[Town Meeting] Arlington Public School Report to Special Town Meeting

[Joseph A. Curro, Jr.]

Dear Colleagues,

If you have not already done so, you will be receiving in the mail a copy of
the Arlington Public Schools report to the November 15, 2010 Special Town
Meeting.  This report is also online at:
http://www.arlington.k12.ma.us/administration/budget/fy10/shortfall/specialtownmeeting_11-15-10.pdf

You will also find in the materials that are being sent to you a copy of the
financial operations review of the Masachusetts Association of School
Business Officials, which was ordered by the School Committee following the
discovery of the School Department's FY 2010 deficit.  You can find an
electronic copy of this report at:
http://www.arlington.k12.ma.us/administration/budget/fy10/shortfall/masbofinancialopreportoctober2010.pdf

The School Committee's Budget Subcommittee is meeting this week with an aim
of further developing recommendations around implementation of the advice
from both the MASBO report and the recent report of the Town's auditors,
Powers & Sullivan.  We plan to update you on the state of this work at Town
Meeting.

Lastly, I would like to inform you that the School Committee will be
offering a substitute motion on Article 3, concerning the rebuild and
renovation of the Thompson Elementary School.  It is our judgment that we
have fulfilled the expectations of the Massachusetts School Building
Authority in making a good faith effort to publicly vet three options around
the project.  We also believe at this point that a strong reiteration of
Town Meeting's support for the project will better position us for favorable
support from the State than a contentious debate concerning a single
controversial and obstacle-laden option for the project.

For the above reasons, the School Committee voted on Tuesday evening to
support the attached language.  We are currently consulting with Town
Counsel and the Town Moderator regarding slight modifications to this
substitute motion, recasting it as a non-binding resolution which will fall
within the scope of Article 3.  We will have this available for you on
Monday.

Respectfully,

Joe Curro
Chair, Arlington School Committee
Town Meeting Member, Precinct 15
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