RON RIX
WESTFIELD – The City Council voted last night to approve an appropriation of $58,044 to the Westfield Vocational Technical High School instruction account.
The School Department originally submitted an appropriation request of $100,000 to the City Council at the May 15 session. The appropriation was sent to the council’s Finance Committee and discussed with Ron Rix, the School Department’s chief financial officer, at the committee’s May 29 meeting.
The Finance Committee was reviewing School Department requests totaling $314,200 at that meeting. In addition to the money for Voc-Tech, there was a $100,000 request to improve buildings and grounds, and $114,200 for the purchase of three vehicles for Voc-Tech.
BRIAN P. SULLIVAN
Rix said that as the end of the 2014 fiscal year approached the School Department was sweeping its budget to identify funding which could be used to lower the amount of those appropriation requests.
“We’re trying to do things a little differently,” Rix said at the May 20 committee meeting. “As we clean up the (FY 2014) budget, we may be able to get some of these things done.”
The three vehicles purchase request was amended to a five-year lease-to-own contract. The council authorized a transfer of $24,212 from free cash at its June 19 meeting. The cost of the lease-to-own contract will be included in the School Department budget over the next four years.
The department reduced the $100,000 request for projects at Voc-Tech to the $58,044 approved last night at the special City Council meeting to deal with year-end financial matters.
DAVID FLAHERTY
Rix has said that the New England Association of School and Colleges (NEASC) had inspected the Voc-Tech building in 2003 as part of its accreditation review and had recommended installation of a sound-deflection system in the auto-body shop to prevent hearing loss to staff and students. The sound deflection system will cost $22,100 to install.
The remaining $35,943 of the appropriation request will be used to improve technology in two computer class rooms, replacing some computers that are more than six years old, and to support the information technology program which is being expanded because of high student interest.
BRIAN HOOSE
At-large Councilor Brian Sullivan said the Voc-Tech funding request “is student driven. This was originally for $100,000 and now it’s down to $58,044, so they covered some of it.”
At-large Councilor David A. Flaherty said that he too would support the appropriation.
“I’m not a fan of how the School Department spends money at the end of the year, but this is a new program, the kids are interested, there is a high demand.”
Ward 3 Councilor Brian Hoose, in whose ward Voc-Tech is located, said he visited the school.
“Some of the computers over there are six years old,” Hoose said. “This (appropriation) serves the interests of the Voc-Tech. Some of this is on a tight timeline and has to get done (prior to the beginning of the new school year in August).”
