TM articles filed for full-day K, new admin building

By Mike Berger

Canton school officials submitted a pair of noteworthy articles onto the 2016 town meeting warrant last week, including one that will fund the cost of free full-day kindergarten and another proposing a new school administration building on the grounds of the former Plymouth Rubber site.

School Committee member John Bonnanzio, who serves on the Building Use Committee for the Paul Revere Heritage Site, said there is still no guarantee that a proposed 12,000-square-foot administration building will be built as a free-standing structure or be relocated to either the Revere barn or rolling mill on the site.

Bonnanzio has been meeting in recent weeks with representatives for the developer, Canton Holdings LLC, as well as Selectman Victor Del Vecchio to discuss the possibilities of constructing a stand-alone building on the site.

He said officials will investigate and determine a funding source and try to pinpoint actual construction costs; however, he said there may be some town-owned parcels on the property that the town could use as a land swap with Canton Holdings to offset all or part of the project costs.

School officials have deemed the proposed relocation of the central offices to the Plymouth Rubber site as a critical step in addressing the school system’s space crunch. In particular, the move would free up the Rodman building for classroom space, possibly for kindergarten classes or as a future home for the eighth graders.

Meanwhile, in other news from the January 7 meeting, the committee began reviewing its proposed $38.3 million operating budget for FY17, which is nearly $637,000 north of the target figure set by Finance Director Jim Murgia. The proposed budget does not include the estimated $750,000 that will be needed to fund the new full-day kindergarten program; instead, school officials intend to propose a free cash transfer — a plan that they will present to the Finance Committee this week.

School Committee Chairman Bob Golledge said he expects the gap between Murgia’s target figure and the committee’s budget to narrow as the committee reviews its spending proposals and the town adjusts its financial goals based on local receipts as well as updated state aid projections. One of the key indicators is the governor’s plan for local aid, which is expected to be released in late January or early February.

The preliminary budget submitted by Interim Superintendent Jen Henderson and School Business Manager Barry Nectow includes $673,520 worth of top priority items, including the reduction of class sizes at CHS, specifically in math, science, and social studies, and additional instructional expertise at the elementary level. There are also plans to expand Mandarin, Spanish, and American Sign Language at CHS; increase technology instruction at the elementary level; add one nurse to support “whole-child” issues across the district; add one guidance counselor and one home school interventionist to support the social/emotional needs of the students; and add two elementary assistants to allow coverage at every grade level at all schools.

The preliminary budget also contains funds for “Priority II” enhancements ($224,452), including more professional development and additional software upgrades and maintenance.

The overall proposed budget is 5.64 percent higher than last year with 3.16 percent of the increase born by new contractual obligations. Nectow also noted that school transportation costs, excluding special needs transportation, accounts for 2.4 percent of the budget.

Committee members will review the budget and send a preliminary number to the Finance Committee by January 21, but they expect to make revisions between then and the May town meeting.

Early indications from committee members suggest a preference for additional staff resources to improve math scores, particularly at the middle school, and adding a 0.2 teaching position in the CHS Social Studies Department to allow the athletic director to become full time.

Athletic Director Danny Erickson currently teaches one class and is one of the few ADs in the area who is not full-time. Henderson said that Erickson’s job is so demanding between scheduling, hiring, and supervising athletes and coaches that “he could be looked upon as a full-time human resource administrator.”

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