Town of
John
Anderson Francis Family
Scholarship Committee
Meeting
Minutes of
Meeting
Room A
Chairperson Gail Browne
convened the meeting at
Public
Statements: Hillary Bach Davis expressed her opinion that
the goal of the Scholarship Committee should be to award scholarship requests
submitted by all students who graduate from
Superintendent of
Provincetown Schools Jessica Waugh stated her support of the graduates of 2007,
all of whom should be eligible for scholarship awards.
Dr. Pavao,
Deborah Lee
Ambroseno, graduate of Provincetown High School Class of 2006, stated her class
worked very hard and their efforts should be recognized.
Calendar and
Guidelines: Chairperson Browne stated there is a
discrepancy between the revised Calendar and Guidelines with respect to
residency requirements of Provincetown/Truro students.
Mr. Gaudiano spoke
about the Calendar and Guidelines revision, which he authored in 2005. Mr. Guadiano believes the dispute regarding
residency was resolved in 1985 by the Provincetown Board of Selectmen.
Ms. Cabral pointed
out the Will of Ms. Francis does not specify residency.
Ms. Ciliberto
stated there has been extensive research completed by members of the
Scholarship Committee during the last year to confirm the long-standing
practice of awarding scholarships to students who attend
Mr. Gaudiano stated
that legal counsel has supported the position he has taken to award
scholarships only to students who live in
Ms. Browne
confirmed the results of the research she and other members of the Scholarship
Committee had completed. This research
confirmed from 1997 through 2005, 100% of “School Choice” scholarship
applicants have been awarded scholarships from the Scholarship Committee.
Ms. Ciliberto
stated her concern that the Scholarship Committee must be consistent with the
long-standing past practice established.
Ms. Cabral
commented that Town Counsel’s most recent opinion (May, 2007) was ambiguous and
open for interpretation. As a
compromise, she suggested the Committee might consider returning to the
long-established practice as they approach the awarding of scholarships for
2007 and revisit the issue surrounding scholarship awards for 2006 with the
Board of Selectmen.
Mr. Gaudiano
suggested the Committee clarify the residency requirement concerns and have the
Board of Selectmen, as trustees, amend the guidelines for the Scholarship
Committee to follow. He requested to
revisit the Committee’s Statement of Purpose.
A discussion ensued
regarding the previous opinions of Town Counsel regarding this matter. Ms. Browne revisited the wording the Will of
Cecilia Francis.
Mr. Gaudiano stated
he believed that
MOTION: Move to follow
the long-standing past practice of awarding scholarships to all students of
Motion by: Mary
Ann Cabral; Seconded by:
Discussion
regarding the opinion of Town Counsel ensued.
Mr. Schneider commented that the first opinion from Town Counsel was
provided before all of the information had been presented.
MOTION: Move to award
scholarships to the six “School Choice” scholarship applicants from the
Provincetown High School Class of 2006.
Motion by: Mary
Ann Cabral;
Seconded by:
Discussion ensued regarding
how the scholarship awards would be funded.
Ms. Browne confirmed that a total of 21 students graduated from the
Class of 2006. Of the original 15 scholarship
applications awarded, 10 have returned paperwork and had scholarships
processed, which provided funding available through the end of the current
fiscal year. The six students who were
now eligible for 2006 scholarships would be contacted to provide paperwork in
order to receive their scholarship awards.
Ms. Browne revisited the
concerns regarding the amended Calendar and Guidelines.
MOTION: Move to strike
the reference on the revised Calendar and Guidelines dated
Motion by: Gail
Browne;
Seconded by:
Gracien Scholarship
Update: Ms. Browne stated this scholarship has been
absorbed into the JAFFSC fund.
Minutes from May 16, 2007
meeting:
MOTION: Move to
approve the minutes from the
Motion by:
New Business: Ms. Browne
presented an invoice from Scholarship America in the amount of $270,
representing the fee for processing scholarship applications for the
Provincetown High School Class of 2007.
MOTION: Move to
approve payment of the invoice from Scholarship America in the amount of $270.
Motion by: Gail Browne; Seconded by: Mary Ann Cabral; Yea: 5 Nay: 0 Abstain: 0
Ms. Browne confirmed that the Merrill Lynch investment representative
would like to schedule a meeting with the Committee to discuss investment
options in July. The dates agreed upon
are either
Executive Session: The
Committee met in Executive Session to review the scholarship applications
submitted by students graduating from the Class of 2007.
MOTION: Move to award
the 18 scholarships for the Class of 2007, as approved by the Scholarship
Committee on
Motion by: Bill Schneider; Seconded by: Mary Ann Cabral; Yea: 5 Nay: 0 Abstain: 0
Chairman Browne stated she would notify the six School Choice
scholarship applicants from the Class of 2006 that their scholarships will be
awarded upon receiving proper documentation.
The
meeting was adjourned at