2007-01-09
JOINT CONSOLIDATION COMMITTEE
OF THE
CITY COUNCIL AND THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Meeting Minutes
January 9,2007, 8:00 a.m.
Beverly City Hall
PRESENT: Timothy Flaherty, William Coughlin, Miranda Gooding, Paul Manzo,
Maria Decker
Kathy Griffin was also present.
The committee members discussed the role of the consultant, Dan Sullivan, in evaluating
the potential for consolidation of city and school business and finance department
functions. Tim Flaherty explained that the consultant was initially engaged by the Mayor
with the assent of the Superintendent, but that the Mayor had since offered to involve the
Consolidation Committee in the evaluation process. The benefits of outlining a scope of
work for the consultant were discussed. Kathy Griffin suggested that the Committee
should prepare a draft scope of work for the consultant that could be circulated to the
Mayor, Superintendent, John Dunn and Joan LiPorto for input. Committee members
agreed that this would be helpful and asked Kathy Griffin to prepare a draft based on her
experience in conducting similar studies in other communities.
The Committee then discussed the merits of consolidating the school and city
Technology functions. Members reviewed a draft memorandum prepared by Paul Manzo
and Maria Decker and offered comments and suggestions. Members asked Kathy Griffin
to provide additional information relative to the library technology budget and
comparative numbers of technology staff in other school systems (i. e. the ratio of tech
staff to computers), prior to the next meeting.
The next meeting was scheduled for January 23,2007 at 9:30 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Miranda Gooding
February 18, 2007