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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-04-04 School Committee MinutesReading School Committee Reading, Massachusetts Regular Session April 4, 2000 CALL TO ORDER Chair Dahl called the meeting to order at 7:12 p.m. Present were School Committee Members Cavicchi, Dahl, D'Antona Griset, Keigley and Twomey. Also present was Superintendent Harutunian. Dr. Harutunian and the Committee congratulated Rob and Angela Spadafora on the birth of their daughter Sophia. . Presentation of Chair The Committee presented a chair to former School Committee Member Mary Williams in appreciation for her work on the Committee. Mary Williams advised that she would be running "Last Night 2000" and that she would be unable to continue to serve as the appointee to the Celebration and Preservation Trust because of a conflict in asking the Trust for money for "Last Night 2000 ". She asked for volunteers for "Last Night 2000" on December 30, 2000. She stated that all activities will be held at Reading Memorial High School. Dr. Harutunian advised that he would discuss with Everett Blodgett the possibility of replacing Ms. Williams on the Celebration and Preservation Trust. . Chair Dahl stated that the Millenium Celebration was a wonderful event and he was looking forward to "Last Night 2000 ". FY00 Budget Dr. Harutunian discussed the FY00 budget shortfall. Mr. Griset moved to request $350,000 at April Town Meeting for the FY00 School Budget. Ms D'Antona seconded the motion. The vote was 6 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Griset, Mr. Keigley and Mr. Twomey, Mr. Twomey moved to request up to $15,000 for the FY00 Town Building Maintenance Budget. Mr. Griset seconded the motion. The vote was 6 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Keigley and Mr. Twomey. Ms. D'Antona left the meeting at 7:30 p.m. and returned at 9:10 p.m. Regular Session -2- April 4, 2000 CITIZEN INPUT There was no citizen input. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Dr. Harutunian advised that he had received a letter from Nancy Benjamin to Frank Orlando regarding a concert band request. Chair Dahl stated that the drama club practices at Coolidge Middle School. If they are looking for a place to play Parker may be the home away from home. He stated that he attended the state drama festival and the productions were amazing. The production by Reading and other communities was outstanding. Chair Dahl stated that the students performance was something that Reading should be proud of. Mr. Twomey stated that the drama club competition is a very supportive competition. All teams are supportive of each other. Dr. Harutunian advised that he had received notification that four RMHS seniors have been accepted to Harvard. Dr. Harutunian advised that an article from the Boston Globe was included in the packet regarding special education. Chair Dahl stated that Reading's special education population is 13% still under the state average of 17 %. Dr. Harutunian asked that the Committee formally set the last day of school for the 1999- 2000 school year as June 15th. to June 1,"' as the last official day of school. Mr. Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Griset, Mr. Keigley and Mr. Twomey Dr. Harutunian and Town Accountant Richard Foley discussed the local aid proposals from the governor, the house ways and means committee and the senate president. Town Accountant Richard Foley discussed the projected revenues. Regular Session -3- April 4, 2000 Dr. Harutunian advised that before the Committee makes a decision on the budget they need to be aware that the Finance Committee has not added the additional $21,000 in aid, schools to receive $14,000 and the Town to receive $8,000 and they have not decided how to handle the shortfall in benefits of $50,000. Chair Dahl stated that he has discussed with the Finance Committee the news that we have received regarding aid and it just reinforces the numbers in the existing budget but does not add anything significant to the budget. Dr. Harutunian distributed put back plans dated March 31 s` and April 4t' Mr. Twomey stated that he had requested a different version of Plan C just to show what it might look like to break out the cost at each level using the same categories of items suggested by the Superintendent. He stated by breaking out the cost at each level it shows the effect of retaining or creating smaller class sizes at the elementary level. Mr. Twomey urged the Committee to adopt Plan D. He stated that the community voted against the override but did not say what specific choices were to be made to balance the budget and the community had passed the referendum that increased classroom space and that addressed the issue of class size. Mr. Griset stated that he felt that having to make these cuts was extremely difficult for all members but that he believed that the educational assistant deal with the class size and he did not want to see technology reduced any further. Mr. Twomey stated that the Committee should look into raising athletic fees to cover more than just freshmen sports. Ms. Cavicchi stated that we all agree that small class size is important. She stated that she believe many of our educational assistants are certified teachers that chose to be educational assistants instead of full time teachers because of family commitments. She stated that she believes educational assistants are a great asset to the classroom students and teacher and is not as concerned about our students missing out on educational opportunities if there are educational assistants in the classroom. She stated that she is concerned that next year we may have greater financial issues and more cuts will have to be made. She stated her concern about the remediation for the MCAS tests for high school students. Mr. Keigley stated that he was not changing is philosophy from last weeek regarding reductions and put backs. Mr. Dahl stated that he agreed with Mr. Twomey in many ways. He stated that we are trying to find the most balanced approach to guard against losing technological edge, maintain smaller class sizes, maintain school psychologist and provide teachers for Rey,ular Session -4- April 4, 2000 RMHS. He stated that after thinking long about the situation he has come back to using educational assistants for large class size and keeping school psychologists and high school teacher. He stated his strong concern that the educational assistants hired for enrollment not be used for any other purpose. Dr. Harutunian advised that the educational assistants will be used as substitutes only if the classroom teacher is out. Mr. Griset stated that he does not think that educational assistants are necessarily equivalent to having a teacher but he stated that we cannot ignore the impact of 7.5 trained, qualified adults being in classrooms. He stated that he is concerned with the need for additional high school teachers. Ms. Mandell asked if the enrollment chart dated 3/15/00 still eliminated a room at Killam. Dr. Harutunian advised that the room will be used as a special education room. Ms. Susan Perry stated that she is an educational assistant and felt that although not be best scenario possibly, having educational assistants in the classroom works very well for students and for teachers. Ms. Paula Perry stated that the schools and town need to put together a plan to address class size and budget issues. Mr. Twomey stated that he felt strongly that the Committee has worked for a long time to keep class sizes small and disagrees with the administration on the put back list. Mr. Keigley stated that his top priority remains curriculum. Mr. Griset stated that he would have no problem disagreeing with the administration nor with a member of the Committee but that with this issue he felt he could not ignore the fact that the principals along with the superintendent have weighed the issues and have made a recommendation. He stated that the plan he supports is only the lesser of two evils. Regular Session -5- April 4, 2000 Mr. Kei0ey made a motion to adopt the Superintendent's Plan A for the FY01 budget reductions /additions as recommended in the memorandum of April 4, 2000 Ms. Cavicchi seconded the motion. The vote was 4 -1 -1 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Griset and Mr. Keigley voted yes, Ms. D'Antona abstained and Mr. Twomey voted no. Mr. Keigley made a motion to direct the Superintendent to revise rental fees of school buildings and bring back the recommendation to the Committee for approval. Mr. Griset seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -1 Ms Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Griset and Mr. Kei0ey voted ves, Mr. Twomey voted no Mr. Keidev made a motion to direct the Superintendent to generate a user fee Program and bring back the recommendation to the Committee for approval Mr. Griset seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -1 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms D'Antona, Mr. Griset and Mr. Keigley voted yes, Mr. Twomey voted no At 9:40 p.m. Ms. Cavicchi made a motion to adiourn from regular session and enter into executive session for the purpose of conducting strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with the Teachers' Association, Custodians and Maintenance Workers, Secretaries & Clerks and the Educational Assistants and to discuss the sale or lease of real estate, not to return to regular session. Mr. Griset seconded the motion. The vote was 6 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Griset, Mr. Maley and Mr. Twomey Respectfully submitted, Harry . Harutunian, Superintendent of Schools