1996-03-05-AC-MIN.pdf - Laserfiche WebLink

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APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE MEETING TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1996 ROOM G-15, 7:30 PM Present: P Lapointe, J Pagett, M Miley, M Mairson, M Hastings, R Colwell, R Borghesani, J Ryan Absent: R Leone, L Peck Also Present: J Miller, F Rosenberg, J Young, S Guryan, S Chamberlain, J Moynihan * P Lapointe opened the meeting * J Miller gave an overview of Article 24, the Augusta property. It is currently 3rd on the Conservation Commissions prioritized list. Augusta estate is currently in bankruptcy and William Dailey has been having discussions with the executor of the estate. The Town has placed an offer of $ 150,000 for the property. J Miller also discussed Article 25 the Winning Farm. It has been difficult contacting the trustees of the property and it is believed that a purchase/sale agreement has been entered into with a developer from Burlington. The possibility of purchasing the property may become a mute question if there is in fact a purchase/sale agreement in place. * School personnel made a presentation on their capital request focusing on the technology component. It is estimated that the cost to erect a network will be in the area of $ 500,000 with an additional $ 700,000 required in order to upgrade the electrical system in order to support the network. * S Chamberlain discussed the impact on the operating budget. The budget request includes $ 90,000 in order to hire part time aids as technical assistants as well as a full time network technician. * School department has applied for both federal & state grants as well as local fund raising. Most federal funds are going to less affluent communities and there is a small amount of state funds available. In order to be eligible for state assistance the school district must a technology plan in place which networks the schools. * S Chamberlain and J Young discussed the use of the Internet and WWW as educational tools and the amount of information available to students in this forum. J Young stressed the need for technology as a tool to assist the teacher with a wide spectrum of ability within a classroom. It allows the students to progress at their own pace. * R Colwell asked if there was any data supporting increases scores due to the use of technology. S Chamberlain indicated that it is difficult to determine and perhaps too early to do so. J Young stated that technology assists with discreet skills in an integrated learning center. * J Young responded to questions raised relating to controlling long term costs. Will technology allow an increase in class size? Probably not. Technology will improve the quality of the educational product but will probably not translate into larger class size. * J Pagett asked about use of technology in special education. J Young responded that it is an excellent tool in repetitive teaching with the use of adaptive equipment.