School Committee approves $98,000 for Center School and Glenbrook projects

July 10, 2019 | Payton North
payton@thereminder.com

LONGMEADOW – The Longmeadow School Committee hosted a brief meeting on June 25 where they discussed a recent administrative retreat; work in the schools – both curriculum and facility wise – and other School Committee related happenings. Additionally, the Committee approved $98,000 for two projects, one in Center School and the other at Glenbrook.

Superintendent Martin O’Shea shared with those in attendance that there was a two–day administrative retreat, which offered those in attendance the ability to discuss leadership styles and review progress against the district improvement plan. Additionally, O’Shea stated, they “took a dive” into the concept of deeper learning. The Massachusetts Commissioner of Education Jeffrey Riley has included deeper learning as a part of his path forward for the Department of Education.

“I think you’re going to hear more about that here in Longmeadow, whether it be Longmeadow Public Schools or it appears at the state level, because Commissioner Riley appears to be interested in introducing that to a greater extent at the state level, which is encouraging because it really allows us to step away from test–driven instruction. I think we’re all excited about that,” O’Shea commented.

Moving on in discussion, O’Shea shared that “a lot is happening” on both the curriculum-side and facility-side of the district.  He noted that there are over 50 summer curriculum writing projects going on, and they are all tied to school and district goals. On the facility side, O’Shea stated that Facilities Director Nick Georgantas has been working to identify summer projects. He listed pool resurfacing, duct cleaning, floor refinishing, addressing the flooding in the science department at the high school, carpet replacement, and vent maintenance as some of the many projects Georgantas has identified.

On a semi-related note, O’Shea told the School Committee that he and his colleagues are working to identify dates and times for the Committee members to tour the schools together.

Continuing on, O’Shea shared that he recently took part at a hate-crimes task force which was put on by the Jewish Federation and District Attorney Anthony Gulluni. Local police chiefs as well as four or five school districts were represented at the organizational meeting.

He stated on the subject, “Really a lot of good people coming together to think about how we can collectively introduce anti-bias training and anti-bias approaches at the school level and the community level.”

During the Finance Sub-Committee’s report, it was shared that the Town approached the school department and asked for consideration in regard to two projects that they do not have the funds to support. One of the projects was $50,000 for the fire alarm system at Center School. The other project is $48,000 to replace the switchgear at Glenbrook, which is related to the power outage that occurred earlier in the school year. Georgantas explained that the switchgear issue is a safety concern and that he recommends replacement. Insofar as the alarm system, Georgantas stated that they are asking for $50,000 to “get through design.” This funding would be strictly for the design fee, which he noted was “a little bit more than anticipated.” This is due in part to the “tight time frame” to get the project done this summer.

The board unanimously approved a combined $98,000 for both projects. The money would be coming from the school’s general fund, which was projected by Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations to have $102,000 at the close of the Fiscal Year.

Finally in an update on the damage at the High School due to a leak, Georgantas explained that the “struggle is finding replacement cabinetry.” They have tasked a vendor to match the cabinets “as best they can,” Georgantas said, explaining that the company that built the original cabinets is no longer in business. Mazza added that room 106 may not be ready or done in time at the start of the school year.

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