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You've reached Jeff Dieffenbach's blog, which I use to post, comment on, or respond to Wayland school-related issues. The opinions expressed here are my own and do not reflect an official position of the Wayland School Committee.

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06/21/2004

Dieffenbach: I'm sure that the WVN's Tom Sciacca did not intend the following remark to sound as harsh as it came out in print (Wayland Voters Network #021):

WVN: Director of Student Services Doris Goldthwaite reported on the status of the special needs program. This very expensive program has increased in size in the last year from 16% to 18% of the student population (551 students).

Wayland's special education population of 16% last year was only fractionally higher than the state mark of 15.6%. Of course, this number varies from year to year. Wayland has a reputation for providing excellent quality special education services cost-effectively. According to TEC (The Educational Cooperative, of which Wayland is a member). In the 2000-2001 school year, Wayland's cost per special education pupil was $8,305, which placed Wayland 9th out of 14 TEC districts (the maximum being Sherborne's $15,665, the minimum Medfield's $5,467).

06/17/2004

Dieffenbach: The WVN again puts emphasis on spending town funds on an inadequate project (Wayland Voters Network #020):

WVN: According to the architect, no option is being presented which is bare minimum, that is, only meeting building needs, rather than educational needs as presented by the administration. And an even more basic-needs project, which he called "asset stabilization" (simply restoring buildings to their original conditions), is not being considered because it wouldn't be fundable under the state's SBA program (assuming SBA funding actually becomes available again).

06/16/2004

Dieffenbach: In a 6/16 Town Crier letter primarily devoted the general topic of good communication, George Harris takes a swipe at the School Committee:

Harris: At least the School Committee on occasion responds to criticism, ...

The School Committee elects not to respond in the newspaper to every bit of criticism raised. In addition to the timely newspaper insertion, the School Committee instead opts to deliver its response at meetings, via phone calls, or through private correspondence.

..., but never graciously.

Mr. Harris' "never graciously" charge is curious, to say the least. While certainly not perfect, the School Committee makes every effort to communicate with respect and civility. To be sure, the School Committee would never lace a missive with such a level of vitriole as that in Mr. Harris' March 24 Town Crier letter (discussed below in more detail):

“ethical free-fall,” “penchant for fabrication and concealment,” “secretive process,” “outrageous,” “hypocrisy,” “egregious,” “bungled,” ...

06/08/2004

Dieffenbach: At the May 27 meeting, the HSBC heard from project manager Dick Amster that the three options (1: primarily renovate; 2: mix of renovate and new; 3: primarily new) would have relatively similar costs. Margo Melnicove (the WVN's chair) asked the following question that night as reported in Wayland Voters Network #019:

WVN: I asked whether the committee would consider a fourth option, based on what is absolutely necessary, as opposed to what may be desirable. (For example, I asked whether a new 850-seat auditorium is absolutely necessary.) I got the impression that the committee does not intend to come up with a fourth option that significantly reduces the scope (and cost) of the current Option 1.

There is no way to define what is "absolutely necessary" versus what is merely "desirable." The School Committee's position is clear, and supported by the November 2003 Town Meeting vote that rejected the idea of a "stop-gap" addition to the $355k schematic design project: it is necessary to address all aspects of a responsible educational program including academics, commons, athletics, and arts.

Changing gears, WVN correspondent and School Committee meeting regular Tom Sciacca had this to say about the School Committee's investigation of school bus advertising:

(A note from your Humble Reporter: Personally, I would rather pay the ten bucks or so that this advertising would save me on my tax bill than teach our children yet again that life is all about crass commercialism. They are already taught that lesson well enough. But maybe that's just me. How do you feel about it? Let them know!)

The School Committee would prefer not to place advertising on the outside of our school buses. (Note that ads on the outside of the buses bombard the children far less than if the ads were inside.) The Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee have asked the schools to consider fee increases and other revenue sources. The committee would be irresponsible if it did not investigate the issue and understand the possible pros and cons.

