Selectmen clarify special ed audit status
School Committee members Keith Cheveralls, Virginia Justicz, and Patty Wenger were asked to join the selectmen at their Tuesday night meeting to discuss the status of the special education audit. This discussion was prompted by inquiries from the public and a letter from the School Committee asking the selectmen to appoint a representative to the Sped Audit Subcommittee. Of primary concern was the question of whose responsibility it is to follow through on the steps necessary to fulfill the terms of the 2007 Town Meeting warrant article, which appropriated $25,000 to pay for an independent audit of the school’s special education program.
“I personally feel like it’s out of our realm,” said Leo Blair, chairman of the Board of the Selectmen. He stated emphatically that he felt it was the School Committee’s responsibility to make the ultimate decision as to whether they will sign the contract with auditors Gagliardi Associates. If the contract is not signed by June 30, the funds revert back to the town and the audit cannot be completed.
“It is not up to [the Board of Selectmen] to act on this contract,” Blair said. “There is clear language in the warrant article placing the management of this process under the auspices of the School Committee. Whether or not this is a good idea, from my personal point of view, I think the Board of Selectmen has nothing to do with this. And you folks can either act on the contract or not.”
In a later interview with the Press, Justicz clarified her group’s commitment to carry out the Town Meeting mandate. That said, she expressed some frustration that the process has been stuck in something of a “no-man’s land,” given that the contract, though approved by the School Committee in early March, was not completed before town elections, after which key members—including audit subcommittee chairman Bob Eubank—were no longer present because they had not been reelected.
While it would seem that the School Committee has the relatively straightforward task of signing the contract and putting the project into motion, it is not that simple, says Justicz. First, it is not clear whether or not the contract is in fact ready to be signed. At this writing, Justicz said she believed the contract had been modified by Gagliardi after approval by the School Committee and that as a result there were details that still needed to be resolved. As of Wednesday afternoon, Justicz was waiting to hear back from Finance Director Lorraine Leonard as to the status of the contract. Secondly, there is the matter of repopulating the SPED Audit Subcommittee in order to communicate with Gagliardi and finalize a contract for the School Committee to act upon. At Tuesday’s joint meeting, Justicz requested that in keeping with the dictates of the warrant article, a new member of the Board of Selectmen be appointed to the SPED Audit Committee. Blair has since volunteered to be the selectmen’s liaison.
Finally, there is the thorny question of just how involved the School Committee is supposed to be. Justicz understands that Town Meeting was clear that the Audit Subcommittee carry out the process of contracting with an independent consultant so that the audit can take place in a way that would “keep the School Committee at arm’s length.” In addition to appointing certain members of the subcommittee, the School Committee is only responsible for signing a contract with the consultant.
“I want to move away from who did or didn’t do what,” said Justicz. “We need to sift through it and figure it out….hopefully we’ll have some clarity from here.”
Residents voice concern about failed affordable project on Ayer Road
Some residents at the selectmen’s meeting expressed their disappointment that the proposal for the all-affordable housing development on Ayer Road had failed. Bruce Leicher of Warren Avenue pronounced himself “mystified” at the decision to pass on the Ayer Road opportunity. Selectman Lucy Wallace, who is also a member of the Affordable Housing Trust, explained that “there were a number of issues we were confronted with on a short timeline” and that the “Trust has limited resources.” Wallace said that after considering the options, the decision to pass on the Ayer Road property was made “because we [the Trust] felt we couldn’t handle that order of magnitude of development on that site.”
Frechette appointed to Library Trustees
The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to appoint Poor Farm Road resident Chris Frechette to the Library Trustees to replace Roy Moffa, who passed away earlier this spring. Frechette, a 12-year resident of Harvard, has co-chaired the Friends of the Harvard Public Library with his wife Susan and, with a master’s degree in library science, considers library work to be “more of an avocation than a vocation.” At the meeting, Frechette expressed his feeling that it will be an “honor” to serve as a library trustee and is looking forward to the challenge.
Selectmen accept resignations
The selectmen accepted the resignations of Chris Ready, David Hopper, and Pam Brown from the Housing Partnership. They also accepted the resignation of Marcia Conant from the Warner Free Lecture board and the resignation of Steve Rouse from the Fiscal Impact Analysis Team and the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust.
