School Committee

Salem Public Schools BUILDING AND GROUNDS SUBCOMMITTEE 29 Highland Ave., Room 227 September 9, 2024 5:30 pm Minutes Members In Attendance: Veronica Miranda - Chair, Mary Manning, and AJ Hoffman Member/s Absent: None Others In Attendance: Superintendent Zrike, Assistant Superintendent Pauley, and Facilities Director, Zissis Alepakis Call to Order The Chair, Ms. Miranda called the meeting to order and attendance was taken to determine there was a quorum. Facility Rental Process Facilities Director, Mr. Zissis Alepakis, explained that the software used in the district is Operations Hero which has Hero HQ for work order related tasks and Event HQ for Bookings as well as rentals. Mr. Alepakis provided a demonstration of the Event HQ application. Mr. Alepakis said that the Event HQ is not live for the public to use yet because they are still fine tuning the application. In response to a question regarding the approval process, Mr. Alepakis said that the Facilities team in the district approves requests that are in line with school policies and other matters. Custodial Fee Waiver Request The matter about custodial fee waiver requests for non-profit fundraisers benefiting students or the school was discussed. Mr. Alepakis said that deposits are not taken upfront and historically, damages after the event were not addressed with the renters. Mr. Alepakis said this needs to be considered going forward. Issues about students and school activities to be given priority over renters was raised. Mr. Alepakis added that rental fee and custodial fee increases also needs to be discussed. Assistant Superintendent Pauley said that no custodial fee is charged when it is a non-profit involving just a few students from Salem Public Schools. However, when it is a large group,custodial fees should be charged even if the rental fee is waived because there is more clean-up and maintenance work. The topic of security was also raised. Discussion commenced about Mr. Thomas Doyle’s verbal request to waive the custodial Fees for the fundraisers held in March 2024. It was highlighted that in the past, certain school affiliated groups were not paying custodial fees but that since last year, all big events were charged custodial fees and the organizers have been paying. Therefore, in terms of equity, all renters who organize large events would need to pay custodial fees. Consensus was reached that the custodial fees charged for the fundraisers Mr. Doyle organized needs to be paid and a letter to that effect will be sent to him by the Building and Grounds Subcommittee. Halloween Parking Lot Fundraiser at Collins Middle School The matter about an informal inquiry from a school personnel to have a fundraiser in the parking lot at Collins Middle School to benefit the student and school was raised. Comments were made that the parking lot is used by the students for extra-curricular activities and the public during after-school and weekend hours. Other issues such as towing and how to enforce parking rules were also raised. Due to all these issues raised, the proposed fundraiser event at the parking lot was deemed not feasible. Update on Summer Projects Mr. Alepakis provided a presentation about all the improvement work done on school property during the summer. The next meeting date was set for Monday, October 7, 2024 at 5:30 pm at 29 Highland Ave., Room 227. Member Manning made the motion to adjourn. Member Hoffman seconded and it was so VOTED. Motion passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted by, Shirley Dorai Executive Assistant to the School Committee & Superintendent