The Wellesley School Committee held a public meeting on Tuesday, January 9 in the Juliani Room at Town Hall, 525 Washington St.

The Administration’s FY19 Recommended Budget and priorities

Some of the Fiscal Year 2019 $74 million budget items:
– Eliminating the National Honor Society and Key Club Activity fees: $31,500
– Funding the elementary schools World Languages: $71,856
– Funding the High School 8:30am bus: $ 56,000
– See the entire FY19 budget discussion breakdown here

Revisions to Security Cameras in Schools policy

Some of the highlights:

– Security cameras are used in school buildings and on school property “to ensure the health, welfare, and safety of all students, staff, and visitors, to deter theft, vandalism and other negative behavior, and to safeguard district buildings, grounds and equipment.”

– Security cameras may be used “…in any area, inside or outside of school buildings where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy.”

-Only administrators will have access to video recordings. In general camera footage will not be shared with parents and students.

Where cameras are:

Cameras are located on both the interior and exterior of schools in WPS as well as on WPS buses and vans. All WPS facilities and vehicles employing cameras will have signage indicating this fact in a visible location at the entry of the building or vehicle.

And where they aren’t

Cameras are NOT located in classrooms, bathrooms, or locker rooms. Cameras make visual recordings only. Audio footage is NOT recorded.

–See the all the revisions here.

Admission of students to Wellesley Public Schools — who’s in, who’s out

According to the School Committee’s policy on admission of students to the Wellesley public schools , “…the right to attend the schools is limited to students who reside in the Town of Wellesley and to certain nonresident students who are eligible to attend the schools under specific programs or conditions approved by the Wellesley School Committee.

Things can get sticky at times when it comes to whether a student really does reside in town. All sorts of administrative questions can crop up, as anyone who has shared custody of children after a divorce can tell you. What the town wants to know are things like whether the student physically occupies a dwelling in Wellesley; the amount of time actually spent by the student in the dwelling in Wellesley; whether the student’s physical belongings are stored at the dwelling; whether the mail addressed to the student is addressed to the dwelling; whether the residence is the center of the student’s domestic, social, and civic life; Whether the student was included as an occupant of the dwelling for purposes of the town census.