HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - CBC - 01/23/2017 Capital Budget Committee
January 23, 2017
Minutes
Approved 2-6-2017 4-0
CBC Members Present: Wakeman, Franklin, Host, Redmann, Donohue, Dormitzer
Chair Wakeman opened the meeting at 1900 with the above quorum present.
School Department, Louise Dumas and members of the Administrative Staff and the
School Committee
Dumas updated the committee on the following items"
Playgrounds: All playgrounds need to be assessed and modified. Anticipate $50,000
but hope to obtain funding elsewhere.
Old Pasture Access and Lobby Guard were approved and will be addressed.
Teacher Desks at the Middle High School are in various stages of wear and many need
to be replaced. There was a discussion as to whether they would be replaced all at
once or in increments. There were pros and cons to both approaches with managing
replacement cycles being of greatest concern.
Digital Learning: The Schools shared the results of a recent survey of students aimed at
determining how many devices will be brought in by students and how many devices
the school will need to supply. Results of the current survey showed 24% of middle
school students needing access to a school provided device and 12% of at the high
school. These percentages have come down considerably from the last survey taken in
November when those percentages were 34% and 26%, respectively. CBC Members
suggested a campaign to further education the community on the program and how
students will access academic material both in the school and at home. The CBC was
not concerned with the number of devices but did question the mechanism for
determining which students will have access to school owned devices. School
Department members informed the committee that the Commonwealth does not
allow public schools to demand users bring in their own device.
Bus Lease: The School informed the Committee that they would like to extend the
current bus lease 6 months to align its termination with end of school year instead of
mid-year. An amendment prepared in conjunction with CBC members will be
presented to the leasing company for execution. As to a full-service lease or finance
lease will be pursued at that time, the CBC suggested that the School Committee
begin its evaluation process shortly.
MOTION TO ENTER EXECUTIVE SESSION for the discussion of school security was made
and each individual CBC member voted to support that motion.
General Discussion
No votes were taken.
Next meeting was scheduled for January 30, 2017, There being no further business we
voted to adjourn at 2150.
Respectfully submitted
Susan Franklin