School Committee OK’s Land Survey for Possible Rink/Rec Center

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Photo: The varsity softball field.

The promise of a new ice skating rink and multi-purpose recreation center serving Belmont’s residents and sports teams took a baby step forward as the Belmont School Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday, Dec. 1 to allow a survey of school-owned property near Belmont High School by the non-profit seeking to build the facility.

The decision gives permission for the Belmont Youth Hockey Association to hire a firm to perform evaluation work on school property currently occupied by the Belmont High Varsity Softball field to determine if the surface is suitable for the construction of a recreation center and ice surface. 

“It’s a small step forward, but it is forward,” said Bob Mulroy, who has become the association’s point person for the project, that would include an NHL-sized skating rink, a second “half” skating surface that transforms into a field house for half the year, modern locker rooms, a community fitness center, and many more amenities.

According to Belmont School Superintendent John Phelan, the land survey will allow the association to return to the committee with a more detailed and concrete feasibility study. 

The $6.5 million complex – which would include off-street, on-site parking – would be overseen by a non-profit public/private partnership that would incorporate a wide array of town departments, the school committee, youth hockey and funders on the board.

In exchange for the land to build the center, Belmont schools, and high school teams will have use of the facilities at no cost. 

District Enrollment Keeps Marching Higher as School Year Begins

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Photo: More students have entered Belmont schools in the past three months.

The news on student enrollment levels in Belmont’s six public schools from School Superintendent John Phelan continues along a familiar theme of the past five years: more are still coming.

At the Sept. 8 School Committee meeting, Phelan reported that between June 1 to Sept. 3, 72 net additional students in Kindergarten through 12th grade entered the system which now serves a total enrollment of 4,362.

Since 2009, approximately 400 additional students have been added to the district’s rolls. 

Phelan said he is “very optimistic” of the total figure as it was close to actual number of children counted on the first day of school, Wednesday, Sept. 2, which saw an attendance rate of 97.5 percent.

“Everyone came and were welcomed to class,” said Phelan.

Notable in the new enrollment data is the jump in the number of students at the Chenery Middle School which crossed the 1,300 student mark with 1,320 pupils, an increase of 38 students in the past 90 days.

But Phelan said he’s confident that total and middle school numbers will rise as every day “two or three more students” were being enrolled in the first week of school opening.

To keep up with the rising numbers, Belmont High has converted existing modular space behind the school into classrooms, the only school that will be using non-permanent structures this year. In June, Phelan said it looked increasingly possible that added physical space will be required in the 2016-17 school year to accommodate the new students. 

School Committee Gives Initial Nod to Proposed New Rink/Rec Center

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Photo: Bob Mulroy.

The Belmont School Committee gave its initial “OK” Tuesday night, Sept. 8, for a youth sports organization to begin the process that could result in the construction of a new multi-purpose town recreation center. 

“We are not just looking at our needs, but … of the entire community,” said Bob Mulroy, who gave the presentation for Belmont Youth Hockey Association, which is leading the project that would include an NHL-sized skating rink, a second “half” skating surface that would transform into a field house for half the year, modern locker rooms, a community fitness center, and many more amenities.

While the proposal has received high marks from public and elected officials in August when the Board of Selectmen was presented with the proposal, those deciding the fate of the project are taking a long-view of the process. 

“I see this as the first step … I don’t see this as a significant substance discussion but just to understand what the proposal is before us,” said School Committee Chair Laurie Slap, as the committee members voted the proposal was “worth exploring.”

The $6.5 million complex – which would include off-street, on-site parking – would be overseen by a non-profit public/private partnership that would incorporate a wide array of town departments, the school committee, youth hockey and funders on the board.

In exchange for the land to build the center, Belmont schools, and high school teams will have use of the facility at no cost. 

Both sides acknowledge the first significant hurdle to clear is where to locate the center. Under BYHA’s ideal scenario, the complex would be built on the current home of the Belmont High softball team abutting the Mobile service station and across Concord Avenue from the Belmont Public Library.

But that is the same site where in May 2013 the school committee rejected a request by the Board of Library Overseers to place a new $19.5 million town library, actually killing the hopes of supporters for more than a decade.

The alternative location would place the recreation center on the existing rink footprint, across Concord Avenue from the Underwood Pool.

“We are aware that fields are crucial in town, and we are not looking to reduce that [amount],” said Mulroy.

