Winchester School Committee urges rejection of finance committee's bylaw recommendations

The Winchester School Committee voted unanimously Thursday to recommend unfavorable action on a set of bylaw-change proposals the Town Finance Committee forwarded to the Committee on Government Regulations.

Committee members said the proposals, which would amend the town charter and bylaw language touching the committee's powers and the capital planning process, were circulated without adequate notice to or consultation with boards that would be affected.

Doctor Hackett, Superintendent, told the committee the recommendations contained factual errors and would duplicate reporting processes already in place. "I would recommend to you as, as a school committee that you vote unfavorable action on these recommendations," Hackett said. He added the town and school already file an annual end-of-year financial report with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and that an "indirect cost agreement" between the town and the schools governs how shared costs are allocated.

Committee members raised similar objections: they said the changes would add redundant work, increase the risk of inconsistent data, and impose new requirements on capital planning and warrant preparation without a collaborative development process. School Committee member Christopher Nixon noted the package included many unrelated changes that could create procedural obstacles for the Capital Planning Committee and for town meeting warrant articles. "This is not a new idea, it's a lot of changes, and while I support Doctor Hackett's recommendation that we recommend unfavorable action, I would hope we can word the motion to explicitly include proposals that indirectly affect schools," Nixon said.

The committee also said the timing was poor. Members said they and other affected boards first received the finance committee's proposed language very recently and that the warrant deadline is near. "Changes of this magnitude should not be handled in this way," said Doctor Matthews, a School Committee member, calling the late circulation "inexcusable." Member Hopcroft described the proposals as potentially introducing "sand in the gears" of town capital processes.

The committee voted unanimously that the Winchester School Committee recommend the Committee on Government Regulations take unfavorable action on the finance committee's January proposals "including Chapter 3, Powers and Duties of the School Committee, as well as the numerous proposals affecting the Capital Planning Committee, EFPBC, and management's development of the capital improvement plan, as these affect the budget and project interests of the school committee." The committee asked Doctor Hackett to represent the School Committee at the Committee on Government Regulations meeting.

The School Committee's objection is procedural and focused on process, transparency and workload rather than on a single substantive technical change to policy. The Committee on Government Regulations will consider the finance committee's package on its own schedule.

Looking ahead, committee members asked that any further revisions be circulated earlier and discussed jointly with boards that would be affected before being placed on a town meeting warrant.