue of parents of children versus seniors. She stated that there is another segment of the community, working professionals without children in the public schools. She stated that the Committee must reach out to that segment of the community also. Ms. Venter asked how many teachers would need to be hired to staff the new school. Mr. Dahl advised that many of the staff for the new school would come from existing staff. He stated that teachers would be moved from other elementary schools to free up art, music and computer space. Dr. Hamtunian advised that the ten-taxpayer lawsuit is over but the appeal to the order of conditions is still pending. He estimated six to twelve months before the appeal is resolved and then 18-22 months after ground is broken before the school is opened. Mr. Tucker asked about the enrollment controversy and which numbers are correct numbers. He also asked why RMHS could not house grades 8-12 rather than 9-12 in order to free up space at the lower grade levels.