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Date: 9/13/2022
WARE – With the 2022-23 school year underway, the Ware School Committee meetings have picked back up, with the first one taking place on Sept. 7.
To start the meeting, Chairman Christopher Desjardins provided an update on where they are in the superintendent search.
He explained that the contract with Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) has been signed and they will be handling the superintendent search.
Desjardins noted that they recently met with their representative from MASC for an informational question and answer session. He shared that the session was “very helpful.”
He continued, “The next steps are they’re [MASC] going to be meeting with people at the schools and [we’re going to be] forming a search committee. There will be a way that people can apply to be on the committee and then it will get [basically] whittled down to somewhere between 10 and 15 people on the committee.”
Desjardins predicts to have the committee up and running within the next month.
He added that he received a digital questionnaire about the district, to be shared with School Committee members after the meeting.
Dr. Marlene DiLeo, superintendent, informed Reminder Publishing that her contract will be up at the end of this school year. “The contract could be renewed, however when I became a finalist for the Wachusett Regional District in March I was informed by the School Committee chair and vice chair that my contract would not be renewed,” she said.
This is DiLeo’s 15th year in Ware, nine of which she served as the superintendent. Prior to her current role, she was the principal for three years at Stanley M. Koziol (SMK) Elementary School and principal at Ware Junior Senior High School (WJSHS) for another three years. “At this time, I continue to seek my next leadership position,” she shared.
IT Director discussion
The School Committee continued a salary discussion from their previous meeting on Information Technology (IT) Director Michael Brown.
Brown provided a visual presentation to show the committee what the department has accomplished over the past few years.
For example, since the start of COVID-19 to now, Brown said the district has become a one-to-one ratio with Chromebooks for Grades kindergarten through 12. Before this, the ratio was about one third.
Additionally, laptops have been purchased for teachers at SMK and WJSHS. He noted that Ware Middle School (WMS) already had laptops from the principal who was there at the time.
Some of the other projects have included the purchasing of a new core network switch, new servers, a new district backup system and more.
For the 2022-23 school year, Brown shared the various projects they will be working on. This includes sound systems upgrades of the press box, WMS cafeteria and SMK gym. He noted that this was a continued project from 2021-22, however, there was an issue with parts.
This year, the district will also have a complete Wi-Fi upgrade. “No local budget funding [is required] for this,” said Brown. The project is primarily being funded by E-Rate and Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grant money.
He went on to share plans for the school years to come. Based on his extensive presentation and learning about all the work the IT Department does, Vice Chairman Brain Winslow said Brown’s pay rate should be adjusted.
School Committee member Michael Foran agreed and said that this is the type of information they need to hear. Foran added that he would be interested in receiving an update on their work every quarter or so.
Desjardins shared that the average salary an IT director makes is a little over $82,000 a year. Brown’s current salary is $68,467. In comparison to IT directors in the area, Desjardins believes Brown is currently being underpaid for all the work he’s doing and suggested a salary increase to $83,000.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to increase Brown’s salary to $83,000.
Superintendent Report
DiLeo said the opening of the 2022-23 school year was a “successful one.”
She shared that the district is fully staffed aside from openings for an engineering teacher at WJSHS, a couple of paraprofessional openings at WJSHS, along with a reading tutor. DiLeo added that they are always in need of substitute teachers.
She went on to say that fall sports are in full swing and athletic schedules can be found on the district’s website, https://www.wareps.org/.