WESTFIELD – The School Committee voted Monday night to spend $35,000 in school choice funds for three projects requested by School Superintendent Suzanne Scallion.
Scallion originally requested the board approval for a total of $87,000, but several maintenance projects were removed from Scallion’s list at the request of Mayor Daniel M. Knapik.
Scallion’s original request had included $10,000 for emergency repairs to the roof of Franklin Avenue School and $2,500 for replacement of a flag pole at the Southampton Road School.
Franklin Avenue Principal Leslie Clark-Yvon said that, in the past, the roof leaks were related to ice dams during the winter months.
“These are new leaks which have occurred since the last (Oct. 29) storm and which are getting progressively worse. Right now the leaks are in one spot,” Clark-Yvon said.
Committeewoman Mary-Beth Ogulewicz-Sacco asked if there was funding in the district’s maintenance account to cover the emergency repair work.
School Chief Finance Officer John Kane said that if the funds were taken from the maintenance account for the emergency roof repair, projects planned for later in the year would have to be deferred until the next budget.
The Finance Subcommittee then voted 3-0 to recommend the school choice funding for that work.
Frank Maher, director of operations, maintenance and food services, said the district was preparing to repaint the existing flag pole at the Southampton Road School, when it discovered that lead-based paint had been used in the past to refresh the flag pole.
“The cost of remediation is more expensive than erecting a new fiberglass pole, estimated at $2,500,” Maher said.
Knapik then asked Maher if there was sufficient funding in the maintenance budget to fund both projects, in anticipation of committing free cash to the school maintenance budget early next year.
Knapik said that the roof repair work has to be done quickly before the onset of winter, while temperatures still support that kind of work.
“I plan to request the City Council to approve $200,000 for the (school district) maintenance account as soon as free cash is certified (by the state Department of Revenue), which should happen in December,” Knapik said. “I plan to make the appropriation request to the City Council at its first meeting in January. I have already talked to a number of councilors about a $200,000 transfer for maintenance, but I can’t get to that until January.”
Maher said that if the maintenance account was augmented by the free cash transfer, he could use existing maintenance funds for the two projects.
The Finance Subcommittee then rescinded its vote to approve the use of $10,000 from the school choice account, which currently has a balance of $769,189.37.
The School Committee did approve $25,000 of school choice funds to move the administrative offices from the present Ashley Street School location to leased office space at the Hampton Ponds Plaza on North Road.
The board also approved $5,000 for an assessment of students at risk of dropping out of school. Scallion said a third-party study is the first step in addressing that issue.
“This study is to identify gaps in the district’s educational plan and to identify the risk factors,” she said. “I felt the board’s urgency during (the superintendent’s) interview process to do something for kids at risk. I would like someone to come in and take a look, something that could lead to identifying some options for our kids.”
Scallion said the study is the fist of three phases and would lead to the second phase of formulating programs to reduce the number of drop-outs in the district. The third phase will be to identify funding for the programs.
Committeewoman Cindy Sullivan said that when the district closed the Parkside Academy program for alternative education, because of the lack of funding “it did those kids a disservice. Alternative education is its own thing and separate from special education.”
The board also approved a $5,000 stipend for Clark-Yvon to develop a 21st century technology program for elementary schools. Scallion said that she projected that the development of that program will require 100 hours “above and beyond” Clark-Yvon’s duties as Franklin Avenue principal.
Clark-Yvon said the program “is designed to put all elementary schools on the same page” for educational technology.
