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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-04-13 ad Hoc School Building Committee MinutesReading School Buil ft Committee Minutes of RSBC Meeting Held on April 13, 2000, 7:30 p.m. (in the Superintendent's Conference Room, RMHS) Reference: Meeting Agenda (copy attached) Committee Members Attending: Russ Graham, Chair (RG) Alex McRae (AM) Joe Lupi (JL) Rich Radviile (RR) Tim Twomey (TT) Jeff Struble (JS) Paula Perry (PP) Dennis LaCroix (DL) Joe Finnegan (JF) Item (1) Thanks to committee: - RG expressed his personal thanks to the members of the committee for their work done on the elementary school projects, commending them for the long hours spent to bring the issue to a successful conclusion. Item (2) Election of Secretary of the School Building Committee: - RG announced the creation of the post of Secretary for the School Building Committee stating that Jeffrey Struble (JS) had volunteered for the position. RG called for a formal motion. - DL made the motion to elect JS Secretary. Seconded by RR. - No further discussion was offered. A vote was taken and the result was unanimous in the affirmative. Item (3) Review / Assumption of the Reading Memorial High School Study Process: RG began by mentioning the Drummey Rosane Anderson (DRA) feasibility study undertaken in 1995-1996 under the direction of the SBC (members were provided with full copies of this study at this meeting). The recommendations of that study were not taken before Town Meeting by the SBC at that time due to the large cost involved (later acknowledged as requiring a debt exclusion over-ride). The School Committee (SC) has since commissioned another feasibility study by Strekalovsky & Hoit (1998-present), full copies of which were also provided to members at this meeting. One purpose of this study was to ascertain how renovating the existing high school would compare with building a new high school. RG asked Tim Twomey (Tr), liaison to the SBC from the SC, to comment on this study. Reading School Building Committee Meeting Minutes from April 13, 2000 TT said that Strekalovsky & Hoit (S&H) were asked to address several issues from the DRA report. Among these were preparing several scenarios for -'fr renovation of the existing building as well as looking at building a new school. Title 9 issues and enrollment projection updates were also addressed in the S&H study. He went on to state that the SC thought it was time for an independent set of eyes to review it and that is why the SBC was asked to assume the process of evaluating it. - Superintendent Dr. Harry Harutunian was in attendance and added that while S&H had worked closely with the RMHS staff in preparing the various scenarios, the administration thought they had gone as far as they could go. They (S&H) had addressed space issues and changes to educational requirements that the DRA study did not address. RG commented that there seems to be a popular perception in the Town that there is a recommended option for the high school being considered, (at a cost of perhaps $42M). He said that no option of any kind has yet been officially put before any Town body. Further, the first time that will happen is when the SBC makes a recommendation and goes before Town Meeting at some point in the future. TT added that the SC has taken no formal position on any of the options prepared. - RG noted that there is likely to be no more professional services available for the SBC due to the fact that $90K has already been spent on the two studies already. This will make the SBC's task difficult. - - RG stated that to his knowledge, no one in the Town has suggested any other way to fund the high school project than with a (debt-exclusion) over- ride. To that point, RG asked Dr. Harutunian if the Finance Committee had taken a formal position on the need for an over-ride to fund the Killam renovations. Dr. Harutunian responded that FinCom has dealt with the Killam project only insofar as its inclusion in the (Ten Year) Capital Plan as presented to Town Meeting. It has in various years been scheduled to be paid either through debt service or through a debt exclusion over-ride. Recent discussions with Beth Klepeis (Town Treasurer) indicated her recommendation to include Killam with the High school in an over-ride in order to reduce the strain on the operating budget that results from funding through (regular) debt service. He also recounted discussions with the SBAB during the elementary school projects that indicated that Killam would receive like reimbursement if counted as part of the elementary system solution. - RG commented that in order to formally present the Killam project to Town Meeting, the SBC would need funds to secure professional services in order to properly articulate it. Dr. Harutunian offered to approach Earl Flansburgh Associates for an estimate of costs for such services, which the committee accepted. Reading School Building Committee 4 Meeting Minutes from April 13, 2000 - RG pointed out that from past experience with over-rides and other capital projects, it takes a long time to build a consensus first within Town government and then within the public at large. There is also a lack of definition of the Town's annual finances as evidenced by the last operating over-ride which should be clarified. He asked TT if there were any formal plans adopted for another over-ride attempt next year. TT responded that there were none. RG went on to comment on the further complications arise from the uncertainty of the reforms to the State assistance program which at present are in the form of various proposals from the Executive and Legislative branches of State government (the SBC members were copied earlier on the Executive proposals). JS questioned how much time would be prudent to leave between acceptance by Town Meeting of the SBC's recommendations and an over- ride vote by the general electorate. He cited the recent elementary school referenda as examples of the amount of time required to educate the public, wondering what say the SBC would have in setting the date for an over-ride attempt. TT answered that the SBC would be considered a key group in educating the public in an over-ride attempt and the Selectmen would likely ask for our viewpoint on the schedule. RR went on to say that at the