As an aside, $10 per median household per year is a good estimate based on the reasonable assumption of $50k in bus advertising revenue per year. It is valuable to know the public's tolerance for increased taxes.

05/019/2004

Dieffenbach: Wayland Voters Network #018 accuses the School Committee of ignorance:

WVN: Given the above [discussion about a schedule for the next high school vote] , at the public comment period [of the School Committee's 5/17/2004 meeting] your humble correspondent [Tom Sciacca] took the opportunity to attempt to educate the members of the SC as to the realities of the winter habits of older citizens, and the fact that any winter special election will disenfranchise many of them. To my amazement, SC members seemed ignorant of the facts that older folks leave town in the winter, many for extended periods which might entirely encompass an election cycle, and that they sometimes go places without any practical Internet access that would allow them to stay in contact with Town affairs.

Mr. Sciacca's observation of ignorance is completely unfounded. Members of the School Committee are quite aware of the downsides of a January election. Any such downsides should be balanced against the upsides, most notably the importance of getting the high school modernization and expansion effort back on schedule as much as possible. If Mr. Sciacca is suggesting that the population leaving town is more likely to vote one way than the other, the School Committee would most certainly be interested in seeing the data that supports this contention. It is entirely possible that those with the means to get away to warmer climates for extended periods may well be more inclined to support a school building project, not less. While the School Commmittee would most likely not wish to lose such voters, it may well be that the schedule demands such a sacrifice.

05/14/2004

Dieffenbach: The WVN appears to take voters to task for coming out to make their vote known on an issue of importance to them (Wayland Voters Network #017):

WVN: Article 33 (scheduling of ballot questions) was also defeated, by a vote of 79 ayes to 117 nays. ... (Editor's note: Some 30-40 opponents of Article 33 arrived in time to vote on the article, and then left Town Meeting shortly after the vote was taken. The Moderator expressed surprise at the sudden increase in attendance before the vote. We found his surprise, well, surprising. It's no secret that special interests can pack Town Meeting and can sway an election, especially a special election called to consider their pet issue…which is why WVN supported Article 33 in the first place.)

05/06/2004

Dieffenbach: After devoting a few newsletters to the Nike project, the WVN turns its attention back to the high school project with Wayland Voters Network #015:

WVN: Some opponents say that passage of [Article 33, limitation on ballot questions] could risk delaying a vote on the high school project until the annual Town election next April. We don't get this. The High School Building Committee's timetable calls for presenting a proposal to voters in the fall, and one would hope they intend to do so during the election with the highest voter turnout, i.e., the presidential election. If this article passes, it seems it would merely serve as an additional incentive for the HSBC to meet its own timetable.

The HSBC's timetable is as compressed as possible. It does not call for informational materials to be ready in time for the November general election. Moreover, opponent objections to the article go beyond the high school question to the more general issue of whether the Board of Selectmen's ability to make decisions for the town should be unnecessarily curtailed.

04/28/2004

Dieffenbach: As readers likely recall, the high school modernization and expansion effort hit a major roadblock in February of 2003 when the state imposed a moratorium on school building assistance. WVN member Tom Sciacca attended the 4/26/2004 School Committee meeting and reported the following ( Wayland Voters Network #011):

WVN: In response to skeptical questioning by School Committee members, [Wayland State Senator Scott] Brown repeatedly assured them that the issue would be resolved in [the next 2 1/2 years], and that new funding would actually be higher than in the past.

04/27/2004

Dieffenbach: The WVN takes a turn away from their self-described objectivity with Wayland Voters Network #010 , commenting negatively on the newly formed Citizens for Wayland's Future (of which I am a member). The WVN suggests that the existence of the CWF will be so powerful as to block the ability of Wayland residents to think for themselves.

WVN: And please remember to vote… your conscience, not someone else's.

We say this because of the emergence of a Political Action Committee that appears to be behaving like a new local political party. ... endorsing a slate of candidates and a position on a Town Meeting article. We believe this is unique in the history of Wayland; political parties have not been involved in purely local races. In the past, each candidate campaigned on his/her own platform with support from each individual's own campaign committee.

