Saugus school board candidates talk user fees, overcrowding

SAUGUS – School Committee candidate Lynn Petkewich said she can no longer afford to have her three children play school sports because of the high user fees.That’s why she vows to work to lower school user fees if elected on Tuesday.”My kids can’t play sports unless they do the free ones, because I can’t afford three kids on sports,” said Petkewich. “It’s a shame. If you want to keep the kids out of trouble and off the streets, how are the parents supposed to do that?”Middle school students currently pay a $250 user fee while high school students pay $350 per sport.Last year parents paid a $250 user fee at the high school level after Town Meeting passed a one-time, $60,000 user fee fund for the schools. But that was not voted on again this year, which meant fees went back to the original $350. School Committee members had previously discussed raising the fee to $400 earlier in the summer.Petkewich brought up fundraising as one means of lowering fees and said she’d look at every possible revenue source.”There’s got to be money somewhere for the kids,” said Petkewich.User fees have been a big issue for the School Committee throughout the summer and they continue to be as Election Day nears.Eight candidates are running for the five seats on the committee, including incumbents Wendy Reed, Arthur Grabowski, Tom Stewart and Joe Malone, and newcomers Eric James Breda, Frederick Doucette, Petkewich and Corinne Riley.Grabowski, who is seeking his second term, said user fees are becoming a problem not just for sports, but for clubs and field trips too.”I hate to see people not participating because of the fees,” said Grabowski. “If you have a kid that’s playing sports, or in band or in drama club ? and you tack on a trip, you’re talking over $1,000. These are great extracurricular trips, but I want to see a maximum effort by the sponsors of these trips. If I find one kid that can’t go on a trip, I’m going to have a problem with that.”Grabowski said advertising could be a way to supplement the district’s budget.”I think that we have to take a serious look at changing our policy that would allow some form of advertising and sponsorship of facilities and teams,” said Grabowski. “This approach has garnered a lot of funds in other communities and deserves a look here in Saugus.”Incumbent Joe Malone said it’s important to keep as many activities available to students, which can be difficult if fees are too high. To do this Malone said he will try to get as much money for the schools from the town as possible.”Students need as many alternatives as they can get in terms of sports and other activities,” said Malone. “I want to try and keep the fees down and maybe try to eliminate them if possible. If a person has two or three kids in the schools, those can really ad up.”While user fees are an important issue for him, Malone said he also wants to work to make sure important programs aren’t cut.”There are certain priorities we want to maintain like busing,” said Malone. “We almost cut that last year and when the parents came to the meeting, Arthur Grabowski and I said we have to do something for these people. We had students crossing Route 1 to get to the Oaklandvale School and it could have been a potential hazard.”Belmonte School projectThe Belmonte Middle School repair project is another major issue of concern for candidates. Aside from voting for new School Committee members, residents will vote whether or not to pass an $18.9 million debt exclusion to rebuild the Belmonte Middle School, with the state paying for 53 percent of those costs.All of the candidates have shown their support for the project, including current School Committee chair Wendy Reed, who said she’s running again to see the project reach completion and to hopefully take steps toward a new renovation.”I am running for re-election because I have unfinished business,” said Reed, who had three sons graduate from Saugus High School. “I want to see the Belmonte project through and