Resolution Relating to

RESOLUTION ____
Sponsors: ______________

CONSTRUCTION OF NEW PRESCHOOL AND CENTRAL
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE BUILDINGS

Introduced: June ___, 2017
Action: _____________
Date: ________________

In the Year Two Thousand Eighteen ……………………………………………………
Resolved by the City of Burlington Board of School Commissioners (the “Board”), as follows:
Authority
WHEREAS, under Section 167 of Article 57 of the City of Burlington Code of Ordinances,
the Board is charged with “the care and custody of all property belonging to or used for the
several public schools of said city and such care shall include authority to make ordinary repairs
on school property and […] make such alterations in any school building, as said board shall
deem best ….”; and
WHEREAS, under Section 167 of Article 57 of the City of Burlington Code of Ordinances,
the Board is charged with “the management and control of all the public schools of said city”;
and
WHEREAS, under Section 169 of Article 57 of the City of Burlington Code of Ordinances,
the Board is charged with “hav[ing] in general all the powers and authority, and perform all the
duties, pertaining to school officers in towns of this state”; and
Rationale
WHEREAS, the Board is in favor of engaging in an appropriate and meaningful community
and stakeholder engagement process, involving all relevant stakeholders and the community at
large, to determine whether it is in the best interest of the community and children of Burlington
to invest substantial funds to construct and operate new permanent buildings to house preschools
and central administrative offices, or whether other options may be more optimal; and
WHEREAS, the Board is mindful of the benefits of preserving green space and student safety
on our school properties, and the impact of permanently losing green space on school campuses
must be weighed very carefully against the need for further construction of buildings and/or
roads; and
WHEREAS, the Board is mindful that the $19 million bond (the “Bond”) approved by the
City’s voters on March 7, 2017 was represented on the ballot “for the purpose of accomplishing
capital improvements at each of the school district’s buildings in order to eliminate or
substantially reduce the deferred maintenance of such buildings”, and such use of proceeds was
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 not represented to be used for the construction of new permanent buildings; and
WHEREAS, the Board is mindful of retaining the trust of the City’s voters and is concerned
that use of the Bond proceeds for such new construction rather than for capital improvements at
existing district buildings may compromise such trust; and
WHEREAS, the Board believes that a fuller, deliberate, data-driven, and meaningful school
board and administrative process, with community and stakeholder engagement as part of the
design process, is due before deciding upon multi-million dollar construction projects , and
whether such new construction, or other solutions, may be the most optimal way to meet the
needs of the City’s preschoolers and their families; and

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS RESOLVED by the Board as follows:
(a) The Superintendent is directed to halt spending on and development of the North and
South End Early Education and central office construction projects at this time; and
(b) The Superintendent is directed to present to the Board at his soonest reasonable
convenience a proposed plan of action to continue with the other deferred maintenance and
accessibility projects which are a part of the school district’s 10-year capital plan, and to report
to the Board on other “swing space” alternatives.

version 11-jun-2016

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