February 7, 2012 Special Town Meeting Summary

 

Town Moderator Larry Means dropped the gavel to open Special Town Meeting (STM) at 7:15 p.m. After 63 minutes, the meeting ended and 461 Stoneham voters accepted three proposals.

 

Warrant Article One: proposal for a new middle school (passed)

 

Stoneham School Building Committee Chair Jeanne Craigie introduced a proposal to build a new middle school in Stoneham. The proposal calls for a total building expense of $39,982,390, with the Commonwealth contributing 57.5 percent and the town paying the remaining 42.5 percent (approximately $17 million).

 

Craigie asked voters to support the proposal to replace the 58-year old building. She added that the proposed project would cost less than renovating the existing building and would come at the cost of $234 per square-foot, the lowest cost of any other proposed building under consideration by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).

 

Craigie said the town set forth a proposal to MSBA in 2008. After reviewing nine possible sites, MSBA chose the location adjacent to the existing Central Elementary School as the best for a new 5-8 middle school. The project renovates the existing school and includes an addition.

 

Craigie said benefits of the project include consolidation (the elimination of an elementary school), balanced class sizes, the restoration of middle school team teaching (lost in 2004), and the return of full-time art, music, and physical education programs. She concluded that the project would signify a “rebirth for Stoneham.”

 

Board of Selectmen Chairman Paul Rotondi said that his board unanimously supports the approval of the new middle school proposal.

 

Finance & Advisory Board member Bill Previdi said that the town needs to replace the existing middle school. He said the SBC proposed the best option at the lowest cost and the current economic climate (low interest rates and low construction costs) provides the most favorable situation to move forward. He reminded STM votes that the MSBA plans to pay for 57.5 percent of the project. The Finance & Advisory Board recommended favorable action on the new middle school proposal.

 

School Committee Chair Shawn McCarthy noted that his committee unanimously supports the new middle school proposal.

 

Resident Paul Means told STM that he is a former Stoneham Junior High School teacher. He added that past school superintendent Dan Hogan said that a good curriculum solves many disciplinary problems. Means said that two questions would influence his decision about the proposed new middle school project: (1) Can we afford it and (2) Is the plan educationally sound?

Means said that the town could not afford to pass on this proposal and that the project passed his financial and educational test. He added that Stoneham High School graduates of the future must prepare for their future with modern, excellent schools. He said the project is “exactly what we need.”

 

Means concluded that he believes the project would maintain the resale value of his home as the new school and expanded educational opportunities attract young families to Stoneham. He asked STM voters to support the proposal.

 

Resident Joan Lemire asked a member of the School Department to explain team teaching and its advantages.

 

Superintendent Dr. Les Olson responded that team teaching separates a large population of students into smaller groups that share core subject teachers (Math, English, Social Studies, and Science). The teachers spend common planning time together (during Art, Music, Phys. Ed class periods) to better connect the four main subjects. Team teaching also allows teachers to discuss students’ overall performance and at-home concerns.

 

Resident Chris Whitney asked the School Department about the possibility of increased staffing, the sale of land at the current middle school location, and the likelihood that the new project call for use of union workers.

 

SBC Committee Chair Jeanne Craigie said that the number of employees in the School Department would not increase. She said that the savings from closing a building would remain in the department’s budget, allowing for reallocation of funds to pay for more programs. She said there would be not be a reduction in personnel, but just a shift in academic areas.

 

Craigie said that the School Committee does not sell land. This proposal also calls for building the new facility on the same land. She added that the Central Elementary School (K-5 now) would close. Students would move to one of the other three elementary schools.

 

Craigie, still in response to Whitney’s trio of questions, said that the School Department has no control over hiring workers for the project. She said that a Contract Risk Manager (CRM) would be on board in the coming months, the CRM acts as a general contractor. Craigie said she would hope to have qualified workers from Stoneham on the project.

 

Resident Brian Gill, Georgetown Middle School principal, said, smiling, that he would gladly accept a 57.5 percent contribution from the Commonwealth if he decides to build an addition to his home.

 

He said that education becomes better in a new building. He said that this middle school model educates the entire child. “Anonymity,” Gill explained, is the biggest problem with middle school children. He said that team teaching allows faculty to better know and relate to students. He added that most young teens want to blend in to the group and that leads to “big problems.” He asked voters to support the proposal and expressed his desire to remain in Stoneham for the remainder of his days.

 

A Central Elementary School parent asked where Central students would go to school in the event that the proposal passes the ballot vote on April 3.

 

Craigie said that the plan calls for redistricting (changing boundaries for neighborhood elementary schools), but there is no exact plan yet. There is a plan for grades 5-8 to attend the middle school.

 

STM voters passed Article 1 at 8:02 p.m.

 

Warrant Article Two: Amendment to Zoning By-law (indefinite postponement)

 

Planning Board Chairman August Niewenhous introduced the proposed change, but promptly asked STM voters for “indefinite postponement,” not to vote on the proposal.

 

At 8:08 p.m., voters accepted indefinite postponement.

 

Warrant Article Three: Transfer funds from Clerk’s Department to Veterans Operating Budget (passed)

 

Board of Selectmen Chair Paul Rotondi explained that the town asked STM voters to allow a reallocation of funds ($40,000) between the two departments. The transfer would not increase the budget amount nor cost taxpayers any additional amount.

 

Finance & Advisory Board member Dan Strange said his board recommends favorable action.

 

At 8:10 p.m., the article passed.

 

Warrant Article Four: Transfer Cemetery Perpetual Care Income (up to $40,000) to pay expenses related to Preservation Master Plan for 1726 Old Burying Ground (passed)

 

Stoneham Historical Commission Secretary Marcia Wengen said that Town Meeting voters in October 2010 allowed a preservation restriction placed on the Old Burying Ground (located on Pleasant Street). In March 2011, the commission applied for a grant to address maintenance and repair. Wengen said that the Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund would reimburse up to $20,000 (fifty percent of the town’s expense).

 

Finance and Advisory Board member Mary Lou Bracciotti said her board recommends favorable action as the project does not ask taxpayers to pay “out of pocket.”

 

At 8:18, the article passed.