HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-07-01-PBC-min.pdf TOWN OF LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS
PERMANENT BUILDING COMMITTEE
Notes from Tuesday July 1 1997 Meetina in School Administration
Building, with School Committee and representatives of the Appropriation
and Capital Expenditures committees
The meeting was called to order by School Committee Chairman Peltz
shortly after 7 30 p m with PBC members Kelley, Johnson, Poinelli and
Touart present Also present were School Committee members Elberger,
Neumeier and Rosenberg; Capital Expenditures members Karen Dooks and C
N Touart ; Appropriation Committee members Ron Pawliczek and Alan
Levine; as well as Superintendent of Schools Young Director of School
Buildings Operation Moynihan and school staff members including business
director Sandy Gurian, Jennifer Wolfram, and two others Also attending
were Dawn McKenna and Les Masterson of the Lexington Minuteman
After a brief discussion of school health education policy with Dr
Young, a rapid progress report from Moynihan on preparation of project
site surveys and fact-gathering, and a note that the presentation of
Lexington High School plans had to be postponed until the PBC' s Thursday
morning meeting, the group launched into a discussion of schedule and
swing space during construction of the nine school project(s)
Young distributed a three-sheet summary of options for continuing school
operation during additions and renovations that he had discussed with
John Moynihan and PBC members Himmel and Poinelli Option one involved
keeping sixth graders in elementary schools, double session
kindergarten, reclaiming the three remaining elementary art/music rooms
and leasing some portable classrooms , including one science lab room for
each elementary school Young commented on the degradation of
educational experience for kindergartners and sixth graders, along with
minimal impact on transportation and redistricting costs
The second option called for building a 500 student seventh elementary
school on the Young Street site The new school would house the
proposed early childhood center and would be of sufficient size to
obviate need for additions at the six existing elementary schools The
superintendent noted this plan's need for significant townwide
redistricting and additional transportation costs In later discussion
it was pointed out that the renovation work on the existing elementary
schools would probably fall into Category III of state school building
aid and cause the town to wait two or more additional years for
reimbursement Questions also arose about the site's size, suitability
and access
The third option would be to build a new Fiske School on the current
Fiske site This school could be on-line by 2000 to house the Fiske
students while the old Fiske would be available to accommodate one
elementary school each year Young characterized this as able to
support the educational program essentially intact However, full
financial comparisons of new Fiske versus fixing up the old are not yet
available Two portable classrooms each would be needed at Harrington
and Hastings , while the middle and high schools would be able be
renovated after new construction becomes able to house students All
three options would involve holding sixth graders in elementary schools
PBC Minutes of 7/1/97 - Page 2
Questions arose about availability of portable classrooms, new, and/or
refurbished Moynihan told the group that there are more used
classrooms for less money and that science lab rooms would cost more
than generic classrooms
Poinelli pointed out that refined costs would become available in the
next two weeks By July 23 decisions about schedule and swing space
will be needed Elberger commented that operation and maintenance costs
must be factored into financial comparisons of new versus renovated
quarters Because the middle schools ' space needs are most critical ,
their additions would be scheduled to take place first, with the high
school beginning construction and renovation simultaneously
PBC members reported that they have received 55 responses to the town's
advertisement for an Owner's Representative/Project Manager This
person should be aboard soon to take on assignments from the PBC and to
relieve Moynihan of some of his present extra burdens connected with the
project
Urged around the room to continue early progress involvement with the
PBC, School Committee and the financial planning committees The next
joint meetings, to which the PBC and SC are invited, will take place
July 17 and 29 in the Selectmen's Meeting Room In order to deal with
simultaneous meetings, it was suggested that representatives of the PBC
and SC might attend these meetings
Meeting adjourned at 9 20 p m
Respectfully submitted,
Erna S Greene, Secretary