Thursday, May 17, 2007
Wayland High School
Commons Conference Room
Attendees
HSBC members: Lea Anderson, Dianne Bladon,
Steve Breit, Brian Chase, Fred Knight, David Lash,
Joe Lewin, Eric Sheffels,
Jennifer Steel
Absent: Josh Bekenstein,
Jim Howard, Mary Lentz, Cindy Lombardo, Karen Talentino,
Steve Tise
Ex Officio members: Louis Jurist
Call to order Ð HSBC Chairman, Lea Anderson,
called the meeting to order at 7:44 p.m.
Review of Town Meeting results Ð The group discussed the unanimous
approval of Article 6 for $300,000 for preparation of an application for state
funding of a Wayland High School project.
644 voters attended Town Meeting.
Some HSBC members expressed surprise at the lack of opposition to the
article. Possible reasons were
suggested:
-
state funding moratorium is ending
-
five years of talking about the high school facility has made an impression
-
outreach by grass roots organizations
-
outside agencies confirming the shortcomings at WHS
MSBA Update Ð Lea reported that Richard Gill
of the MSBA responded to the questions in her e-mail sent earlier this
week. Gill reported that the
templates for the pre-study phase (Design and Education Program Part 1, Budget
Statement for Educational Objectives, Educational Facilities Master Plan) are
in development and should be available this summer.
Mr. Gill
said that the MSBA has hired consultants to conduct the Facilities and
Maintenance Assessment. They have
Òprepared the instrumentÓ and beta tested it with several communities. They are now fine-tuning it based on the
feedback from the beta test. He
expects that other school districts will be notified soon
to arrange visits. Lea reminded the
group that she had learned that the three beta sites were Norwood,
Concord/Carlisle, and a city school.
Katherine Craven, Executive Director of MSBA, informed her in March that
Wayland High School was one of the next group of ten
schools identified to have a Facilities and Maintenance Assessment.
Mr. Gill
also reported that the enrollment Òmethodology is being developedÓ. There are now 204 Statements of Interest
submitted from approximately 100 communities.
Discussion on scope of work Ð The HSBC discussed the next steps
in the Pre-Study phase of the MSBA process. Town Meeting approved the expenditure of
$75,000 starting in FY08 to work on the Pre-Study elements of the
application. HSBC members expressed
the opinion that we should defer bringing in consultants until there is more
direction from MSBA, especially around enrollment projections. Enrollment will drive the project.
Comments
were:
-
The last thing we want to do is waste money by doing things twice.
-
We should ask George Metzger and Dick Amster if they
have any more information on how the process is going to unfold.
- We have been charged with developing
meaningful price points around alternatives. This has to do with scope of the
project. We might be able to start
doing this now.
- How different do these price points have
to be?
- The ed spec will be driven by the state. The options for scope reduction are the
field house and common space.
-
Would we choose not to upgrade certain aspects of the facility?
-
We need to know the stateÕs position on a phased project.
- Will the state expect multiple
approaches during the feasibility study?
- We would not want to ÒdollarizeÓ the
alternatives yet.
- It will be too complicated to analyze 3
or 4 different levels of ed
specs.
- We need to look at what the state will
pay for and not go above it.
-
We might try to turn around the dissatisfaction of the public last time by
scaling the function and character of the project.
-
We should not do a wholesale change in the project defined last time. A change to a Òbig boxÓ design and lower
quality materials would save no more than 5% of the cost. A deep building means interior rooms
with no natural lighting.
- There are ways besides cutting only
athletics and arts to trim the project.
Spaces such as computer rooms defined in the last spec might now be
reassessed in light of the technology available.
The
group agreed that the first tasks assigned to our consultants will be driven by
state ÒtriggersÓ. They are:
-
reprogram the school based on educational changes since the last programming,
new ed specs,
and the enrollment number agreed to by the MSBA
-
advise on the Facilities and Maintenance Assessment
-
advise on filling out the pre-study documents
The HSBC
will hold off meeting again until the state moves in any of these areas or until
the new WHS principal is on board in July.
Communications Update Ð The group reviewed the list of
events and presentations completed to date.
Fred
Knight talked about the updated web site work in progress.
Lea
reviewed the projects currently being considered or underway at WHS. They are the tennis court resurfacing,
synthetic turf for the football field (awaiting a ruling by the DEP), widening
of the entrance on Rte. 126 and installation of a traffic light, relocation of
school buses, and the private effort to build a new swimming pool.
Several
people have come forward over the last month to offer help in various
areas. Technology expert Andrew Bonvie from MIT has offered to consult with the HSBC pro
bono on a technology plan. Jeff Aresty has recommended the Keystone Center for Science and
Public Policy to work with stakeholders on the high school project.
Motion Ð A motion was made by Dianne Bladon and seconded by Joe Lewin
to approve the minutes of HSBC meeting #47 held on Thursday, March 15, 2007.
Vote Ð The motion was approved
unanimously - 9 in favor, 0 opposed.
Comments and questions from observers: There were no comments.
Adjournment Ð The HSBC adjourned at 8:5550
p.m.
Observers: Sam DiSavino,
Lisa Valone