March 7, 2006
To: Elementary Facilities Task Force Committee
From: Jane Wellehan
Re: Notes for EFTF meeting of March 1, 2006
The EFTF met on March 1, 2006. In attendance were committee members Jason Toothaker (chair) MaryJo O’Connor, Dick Paulsen, Anita LaChance, Doug Sherwood, Michelle Hedrich, Kevin Mallory, Marysue Morrison, David Turner, Donna Carr, Ed Suslovic, Liz Holton, Michelle Butterfield, and Jane Wellehan. Scott Brown from the Maine Department of Education attended, along with Steven Scharf, Ed King from the West End News, Martha Sheils (Nathan Clifford parent) and Kristen McCabe(Hall parent).
The meeting started with Jason introducing Scott Brown from the Maine Department of Education. His job is to make the recommendations on which schools that apply for funding receive it. He stated that the State is ready to begin moving forward whenever Portland is ready. There is a State process that is clearly detailed in a large binder. The Major Capitol Improvement process is detailed in Chapter 61, and Scott was clear that the guidelines must be clearly followed.
Once Portland is ready, the state can help with procuring the help of a professional architect who would help evaluate the site, square footage requirements, etc. We (the School System) was urged to engage an architect, as it will take several weeks to find the right one. Currently, we are on step 4 of the 21 step process of School Construction.
When asked about renovation vs. rebuilding of Nathan Clifford, Scott said that clearly stated in Step 5 was a new/renovation analysis, and that the State Funding has been targeted for the Nathan Clifford Students. He had to leave, and said that he looks forward to working with Portland in the future.
Jason spent a little time thanking everyone for being part of the EFTF, and recognized that for members who were not part of the School Department or the City, it has been a big effort.
Next, we reviewed the language from the Portland Public Schools Website regarding what the charge of the EFTF is. The following was handed out:
Portland’s Elementary Facilities Task Force is
updating a plan for renovating, replacing and consolidating the city’s 10
elementary schools. The new plan will
take into account current and projected student enrollment, educational funds
and available funding.
The task force, established
in 1998, includes city and school officials, parents, and staff. The task force’s recommendations laid the
groundwork for the comprehensive facilities plan adopted by the Portland School
Committee in November 2002. The plan
called for rebuilding or renovating eight “anchor schools” in addition to the
island schools and closing three others.
Since then, Baxter Elementary
School has closed and the East End Community School is nearing completion. It will open in September 2006, serving all
of the students now at Adams Elementary School as well as some students at
Reiche, Clifford, and other schools.
Clifford has been named as
the states highest priority for reconstruction funds. The task force will look at the possibility
of combining Clifford’s population with that of another school and recommend
three or four possibilities. While no timetable has been set for the task
force’s work, it is expected to take several months. The Portland School Committee will make the final decision.
“Given our declining
enrollment, it is inevitable that some elementary schools will close during the
coming years,” said Portland Superintendent Mary Jo O’Connor. “I am confident that the EFTF will review
all of the data in a thoughtful, objective manner. Working together, we can guild the best possible elementary
schools to serve our children and future generations.
Portland School Committee
member Jason Toothaker chairs the EFTF.
Michelle Hedrich serves as vice chair.
Michelle Hedrich said that this made clear what the job of the EFTF was, and that currently we are at a “Stop Sign” where we need to “examine enrollment trends, fiscal capacity, educational mandates, and educational programming options.” (quoted from the EFTF timeline piece.
Jane Wellehan challenged whether or not we have examined fiscal capacity (what will really be saved by consolidating) and upcoming potential educational mandates. Pre-K as a requirement has been rumored, but the group has no clarity on the subject. She also stated that Renovation of Clifford has never been one of our scenarios that were examined, despite the state mandate that renovation be examined thoroughly.
Next we reviewed the timeline. Jason made it clear that the School Committee was expecting to hear a report at the April 5th School Committee meeting, where the findings would then be handed off to either a 3x3 or 4x4 group of City Councilors and School Committee members.
Kevin Mallory clearly stated that he felt the group should make one “highest” recommendation. Michelle Hedrich asked what work needs to happen/what data needed to be collected to complete our work. Kevin reiterated that all the data led him to one scenario.
Debate ensued about how many options should be presented. Donna Carr stated that there needed to be more than one option, as the 3x3 (or 4x4) will be where public input is welcomed and added to the debate. Most committee members agreed that presenting one option or “highest recommendation” would make the public feel as though decisions were made before their input was elicited.
Doug Sherwood presented his “EFTF Closure Savings Analysis”. It compared the facilities operating costs of both Clifford and Presumpscot. The operating costs, including custodial costs, stated in the report showed Clifford’s annual budget as $192,830 and Presumpscot’s as $162,362. All agreed that actual cost savings would be somewhere between these two numbers (est $170-175k) as a new school would be larger than either. This did not address reductions in staff that might take place with consolidation.
Kevin then presented his 42 page report entitled “An Elementary Vision” that his data led him to present. It makes a case for closing Clifford and Presumpscot and rebuilding on the Baxter site. He took the group through his findings and asked everyone to bring questions back to the next meeting.
We agreed to meet again on Wednesday, March 8th, at 4 pm, at room 350 at PATHS.
Respectfully submitted,
Jane Wellehan