The CWF's goals are indeed nefarious:

The group's stated goals are, no doubt, ones that each and every candidate supports (long-term planning, careful growth of the tax base, and preservation and enhancement of Town services, schools and quality of life).

The WVN objects to the CWF's membership:

Most of the founding members are elected or appointed officials, ...

Yet the WVN concedes:

Of course, any resident, public official or otherwise, is free to support any candidate they wish. ...

It will be interesting to see if the tenor of WVN newsletters reverts to form or continues on its apparent new advocacy track.

04/24/2004

Dieffenbach: WVN newsletters three through nine ( #003, #004, #005, #006, #007, #008 #009 ) do a nice job of outlining a range of important town meeting and election questions before the town.

03/24/2004

Dieffenbach: George Harris unveils a laundry list of items addressed to the School Committee: 3/24 Town Crier letter.

Harris: In its Feb. 26 Town Crier column, the five members of the School Committee tried to sanitize the secretive process they created to appoint the High School Building Committee. They claim they didn't violate the Open Meeting Law. We should find out after the district attorney investigates.

In fact, the School Committee made no such claim. Instead, the committee said that it “awaits without further comment the Attorney General’s ruling.”

[Note: In a letter to the Wayland Town Counsel's office on September 20, 2004, the Middlesex District Attorney's office informed the town of a minor technical violation: the January 8th meeting had been posted as a School Committee meeting and not an HSBC Application Review Committee meeting. The DA office concluded, "Contrary to the complainant's suggestion, I do not find that the Review Committee held an improper closed session on January 8th or any time thereafter."]

However, the School Committee surely violated the Open Meeting Law in preparing its Feb. 26 column. That article was not approved during an open meeting, for no mention of it appears in the School Committee's approved minutes.

Mr. Harris is correct that the committee minutes from the 2/23 meeting did not reflect discussion of the draft letter. However, it is the minutes that are in error, not the practice—the committee did in fact discuss the letter at that meeting.

There is an even more egregious problem with the School Committee's appointment process, not previously revealed. Prior to closing the Jan. 12 meeting to the public in order to discuss collective bargaining matters, Chairman Jeff Dieffenbach announced "that the committee would not reconvene in open session this evening." The public thereupon left the meeting and the room. After the executive session ended one hour and 23 minutes later, the School Committee did exactly what it announced it would not do - it reconvened in order to appoint eight applicants to the HSBC. That was yet another violation of the Open Meeting Law. These events are recorded in the School Committee's approved minutes.

The minutes are also in error with respect to the January 12th meeting: I made no statement about the committee not reconvening in open session. Noting the issue of minutes not matching the actual flow of the meeting, the School Committee increased the attention it paid to the minute-taking and reviewing process.

Changing subjects:

[Regarding an HSBC member whose firm was under consideration for the project manager job on the HS project,] Under the state Conflict of Interest Law, an individual can cure some - but not all - problems through written disclosure to his appointing authority. The appointing authority may then determine whether to allow the person to participate. ... [HSBC chair Lea] Anderson's statement that the member has filed the "proper papers" with the State Ethics Commission implies that the issue is acceptably resolved. It is not. She also wrote that the member "left the meeting room during the HSBC's first meeting on Jan. 22 when the list of nine project management firms was being discussed." Not according to the HSBC's approved minutes. The minutes reflect that the member was present when his firm, Turner Construction Co., was selected as a finalist and, further, that the member did not then apprise the HSBC of his potential conflict of interest.

The HSBC minutes did not show that the member was present at the time of the discussion, they showed only that he was present at the beginning of the meeting. As Ms. Anderson stated, he was not in the room at the time of the discussion, and he did alert the HSBC to the conflict potential. His actions were completely appropriate.

Changing subjects, again:

Shelby Morss writes (Town Crier, March 4) that her group did not work for or with the School Committee in promoting the high school planning article at the November special Town Meeting. Yet, the chairman of the Board of Selectmen said otherwise at a public meeting and has not retracted her statement. Ms. Morss also states that her group did not use school-provided e-mail lists; the lists, she says, were assembled the old-fashioned way - from scratch.

