The Wallingford Board of Education voted July 28 to approve a $15,900 professional-services proposal from SLAM to assist the district in revising educational specifications for the ASTE (agricultural, science and technical education) program.

Why it matters: The ASTE program uses standards that changed since earlier documents were prepared. SLAM will review material the district and program teachers have drafted, hold meetings with ASTE teachers and produce an updated document consistent with the district's single high school ed specs. The work will be paid from the district's two-percent fund.

Board discussion: Superintendent Belizzi explained the district had drafted a revision but that the standards and format differ from the recent high-school ed-spec work and said SLAM's help would create a consistent document. Board member Versace asked whether multiple quotes had been sought for the task; staff said the amount is under $16,000 and two quotations were obtained under the open-market/bid-waiver process. Some board members recalled prior frustrations with consultant work on other parts of the high-school planning process but the board ultimately moved to approve the SLAM proposal.

Vote and funding: The board approved using the two-percent fund to pay SLAM $15,900 for the ASTE ed-spec work. The motion passed on a roll-call vote.

Next steps: SLAM will review the district's draft, meet with ASTE teachers and produce a revised ASTE educational-specification document formatted to match the single high school ed specs, enabling integration if the high-school project advances.

Quote: "We started it, and we've done the best we could thus far, but it's really not something I'm a 100% comfortable revising on my own," Superintendent Belizzi said, explaining why the district sought consultant help.

Closing: The vote authorizes the consultant work and funds the contract from the district's two-percent account so staff can finalize the ASTE specifications in alignment with the larger high-school planning effort.