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You may use this link to find the School Committee’s meeting packet where the Facilities Department Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) appears at the very end. The MOA was executed in January 2012 and is outdated as it does not reflect arrangements made subsequently related to personnel, salaries, and cost allocation that were mentioned at the September 9 School Committee meeting.
But from page six of the MOA:
“Article VII Terms of Agreement
…Amendments to this Agreement may be made at any time by written agreement of the BOS, Town Manager, School Committee, and Superintendent.”
This creates an open door (and in my view, a mandate) for the leadership of the school district and the town to review how the Facilities Department is doing, what the changing needs of the Town and Schools are, what the priorities and concerns are, and to amend the agreement to address them. At the meeting School Superintendent Crozier stated that “it’s the structure itself that is the barrier” (video 1:12:33). He goes on to say that after consultation with school counsel they “thought that there was not a lot of changes we could make to the MOA to really improve what SPS needs as far as support. We need the time and the MOA is kinda static on that.”
With a liberal provision for amendments, it may not be the structure of the MOA that is holding up the process of resolving issues. Superintendent Crozier reported never having met with Town Manager Sheehan and Combined Facilities Director Duran, all together, to discuss priorities. How can the leaders of Sudbury Schools and the Town successfully collaborate if they do not meet with the Combined Facilities Director, all three together, to do that work?
During the School Committee meeting statements were made about the serving Combined Facilities Director without citation of data or documentation. For example, it was claimed that Sudbury Schools is getting twenty hours of service per week for $170,000 per year. Where is the evidence to show that? Too, School Superintendent Crozier reported that most other school districts and towns use the combined approach, but that other facilities departments have more staff. Where are the detailed facts about the size of these other facilities departments and the comparative number of buildings and square footage they manage?
It is untoward to consider such a major proposed change with casual claims and without a data-based presentation and detailed projections on what the change would mean going forward and what the potential ripple effects, both welcome and unwanted, might be.
Taking care of our school and municipal buildings and adjacent landscapes is a complex prospect that is impossible to do well if the leaders involved take a competitive or even passive approach rather than a collaborative approach. We are one community and we need positive, productive relationships and a growth mindset to get the best outcomes.
Whatever the condition of the MOA, I have observed the serving Combined Facilities Director, Sandra Duran, successfully taking up building projects mid-stream (ushering work forward and leading on identifying issues and seeking solutions to problems in design and execution for the Fairbank Community Center); making progress on rectifying issues identified in the ADA Transition Plan for all facilities as well as assertively assuring that all projects underway are compliant; expanding the energy and sustainability part of facilities department functions; maintaining and enhancing school and town facilities; reporting on project progress at School Committee meetings and at the Town committees the Combined Facilities Director serves or must deal with for projects; and appealing to the relevant committees and outside sources to secure funding needed to plan and execute maintenance and enhancements for school and town properties. The Combined Facilities Director also initiated a facilities condition inventory to be the basis for creating a long-needed comprehensive maintenance and replacement schedule.
All these I have observed simply as an actively interested resident. I’m sure there are other tasks and actions the Combined Facilities Director is fulfilling that I don’t know about. Sudbury is fortunate to have such a qualified, capable, and productive person in this critical role.
I respectfully call upon the School Committee, School Superintendent, Town Manager, and Select Board to come together to preserve and adjust the arrangement that has worked well for twelve years and could work even better going forward when the School Superintendent and Town Manager improve their communication and collaboration. I believe that taxpayers do not want a lack of collaboration to produce inefficiencies that will ultimately increase our taxes without measurable benefit.
Kay Bell, Old Lancaster Road