Swampscott to reapply for MSBA school funds no sooner than January 2016

SWAMPSCOTT -- November 24, 2014, Swampscott School Committee learns MSBA funds are lost after failed Hadley School vote, with reapplication unlikely before January 2016. The committee heard Monday from Superintendent Lynda Sherwood that the Massachusetts School Building Authority will formally accept the district's failed vote at its December board meeting and return grant funds by January, leaving Swampscott with no place held in the program. Deferred Hadley maintenance items, including 14-boiler replacement estimated at $300,000 and a $120,000 roof, must now be reprioritized in a capital submission due to the town by December 5. The committee also debated a job description for a dedicated school business and operations manager, with a salary range expected to start near $85,000, and deferred action on a $10,000-per-year North Shore Education Consortium agreement affecting 12 district students until the December 1 meeting. Sherwood, describing her current workload, told the committee plainly: "I'm drowning up there, I have to tell you."