WILMINGTON, MA — Here are FIVE things that happened at the Wilmington School Committee Meeting on Wednesday, January 25:
#1) The FY18 Superintendent’s Recommended Budget calls for a 3.25% increase over the current year. Interim Superintendent Joanne Benton stressed 8 highlights that the budget accomplishes:
- Maintains current staffing levels which will allow the School Committee to support advantageous class size at all levels
- Reinstates a part-time library media specialist at the Boutwell and Wildwood schools, and a full-time library media specialist at the Middle School
- Reinstates professional development funds to support staff with strong, valuable and appropriate professional development opportunities
- Ensures all legal mandates are funded (e.g., special education, homeless transportation, English Language Learners, etc.)
- Establishes a Tech Academy for students in the summer that will be self-supporting
- Establishes Wilmington as a S.E.I. (Sheltered English Immersion) training site for surrounding communities
- Funds all contractual requirements (e.g., utilities, union contracts, transportation contracts, etc.)
- Funds more supplies at the Middle School in order to reduce requests of parents for school supplies
Benton also noted that after recently meeting with parents of performing arts students, the district will now fund the process of attaining copyright permission for school plays.
The salary portion of the budget is slated to increase by 3.18% increase, from $29.697 million to $30.641 million. (Wilmington will actually see a net decrease of 4.4 FTE, from 476.30 to 471.90.) The non-salary portion of the budget is slated to increase by 3.52% increase, from $7.947 million to $8.227 million. That increase is primarily due to increases in the following areas — curriculum and curriculum supplies ($127,605), special education tuitions ($85,363), and electricity ($50,000).
FY18 capital requests for the school department includes: VoIP Telephone System Project ($50,000); Elementary Switch Replacement Project ($36,000); MCAS 2.0 Laptop Cart Project ($40,000); Exchange Email Server Upgrade Project ($25,000); Middle School Technology Education Engineering Lab Replacement ($67,500); PreK-Grade 3 PC Lab Replacement Project ($72,000); Laptop Battery Replacements ($30,000); and School Van Replacement ($30,000).
#2) The School Committee will hold a special workshop-style meeting on Monday, February 6 at 7pm to begin initial discussions surrounding the Superintendent search and the recruitment process. The meeting will be open to the public. The meeting location has not yet been determined. Chair Julie Broussard noted that there’s currently 50 school superintendent openings across the state and acknowledged the “big challenge” the School Committee faces in finding a permanent replacement to Interim Superintendent Joanne Benton.
#3) The School Committee unanimously voted to table a discussion on whether to endorse or co-sponsor an upcoming town meeting warrant article, proposed by the Board of Selectmen, to (re)name the new Wilmington High School gymnasium after Lawrence Cushing. Interim Superintendent Benton confirmed that High School Building Committee decided not to automatically transfer names of the building from the old facility to the new one. Benton is not against the Selectmen’s warrant article, but first wants to create a process to handle these naming requests as she suspects others may come along. She said she would “do some homework” and get back to the committee with additional information about potential processes. Benton has already discussed her desire for a process to be established with Town Manager Jeff Hull.
#4) The School Committee unanimously accepted a $1,540 donation from the Wilmington Educational Foundation to help sponsor the school district’s Annual STEM Fair. “WEF always come through in providing grants for innovative and exciting programs in our schools that benefit all our students,” noted Interim Superintendent Joanne Benton.
#5) The School Committee unanimously approved an out-of-state field trip request, allowing for Shawsheen 3rd graders visiting the Odiorne Point Park and Wildlife Refuge in Rye, New Hampshire in June. Students will go to the Odirone Science Center and explore the Rocky Shoreline through beach coming activities.
PLUS: Interim Superintendent Joanne Benton distributed the school district’s 2016 Annual Report, which will be included in the town’s soon-to-be published Annual Report booklet.
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