1985-12-09 School Cimmittee Minutes

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144 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES DECEMBER 9 , 1985 Answering Service for Absent Students Chairman Allen gave a brief chronology of School Committee Policy KB - Policy On PTA/PTO Answering Service For Absent Students, adopted September 24, 1984 , noting that it was the result of a request made by Mrs. Leslie McGonagle , representing elementary PTA/PTO's. He added that the Policy states all costs are to be borne by the PTA/PTO ' s, and the Administration was charged with carrying out the Policy, as it is with all School Committee Policies. The Chairman then established the ground rules for discussion, stating that Mrs. Bobbie Botticelli and Mr. Daniel Ensminger would be allowed ten minutes to speak on behalf of "Parents for An Absentee Verification System" (AVS) , followed by comments from the School Committee, Administration and citizens present, in that order. Mrs. Botticelli said the AVS started two years ago at Birch Meadow School , and that its purpose is to identify children who are absent because of illness, abduction, truancy, injury etc. She said the group she represented was not looking for more money, noted that this program involved all school children, and stressed that a year-round education of children , through posters , is being conducted as an adjunct to the AVS. Mrs. Botticelli told the School Committee the PTA/PTO' s are willing to supply and maintain the answering machine but are looking for secretarial help, i. e. , checking the absentee list against recorded calls from parents and calling parents who have not notified the school that their child would be absent. She maintained , that there would be only one or two calls a day, and sometimes none , and felt it was foolish to have a volunteer come to the school twice a day (afternoon kindergarten session included) for so few calls. She said Birch Meadow had 45 volunteers but they worked from their homes as some had preschool age children or sometimes the older children were ill. She added that the number of volunteers was cut because many mothers must work. She added that the work , if done at school , would only take 5-10 minutes a day of the secretary' s time. She also said she did not think it was necessary to install another telephone line. Mr. Ensminger said he had talked to the Chief of Police and the Safety Officer and was told by them that they think this is a public safety issue and support the AVS. He added that his group believes the AVS encourages better attendance. He said the average daily attendance figures of the last two years showed a decrease in absenteeism. Dr. Wells said this agenda item was not intended to be a debate , noting that the three other elementary schools have the AVS operating according to Policy - Policy which the School Committee put into effect at the parents ' request . He added that one of the middle schools also has the system on a purely volunteer basis. He said Birch Meadow parents are disappointed because Mr. Murphy said that as of January 1st he would like a separate telephone line, as the other schools have, because the School line is very busy in the morning. Dr. Wells said that the High School AVS was put in place 12-15 years ago because the truancy rate was high, not because of a concern about students being abducted, adding that State subsidies are based on average daily attendance, therefore a high absentee rate means less money from the State . The Superintendent said he was not aware of any