School Committee Minutes

BEDFORD SCHOOL COMMITTEE

                                                           March 1, 2016

Bedford High School - Large Group Instruction Room

1.Call to Order

At 7:30 p.m., Mr. McAllister called to order the meeting of the Bedford School Committee.  Other members present included Ms. Guay, Mr. Pierce, Mr. Hafer and Mr. Brosgol.  

2.Comments from Public

 None

3.Personnel Report

Mr. Sills asked the School Committee to consider two out-of-state field trip requests.

The first one is for the annual DECA competition for high school students.  The event is held in state in Boston, but is an overnight event.  Ms. Flora will accompany thirty-one high school students to compete in this event on the evening of Thursday, March 10th through Saturday, March 12, 2016.  No school will be missed.  Student parents will be responsible for getting them to and from the event. The event will be appropriately chaperoned.

Mr. Pierce made the following motion:

MOVED: That the School Committee approve the field trip to the DECA Competition at the Copley Marriot in Boston, Mass on March 10-12, 2016 at a cost of approximately $450 per student and no cost to the schools.

MOTION SECONDED by Mr. Hafer

MOTION APPROVED: 5-0

The second out-of-state field trip request is for three students to go to the prestigious Massachusetts All State Music Festival in Boston, MA on March 10 – 12, 2016. One day of school will be missed.  Ms. O’Toole will accompany and chaperone the students.

Mr. Brosgol made the following motion:|

MOVED: That the School Committee approve the overnight field trip request for three BHS students to attend the Massachusetts All State Music Festival on March 10-12, 2016 at a cost of $300 per student and a cost of no more than $418 charged to the music department for chaperone hotel costs.

MOTION SECONDED by Mr. Pierce

MOTION APPROVED: 5-0

Mr. Sills announced the following informational items:

4. Feasibility Study Presentation

Mr. Sills and TBA Architects presented the feasibility study and proposed a schematic design for the Lane School renovation project. 

Mr. Sills reminded the audience that due to several years of large kindergarten enrollment, the

School Committee concluded that more space is needed at Davis and Lane Schools.  The Davis School renovation project will apply for funding under the State’s school building renovation program.  The School Committee however, will ask the town to approve the Lane School renovation project on its own.

Tonight, Mr. Sills is asking the School Committee to listen to the Feasibility Study and then evaluate the proposed Schematic Design options.  In order to meet a September 2017 completion, the School Committee should vote tonight on an option to move forward to the town for financial consideration.

Mr. Justin Humphreys from TBA Architects presented a proposal that looked at what could be done inside the Lane School with existing space and what amount of expansion is needed.  He looked at space that is in use and that is under used. He also looked to see if ADA criteria is met. Mr. Humphreys presented information that categorized use of space and compared it to MSBA standards.  

Mr. Humphreys said this process revealed that the Lane School classrooms are appropriately sized, that the gymnasium is over sized (which he acknowledged was done on purposed for community-wide use) and that the cafeteria is undersized and does not meet regulations for the number of students it serves.

Mr. Humphreys said that the addition of additional classrooms will trigger the need for another stair case and/or reconfiguring of the current split level stair case in the school.  New bathrooms will also be needed to accommodate the new classrooms.

Mr. Humphreys recommended that five or six new classrooms be added to the school. He then presented several design options for the School Committee to consider.  Handouts were given to each member with pros and cons of each option.

Mr. Humphreys also recommended expanding the cafeteria to accommodate three lunches, since the Lane School schedule cannot accommodate a fourth.  He also presented a couple of parking lot expansion options since parking at the school is a problem

Mr. Humphreys noted that these options were presented to the community last night at a meeting with the Building Taskforce. He said that there was a lot of discussion on each option.

Costs of these options range from $3.1 million to $4.3 million. The costs for doing the Cafeteria, Office expansion, and Parking lot expansion were separated for School Committee analysis.

Mr. Sills then reported to the School Committee the Task Force recommendation.  He said the group recommends moving forward with Option 1C – a two story expansion of the west wing.

This option will:

• Create a second classroom wing of 6648 SF to balance the north wing
• Have  6 new classrooms that are closer to the building core and specials
• Follow the existing geometry making existing additional small group and office spaces on each floor
• Widen the existing split stair in order to provide three means of egress and improve overall circulation

The interior reconfiguration can be done as a second phase (except stair widening).

The cons of this options include losing trees and extensive re-grading of the hillside, reconfiguring of library, and loss of common space at the end of an existing corridor.

Mr. Sills asked for School Committee questions or comments.

Mr. Hafer said he agrees that this option seems like the best.  The other options had classrooms that were too far away from the core building and had very long hallways. He said he had some concern about the parking lot, cafeteria and office pieces of the projects.  He would like to really understand these costs on a square footage basis.  He also suggested sequencing some parking lot work to be done early in the project to accommodate the construction vehicles.

