Board asked for lockers at middle school

A citizen addressed the Springfield School Board Monday night to advocate for student lockers at the Riverside Middle School.
http://www.vermontjournal.com/content/school-board-asked-lockers-middle-school

School Board Asked for Lockers At Middle School Submitted by VT Journal on Tue, 12/03/2013 - 4:43pm By ANNE DEMPSEY The Shopper SPRINGFIELD, VT -The Springfield School Board met at 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 2, 2013. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, a Springfield citizen addressed the board to advocate for student lockers at the Riverside Middle School. This woman’s daughter is a 6th grader at this school. Without lockers, students need to carry all their books from class to class each day. One day recently, her daughter’s backpack weighed 11.8 pounds. “Today, it weighed 12.9 pounds, which is about 10% of her body weight. I know that this is not healthy. It’s not good for their spines. There’ve been studies about how bad this is for kids.” She added that the other parents she spoke to all expressed similar concerns. “I know parents are willing to fundraise” in order to get these lockers. She researched the cost of student lockers on the Internet and said that the cost of 150 double lockers would be $20,000. Chair Jeanice Garfield thanked this citizen for bringing up a topic of concern while simultaneously suggesting ways to work towards a solution. Vice-Chair Bill Harbeson said, “The budget is tight. It’s tight every year.” He seemed reticent to add any additional costly items to the proposed budget. There was mention that student lockers could be included as part of the district’s Capital Plan. The board then passed a motion to allow research on price quotes and building codes for these lockers. Chair Jeanice Garfield described a wonderful letter the board received from the Vermont Symphony Orchestra after a visit to the Elm Hill School. The students were described as very respectful of one another. The letter also noted the students’ exemplary behavior. Garfield commented, “The school, the teachers and the principal should be commended for that.” The minutes of the Nov. 18 Regular Meeting were accepted. Fiscal Services director Steve Hier passed out copies of a letter from Governor Peter Shumlin. In part it read, “Spending may well increase 3.8 % next year, after rising approximately 5% this year, which will dictate a $0.05 increase in the residential statewide education tax base rate for the second year in a row.” Then, Hier briefly reviewed the status of the current year’s budget. “If everything stands as it is now, we will have a $118,000 surplus.” The resignation of Mary Owens, a Special Education teacher at the Riverside Middle School was accepted. A motion to accept the retirement of teacher Deanna Dexter from Elm Hill School was accepted. Chair Jeanice Garfield noted that Dexter had taught 100’s of Springfield students in grades Kindergarten through third grade over a span of 28 years. Garfield added that Dexter would be missed. A motion was passed to accept the new service contract with Cannon Solutions America. Steve Hier, Fiscal Services director, explained that new contract would replace some old copiers with new faster copiers. The new copiers would have the capacity to make color prints for a much lower cost than in the past. Staff would also be able to use the copier as a printer when accessing a resource on a classroom or office computer. The board then passed a motion to go into Executive session to discuss a student issue. Chair Garfield stated that there would be no new information presented after this discussion.