2/18/1992 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes

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BOARD OF SELECTMEN Page 6 MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18 , 1992 _ • Special Town Meetinq/Special_Election: The rationale of the Finance Committee members includedt,the un- certainty of the exact figures and the needed. number of classrooms related Mr. Gallo. The Finance Committee felt we would ,not`.be ready with the answers by March 16th so they felt it would be best served at the Annual Town Meeting. A March Town Meeting presumes a certain state of an emergency relates Mrs. Greelish that the Finance Committee feels doesn ' t exist. The decision can be made in May for an addition or an elementary school , but the Finance Committee doesn ' t believe the figures indicate an em- ergency is showing up in .September. Mr. Terry related the School Building Committee determined the most viable option for the town is a long range plan for an addition to become a future jr./sr. high school . The School Building Committee has recommended to go forth with the addition. Four classrooms are to be available on January 1 , 1993 . Mr. Terry indicated that Carlson Associates gave time for an updated conversion for the proposed addition. The figures are as good as they can be . The urgency is the number of children to house. The economy at this time gives us a better bid selection. With the March Town Meeting, we are trying to focus on building the school addition to take care. of our needs now. The School Committee is looking down the road relates Mr. Consalvi . The need is immediate. It has been presented. by the School Building Committee. He suggests to • work together as a unit and let the people decide. This is our committee approved by the Board of Selectman relates Selectman Caffyn. She indicates she finds the information wrong. When figuring the square footage requirements, you multiply the elementary schools by 115 square feet per pupil in planned enrollment. The kinder- garten enrollment shall be half . If you don ' t divide them, there are 80 children not required to be housed. You have the numbers for kinder- garten when viewing for total seats, 160 children go half the day. When we have a School Building Committee under the Selectmen, we should make sure we know what is to be presented to the public. The Finance Committee should also be aware indicates Selectman Caffyn. When viewing this we have to determine what is the population to establish an urgency and what is the capacity informs Selectman Caffyn. We have to deal with teacher per pupil ratio . With no changes next year, Selectman Caffyn indicates the ration for kindergarten is 23-1 , pre-k is 15-1 , 1st grade 25-1, 2nd grade 26-1 , 3rd grade 24-1 , 4th grade 25-1 and 5th grade 22-1 . We can 't look at one year at a time relates Dr. DeMoura . It took four years to complete .the Middle School and five years to complete the Coombs School . Our charge is to make every child as successfully academ- ic as possible. The decision belongs to the people. Mr. Polsi suggests to view the Fiscal Long Range Plan of the Town and make adjustments . The addition was not included in the plan. Select- man Jacobson suggests to place this item on the agenda of February 24, 1992 . • Selectman Vaccaro indicates not to forget the important issue of handling our high school population. The School Building Committee has been very responsive. Their plan is viable. There is a need for class- room space. If classroom space is available for September of 1993 , it