Mr. Pierce said he would like to know if there is any difference in the operating costs for any of these options.  

Mr. Humphreys said on a day to day basis, no.  However a second story will use more energy.

Mr. Pierce also asked about occupancy codes.  Mr. Humphreys said that the laws allows 1 student per 20 SF and the MSBA uses one student per 35 SF.  Code will allow these classrooms to hold 40 people.

Mr. Pierce said that parking now at the school is insufficient.  He feels parking expansion and office reconfiguration should definitely be part of the project.   

Mr. Brosgol agrees that there is a need for additional parking and improving circulation in the building. He asked if there is any storage in the plans.  Mr. Sills said right now the teachers are using storage areas for teaching and that these places will return to their original purpose.

Mr. Brosgol asked if the computer lab will become obsolete.  Mr. Sills said no that the new emphasis on coding and robotics require a lot of set up and that this can be accomplished in the lab.

Mr. Brosgol asked if all options have a similar time line.  Mr. Humphreys said yes.  The project will use 2 summers and 1 school year to complete.  He said it was a tight but doable time line.

Mr. Sills added that only two new classrooms will be needed for the 2017 school year. Therefore, the initial focus will be on the interior work required for these classrooms.

Ms. Guay said she was there last night and agreed that it was a great discussion of all options. 

Mr. McAllister asked Principal Ackerman, who was in the audience, if he had any comments or questions.  Mr. Ackerman said that this option is a little bigger and will give the school the most flexibility. “The building feels crowded now and he cannot imagine how it would be with adding another 100 students.”

Mr. Sills spoke about the evolution of this project. He distributed an analysis that showed the effect on class size and costs of making no changes and of using three modular buildings rather than renovating. This analysis also compared adding 5 classrooms rather than 6, with and without MSBA funding, assuming it was approved and reimbursed the town at 35%.

Mr. Sills asked the School Committee to consider voting on a motion to proceed with one of the schematic design options.  He said this action would allow Town Meeting vote on having TBA move into the next phase - schematic design for actual cost determination.

Mr. Hafer said he believes Option 1C (6 classrooms) is the best option because it is cost effective.

Mr. Pierce agrees but would like to see the pricing to include parking expansion and office reconfiguration too.

Mr. Brosgol asked about staff feelings on the project option.  Mr. Ackerman said that staff was pleased that Project Adventure course would remain.  They are concerned about construction noise and commotion.  Mr. Brosgol agrees that Option 1C sounds best.

Ms Guay also agreed that Option 1C is the way to go.

Mr. McAllister thanked Mr. Sills for the extra analysis comparing all options.  He said he believes it makes sense to build a sixth classroom in order to have the most flexibility.  He said given the enrollment study, he does not think this proposal is excessive in any way.

Mr. Hafer made the following motion:

MOVED: That the School Committee agree to have TBA Architects proceed to schematic design on option 1C and include parking expansion and office reconfiguration.

MOTION SECONDED by Ms. Guay

MOTION APPROVED: 5-0

A member of the audience suggested that the architects looks at the option of using prefab buildings.

Mr. Sills thanked the Space Needs Committee for their hard work during this process.

5.Curriculum Overview

The School Committee agreed to postpone this presentation by Ms. Sallee to another meeting.

6.Superintendent’s Report

None

7.Liaison Reports

None

8.Minutes for Review

Mr. Hafer made the following motion:

MOVED: That the School Committee approve the minutes of the January 19, 2016 School Committee meeting as revised.

MOTION SECONDED by Ms. Guay

MOTION APPROVED: 5-0

9.Adjournment

Mr. McAllister noted that tonight is Mr. Hafer’s last School Committee meeting. He thanked him for his dedication to serving for 9 years. Other members congratulated Mr. Hafer and thanked him for his devoted service.  Mr. Sills said that he provided “incredible support to the schools” and praised him for his preparation and knowledge of all the programs. 

Mr. Hafer thanked the School Committee members and said that they are all great people to work with.

Ms. Guay made the following motion.

MOVED:  Motion to adjourn at 9:30 p.m. to Executive Session for contract negotiations, not to reopen.

MOTION SECONDED by Mr. Pierce

MOTION APPROVED: 5-0

Roll Call Vote:

___________________        _________________________

School Committee Secretary    Date

BEDFORD SCHOOL COMMITTEE

March 1, 2016

Exhibits/Document

• Request for Qualifications BEDRFQ LANE 2016

• Town of Bedford – Lane School Addition Program Study dated Feb. 26, 2016

• Option analysis by Jon Sills

• Draft of minutes from the January 19, 2016 School Committee meeting.