Waltham School Committee votes to begin steps toward Facilities Department move

With the city’s new high school open, the School Committee is reconfiguring some of its space.

At its meeting Wednesday night, the committee discussed moving the Waltham Public Schools (WPS) Facilities Department from 258 Trapelo Road to the old high school at 617 Lexington St.

Stephen Jelloe, administrator of facilities for WPS, presented a plan to the School Committee, which included an outline and budget for the project.

The proposed move would be split into four phases, including cleaning out the career training and education (CTE) room and auto shop at the old high school and relocating everything and everyone from Trapelo Road to the Lexington Street location. The Facilities Department would have to identify a place to store its materials during the move.

The move is projected to cost $181,500.

Jelloe said the next step is to work with Crystal Philpott, purchasing agent for the city, to figure out how the district will pay for the move.

Jelloe and Chad Mazza, the school district’s assistant superintendent for finance and operations, will collaborate on procuring the necessary funds.

The project itself is tabled until funding is secured.

In other action, Superintendent Marisa Mendonsa

• updated the School Committee on the results of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) procedure among K-3 grade levels. She said that 414 dyslexia letters were sent to “at risk” students, down 17% from last year’s 500 letters.
• announced that kindergarten registration is open for the Class of 2038. Mendonsa also said that the deadline to enter the Dual Language School lottery is May 1. There will be a Kindergarten Resource Fair on April 15.
• said that WPS is offering Spanish for Educators again this spring at Lasell University. “‘The focus of the program is on conversation, with the goal of having educators become more comfortable communicating with families and learning about Hispanic culture in the Waltham community,’” said José Guzmán, a Lasell University humanities and world language professor