1983-01-17 School Committee Minutes

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F,,4 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 17, 1983 Regarding the $7,388 difference between the budget and the Finance Committee guidelines, Mrs. Philbrick said she felt the School Committee had come close enough and could go to the Finance Committee with the budget as it stands. Acting Chairman Coco agreed, noting that he felt that to come this close with a budget of approximately $11 million was a remarkable achievement on the part of the Administration. Dr. Munnelly discussed the "Staffing Statistics" (dated 1/7/83) which had been distributed to the Committee, emphasizing the difficulty in anticipating salary expenditures due to the fact that when more experienced teachers leave they are usually replaced with less experienced people, at a lower salary rate. He added that some years the reverse could be true when higher paid teachers on leave return after having been replaced for a year by a teacher on a lower pay scale. He also pointed out that many staffing changes took place after the School Committee voted the budget and even after Town Meeting. Dr. Munnelly said that one of the ways used by Mr. Winslow in estimating the salary budget was to move each teacher up a step on the salary schedule, but there are many variables. The Chairman agreed it was better to estimate too high than to end up with a shortfall. Dr. Wells said that if the Administration can stay within 1 -2% of budget they should not be accused of poor planning. In conclusion the Chairman said he thought the budget process had gone very smoothly this year and commended the Administration for their efforts. Policv Review Mr. Nigro, as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Policy Review, said he would like to discuss three areas, the first being a form for evaluation of the Superintendent. Various forms which had been submitted to the Committee were discussed. Mrs. Philbrick moved, seconded by Mr. Allen, and it was voted unanimously to adopt for first vote the rating form entitled Evaluation of the Superintendent, with the addition of a column for "comments," to become a part of policy CBA. The next policy to be discussed was BCF - Citizens Advisory Council. Mr. Nigro pointed out that when the Citizens Advisory Council (CAC) was formed there were ten schools, and now there are only eight. He suggested that the numbers referring to membership be deleted from the policy. After a brief discussion among School Committee members and CAC representatives, Mr. Allen moved, seconded by Mrs. Philbrick, and it was voted unanimously, for first vote, to revise Policy BCF - Citizens Advisory Council by omitting the column of numbers in the section "Composition of Advisory Council" and changing the last sentence of the same section to read, "Up to six members at large to include as near as possible a cross section of the Reading Community." The third policy areas discussed was School Committee Bidding Policy - DJC. The Committee had received copies of a proposed revision which would bring School Committee Policy into conformance with the Town By -Laws. Dr. Wells noted that by law the School Committee could make its policy more stringent but not less than the Town's.