WESTFIELD – The School Building Committee Monday night contested the creation of two subcommittees formed to assess two major issues for the elementary school project.
Project Architect Margo Jones reported that both the Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment (FF&E) and the Technology subcommittees have conducted meetings recently to identify features that will be added as the design process moves forward.
That simple statement initiated a debate on the process of establishing subcommittees. Several members of the School Building Committee objected to the formation of subcommittees by any entity other than the committee proper.
Ward 2 City Councilor James E. Brown Jr., a voting member of the School Building Committee, said that subcommittee can only be created by the School Building Committee and that the subcommittees are subject to the same Open Meeting Law requirements as the building committee.
“Who names these committees,” Brown asked. “It has to be done in the open. Only the voting members (of the School Building Committee) can appoint those subcommittees.”
School Committeewoman Cindy Sullivan also questioned who could serve on subcommittees. “Can a person who is not a member of this (School Building Committee) serve on a subcommittee.”
“I just want to be sure it’s being done right, in compliance with the open meeting law, to make sure that the (subcommittee) meetings are being posted,” Sullivan said.
Kevin Sullivan, a School Committee member and vice chairman of the School Building Committee, said the issue of subcommittee formation needs to be addressed.
“I came here tonight thinking that we were going to establish subcommittees,” Sullivan said. “Some of the people volunteered to serve on this School Building Committee did that so they could be on subcommittees, people with expertise in certain fields.”
“I know that the three members of the School Committee would like to have a voice on the Technology Subcommittee,” he said.
Jones said that she has worked on several school building projects and has used the same process to establish subcommittees.
“We’ve never had to follow that (Open Meeting Law requirement) before. If it is an informational subcommittee formed to make recommendations. The subcommittees do not make the final decisions, they will make recommendations to the full (School Building) Committee,” Jones said.
Brown said that the subcommittees are an extension of the School Building Committee and as such are subject to the same “legal requirements” under the state Open Meeting Law.
School Superintendent Suzanne Scallion said that part of the confusion is being caused by a lack of communication between the building committee members and the contractors. Scallion suggested that the project manager, Skanska USA Building Inc., put out a weekly email to all members to avoid further confusion.
Kevin Sullivan endorsed that suggestion.
“Let’s send out an email to see who is interested in serving (on the subcommittees),” he said. “Only the voting members of the (School Building) Committee can appoint those subcommittee members.”
Jones said she would cancel the FF&E Subcommittee meeting slated for Monday, Dec. 19, to allow committee members to respond to the email notification.
