School committee authorizes MSBA statement-of-interest filing and advances buffer-zone policy work; conference-room naming deferred

The Woburn School Committee voted to ask the committee chair to seek city council placement for a Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) Statement of Interest (SOI) to pursue the core program for a combined North Woburn school and to circulate the committee’s vote and reasoning to the council.

Resources subcommittee members said the MSBA core program opened applications on Jan. 12 and Superintendent Dr. Crowley has opened an account to file the SOI; the committee voted to authorize the chair to request city council consideration as soon as possible. The motion carried on a voice vote.

Separately, the resources subcommittee updated the committee on a buffer-zone policy intended to manage school capacity. The subcommittee said administration is drafting recommended model policies and that the goal is to finalize language by March in time for kindergarten registration; subcommittee members emphasized that buffer zones would represent a culture change for the city and require transparent community engagement.

The committee also considered a resources subcommittee recommendation to name a conference room for the late Joe Crowley. The subcommittee voted 2–0 to favorably recommend advancing the request (one member abstained from that subcommittee vote for an appearance-of-impropriety reason). The full committee made a motion to name the conference room but deferred the official dedication vote to the next meeting pending family clarification.

Next steps: the chair will send correspondence to City Council President Toro to seek an agenda slot for the MSBA SOI; resources subcommittee will continue drafting buffer-zone policy language with administration and present recommendations before March; the naming request will return to the full committee after family clarification.