School Committee Votes 4-1 to Not Return Overage to Town

Getting public records from School Committee "...is like pulling teeth." ~ Ed Harrow

by Muriel Kramer

 June 22, 2013 — The School Committee re-organized at its meeting this week, electing Nancy Alvarez Burdick to continue as Chairwoman and Jon Graziano to serve as Vice-Chairman.  Newly elected SC member Ellen Scordino nominated Scott Aghababian and Jean Bertschmann nominated Nancy Alvarez-Burdick; in discussion Aghababian highlighted his desire to see the members of the SC act more as a Board of Directors versus being so actively involved in the day to day business of the administrators in particular.  “I think our town at some of our recent elections has shown us they aren’t necessarily happy with the direction this board takes.  Some are saying we put extra pressure on our administrators the way we are acting.” 

                For her part, Nancy Alvarez Burdick agreed in part, but held that a lot of changes had been put in place this year while also suggesting there is always room for improvement.  In further discussion, Aghababian suggested his level of concern related most to the transition upcoming as the new Superintendent begins her tenure.  “It’s up to all of us to make sure she is successful; at the same time I would be concerned if any of us spent too much time directing her.  Presumably we have hired someone who knows how to do her job.  I agree with Nancy that the Chair has to be a resource for the Committee.”

                Nancy responded, “We don’t need to direct our new Superintendent.  The agreement we have has the ability to ensure success without our directing.”  After discussion, Alvarez-Burdick was elected, with Graziano, Jean Bertschmann and Alvarez-Burdick voting yes, and Scordino and Aghababian voting no. Graziano was unanimously chosen to be Vice-Chairman.  Alvarez-Burdick reported that in its working session held earlier, the SC had decided to have some members focus work on two major initiatives and report back to the committee regularly. Scordino and Bertschmann will focus work on a re-work of the strategic plan, while Graziano and Aghababian will work on budget issues for the committee.

                New Superintendent Cathy MacLeod begins work in July, so the SC took a few minutes to thank Interim Superintendent Steven Hiersche for his contributions this past year at a time of turmoil and uncertainty for the District.  All had words of praise and appreciation with Aghababian offering, “You mended a lot of fences. “  They all offered Hiersche their best wishes for the future.

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                During Public Comments, Hopkinton resident Ed Harrow spoke comparing responses from two different boards on questions he asked.  He had sent a question to the Director of Land Use Planning, Elaine Lazarus, and received a three page itemized response with 26 pages of minutes dating back to 1998.  By his own admission, the response was far more detailed than he had asked for, all at no charge. In response to his question to the SC to find out the legal cost associated with negotiating their settlement with Superintendent Jonathan Landman when he left after just one year on his three year contract, the response included a $100 estimate to provide that information.  “It’s an attitudinal thing,” said Harrow.  “This is a Town Board (Planning) that provided a solid, complete answer. Go to the School Committee and it’s like pulling teeth.”

                Athletic Director Eric Karjel was on hand to highlight some successes of the Department in the spring season.  Hopkinton Athletics continues to perform strongly across sports, with student athletes also scoring high marks for sportsmanship and academics.  Four spring teams were Tri-Valley Champs; Softball, Boys Track, Girls Track and Girls Tennis all took the top spot in the Tri-Valley League.  Additionally, for the 2012 season, Hopkinton Athletics won the Boston Globe Dalton Award for having the highest winning percentage across all teams; Hopkinton won the top spot in 2003 as well, and Karjel proudly pointed out that for the last decade we have placed in the top three while winning the award twice.

                An update on the first year of the 1-1 laptop initiative was provided by Technology Director Kathy Dooley and HS Assistant Principal Ashoke Ghosh; overall feedback from students, teachers and parents was positive.  Areas of needed improvement include managing misuse—gaming or online shopping while in class, expanding professional development for teachers to utilize the resource and expanding curriculum uses to more fully utilize the technology resource.  Parents of next year’s freshman students will have an info night on August 26^th, and the students will get their training during orientation on August 27^th.

                Three potential student trips ran into hurdles in the approval process because the proposals came in so late to the SC and did not contain complete information.  The potential trips include one to France, one to the Galapagos Islands and one to London.  Going forward the committee agreed that the approval process needs to be standardized, so specific information is included in the proposal and the requests are submitted before the last meeting of the year. The trips to France and the Galapagos Islands were ultimately approved in a 3 to 2 vote with Scordino and Alvarez-Burdick voting no.  The London trip will be revisited for a vote at the July working session of the committee, allowing the organizers to provide the necessary information including specific departure and return dates.

                Finance Director Ralph Dumas provided the end of year financial update recommending that the balance left over amounting to $187,000 to date (but potentially increasing to approximately $200,000) be allocated to prepay and offset some expenses in the FY’14 budget. This has been the typical process for the SC at the end of each fiscal year.  Dumas identified two budget changes already identified, an outplacement for a special ed student ($81,000) and an additional Norfolk Aggie student ($25,000) for next year. Aghababian spoke in support of the recommendation.  “I think it’s important the way you [Dumas] lay it out.  The reality is we have plenty of legitimate uses for the money.”

                Dumas added, “Some of the adjustments we made last year allowed the School Committee to make some decisions like reducing fees this year.”

                Scordino was the lone voice in opposition to the idea commenting that last year $460,000 was pre-payed towards this year’s budget and this year there is $187,000 that could be returned to the town.  Offering as an option, “I think it’s a prudent move and gesture to offset money we haven’t yet borrowed for the feasibility study.  We should work with the money we gave ourselves for the budget next year.”

                Dumas responded with a question, “How do you suggest I handle an already identified budget change?”

                Scordino held to her position.  “We came up with a budget for FY’14.  There are going to be unforeseens all the time.  There is a mechanism to go back and ask for additional appropriations.” The committee voted 4 to 1 to support using the overage from this year to prepay allowed expenses for next year rather than return the money to the town for certification as free cash for use on future needs.