Published August 28, 2019
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — With the town’s latest Statement of Interest regarding the building deficiencies at the high school now in the hands of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), the School Committee last night voted to create a new “Working Group” to develop community outreach and planning strategies, regardless of whether the high school is accepted into the MSBA program in the current round.
The condition of the Wakefield Memorial High School physical plant has been a concern for a number of years, and for the last three years the town has sought acceptance into the MSBA program that provides funding assistance with new construction or renovation projects.
While those previous Statements of Interest (SOI) have not succeeded in getting WMHS into the program, School Superintendent Douglas Lyons has expressed optimism that a new and revised SOI, submitted last April, will fare better. An MSBA decision is expected in January of 2020 on the town’s latest SOI.
If the high school is accepted into the MSBA program, the state agency would reimburse the town for approximately 50 percent of eligible costs of new construction or renovation.
Last year, the high school SOI made it into the second round but did not survive the final cut.
At last night’s meeting, School Committee member Thomas Markham presented the School Committee with a memorandum and recommendation regarding the formation of a Working Group “to review, develop and propose community outreach and communications strategies with the hope of being guided and prepared for viable options for next steps upon receipt of notice from the MBSA, expected in January 2020 or before.”
Markham reminded his colleagues of a community forum held last March in the wake of January’s news that the high school had not been accepted into last year’s funding round. He recalled that a number of individuals had strongly suggested that the community should be prepared with some kind of strategy regardless of whether the MSBA invites the town to move forward in the next round.
To that end, Markham proposed creating a 17-member Working Group. He said that he had met with Superintendent Lyons and others to come up with a profile of individuals that would be representative of the various “stakeholders.”
The composition would include two School Committee members, two Town Councilors, the School Superintendent, the Town Administrator, representatives of the teachers’ and paraprofessionals’ unions, PTO representatives from the elementary schools, the Galvin Middle School and the high school, a representative from the Wakefield Educational Foundation, one representative from the Wakefield Special Education Parent Advisory Committee and three at-large members.
Markham’s proposal also listed the following individuals to serve as “advisors” to the Working Group: the Assistant Superintendent of Schools, the School Business Administrator, the WPS Director of Facilities, the Principal of Wakefield Memorial High School, the Director of Public Works, a representative of the Permanent Building Committee and a representative of the Finance Committee.
Markham stressed that the Working Group would not be a political group or a campaign organization along the lines of the “Galvinize” group that formed to promote the new Galvin Middle School project. It would also not be a building or construction committee, Markham said, and would not seek to take on the role of any other existing committee like the Permanent Building Committee.
Rather, he said, it would strictly be a “strategic planning group” aimed at building awareness and consensus in the community with respect to the future of the high school.
“I think there’s real interest around town,” Markham said.
He proposed getting the word out immediately through the press and via outreach to the various groups to be represented on the Working Group. Interested individuals would be asked to submit a letter of interest by Sept. 20 and the School Committee would make the appointments at its Sept. 24 meeting.
That would give the group at least three months to formulate some sort of strategic recommendations with respect to the town’s options for the high school before the MSBA announces in January which schools have been accepted into its funding program.
Markham stressed that the Working Group’s meetings would be open to the public and anyone would be able to attend and participate in the process. The Working Group will be tasked with following a yet-to-be established timeline, reporting back to the full School Committee at least twice between now and Dec. 31, 2019, with recommended strategies and options.
School Committee member Suzy Veilleux wondered what would happen if the high school were to be accepted into the program next January. Would the working group then give way to an advocacy group like Galvinize Wakefield?
Markham said that that it was certainly possible that the working group would lead into a citizen group that would take on more of an advocacy role. He assumed that by then the working group will have come up with some set of recommendations regarding options. The School Committee could at that time decide to dissolve the group or keep it in place for a time.
School Committee member Colleen Guida asked what would happen if more than the proposed number apply for the public at large positions. Markham said that in past instances it has been handled by placing the names in a box and making the selection by lottery at a public meeting.
The School Committee voted unanimously to move forward with the creation of the working group as proposed.
Community members interested in serving on the Working Group should submit a letter of interest via email to the School Committee Clerk: judy.boutiette@wpsk12.org by Friday, Sept. 20, 2019.