The proposal would both help find solutions to real recreational needs – providing adequate changing space and locker rooms for all sports teams – in Belmont as well as replace the 45-year-old “Skip” Viglirolo Skating Rink, which Mulroy described as “toast.”

The rink, with gaps in the walls, few comforts, and antiquated mechanical systems, has past its useful life “long ago,” said Mulroy.

Belmont Youth Hockey is the rinks biggest customer, taking three-quarters of the available rental time.

Mulroy told the meeting the cost to renovate the current structures to current code would be the same as building a new recreation center. 

Under the current blueprint, the proposed center would include:

  • A 25,000 sq.-ft. NHL-sized rink (approximately 200 feet by 85 foot).
  • A half-sized skating rink used for seven months then transformed into a field house for tennis, soccer and community events.
  • Six modern year-round locker rooms.
  • A 5,000 sq.-ft. health club/gym open to the public.
  • Exercise classrooms.
  • A skate shop.
  • Concession stand.
  • Meeting rooms.
  • Athletic offices.
  • A trainers/medical center.

The proposed building would cost between $8 and $9 million, with construction priced between $6 to $7 million financed with private debt. The cost of field renovations would be $1 million with the funds coming from a Community Preservation Committee grant and the final $1 million used to outfit the new space and purchase equipment.

The reasoning behind adding a second, smaller rink to the NHL-sized sheet of ice is financial, said Mulroy. Under economic models of similar existing arenas in New England, Mulroy said the Recreation Center will take in just over $1 million in income annually with expenses of $600,000 for a net “profit” of just under $500,000 a year. 

Mulroy told the Belmontonian after the meeting that several funding sources are prepared to step forward to provide the debt financing. 

Mulroy said he anticipated the planning and design stage – when the details on financing, governance, and zoning will be hammered out – to take a year with construction an additional nine months. He believes the entire project will take 24 months to complete.

From the town’s perspective, the private/public venture is a win/win on many fronts; it is financially sustainable without requiring town funding to run, it takes an enormous expense off of the town’s “to-do” list of capital projects, and it provides Belmont with a new facility at limited cost.

While amenable to the project, School Committee members joined Board of Selectmen Chair Sami Baghdady that many details on financing, governance and a myriad of issues “will need to be flushed out over time” before final approval is granted. 

Member Elyse Shuster suggested that the school committee use the proposal to begin a discussion on the “whole [Belmont High School] campus” as an integrated whole. 

“I would encourage us to think about integrating the [the high school’s Higgenbottom Pool] and making it a true recreational facility,” she said.

Psst: Can You Keep a Secret? Private/Public Scheme to Build New Skating Rink

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Photo: “Skip” Viglirolo Skating Rink.

It’s the worst kept secret in Belmont: a proposal to build a new private/public skating rink and field house on the site of the existing nearly half century old “Skip” Viglirolo rink and the White Field House adjacent to Harris Field off Concord Avenue.

Not that this latest news required a “spoiler” alert for its official unveiling at a big joint meeting at the Chenery Middle School on Tuesday, Sept. 8, as information surrounding the proposal has leaked to the public over the summer.

According to four separate sources, the project – final cost is still to be determined but its likely several million dollars – to replace the existing structures have been on the minds of many for decades.

Now, after recent examples of private donors using their wallets and connects to successfully improve, maintain or rebuild municipal and school properties – laying down the new varsity court in the Wenner Field House being the latest – a new group has set their sights on what many consider a town asset that has seen its best days pass it by, the “Skip” Viglirolo Skating Rink. 

Built in 1969 during the rise of the Boston Bruins and Bobby Orr, the rink’s limitations and faults are legendary to visitors, players and parents. The physical structure was never fully constructed with heavy sheet metal side walls with gaping openings that allow both the weather – whether it is blistering cold or spring time warmth – and birds to migrate inside.

There is no heat or comfortable seating for viewers; the locker rooms are old, and the lighting is far from adequate while the only “warm up” space for spectators is the small snack room.

Editor’s note: One visitor from Calgary, Canada – no stranger to wind swept blizzard conditions – told the Belmontonian editor in 2002 there were warmer outdoor rinks in his hometown than the indoor Viglirolo rink.

But despite its threadbare condition, the rink is an asset to the town and hockey programs from beginners to high school varsity programs, providing a place to skate and practice at an affordable price. 

“Many towns would die to have its own rink,” said one

In addition, the White Field House – dedicated to a Belmont High alum who died during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944 – while structurally sound, doesn’t provide space for the large number of female athletes who could use a changing area adjacent to the main athletic field.

In past documents, town officials and Capital Budgets placed the rink was one of the town’s major capital expenses that required addressing.

The sources – all who spoke on background as they promised not to reveal the proposal – said a spokesperson representing a group of residents advanced an initial proposal in early 2015 to a Financial Task Force subcommittee during the later stages of its tenure. to replace the dilapidated rink with a new structure and provide a new field house using private fund.

The initial response from town and government committees was enthusiastic yet guarded. While the outline was interesting, the group was told much more work needed to be done in both how the deal would be financed and, just as important, provide greater detail concerning the governance and use of the facility once it is built.

Recently, a dispute has been brewing in Wilmington over the Ristuccia Arena, constructed with the town’s help in the 1980s to provide access to town youth and adult hockey programs, which is accused of now catering to professional hockey teams, private school programs and elite skating clubs over local interests. 

The private group returned in late July for a formal presentation to the Belmont Board of Selectmen with representatives of town departments and the Captial Budget and Warrant committees as well as the Planning Board in attendance. 

Highlights of the proposal:

  • A new rink design will require taking some land from surrounding practice fields using by Belmont High School and youth sports programs.
  • The design of the rink and field house will allow for on-site parking, which will relieve traffic and parking congestion along Concord Avenue.
  • The town will benefit financially from the rink’s hourly rental fee that will be an income
    stream.
  • Belmont Savings Bank will take a major role in financing the proposal.

While the Selectmen, department heads and governmental committees who attended the presentation came away eager to move forward with the plan, the land on which the rink and field house reside is “owned” by the Belmont School Committee. The six-member committee will need to sign off on any proposal to see it advance from the blueprint stage.

This marks the second time the School Committee will be asked to allow land assigned to athletic fields to be used for a development; in May 2013, the committee denied a request from the Library Board of Trustees to use a small section of the same playing field for a proposed $19 million library. 

While nearly all  is enthused about the proposal, all sides decided to keep a somewhat tight lid on the plan in deference to the School Department who will have the first say about whether the proposal will work or not.

“We don’t want a repeat of the library fiasco,” said one source. 

Custodians, Cafeteria Workers Strike Three-Year Deal with Schools

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Photo: Custodians at work.

The men and women who keep Belmont’s six schools clean and tidy and help feed 4,100 students will be getting a small pay raise after the Belmont School Committee approved a three-year contract with the union representing the workers.

The committee unanimously approved the memorandum of agreement with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) which represents the 33 employees – 18 custodians and 15 cafeteria workers employed more than 20 hours.

The compensation package, retroactive to July 1, 2014 and running through 2017, will see workers receive wage increases of:

  • 0.5 percent as of July 1, 2014,
  • 2.25 percent as of July 1, 2015,
  • 2 percent as of July 1, 2016, and 
  • 0.25 percent beginning Jan. 1, 2017.

The agreement also includes a performance review and how the workers account for snow days. 

School Committee OKs Fee, Rent Increases for Using School Spaces

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Photo: School lunches will increase by a quarter beginning in September.

The Belmont School Committee approved a package of fee hikes for all users of school space at its Tuesday, June 10 meeting.

The action, first reported in the Belmontonian last month, will begin in July at the start of the new fiscal year in July for facility rentals, full-day Kindergarten and school breakfast and lunches.

The increases come after an analysis conducted this spring by the Belmont School District to determine the actual cost of operating school facilities including classrooms and athletic spaces. 

Examples of the new fees include: 

• Increases for after school care will range from $7,400 to $5,900 over the two years with rental expenses reaching $29,425 at the Wellington, Butler and the Middle School, $23,406 at the Winn Brook and Burbank and $6,688 at the High School in fiscal 2017. 

• A jump in lunch fees by a quarter at the district’s elementary, middle and high schools will result in Belmont’s total pricing of $9.50, jumping from the lower to the highest third of other school districts, comparable to schools in municipalities such as Lexington ($9.25), Dover-Sherborn ($9.75) and Winchester ($10) but still behind Watertown ($10.50) and Concord ($10.55). 

• One local organization feeling the impact is the Belmont Aquatic Team. The non-profit will see its hourly rent for the Higginbottom Pool located at Belmont High School increase from $13.28 to $50 an hour in the coming school year and $75 in 2016-17. 

Speaking to the committee, Elena Ruggiero, BAT’s director of registration, said the new rental expenses on the 35-year-old club, with 77 swimmers – it is one of the smallest clubs in the New England Swim League – “does seem abrupt, making up from past times.”  

Ruggiero said the organization did not feel the school district’s move towards establishing market rents as “unfair considering the very low rates currently.” But she said “it is a big expansion of fees” resulting in higher tuition rates. Currently, members – 88 percent are Belmont residents – pay between $700 (for those 10 and younger) and $900 (for more senior swimmers) for half of a 11 month season. 

Ruggiero said the jump in tuition for members will be “substantial” and the club will only know how it will effect membership when enrollment starts in September.

School District Superintendent John Phelan, who described each effected group as “our partners,” said he is committed to a continuing dialogue with the renters on the impact of the higher expenses, a comment that Ruggiero took to heart. 

“Our hope is that we keep talking,” said Ruggiero, noting that most teams are part of a larger business – many own the pools and rent them out or conduct swimming lessons – with dedicated revenue that allows them to subsidize the clubs.

“We are just a swim team,” said Ruggiero. 

Belmont Schools Increasing Rents, Fees for BASEC, Swim Team and Kindergarten

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Photo: Renting Belmont High School’s Higginbottom Pool will cost more if the Belmont School Committee approved fee increases. 

Saying that teaching positions should not be sacrificed if programs using its facilities are not paying a fair rate, the Belmont School Committee was presented a proposal to increase the rent for two non-profit programs and a jump in kindergarten fees in the coming school year.

“So now we will be we equitable with other areas and we’ll be getting more money,” said Belmont School Superintendent John Phelan at the committee’s meeting held Tuesday, May 26 at the Chenery Middle School.

Under the new fee schedule, two popular programs, the Belmont After School Enrichment Collaborative (the independent non-profit that runs the after school care programs at Belmont schools) and the Belmont Aquatic Team will see significant hikes in rental bills in the next two years.

Part of the impetus for a comprehensive review of the district’s rent and fee schedule came during the lead up to the Proposition 2 1/2 override vote in April, in which town voters overwhelming approved a $4.5 million tax hike to cover future deficits in the district’s budget.  

“We have not raised fees in five years and we’ve been talking about” revisiting the subject no matter the override’s outcome, said Phelan.

The overriding concern facing the district is that the current rates doesn’t meet the costs of “keeping the lights on,” paying utility costs, cleaning the areas, having maintenance workers on site and other demands on the district to keep the facilities up and running. 

Led by Tony DiCologero, the district’s Finance, Business and Operations director, the analysis calculated the cost-per-square-foot to operate a variety of spaces – the Higginbottom pool at the High School is far more expensive than a standard classroom – so the district could create a “baseline” cost to use a particular location.

DiCologero discovered the current sticker price for space did not meet the basic expenses required to manage the space. In addition, Belmont’s rental fees were well below the market rates of surrounding towns.

After the initial analysis was run, Phelan and DiCologero met with the two major users of school space – BASEC and BAT – to discuss the need for a “rethinking” on the fees.

“We see them as partners with the schools,” said Phelan. “They were expecting rate increases and were eager to refile contracts and we agreed to phase in the fee so not to pile on a burdensome expense in the next six month.”

Under the proposal, BASEC will see an increase of about a third to rent space in the six schools – 25 percent in fiscal 2016 and 7 percent in fiscal 2017.

In actual dollars, increases range from $7,400 to $5,900 over the two years with rental expenses reaching $29,425 at the Wellington, Butler and the Middle School, $23,406 at the Winn Brook and Burbank and $6,688 at the High School in fiscal 2017. The school district will see an increase of a nearly $36,000.

BAT will see a major increase in its rent over the two years of a proposed new contract. Currently, the squad pays what many consider a token fee of $13.28 an hour, using the pool for just over 500 hours for a total cost of $6,760.

Beginning in fiscal 2016, the rent increases to $50 an hour and then to $70 an hour in fiscal ’17. The increase will see rental fees jump by $28,000 over the two years to $35,000. 

In addition to the fees, the groups will also need to produce a certificate of insurance and have their employees submit to a CORI review. 

Phelan said he did not know what the rental fees would cost individuals as members of the effected groups, but he has heard the groups “will be able to absorb the new costs.”  

Parents of incoming full-day kindergarteners will see fees increase either $400 or $600, depending whether Gov. Charlie Baker is successful in passing through the legislature a cut in an annual state grant that facilitates full-day K. If the grant money is not restored by either the House or Senate, the higher rate will be imposed. 

Even with the higher fee – the first increase in four years – compared to surrounding town and private kindergarten, the cost for the program “remains a bargain,” said Phelan.

The proposal is before the School Committee and its financial subcommittee. It will be voted at the next meeting of the school committee on June 9.

Schools to End Year $536K in the Hole, But They Have a Way to Fill It

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Photo: Red ink at the School District.

They scrimped and saved, cut and did without. But skyrocketing costs f0r special education and rapid enrollment expenses will result in the Belmont School District ending the fiscal year approximately half a million in the red, according to Belmont Superintendent John Phelan.

Speaking before the Belmont School Committee on Tuesday, April 28, Phelan said despite the district coming up with nearly $400,000 in new savings this fiscal year – including cuts in overtime, not filling positions and foregoing supplies and educational material – the school district found itself with a $536,000 deficit at the end of the third quarter on March 31. 

“It would have been much higher without if not for the work of our staff [and teachers],” said School Committee Chair Laurie Slap. 

The cause for the debt is due to an explosion in costs associated with special education. With the enrollment of more than 15 students and the related expenses in transportation and out-of-district tuition added approximately $1.4 million to the school district’s budget.

And while there remains “many moving parts” to the budget – such as an unexpected enrollment of special needs students until the end of the fiscal year – the deficit should remain stable until the end of the fiscal year, according to the district’s Director of Finance, Business and Operations Anthony DiCologero.

Since the shortfall was first identified in the second quarter, the town and schools have come up with a financial solution to resolve the shortage, according to Phelan. In June, the district will request from Town Meeting a transfer from the Special Education Stabilization Fund of the entire $250,000 in the account and a $285,000 conveyance from the Warrant Committee’s Reserve Fund.

The requests will require a 2/3s vote of Town Meeting to be accepted. 

While saying she is reluctant to request the entire SpEd Stabilization Fund to the used, “this is the year to do it,” said Slap.

Slap indicated she would seek to replenish the $250,000 by asking Town Officials for a portion of any one-time funds which could be coming from the sale of town-owned property in the near future. 

“We have to be prepared for a similar event in the future,” said Slap of SpEd costs.

Letter to the Editor: Vote Yes on April 7

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To the editor:

Vote “YES” on April 7th

The need is clear: rising enrollment and costly mandates necessitate additional funding if we are to continue to offer our children a quality K-12 education. The statistics are compelling: 

  • the total number of students has risen by 317 in the last five years.
  • Belmont High’s Class of 2014 had 270 students; there were 350 Kindergarten students last fall.
  • two sub-groups of students with higher needs and costly mandated services have increased rapidly: 
    • the number of English Language Learners has climbed from 95 to 222 in the last six years
    • the number of students needed specialized schooling outside the district has increased from 81 in June 2013 to 97 in January 2015 (the average annual cost for an out-of-district placement is $65,000). 

Patching the school budget with one-time funds as we’ve done in recent years is no longer a solution.  If we don’t pass an override to meet these new realities, the steps needed to balance next year’s budget and beyond will without question degrade the quality of Belmont’s Public Schools, including fewer teachers, increased class size, and cuts in programs and electives.

Passing the override will enable us to maintain our existing programs and address the enrollment increases. The override is designed to stabilize the budgets for at least the next three years; and the School Department and School Committee have every incentive to continue to work hard to control costs so that stable and predictable budgets extend well beyond that horizon.

Operating overrides are in Belmont a rare occurrence; and continued tight cost control will be necessary to preserve a stable and predictable budget outlook so that we can retain top teachers, key electives, and reasonable class sizes in the years ahead.

Please join me in voting “YES” for the override on April 7.

Laurie Slap

Long Ave. 

(Note: Slap is the chair of the Belmont School Committee.)

Belmont School’s Calendar Could See Changes, Adding Jewish Holiday, Earlier Start to Year

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Photo: The Belmont school calendar could see changes on adding religious holiday and the start of school. 

Every year since she’s had children attending the Belmont schools, School Committee member Elyse Shuster has been in the same situation as so many Jewish parents at the beginning of every school year: should we keep the kids out of school during the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?

Even under the district’s current policy – the system officially doesn’t recognize religious holidays – that allows students to miss a day or two without penalty (and teachers are advised not to schedule tests on those days), Shuster and others have feared their children will not be fully caught up with their school work during the important first days of the school year as the important holidays occur between September and early October.

“It’s extremely hard to miss those days especially for high schoolers,” Shuster told the Belmontonian.

“The teachers will say that students won’t be penalized for missing class, but they also won’t hold up teaching for those days. Those kids are on their own,” she said.

For some families, the choice is one of education rather than faith.

“The [observances] are important to us, but I’ve known families who have sent their children to school rather than miss two or three days of class,” Shuster said.

Elected to the committee in 2013, Shuster was approached by parents and friends on the subject.

“People would come up to me to ask, ‘When are you going to bring it up?'” said Shuster.

That time came at the Belmont School Committee meeting held Tuesday, March 10 at the Chenery Middle School when Shuster received the handout with the draft 2015-16 school calendar.

On the sheet, in March, was scheduled an early release for Good Friday.

“If the district’s rule is not to observe religious holidays, why are we having a half-a-day on Good Friday?” asked Shuster.

For the next half hour, the school committee and district officials discussed how to put into effect either including those observances and how it could affect future discussions.

“I’m glad you’ve brought that up because this comes up, and we then forget about it,” Lisa Firo

Shuster is not asking to strike a sacred Christian day from the calendar, “that a religious holiday is … only being taken away in a tit-for-tat way,” said Shuster. In fact, she was hoping to draw interest in adding a holiday – most likely a day set aside for Yom Kippur which takes place on Wednesday, Sept. 23 – for an important observation to a sizable minority in the school population.

“If it’s all or nothing, then I think that’s fair. But I want to us to think about the High Holidays of the major religions in this town and have a dialog in this town,” she said.

Belmont Superintendent John Phelan said Belmont should not look how other cities and towns have broached he matters since every community is made up “of folks who have … different experiences and religious backgrounds and be respectful of where our local community feels is important and then try to reflect that.”

Just this week, the Easton School Committee voted to eliminate three religious holidays – Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Good Friday – from its calendar.

What Shuster is attempting to change is, at times, harder than discussing religion or politics with your relatives; the status quo. For as long as anyone can remember, the school year in Belmont begins after Labor Day and there is a half-a-day of work on Good Friday. When presented to past school committees, calendars were approved after a curtsey look.

“It alway seems like it’s the status quo and even when we bring it up, how does it change? I hope that people … will appreciate that this discussion is happening about religious holidays,” said Shuster, inviting people to the next school meeting to discuss this issue.

With Schuster opening the door to altering the calendar, Phelan said he wants to re-examine the long-standing tradition of a post-Labor Day beginning of the school year.

“If we start going down the path of additional days recognized, we may also simultaneously entertain starting school before Labor Day,” he said, a change that could led to schools opening in August.

Current school policy is that Belmont schools open on the first Wednesday in September. Under the proposed 2015-16 calendar, the school year does begin before Labor Day – tentatively a full day for 1st to 12th grades on Wednesday, Sept. 2 – due to the late date of the holiday, falling on Monday, Sept. 8.

“I think it’s good for the kids, and I just want to make sure that is discussed,” said Phelan.

School Committee Chair Laurie Slap said she was eager to start that conversation “when we have that opportunity.”

Other important dates in the draft calendar are the winter recess beginning on Thursday, Dec. 24 and running through Monday, Jan. 4; February break begins the week of Feb. 15 and a late Spring break week starting April 18.

The earliest the last day of school will occur will be Tuesday, June 14, that is if no snow (or any other weather/emergency) days are declared.

Approving changes to the calendar will need the cooperation of the Belmont Education Association, the bargaining representative of teachers, aides and staff. Language in the teachers’ contract pertaining to the calendar will need to be reviewed by all sides before action can be taken, said Phelan.

With more research needed and with Phelan meeting with other superintendents this week where he will bring up the subject, Slap said the committee will take up the issue at its next meeting on Tuesday, March 24.

Mark it down on your calendar.