ELEMENTARY FACILITIES COMMITTEE (3 X 3)
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Presumpscot School Gymnasium
5:00 p.m.
ATTENDANCE: Councilor Nick Mavodones, Co-Chair; Ellen Alcorn, School Committee Co-Chair;
Councilor James Cloutier, Susan Hopkins, School Committee; Ben Meiklejohn, School Committee; Councilor Ed Suslovic, Committee Members; Anita LaChance, MaryJo O’Connor, Judith Rosen, City Staff.
Councilor Mavodones called the meeting to order at 5:15 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Ed Suslovic, seconded by Ellen Alcorn to accept the October 17, 2006 minutes.
PASSED.
WBRC ARCHITECTS PROGRESS REPORT
Richard Graves from WBRC Architects Engineers gave an update on the firm’s progress (see attached). They have been doing existing facility surveys and have been to all elementary schools. They will be done with this phase on December 19, 2006 and will have the survey results completed for the next Elementary Facilities Committee meeting.
The next step will be reviewing buildings for educational adequacy (December/January). They have also done a site analysis at two sites for new construction possibilities.
Public meetings are being planned for January/February. Parent Teacher Organizations, neighborhood associations, citizens, etc. will be invited. Ellen Alcorn asked how the format of these meetings would be set up. Richard Graves said they will present a general overview and then ask for feedback from the attendees. Ellen mentioned she would like these meetings to be diverse and reach out to the community as much as possible. The meetings could go by district or be held at each of the elementary schools. Nick Mavodones suggested meeting at the middle schools and invite the surrounding feeder schools. This would reduce the amount of public meetings being held. He also mentioned the architect would give the findings at each meeting and then ask for feedback. It was suggested the findings be put on the committee website. Potential days of Tuesdays and Thursdays were given for the meetings in January. Mary Jo O’Connor thought 3-4 meetings at a middle school site in a short timeframe would be beneficial. Susan Hopkins felt more variety of meeting days and times should be offered so more diverse community members could attend. Ben Meiklejohn felt the committee should use the website more. More data should be readily available on the site. Ben received an e-mail from some parents asking that the 1997-2002 elementary facilities report and March 2006 report be put on the website as well as minutes from committee meetings. Mary Jo O’Connor will take care of this. James Cloutier agrees there should be public meetings but feels they will be better attended when final decisions are about to be made. Edward Suslovic feels once options are available and final report recommendations made, there will need to be further meetings. He feels people will want to weigh in more at that point.
The next item reviewed was the new construction vs. renovation process. The architect stated the State Department of Education has a process to follow and The Council of Educational Facility Planners International has a facility appraisal guide they will be following (see attached). The scores will be announced and discussed at the public meetings. They are reviewing only elementary schools right now - middle schools have not been done at this time.
The next item discussed was the prioritization of goals (see attached). Committee members were asked to prioritize their top four choices.
Nick Mavodones, 1) Align facilities with educational plan, 2) Consider economic diversity and equity in building and renovating schools, 3) Respond to current and future enrollment, 4) Provide schools that meet community needs
James Cloutier, 1) Align facilities with educational plan, 2) Respond to current and future enrollment trends and possibilities, 3) Provide schools that meet community needs, 4) Consider economic diversity and equity in building and renovating schools
Susan Hopkins, 1) Align facilities with educational plan, 2) Provide schools that meet community needs, 3) Consider economic diversity and equity, 4) Maintain neighborhood integrity
Ellen Alcorn, 1) Align facilities with educational plan, 2) Consider economic diversity and equity in building and renovating schools, 3) Provide schools that meet community needs, 4) Respond to current and future enrollment trends and possibilities
Edward Suslovic, 1) Align facilities with educational plan, 2) Consider economic diversity and equity in building and renovating schools, 3) Minimize disruption of successful learning communities (new goal), 4) Respond to current and future enrollment trends and possibilities
Ben Meiklejohn, 1) Provide schools that meet community needs, 2) Limit the impact redistricting of students, 3) Reduce costs, 4) Respond to current and future enrollment trends and possibilities
PUBLIC COMMENT
Steven Scharf: Regarding retention rate, things shift for several reasons. The committee shouldn’t concentrate of that. Regarding economic diversity, the committee would have to look at all schools; it would mean busing and schools will not be doing that.
Liz Holton: Presumpscot parent asked about the site analysis. Richard Graves said this will be done at all eight schools. There will also be an analysis on 2 potential sites for new construction.
Brenda Santoro: Presumpscot parent. She believes people are leaving the neighborhood because of the closing of Baxter school. They live in Portland but choose to leave Portland for other schools districts.
Jackie Adamo: Presumpscot parent. She recommends the public meetings be at each school and not the middle schools. She believes you will get better feedback at the individual settings.
Michele Butterfield: Codman Street. Does not agree with Ed Suslovic’s new goal. Hopes it does not make the list of goals.
Eileen Griffin: Longfellow Street. She asked the architect to explain the educational plan in more detail. She wants to know what the process is. He stated the State Department of Education has the format. He will have this report put on the committee website. She also believes that economic diversity is an important element and should not be excluded. Regarding retention rates, she mentioned that Portland schools are not retaining students after age five.
MEETING DATE AND ADJOURNMENT
The next meeting date has not been confirmed. Information will be sent out. A motion was made by Jim Cloutier to adjourn the meeting at 7:00 p.m., seconded by Ellen Alcorn. PASSED.