School Board Decisions Stalled, Financial Issues Discussed

With three members absent from Wednesday's school board meeting, a unanimous vote was required in order to pass any items concerning finances, leaving some decisions to wait until the next session in October.

School board president Marilyn Messina, Regis Driscoll and Robert Rinsma were absent from Wednesday's meeting.

The question of whether or not the district will continue with its current food service provider, School Dining Service, remains to be seen.

School board member Robert Tomasic opposed the motion to transfer funds in order to pay Chartwells back for money they say the district owes them. 

“There are too many unanswered questions,” Tomasic said. “They are not producing documents for worker's comp and they’ve violated the contract with the commonwealth.”

The board agreed to send a letter to Chartwells—in response to a letter they received from the company threatening a lawsuit—stating that they needed to see certain documents before agreeing to pay.

“We need to make sure that we’re legally obligated to pay this money,” Tomasic said.

Other motions that didn't receive a unanimous vote and thus stalled action included the approval of head custodians for this school year, and the potential decision to renovate  for new administrative offices.

"This is something we've been talking about for awhile—this building has to go," school board member Colleen Filiak said in reference to the current administration building.

Later in the meeting, school board member Robert Clanagan arrived and re-introduced a controversial item that failed earlier in the evening. The motion to recall a fourth grade teacher from furlough at Wilkins Elementary School was brought to the table.

“Given the class sizes, I’m concerned for the individual students and I don’t think this is an item that can wait,” Clanagan said.

The fourth grade class sizes have gone up to more than 30 students per classroom. When the vote was reconsidered, it passed with only Filiak opposing. This was a great relief for many in the audience.

“I just called the principal of Wilkins and told her that she had her teacher back,” PTO President at Schaffer Elementary said. “That’s a good call to make—more than 30 students is asking too much from teachers.”

Any items not agreed upon will be addressed during the next legislative school board meeting Oct. 12.