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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-01-03 School Committee MinutesREADING SCHOOL COMMITTEE Reading, Massachusetts January 3, 2000 Regular Session CALL TO ORDER At 7:42 p.m. Chair Dahl called the meeting to order in the Superintendent's Conference Room. Present were School Committee Members Cavicchi, Dahl, D'Antona, Twomey and Williams. Also present were Superintendent Harutunian, Associate Superintendent Richards, Town Accountant Richard Foley, Finance Committee Members Robert LeLacheur and Charles Robinson and Board of Selectmen Member Matt Nestor. Millenium Celebration Chair Dahl stated that the presentations at the Millenium Celebration were outstanding. Ms. Williams stated there were approximately 4,500 people in attendance. Ms. Williams thanked all the principals but especially Paul Guerrette and Richard Davidson for coming in on their day off to set up. Dr. Harutunian received many positive comments regarding the Millenium Celebration. Chair Dahl welcomed the budget parents, Matt Nestor, Robert LeLacheur and Charles Robinson to the meeting. He stated that he hopes that attendance will continue to be high at future budget meetings. School Committee /School Building Committee Meeting Chair Dahl stated that he would like to announce to the members of the audience that the Reading School Committee and the School Building committee will hold a joint public meeting on Friday January 7th in the Lecture Hall at Reading Memorial High School. Also in attendance will be the Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Harry K. Harutunian, Town Manager, Peter Hechenbleikner, Sid Bowen architect from Flansburgh and Associates and Carol Grimm, Chair of the Reading Finance Committee. The purpose of this public meeting will be to answer any and all questions that the citizens of Reading may have concerning the upcoming election and the proposal to build a new elementary school at the Dividence Road site. This will be about the 11 `h such presentation by the School Building Committee, and during all of those previous meetings, no one from the School Building Committee left until all questions were answered. Chair Dahl invited all interested parties to attend and ask any relevant questions. Chair Dahl stated that all questions will be answered. January 3, 2000 -2- Regular Session Mr. Twomey asked why RCTV will not be covering the meeting. Dr. Harutunian advised that RCTV, Richard Cohen, advised that they do not have the manpower to cover all meetings. Mr. Twomey stated that this is important time for citizens to be informed about the budget and RCTV is an important communication source for the citizens. Ms. Williams made a motion to direct the Superintendent to send a letter to RCTV asking them to cover all School Committee Meetings, including the budget meetings and to copy the Reading Board of Selectmen and the Town Manager on the letter. Mr. Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms D'Antona, Mr. Twomey and Ms. Williams. Mr. Twomey asked Selectmen Matt Nestor to bring this issue to the attention of the Board of Selectmen at their next meeting. Mr. Nestor advised will bring it up to the Board tomorrow night Dr. Harutunian advised that over the last few weeks the town manager and he were concerned about the tone of the election process. He stated that there had been disturbing phone calls to some people involved in the election process and election signs destroyed. He stated that he and Town Manager sent a letter to Father Conway at St. Athanasius to ask Clergy Association if they would intervene. Dr. Harutunian stated that he received a very positive response from Father Conway. Dr. Harutunian advised that no matter the outcome of the election the town needs to continue to work together. Dr. Harutunian advised that he and the Town Manager also spent the last week putting together answers to all questions from citizens that have appeared in the Chronicle and the Advocate relative to the building project. He stated that a press conference will be held tomorrow to give the information- to the press. He stated that he hopes that many people wiII attend Friday's meeting with the School Building Committee to get answers to any other questions they may have. Chair Dahl stated that he believes all the information on the building project has been available but he felt it was a important to get the information out there again to be sure that all citizens are aware that the information is easily accessible. Ms. Williams asked if there will be call -in capability Dr. Harutunian advised that there would not be but if citizens wanted to call or write to the Superintendent's office during the week with questions he would be sure that they are answered at the meeting. January 3, 2000 -3- Regular Session Dr. Harutunian thanked the Town Manager for his assistance with preparing the information for the press release and advised that copies will be available at the library and at Town Hall. LIAISON REPORTS There were no liaison reports. QUESTIONS REGARDING SCHOOL BUILDING PROJECT Chair Dahl advised that at this time he would take any questions people may have regarding the project. Mr. Twomey stated that he was asked if it was true that the Superintendent's Office was moving to the new school. He stated that he wanted to make it clear to the public that there are no plans for the Superintendent's Office to move to the new school. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Dr. Harutunian advised that there were no Y2K problems in Reading. He thanked the Fire Chief and the Assistant Chief for their assistance in preparing for any Y2K issues. Dr. Harutunian advised that Mr. Keigley was out of town and would not be attending this evening's meeting. Chair Dahl thanked Richard Foley for his work on the budget. He stated that the Superintendent's office is functioning without a business manager and that without the assistance of Richard Foley this budget process would not be feasible. FY01 Administration Dr. Harutunian stated that when he originally presented his recommended budget to the School Committee he requested that any School Committee Members, Selectmen or Finance Committee members submit questions to him regarding the budget. He advised that he would begin to answer those questions this evening. Dr. Harutunian advised that on page 3 the last sentence will be changed to include language for more clarity suggested by Mr. Twomey. On page 4 the first bullet the words at or will be removed. Dr. Harutunian advised that in the planning of the Dividence Road project the number used for class size was 23. January 3. 2000 -4- Regular Session Dr. Harutunian asked that Mr. Twomey's question regarding the Coolidge kindergarten assistant be deferred to the Regular Education discussion. Dr. Harutunian asked that Mr. Twomey's question regarding the stipend position for the RMHS department head be deferred to the Special Education discussion. Dr. Harutunian advised that due to a departure of two special education students the special education budget will drop by approximately $80,000. Dr. Harutunian stated that he had tried to get information comparing Reading's spending on special education and comparable communities' spending on special education. He stated that it was difficult to obtain this information as districts include different items in their special education budgets. For example some districts include psychologists, some include nurses and when you discuss budgeting for unanticipated students some districts don't budget for them at all other districts have a different range on the number of unanticipated students they budget for and the amount they budget for each unanticipated student. Mr. Twomey asked that the end of the year reports be looked at for this information for comparable communities. Dr. Harutunian advised that it would be a lengthy process but that he and Richard Foley would begin working at that. Dr. Harutunian advised the Committee that he continues to work with the Suburban Coalition regarding alternative funding formula for special education. Chair Dahl asked if the percentage of students in special education is rising. Dr. Harutunian advised that the percentage remains fairly stable at 13% to 13.5 %. Ms. D'Antona stated that the Committee is not suggesting that decisions should not be made in the best interest of children but that we need to be concerned where the money is coming from. She stated that we need to work with other districts to have a collective voice regarding the strain of costs for special education. Mr. Twomey agreed that a discussion needs to be held at the legislative level about assisting towns with the continuing increasing special education costs. Chair Dahl opened the meeting up to questions from the audience. Mr. Ghirardi asked who determines class size in each of the buildings. Dr. Harutunian advised that principals make the determination but that he does have final say. January 3, 2000 -5- Regular Session Dr. Harutunian advised that under Administration there was a typo in the number of administrators for 1999. He stated that there were 3 administrators in the central office including the Director of Technology. He stated that the Director of Technology was moved to the regular day budget because a majority of his time was spent in the schools. Dr. Harutunian also stated that the increased cost in the secretary line was due to the retirement of a secretary that was still eligible for sick leave buy back and overtime for preparing the School Committee packets and taking minutes for School Committee meetings as required by law. Dr. Harutunian stated that the increase in the maintenance of office equipment is due to the district wide copier that is used by all schools and many of the PTO and volunteer groups. Dr. Harutunian stated that the increase in advertising was due to a large number of resignations and leaves of absence this year and the cost to advertise in the Boston Globe has increased. Ms. Cavicchi asked if the central office had investigated any less expensive advertising. Dr. Harutunian advised that we have begun using the DOE website page which is a free service but that results have not been good from this form of advertising. Dr. Harutunian advised that because of the large number of new hires the line for physicals was also up because each new hire is required to have a physical. Dr. Harutunian advised that the labor costs are up due to litigation that the School Committee is aware of. Mr. Twomey asked what the computer line is for. Dr. Harutunian advised that he believed that was for a service contract. Mr. Hines asked why there was a 25% increase in postage /office supplies. Dr. Harutunian advised that the majority of this increase was due to mailings for the MCAS test results. January 3, 2000 -6- Regular Session ADJOURN At 9.10 p.m. Ms Williams made a motion to adiourn. Ms. D'Antona seconded the motion The vote was 5 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Twomey and Ms. Williams. Respectfully submitted, ( A, k - Harry K. Harutunian, Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools