2006-04-04
JOINT CONSOLIDATION COMMITTEE
OF THE
CITY COUNCIL AND THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Meeting Minutes
April 4, 2006
PRESENT:
ABSENT:
Timothy Flaherty, Miranda Gooding, Paul Manzo and Maria Decker
William Coughlin
Mr. Flaherty called the meeting to order and distributed copies of the Memorandum from
City Council Budget Analyst Kathy Griffin containing a survey of some communities in
Massachusetts which had recently considered and/or approved the consolidation of
certain school and city functions. Mr. Flaherty explained that he would be asking Ms.
Griffin to assist the Committee with its review of the consolidation issue.
Mr. Flaherty outlined the process he envisions for the Committee. He stated that he plans
to invite officials from other communities to speak with us about their experience with
consolidating school and city functions, including the communities ofDanvers, Lynnfield
and Reading specifically. He stated that he would like the group to come up with a
recommendation to the City Council and School Committee by the end of the summer.
Members discussed the basic areas that should be reviewed for possible consolidation.
These included buildings and grounds/maintenance; finance and budget operations,
technology, payroll and benefits. All generally viewed the consolidation of buildings and
grounds functions favorably. Members suggested that the matter be examined in terms of
possible outsourcing of cleaning functions and delegation of maintenance and grounds
operations to public services. There was less agreement on the particulars of finance and
human resources operations, with both Mr. Manzo and Ms. Decker expressing
reservations about consolidating the school operations in these areas with city operations.
Ms. Gooding suggested that the Committee ought to review all potential areas for
consolidation and then debate the merits of whether or not consolidation should be
recommended.
Mr. Flaherty next asked members to share their thoughts regarding the possible benefits
and problems associated with consolidation. Members identified the following potential
benefits: 1) consolidation of building and grounds/maintenance services would allow the
school administration to focus more specifically on the delivery of quality education as
opposed to the upkeep and maintenance of buildings; 2) there would be potential
efficiencies and improvements in the delivery of services under one system; 3) better and
more timely information flow between school and city administrations, particularly with
regard to budget matters; 4) potential cost savings from eliminating staff duplication, to
the extent it exists; 5) potential cost savings from joint purchasing opportunities, to the
extent they exist.
Members also discussed the following possible negative consequences of consolidation:
1) consolidation might actually require greater staff resources and produce modest or no
cost savings; 2) personnel who are already suffering from burn-out caused by staff
reductions might be further burdened by consolidation of departments; 3) the ability of
the school finance director to effectively advocate for the school budget might be
compromised; and 4) the need to ensure that monies and resources previously allocated to
the school department would not be unfairly diverted to city operations as a result of any
consolidations.
Mr. Flaherty agreed to invite Kathy Griffin to the Committee's next meeting and to
contact the Town Manager for Danvers to request a meeting. Ms. Gooding agreed to
obtain organizational charts for the city and school operations. The meeting was
scheduled for Thursday, April 13th at 7:00 p.m. at [the Library]. [Tim: please confirm
time and place.]