Parents Get Answers To Questions About the Schools

The School Committee last night candidly answered questions from a roomful of approximately 50 parents, students and community members who quizzed the elected officials about an array of missteps that have plagued the department for the past several months.

The meeting was scheduled at the suggestion of Paul Baier, a parent of an eighth grader, who started last month in an effort to get answers from the elected officials about a series of problems including , questions about , food safety, and a grandfathered verbal agreement that allowed two employees to receive a total of $101,000 in banked over more than 25 years on the job.

The series of problems culminated in November with the and the placing of Business Manager Ruth Quinn Berdell on a “voluntary paid leave of absence” after 26 years on the job.

As she has done since Berdell was put on seven weeks ago, School Committee Chairman Suzy Littlefield after the meeting refrained from making any comment until there is a change in Berdell’s status.

Over the past several months residents have spoken out about the problems at School Committee meetings, but the “citizen speak” section of the meetings does not allow for any back and forth dialogue between the elected officials and speakers.

“It’s refreshing to actually be able to engage in a conversation,” School Committee Chairman Suzy Littlefield said, adding that similar forums with residents have occurred in the past.

“I know it has been a rough fall,” she said. “I’m looking forward to a better spring.”

The questions started on the topic of food service.

Former head cashier Franny Campbell, who lost her job when the school department decided to privatize by hiring Chartwells to serve school lunches, started the discussion with questions about food services.

What are the financial benefits of hiring a private company verses an in-house food service department?

Littlefield answered by saying the School Committee has not yet received a breakdown or analysis of the financial ramifications of the decision to privatize, but are expecting to have the information before making a decision on whether to continue with Chartwells after the current one year contract expires on June 30.

She said the committee will be interested to know whether there was a financial benefit to privatization and whether the expectations of the contract are being realized.

Is Chartwells composting lunch waste as stipulated in the contract?

“They are not composting, and that is a major disappointment,” Littlefield said. “We are going to be reviewing the contract and going over it item by item.”

Can parents get their money back from the NutriKids debit system if their child decides to bring food from home rather than buy lunch at school?

Littlefield said parents should be able to get a refund of their money. She suggested that parents contact a member of the School Committee by email or telephone if they are having difficulty.

Later in the evening Baier, who was asking questions on behalf of his group, asked about food safety.

Is it true that there was never a health code violation before this year under Chartwells?

“None that I am aware of,” Littlefield answered.

Campbell then confirmed that in her 17 years working in the food service department the town’s health inspectors never found a violation.

At the start of this school year two lunch lines at the middle school had to be closed because of problems with food temperature.

“To lose our jobs, and then on the very first day of school to have a violation, I thought I was going to lose my mind,” Campbell said.

Baier, who said 30 parents contacted him with questions for the School Committee, asked about the school’s policy of checking applicants, employees and volunteers criminal background using the Criminal Offender Records Information reports.

The question was in reference to the hiring of custodian Gino Lister l. After his arrest he was found to have a which was not discovered at the time of his hiring.

If one hire slipped through, and it only became apparent when he was caught allegedly stealing, are there others? Is my child safe?

Littlefield answered that all new hires will be subject to a heightened CORI review policy written after the Lister case, and that CORI checks are redone on all employees every three years.

School Committee member Ilissa Povich, who helped draft the new policy, said redoing the CORIs of all of the approximately 800 employees this year would be prohibitively time consuming. But, she said, a suggestion from Baier to recheck the backgrounds of all employees and volunteers whose previous CORI came back with any kind of report would be doable and something that should be considered.

“Most come back with absolutely nothing,” Povich said.

Michael Kiernan, a father of children at the middle and high schools, asked about the vacation policy.

Is the vacation policy now clearly defined so there will be no further discrepancies with employees banking several weeks of unused vacation time?

School Committee member Diane Campbell said there is now a written policy for all employees not covered by a collective bargaining agreement that is similar to the town’s policy which is essentially “use it or lose it.” Employees may get permission under special circumstances to bank no more than two vacation weeks for no more than one year.

Lisa Moore, a mother of a daughter in elementary school and son in middle school, was concerned about special education.

As we look for a new superintendent, are we going to focus on someone who has a background in special education?

School Committee member KC Kato who is chairing the Superintendent Search Committee, said she is committed to getting community input about what qualifications residents are looking for in a new superintendent.

Karen Haberly, a mother of two sons in the public schools whose house is very close to the old high school, asked about maintenance of the school buildings. She said she has noticed cracked bricks, rusty window frames and leaky roofs at the old high school, and worried that routine maintenance has been ignored or deferred at all the schools.

All of the schools are really rundown, is anyone paying attention?

Diane Campbell answered that a committee has been working on this very issue since last May and that it will recommend to the annual Town Meeting that a separate facilities department be established in town to address the needs of school and town buildings.

In addition, she said a detailed study of all the school buildings is in the works which will guide the School Committee in coming up with a longterm plan to best maintain the school facilities.

Jen Looper, a mother of two girls who has announced plans to run for the School Committee, had concerns about MCAS science scores at the middle school, and the STEM or science, technology, engineering and mathematics, curriculum. 

Why are middle school MCAS test results in science lagging behind scores in other disciplines?

Littlefield explained that the Wellesley schools make a conscious decision to teach science in an order different from the MCAS schedule, so middle school students are asked questions about science disciplines that they haven’t yet learned.

In addition, Povich said Wellesley students are doing “incredibly well” on SATs, which are the scores colleges look at in making admissions decisions.

Povich also said that a curriculum review of the science department is scheduled in the next few years, and once a new superintendent is hired may be moved up perhaps ahead of other reviews.

Mattie Koeneman, a junior at WHS, had questions about the cameras to be installed in hallways and public areas of the new high school.

“When we heard about the cameras we were absolutely terrified,” Koeneman said. “Our mandatory reading is 1984.”

Who approved cameras to be installed in the new high school? 

Littlefield said that cameras are being put into virtually all new schools being built and that at the request of the Police Department the School Committee made the decision to include them. The committee is currently reviewing a policy for the cameras which will be video only, and used only to review an incident, not for continuous monitoring.

She said the cameras could help stop bullying and vandalism at the school.

How will the cameras help stop vandalism if most of the problems occur in locker rooms and bathrooms where there will be no cameras?

Littlefield said if an incident occurs, administrators would be able to view the tape and see who went in and out of the vandalized areas at the time when the destruction is believed to have occurred.

Since there is no audio on the recording, aren’t you concerned that students could be falsely accused of bullying?

Littlefield said she has faith in administrators that they would talk to all students involved and fully investigate any instances of bullying further than simply watching a tape and looking for whether unheard words were exchanged in a hallway or stairwell.

“Your generation has to face things our generation never did,” Littlefield said.

She said the specter of the murders and suicides at Columbine High School in Colorado nearly 14 years ago weighs heavily on the minds of the police, and that unfortunately cameras are a byproduct of a changing society.

Finally Baier asked about restoring confidence in the school business office after the problems revealed by an independent audit which showed sloppy accounting.

How do parents regain confidence in the business department?

Littlefield said the School Committee is focusing more closely on the business office.

She also said that a suggestion that the schools hire a chief financial officer is something the committee would like to see, although budget considerations may not make it possible for the coming year.

In addition, a review of the department commissioned by Wong to be done by the Massachusetts Association of School Business Officials, is complete and is expected to be made public early next week.

That report is expected to lead to new policies in the department.