Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the District Operations And Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Everett superintendent reports administration building water damage; district shifts operations and reviews federal funding exposure
Summary
Superintendent reported a water pipe break at the Everett Administration Building that closed the facility and prompted temporary relocation of administrative functions; he also summarized a district review of federal grants and said staff prepared contingency plans if federal funding changes.
The superintendent told the Everett School Committee on Feb. 25 that the district closed the Administration Building at 121 Ninth Street after a water line break early Thursday damaged several floors and some furnishings, and that staff and services have been relocated while the building is remediated.
The closure temporarily moved administrative operations into three district locations, including shared office space at Everett High School, classroom space at the Devon School and an HR office in the Adams School basement. The superintendent said custodial and IT staff set up remote-capable workstations and redirected phone lines so district operations were functioning on the following Monday.
Why it matters: the administration building houses offices that handle public services such as working papers, deliveries and certain records; the relocation is intended to keep those services available while the district completes drying, cleanup and an insurance assessment.
The superintendent said the district has begun damage remediation and expects an insurance adjuster to inspect the building; electricity and water to the building have been shut off while affected materials dry to prevent mold. He said employment records kept electronically were intact and that hard-copy documents will be recovered or reprinted as needed. "The only thing that I think we saw was some miscellaneous paperwork that was open in the human resource office, but those can be things that we maintain in the cloud," he said.
The superintendent also briefed the committee on the district's review of federal funds after recent federal executive actions and related litigation. He said the district receives federal grant funding through the state and that staff compiled a detailed flowchart showing all federal funding streams into Everett Public Schools and their uses. He said the district identified 13 federal funding sources that currently support programs in Everett and that, as of the meeting, the district had not been told to stop spending federal funds. The superintendent said the district would be ready to respond if any federal flows were affected and that he would provide the committee with the district's funding breakdown.
Committee members and the superintendent stressed that much of federal funding is appropriated by Congress and that any major change would likely involve legal proceedings and time to respond. Committee member Mr. Barrows noted that court actions have so far stayed some federal changes and said that funding appropriated by Congress would continue until any new appropriation goes into effect.
The superintendent also reported district operational items: current attendance is about 91 percent and chronic absenteeism has declined compared with the prior year; the debate team advanced two students to semifinals in the Boston-area tournament; and the superintendent said he will move commencement to a Wednesday in June to accommodate students who could not participate on a Saturday for religious reasons. "I don't care if it was one, we have to give them an opportunity to participate," he said.
The committee accepted the superintendent's report by roll call vote 8-0 and placed the report on file.
