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 – HSBC Chairman, Lea Anderson,
called the meeting to order at 7:44 p.m.
Review of Town Meeting results –
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 – 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
“prepared the instrument” 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 “methodology is being developed”. There are now 204 Statements of Interest
submitted from approximately 100 communities.
Discussion on scope of work –
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 state’s
position on a phased project.
- Will the state expect multiple
approaches during the feasibility study?
- We would not want to “dollarize” 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 “big box” 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 “triggers”. 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 –
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 – 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 – The motion was approved
unanimously - 9 in favor, 0 opposed.
Comments and questions from observers: There were no comments.
Adjournment – The HSBC adjourned at 8:5550 p.m.
Observers: Sam DiSavino,
Lisa Valone