Saugus school officials present updates to board

SAUGUS – School Committee Chairman Wendy Reed said she?s pleased to see the school budget “on target” so far.?There?s much more oversight than we?ve seen in the past on purchases,” said Reed at Thursday night?s School Committee meeting.School Committee member Arthur Grabowski had previously brought up a possible spending freeze, but after meeting with Finance Director Pola Andrews, he said he no longer felt it was necessary.Reed also said auditors have been working on the high school and middle school student activity accounts, and is expecting “something in a couple of weeks or so.”Superintendent Richard Langlois updated the committee on the status of the high school weight room, saying the locks have been changed because “everyone had access.” Langlois said gym use has been restricted to only high school students and is requiring a faculty member to be present for liability purposes.Langlois also said he?s also looking into forming an all-day pre-kindergarten on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at the Ballard School.School Committee Vice Chairman Corinne Riley gave an update on the Food Service Sub-Committee, and said participation in school lunch and breakfast programs increased from 33 to 44 percent.Riley said some school nurses had concerns about sugar content in some of the cereal. She said reduced sugar, or non-sugar cereal will be used from now on.Riley also met with the director of the Saugus Chamber of Commerce, and said they?re “on board” with holding a job program and an internship program.?We?re going to sit down with the director of guidance and go over what they want specifically,” she said. “It?s businesses attached to the Chamber of Commerce, it can?t just be anybody.”Riley said they will be meeting on March 1 to discuss it further.In other business, Grabowski stressed the importance of completing a statement of interest for a new high school before the April 10 deadline.?We have just about two months to get this finished,” he said. “We have to press upon the town that we need their input as soon as possible to get this in by April 10. There?s no way we should miss this deadline. Time flies. Two months is not a lot of time.”The committee also approved trips for the High School Student Council to attend the three-day Massachusetts Association of Student Council conference in Hyannis and for the high school softball team to attend a softball festival in Mashpee in March.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].