July 20, 2010
On July 20th the Ayer-Shirley Regional School Committee held its very first meeting. Prior to the meeting, the members of the school committee were sworn in by the two town clerks of Ayer, John Canney and Shirley, Amy McDougall. We thank both of them for making the time to join us on a Tuesday evening to conduct the official swearing in ceremony.
Interim Superintendent Mary Beth Hamel opened the meeting and then the committee organized itself for the coming year. Bob Prescott from Shirley was elected Chairman, Pat Kelly from Ayer was elected Vice Chair and Jim Quinty from Shirley was elected as Secretary.
Here are the highlights from the July 20th meeting.
We received an update on the middle school merger from Mary Beth Hamel and the progress continues to be impressive. The schedule is complete; we are in the final stages of mapping the bus routes and finalizing the daily schedule for all the schools in both districts. We will be communicating the start and end times and bus routes to parents as soon as it is final. We want to thank Bemis for donating trucks and volunteers to help teachers move equipment, materials and furniture to the Middle School. Everything is now in the middle school and in the process of being set up for the student's arrival. 90% of the middle school staff came together for 2 days of professional development. The staff was exemplary in their ability to align curriculum and quickly become a cohesive teaching team. Everyone in the school and in the district is excited about the upgraded curriculum and program for the middle school students.
We received an update on progress with the MSBA from Superintendent Frost. The first project that the regional district is pursuing is the middle-high school project for the building in Ayer. Ayer has submitted all preliminary paperwork to MSBA. Shirley is completing their information packet and will do the same in the next couple weeks. The goal continues to be to come to Fall Town Meeting with the objective of obtaining funds for the feasibility study. We do not yet know what the cost of the study will be, however we do know that the cost of the study will be reimbursed at the same rate as the entire project. Currently this is project to be 67%.
We heard from Superintendent Reid about the progress on the health insurance plans for the employees of the district. The Teacher's Union and the administration have jointly hired a health care consultant to work collaboratively to find the best plan options for the district. Superintendent Reid also updated us on the Student Information System. The Committee voted to use $2,891 from the transition funds to supplement the existing budgets in order to full install the system for the region.
With regard to the transition funds, we have had to jump through a few more hoops and get through a little more red tape because the funds are federal in nature and administered by DESE. We are very close to receiving the first installment and will be able to disburse funds in the near term.
We held a discussion about the need for a Technology Consultant to work with the IT directors in Ayer and Shirley to make sure that we properly set up the infrastructure necessary for a technology enabled district. The Committee voted to support a sum of not more that $7500 to be used for the purpose of hiring a consultant to help put together the plan for the Technology infrastructure.
The Committee also voted to authorize Interim Superintendent Hamel to draft a letter for membership into MASC. MASC is an organization that both informs and lobbies for educational issues from the perspective of school committees.
The Committee voted to approve the use of Payright payroll service for the purpose of processing the regional payroll for the next year. This may include as many as ten employees who are using an additional stipend for work they are performing for the regional district.
The Committee discussed and then voted on the law firm that will be used by the regional district. A subcommittee was formed and interviewed two firms in June. The subcommittee was made up of Mr. Prescott and Mr. Quinty from Shirley and me (Pat Kelly) from Ayer. Each of us spoke to the group about the two firms and who we would recommend to the committee. Overall, we had a win-win choice. Both firms are experienced, professional and capable. In the end the Committee voted in favor of hiring the firm of Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane.
We want to welcome Amanda Lewis as the Secretary to the Regional School Committee and the Interim Superintendent. Mrs. Lewis was the only applicant for the position posted by the district. The position comes with a stipend of $3,000 for the part time position.
Finally, we discussed a regular meeting schedule for the fall and will finalize this in the August meeting. The August meeting will be held on August 17th at 7pm in Shirley in the Middle School Library.
Thanks for reading.
Pat Kelly
Vice-chair ASRSC |
