HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Steering Committee - 07/08/2015STEERING COMMITTEE 8 JULY 2015
The South Burlington Steering Commi ee held a mee ng on Wednesday, 8 July 2015, at 6:00 p.m., in the
Library of the Tu le Middle School, 500 Dorset Street.
MEMBERS PRESENT: City Council: P. Nowak, H. Riehle, C. Shaw, T. Chi enden; K. Dorn, City Manager; School
Board: E. Fitzgerald, Steering Commi ee Chair; J. Bea y, D. Fleming, P. Leduc; D. Young, Superintendent of
Schools
ALSO PRESENT: T. Hubbard, Deputy City Manager; A. Klugo, J. Wilking, C. Ha er, G. Benoit, D. Macdonald, A.
Crocker, T. Barri , other members of the public
1. Comments & ques ons from the public not related to the Agenda:
No issues were raised.
Ms. Nowak introduced Elizabeth Fitzgerald as the Chair of the Steering Commi ee for this fiscal year.
2. Approval of the 3 June 2015 Steering Commi ee Minutes:
Ms. Fitzgerald noted that she had asked if there were any gaps in the informa on. The answer was no.
The spelling of a name was corrected.
The minutes were then accepted as amended.
3. Master Planning & Visioning Task Force Answering Ques ons from the School Board and City
Council about the Task Force Final Report:
Mr. Klugo noted there were some common themes in the ques ons raised by both boards:
a. Should we stay with the status quo?
b. Was the High School rebuild supported by a majority of the Task Force? Where would it go?
c. Transi ons
d. School size
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e. Phasing
Regarding the “status quo,” Mr. Klugo said the Task Force felt things are OK now, the schools are excellent. If
things were to stay stable, it would remain OK. But things are not stable, and all members of the Task Force
agreed that looking toward the future meant looking at the exis ng buildings.
Mr. Klugo said that the Task Force agreed that programs need to drive the facili es. The key word was
“flexibility.” The fi y year old facili es are not very flexible; all are out of date and don’t meet current needs.
The NEASC assessments support this.
Regarding the High School: Mr. Klugo said the concept of the High School did not receive unanimous support.
Members did want the High School to remain on the current 550 Dorset St. campus. The thought was to build
a new High School behind the exis ng one and then tear down the exis ng building. In the final report, it will
be clear that this op on was unanimously supported by the Task Force.
A member of the audience felt the cost of this would be too high.
Regarding transi ons: Mr. Wilking said the Task Force’s focus was on flexible academic facili es. Transi ons
should not be the only considera on. If transi ons were all you had to worry about, all schools would be K-12,
and even that wouldn’t eliminate transi ons. Transi ons should be looked at, but they should not be the
primary focus.
Regarding school size: Mr. Klugo said the Task Force acknowledged that “small is good.” But you can have
“small learning communi es” in larger schools. In op on “Q,” the 250 K-4 students would be divided into
smaller learning communi es.
Mr. Wilking said a lot of people’s responses are based on what they grew up with. He added that he grew up in
a K-8 environment that was divided into smaller communi es. There are many ways to do this, and not all are
bad.
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Regarding phasing: Mr. Klugo said that phasing is the key to making things work. Changes will likely happen
over me. The Task Force considered the use of modular and noted that some modulars are be er than
today’s classrooms.
Mr. Wilking noted that one of the focuses of the Task Force was Central School and what to do with it. The Task
Force felt unanimously that if it was best for the community, the schools can work without Central School. The
majority felt there should be an RFP process. Mr. Klugo added the Task Force did not feel the process should be
driven by the offer that is on the table now.
Mr. Klugo then addressed items that remain open:
One part of the report needs to be updated, which they hope to accomplish by the end of the month. The
majority of the Task Force needs to respond to the phasing piece
Mr. Klugo did not an cipate any future mee ngs of the Task Force.
Mr. Fleming asked what are the most important things to consider. Mr. Klugo said that transi ons need to be
given their proper weight in the discussions. The aging buildings, staffing and equity issues are of equal
importance. The focus needs to be on providing a be er academic model for children. Mr. Wilking said this
means a fair and balanced educa on for every child.
Mr. Chi enden distributed informa on on some research he had done. He noted that one criteria that weighs
more and more for him is that an Oak Creek School could be a more secure environment for children. He noted
that some of the current schools are located in areas where most crimes occur. The fewest crimes in the city
occur in the Oak Creek area, which is mostly residen al. Mr. Chi enden noted that Police Chief Whipple felt
that one single elementary school would be more secure. He also noted that many 20th century schools cannot
be adapted to 21st century security methods. These include “invisible security” methods such as those that
have been adopted at Sandy Hook following that tragedy. Mr. Chi enden said he would support a single
elementary school in the Southeast Quadrant. He asked if this issue was considered by the Task Force.