As Shelby Morss wrote, she did not work for or with the School Committee (other than requests for information or clarification about information) in getting communication out about the November Special Election and Special Town Meeting. I don’t know what the chair of the Board of Selectmen said in public, but I would hardly call lack of a retraction (or rather, lack of a retraction that you or I am aware of) proof of anything.

Go to the School Committee's Web site. Click on "Subscribe to our e-mail list." Now read the stated privacy policy: "We will not use any personal information for anything unrelated to the Wayland Public Schools." So it's fine to give out the e-mail addresses to any private group helping the schools, including Ms. Morss' group. So much for respecting privacy.

I have no first-hand knowledge of how Ms. Morss compiled email lists except to say that she did not get them from the Wayland School Committee or the Wayland Public Schools. Other than a confirmation response, no email had gone out from the School Committee to its list, nor have their addresses been shared with anyone. We have adhered absolutely to our privacy statement. Similarly, the administration shared no contact information with Ms. Morss or anyone else that I am aware of. In fact, the administration did not even collect email addresses from parents or students this year. Mr. Harris' uninformed characterization of the actions of Ms. Morss and the School Committee with respect to this issue is a complete fabrication, one that is highly disappointing.

Changing subjects, one more time:

At its Saturday, March 13 meeting, selectmen chairwoman Betsy Connolly announced that the School Committee has endorsed the proposed town administrator position. Ms. Connolly added, "of course, it has not yet voted on this but I can say the committee endorses the position." How would she know this? Did Ms. Connolly poll the individual School Committee members? Had the members already discussed the matter in a secret meeting? The School Committee's steady descent into the maelstrom of town politics undercuts its integrity and credibility.

I was not at the Saturday March 13 Board of Selectmen meeting, so I have no first-hand knowledge of any remarks that the chair might have made. However, the Board of Selectmen met with the School Committee last fall to give a briefing on the Town Administrator issue. While the School Committee took no vote on the matter, it is certainly fair to say that the committee raised no objections and was generally receptive. I can only imagine that Mr. Harris' wondering about “individual polling” and “secret meetings” was an attempt at humor, albeit an inflammatory one. Perhaps more to the point, I am not sure how remarks allegedly made by a member of another board are relevant to his letter about the School Committee.

03/10/2004

Dieffenbach: WVN's second newsletter, Wayland Voters Network #002 is off to a promising start. Here's their pro and con take on two issues that will be before the town at the upcoming April Annual Town Meeting.

WVN: One Town Meeting article that's likely to be of interest to many voters would replace the current Executive Secretary with a Town Administrator. Proponents hope that this change will produce some efficiencies in Town Government, thereby saving some money and improving the quality of services, though these benefits seem impossible to quantify in advance. Opponents focus on non-financial arguments, such as loss of autonomy of independent town boards.

TOWN MEETING ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
Amend Chapter 36 of Current Bylaws
This article would mandate that, when possible, ballot questions involving capital expenditures or Proposition 2 and 1/2 debt exclusion overrides over $2.5 million be presented to the voters at major elections, such as presidential or annual state elections. This would prevent ballot questions to approve major expenditures from being scheduled during times of the year when people tend to be away, or scheduled during a purely local special election, which many people don't even notice. Thus passage of this article, which may seem like a minor procedural adjustment, could have a significant impact on voter turnout when major spending proposals are on the ballot.

03/02/2004

Dieffenbach: A new information source has arrived in town, the Wayland Voters Network. According to home page on Yahoo! Groups:

WVN: Our mission is to ensure that Town of Wayland voters are informed about Town decisions that will directly affect them, and to encourage voter participation.

Their content is only accessible to registered group members. Membership is a straightforward process, however, initiated by clicking the "Join This Group!" button at the top of their home page. Note that you'll need to create a Yahoo! login if you don't already have one. Their first newsletter is here: Wayland Voters Network #001