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On Monday, the Sudbury Public Schools School Committee reviewed draft warrant articles for the May 2024 Annual Town Meeting with members of the Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) administration. There are four articles being advanced by SPS this year. Two are revolving fund articles that are largely procedural each year. The other two are for stand-alone projects.
The committee edited the language on Monday night and the articles will undergo Town Counsel review, so the following is the draft language from the meeting packet:
| Article Name | School Committee Report |
|---|---|
| School Classroom Instructional Equipment Replacement | “The article seeks funding for the purpose of purchasing and replacing classroom instructional equipment in twenty (20) total classrooms in all five (5) school buildings.Current equipment is 12-15 years old and have exceeded their useful life.” (Report continues…) |
| Sudbury Public Schools Instrumental Music Revolving Fund | “This revolving account was established in FY03 to supplement the Schools Instrumental Music Program. Fees collected for lessons will fund the music program. Revolving fund limits must be authorized each year at the Annual Town Meeting. Passage of this article achieves that purpose.” |
| Haynes Elementary School Dehumidification HVAC | “The Haynes Elementary School has areas of the building that develop condensation on the tile floors and surfaces during humid weather conditions creating a safety risk to students, staff, and the public. This condition is caused by the inability of the current HVAC system to temper (cool) the air as it enters the building. Humidity that is pumped into the building from the exterior then condensates on cool tile surfaces (walls and floors). The requested funds will be used for the addition, replacement, and/or relocation of HVAC systems that will temper the outside air during high humidity days.” |
| Sudbury Public Schools Bus Revolving Fund | “Since September of 1991, the School Department has been receiving payments from the students to offset the cost of school bus transportation. The amount offset has been shown each year in the Warrant as part of the School Department’s budget. In order to use the offset funds, a revolving fund has been instituted for which spend limits must be authorized each year at the Annual Town Meeting.” |
The Haynes dehumidification and instructional equipment articles do not come as a surprise. The humidity and slip risks at Haynes have been discussed at length with Combined Facilities Director Sandra Duran in the last year, including during the November 20, 2023 review of capital projects. However, in prior discussions Duran noted the need to reproduce the conditions with an engineer present in order to design an appropriate solution. (4:02:10 — video below) The current article appears to bypass the design and engineering phase and proceeds to installing HVAC equipment.
The instructional equipment was discussed during the FY25 budget conversations in December 2023. In December, Superintendent Crozier voiced a desire to develop an annual strategy to update the equipment within the operating budget on a rolling basis. However, they ultimately weren’t able to fit that into the FY25 operating budget, and the school committee voiced a desire to see an article for Town Meeting to start the work sooner. On Monday, members of the committee indicated that they felt this was a reasonable approach to getting started on the upgrades until the longer-term plan could be worked into the operating budget.
The instructional equipment, described as a “UDL Retrofit of Classrooms” in the December 11, 2023 meeting packet, was a Tier 1 initiative for SPS.
The new systems, as described in the draft warrant article, provide interactive and touch-capacitive displays with video projection and auditory support within the classrooms.
There was seemingly broad consensus, if not unanimous support, among the SPS School Committee members on Monday. The committee will take another look at the warrant articles after Town Counsel has completed a review, and then they’re expected to vote to put them on the warrant for Annual Town Meeting in May.