present time, we can only talk about scheduling in broad terms due to the uncertainty of just what the SBC's recommendations are likely to be in November. TT added that it may happen that the SBC would receive from Town Meeting directives to further develop their recommendations for the purpose of presenting a clearer picture of them to the general public. AM pointed out that scheduling for an over-ride is perhaps two steps away from where we are now, explaining that the SBC's purpose now is to fully explore the problems of the high school and possible solutions to them. He hoped that our deliberations would be followed as we went along by the public at large with all information produced by the SBC made available to it, suggesting that the Town's internet web-site be employed as a posting station. - RG asked if the general consensus of the committee was that attempting to push the high school project to a June 2001 SBA submittal was not feasible. There were no dissenting opinions to this statement. - PP suggested that the SBC members could benefit from a. tour of the high school to better acquaint themselves with it. RG agreed and also added that the SBC should meet in the newly-renovated Coolidge Middle School (later discussions confirmed that these actions would be arranged with the Administration). JS asked how the upcoming changes to the SBA program were being tracked. Dr. Harutunian answered that his office was in weekly communication with the Department of Education concerning the progress of the proposals currently before the Legislature. He noted that what was likely to come out of the Legislature would be a revision to the financing structure of Reading School Building Committee Meeting Minutes from April 13, 2000 the SBA. This might include such things as reduction of the individual towns' reimbursement rates to a base value that could be increased through satisfaction of project incentives such as including community use of the schools and energy-saving features in the projects' designs. Also, more attention would be paid to projects with "menu"-driven renovations, such as new roofs, boilers, etc. JS asked if there was a timetable set for accomplishing these revisions at the State level. Dr. Harutunian answered that discussions with State representatives indicated that these revisions would follow deliberations for the State budget, with some idea of the direction that might be followed coming sometime in May. He noted that the Legislature might also be targeting revisions to Special Education requirements. Item (6) Request for Formal Group of RMHS Personnel to Meet with SBC on High School Needs: - RG recommended to Frank Orlando (RMHS principal, also in attendance) that a formal group of high school personnel be formed to enter into an on- going dialogue with the SBC regarding the needs of the school. Mr. Orlando (and Dr. Harutunian) said such a group could be formed. RG thought to remind Dr. Harutunian that the SBC's membership make-up required a teacher (to replace Margaret Cowell, who had resigned) and that a high school teacher may be advantageous to have at this point in time. Dr. Harutunian said he would ask for volunteers. In addition to an advisory group of RMHS personnel, RG recounted that during the Parker Middle School project, community arts groups were supportive of keeping and upgrading the auditorium for community use. He suggested that such groups may also be interested in the high school for the same reason and that perhaps these groups should be given access to the SBC to discuss it. TT reiterated that inclusion of community usage as part of the over-all renovation might gain additional incentive benefits from the SBA in terms of a reimbursement package. Dr. Harutunian expanded a bit on this subject, noting that community use spaces (such as theaters) would not count as educational space in the total tally for the high school's square footage and student capacities. RG suggested that community arts groups might also contribute financially to the project if (public) fiscal constraints were seen to be tight. Further, their participation could establish a support group that could help encourage the passage of the SEC's recommendations to the Town. Dr. Harutunian mentioned that the such focus groups could help to document the community's need for access spaces at the high school which could then be submitted to the State in support of the over-all renovation plan. Item (7) Other Business Reading School Building Committee Meeting Minutes from April 13, 2000 RG asked the newly-formed sub-committee for a probable timetable for their work. JL suggested that their work would take approximately one month, which RR agreed with. Dr. Harutunian suggested that it would instructive for the SBC to meet at the Coolidge Middle School to tour that facility and also to meet with Gene Raymond of S&H to discuss their report. RG asked for the committee's reaction. DL, PP and AM voiced their preference to tour the high school first before entering into'discussions with S&H and the high school personnel, which appeared to be the general consensus. Dr. Harutunian said he would arrange possible dates for a high school tour and (some weeks later), for a meeting at Coolidge with S&H. He would coordinate these dates with the chair. - RG called for any other business. None appearing, RR made a motion to adjourn, which was seconded by DL. A vote was taken, which was unanimous in the affirmative. (Time: 8:40 p.m.) Minutes prepared and submitted by: 6 kt6 Jeffrey W. Struble, Secretary Reading School Building Committee READING SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE AGENDA APRIL 13, 2000 1) THANKS TO COMMITTEE FOR EFFORT l 2)ELECTION OF SECRETARY SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE 3) REVIEW OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDY PROCESS TO DATE ASSUMPTION OF PROCESS BY THE SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE 4) APPOINTMENT OF SUB-COMMITTEE TO PROFESSIONALLY REVIEW STREVALOSKY & HOIT REPORT 5) TIMETABLE PROCESS TO REVIEW NEEDS AND SOLUTION TO HIGH SCHOOL SPACE INCLUDING NEED OF OVERRIDE AND ATTENTION TO KILLAM SCHOOL. 6) REQUEST FOR FORMAL GROUP OF HIGH SCHOOL PERSONNEL TO ENGAGE IN DIALOGUE WITH SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE ON HIGH SCHOOL NEEDS. 7) OTHER BUSINESS