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Mr. Klugo said they spent some me on security. Mr. Wilking noted that Patrick Burke said security is his first
priority. The Task Force did not, however, talk about which site would be the most secure. Mr. Klugo said they
did talk about the fact that there is no second egress at Orchard and Chamberlin Schools and there is a gate at
Central School. These could be issues in an emergency. A member of the public felt there would be addi onal
people coming into a larger school which could be a security problem. Mr. Ha er noted that the Task Force did
discuss addi onal security issues for Central School as City Center develops.
Mr. Wilking noted there is a ques on as to whether the Oak Creek School site is too wet and whether more
land would be needed.
Mr. Shaw asked the acreage of the schools. Mr. Klugo said Central School is 11+ acres. He did not know the
others. All 3 elementary schools total 55,000-56,000 sq. . Mr. Wilking added that the Task Force did look at
poten al expandability at Orchard and Chamberlin Schools. Both have issues. They could expand, but not
much.
Mr. Klugo said the recogni on now is that Central School should have been in the Form Based Codes discussion.
Mr. Fleming asked what advice was given re: Tu le Middle School. Mr. Wilking said it was not a main focus.
They did discuss what might happen if the 5th grade was added to the Middle School. Mr. Klugo added that if
the administra ve offices were moved elsewhere, the Middle School could accommodate the 5th grade. The
ques on was how to deal with masonry walls within the exis ng footprint. It was felt that the Middle School
could become a 21st Century learning environment, unlike the High School.
Mr. Fleming noted there were no specific recommenda ons regarding pre-K. Mr. Wiling said they spoke a lot
about pre-K. The ques on is how it will be funded in the future. The Task Force realized that with a
consolidated elementary school, there will be “le over” buildings that could be used for pre-K. Mr. Klugo
added that there are also private pre-K providers, and the need to be part of that discussion. Supt. Young
noted that pre-K is not now mandated; South Burlington made the decision to have a pre-K op on.
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Ms. Nowak said that the Task Force seems to agree on more things that they differ on. What is disappoin ng to
her is that some people had the pre-conceived no on that there would be a definite decision. She felt that
what the Task Force is presen ng should have much more weight than “the Big Deal,” which was only one brief
public mee ng. Ms. Nowak also cited a lot of pubic misinforma on and misconcep ons. She asked why the
Task Force put so much weight on the Big Deal.
One of the Task Force members said she didn’t feel the people who were at The Big Deal were representa ve of
the whole community. The event was meant to be the first piece of community input, not the only piece. She
also noted that the community favored 2 elementary schools; the Task Force is recommending one. She
stressed that if “one size fits all” they wouldn’t be here now. She also felt that what ul mately happens will
come down to cost. $60,000 is a lot to ask of taxpayers, and the amount currently on the table for the sale of
Central School won’t cover that.
Mr. Klugo acknowledged that the Task Force le some work to be done. They have suggested addi onal
commi ees (e.g., a 21st Century Learning commi ee).
Mr. Ha er agreed that the representa on at the Big Deal was incomplete. He specifically noted that people
who have no children in the school system were not represented. He felt it is the City Council’s job to survey
the whole community.
Mr. Barri said he didn’t want to see a decision made with a “sense of urgency.” He didn’t think there was a
problem now. He wanted to see a set of charts to show what his incremental tax rate will be over the next 25
years. He also wanted all choices to be open. He felt none of this would have happened without the Saxon
Partners offer.
Mr. Klugo said there are problems that are becoming urgent: aging facili es, program inequi es, enrollment
inequi es, etc. He added that if Saxon Partners drove the discussion that is good. But they were not the focus
of it. Mr. Young stressed that the aim is to make a decision that will stand the test of me.
Mr. Shaw said he has heard that the status quo is not adequate. The ques on is what it will cost to address
this.
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An audience member said she moved to South Burlington because of the school system. She is willing to pay
taxes for good schools. She wants to see the best decision made for the children of the community. She
personally likes separate schools that feel into the High School. She was also concerned with possibly losing
some of the district’s great teachers.
Ms. Greco asked if the status quo is good or not.
Mr. Wilking said the district is doing a good job educa ng children. Facili es have issues. There is a point at
which it doesn’t make sense to “keep them up.” Classrooms are not the right size and you can’t add space to
them. There are also demographic issues. It is important to draw people to the community. TIF funds have a
limit. There have to be decisions made.
Ms. Fitzgerald thanked the Task Force for its tremendous effort. She then suggested the City Council and
School Board accept the proposed “last steps” in an cipa on of a final report at the end of July. Members
agreed.
It was agreed that the final report of the Task Force will be on both the City and School District websites.
As there was no further business to come before the Steering Commi ee, Ms. Nowak moved to adjourn. Mr.
Chi enden seconded. Mo on passed unanimously, and the mee ng was adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
_________________________________
Clerk