Mr. McGrail Named To Sandwich School Facilities Position

The problems are many Buildings are aging, money for maintenance is hard to come by. Jon Nelson, Director of Facilities at the Sandwich School Department, tried to keep up with the myriad of problems, but something always happened that caused an imminent problem. Whether mechanical or not, it always costs money to repair, which is hard to find. But Jon, who knew his mechanics like the palm of his hand, did it.

Jon had an excellent opportunity to work at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and announced that he would be leaving a few months ago. The announcements began on February 1 and two series of interviews were conducted. None of the candidates (in the opinion of the interviewees) could have been able to intervene and help without significant training in the workplace, while the district would go further and further during maintenance.

So, who could do that kind of work? Jay McGrail was the manager of the South Shore Country Club in Hingham, and thanks to his experience, he also managed to improve the city’s land. He had a fairly common career, but even he could see how perfect it was. Although he was a member of the school committee, he sent his CV.

City Manager Bud Dunham and Superintendent of Schools Pamela Gould made a series of calls and emails to lawyers and experts in ethical law to make sure everything they did had a solid legal basis. McGrail resigned on March 14 in a brief message to Secretary of the Town Taylor White from the school committee.

“Please accept this letter as my formal resignation from the Sandwich School Committee,” his note simply said. “I enjoyed my time on the committee and I’m looking forward to the future.”

The lawyer Brian Riley of Kopelman & Paige is one of the outstanding experts in municipal law. He responded to a request from Dunham at the request of the city attorney, John Giorgio. Since members of the Sandwich School Committee are considered “city employees”, as well as the facilities director, a problem may have arisen.

If the school committee had been the contracting authority for the position, then Chapter 268A Section 21 A requires: “No former member of such committee or body may be entitled to such membership until thirty days have elapsed after the termination of his service Board. “However, since the position of the facility is assumed and supervised by the principal instead of the school committee, McGrail can be recruited immediately.

“Mr. McGrail is not subject to this 30-day waiting period and could accept the job immediately,” Riley wrote to Dunham.

Apart from the ethics question asked of a number of residents by this author, is that a good lease? Was it a “nationwide search”? Maybe not. But that would have cost a lot of money and time. Was the best the school department could do to get things moving in a positive direction? It is safe from every angle. And maybe we’ve secured a candidate much better than anyone a “nationwide search”.

“That fits in well,” said McGrail. “Relief and troubleshooting are my allies, I like (Dr.) Pam (Gould) a lot and look forward to working for them.

McGrail has recently resigned as Director of Operations for the South Shore Country Club, where he has worked for the past 12 years.

“I’m full of work that Pam does,” he said. “And commuting will certainly be easier, but it’s still bittersweet.”

I asked for his priorities and he answered immediately: “The safety of the school is on the table.”

“I would also like to contribute to clearing up the image of schools from the outside at a reasonable cost,” he continued. “I’ve done that in my Hingham career, short-money things that can improve the facilities, Jon (Nelson) was trying to come up with a strategic plan that pushed the big picture, and I wanted to follow him and cut off the low-hanging fruit to improve the facilities. ”

McGrail added, “I interviewed for the job and submitted a resume, just like everyone else, my background working for Hingham and my work in the school committee really emphasize what I can bring to the table for the district Mother has been teaching in sandwich public schools and I will have three children next year, one in each school.Close to my children is a big part of my decision.And it also helps Sandwich, a city where I live and love I am very proud of Sandwich and I will do the best for our residents and students. “…

“It’s a difficult job,” Gould concluded. “There’s so much work that we have to do, it’s impossible to stay ahead, Jay will have the same problem, it’s an overwhelming intensity.”

Stephanie Hall, president of the Sandwich School Committee, was delighted with the attitude.

“We announced the opening in February and conducted two interviews,” he said. “In my opinion, I did not see any candidate coming in and taking the job, Jon even extended his time out of courtesy, meanwhile, Jay had been part of the district subcommittee and knew all his regular meetings with Jon. in the city, from the city manager to the department heads, to the people at the Sandwich Hollows golf course, so valuable that you can get into that Jo and do things on the first day, move the right direction. ”

Last April, McGrail, a UMass graduate with years of installation experience, was honored by South Shore Stars as the “Rising Star,” co-founder of the four-week Special Needs Athletic Partnership summer camp. The camp is located in the South Shore Country Club and can accommodate up to 50 children each year. The camp, under McGrail’s supervision, also offers golf and tennis for children along with bowling and swimming leagues (including classes), according to an article in Wicked Local Hingham.

The South Shore Country Club, led by McGrail, also applied for a coveted grant from the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) in 2017. Grants were for advisory services pro bono and the club was one of three public courses in the country selected to receive free expert advice from some of the best golf strategists of the USGA and ASGCA.

Congratulations to Jay McGrail for his new position. And let’s be happy that our school district has found someone who can wear big shoes without losing a single step. That is a great job. The director of the facility supervises more than 600,000 square meters of facilities in the city. Most communities spend only one dollar per square foot just to get these facilities. Sandwich spends a fraction because there are tight budgets. So, it’s a magical act. The total budget planned for fiscal year 2018 was $ 423,814, including maintenance, maintenance and maintenance of the land, maintenance of all fields and land, supplies, supplies for swimming pools (for use by group students), maintenance of plants sewage treatment, maintenance of vehicles and equipment (including fuel), travel and conferences, etc. That is a great responsibility for a person.

And for those who asked, McGrail received a salary cut. Your new contract will earn you $ 105,000 for three years. His Hingham check was bigger, including a vehicle load. But the lightest trip, the closeness to the family and the help for his own hometown were what he sold to Jay at work. Sandwich is about to take advantage of it.