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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-01-27 School Committee MinutesReading School Committee Reading, Massachusetts Regular Session January 27, 2003 CALL TO ORDER Chair Griset called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. in the Superintendent's Conference Room. Present were School Committee members Cavicchi, Griset, McFadden, Russo and Twomey. Also present was Superintendent Harutunian. BILLS & PAYROLL Bills and payroll circulated for signature CITIZENS' INPUT Mr. Lynch discussed the problem of the security lights at the Barrows Elementary School. Dr. Harutunian advised that he would meet with the Director of Facilities and the Principal of the Barrows School and get back to Mr. Lynch. GIFTS Mr. Twomey moved to accept the donation to the Killam School from Garnet Consulting. Ms. Cavicchi seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -0. Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Griset, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo and Mr. Twomey. Mr. Twomey moved to accept the donation to the RMHS Art Department from the Herrick Estate. Ms. Cavicchi seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -0. Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Griset, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo and Mr. Twomey. SUPERINTENDENTS REPORT Dr. Harutunian advised that the new elementary school project was put out to bid and we have received over 50 inquiries. Dr. Harutunian advised that the following information was included in the School Committee's packet: Communication from the Fire Chief stating that after working with the school department and simplex the Reading Memorial High School fire alarm system is in compliance. Regular Session 2 January 27, 2003 Communication regarding the retirement of industrial arts teacher Bob Ward. Dr. Harutunian advised that he would not be replacing the position. Communication regarding repairs to Town Buildings. Dr. Harutunian advised that the repairs would almost deplete the town maintenance account. Communication listing the individuals who worked on the all -day kindergarten proposal. Communication from Principal Callan regarding kindergarten screening dates. Communication from MASC regarding new law requiring newly elected Committee Members to go through 8 hours of training. Communication regarding Coolidge Spelling Bee. Globe articles regarding the state budget. E -mail from Chris Ford thanking the School Committee for supporting the all -day kindergarten pilot program. Communication from Principal Orlando regarding RMHS winners of the National History Day Competition and the Shakespeare Competition. Boston Globe article regarding the New England Association for College Admission Counseling refusing to recognize the MCAS. Communication to parents from Food Service Director Cathie Cook regarding free and reduced lunch applications. E -Mail from Jeff Wulfson regarding Dr. Mandell's request for information. Communication from M.A.S.S. regarding state aid cuts. List of municipal light companies that Dr. Harutunian will contact regarding possible discounts to school and town buildings. Dr. Harutunian advised that he has been invited to meet with a group of Superintendent's and the Commissioner of Education to discuss state funding, SBA and MCAS requirements. The Committee agreed to add the following dates to their calendar: January 30`" February 3 rd and February 5`n Regular Session 3 January 27, 2003 PUBLIC HEARING FY04 BUDGET Chair Griset opened the public hearing. Ms. Webb asked if the Superintendent's recommended cut is what the Committee will move forward. Chair Griset stated that the Committee is reviewing the cut lists and may make changes. Mr. Phillips asked if the override for the new elementary school passes how much money would it cost in the FY04 budget and where would be money come from. Dr. Harutunian advised that the Town Treasurer has informed him that the major impact would be on the FY05 budget. Mr. Garbarino asked if there was a way to break out how much of the special education spending is mandated by law. Dr. Harutunian advised that special education spending is the minimum that the district has to spend on mandates. Paul Misert asked Dr. Harutunian if he was confident in the numbers for reductions. He asked what could be done to fight these reductions. Dr. Harutunian advised that the numbers would depend on the final state budget. Chair Griset discussed the options available to the community regarding overrides. Paul Misert asked if the only solution is an override. Mr. Twomey stated that is the most likely solution. He did state that there are other possibilities include fees and revenue enhancements and a change of the funding split between town and schools. He stated that changing the funding split could only be viewed as borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. Mr. McFadden stated that he wants to find ways to enhance revenue before reductions are made. He encouraged members of the community to review reductions being proposed on the town side including elimination of crossing guards. Mr. Russo stated that unfunded mandates are a key problem. Rellular Session 4 January 27, 2003 Mr. Carpenter discussed budget cuts that were made in the 1990s. He urged members of the community to consider an override to help save property values. He stated that these will be difficult times and difficult decisions must be made. Ms. Webb asked for further information on materials on page 13. Mr. Griset stated that the substantial amount of the library materials is periodicals used in the curriculum. Mrs. Ortiz stated that she would like to see extra - curricular and athletics eliminated completely before any academic areas are reduced. Mr. Twomey asked for clarification on whether fees could be charged for science labs or other things that take place during the school day. Dr. Harutunian advised that Massachusetts General Law does not allow fees for activities directly correlated to curriculum. Mr. McFadden asked for clarification for a program such as band. Dr. Harutunian advised that the Committee could charge for band but not for music class. Ms. Ferraro stated that the community should step up to the plate and support the schools. She stated that the entire community should stay informed of the issues both on the school side and the town side. Mr. Stager stated that the reductions should be put in the paper so the entire community is aware of the impact the reductions will have. Laurie Trabart recommends that the School Committee come up with a list of priorities so parents and voters have something to support and hold to. Mr. Houston asked if the Committee planned to communicate the input from the school department budget meetings to the Selectmen to incorporate into any proposed override Ms. Webb asked how the School Committee communicates with the Selectmen on budget issues. Dr. Harutunian advised that the Selectmen receive copies of the school department budget, the liaison attends School Committee meetings and discussions of the budget during Financial Forum meetings. Regular Session 5 January 27, 2003 Finance Committee Members Dick McDonald stated that the two options to raise revenue are an operating override or an override to pay off debt. Dr. Harutunian advised that there is another option and that is to charge people for services they had been getting free such as a trash fee. Mr. Lynch asked if there is a mechanism in place that if the override fails and people who voted in favor of the override wanted to donate what would have been their increase in taxes to the schools they could do so. Dr. Harutunian advised that a donation to the Town would go into the general fund and the split would be 64% schools and 33% towns. He stated that he would check to see if there could be a school account established. Mr. Marinakis asked what the cost of the $2 million in cuts would be for the students. Dr. Harutunian advised that class size would increase, more students may be referred for services because of the larger classes and the elimination of extra curricular activities would leave students vulnerable from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Ms. Martin stated that the Town would also have less police on the streets looking after the students. Mrs. Phillips stated that special education costs are up 12.6% and IEPs and out of district placements are down. She asked how the budget could increase when the numbers of students is decreasing. Dr. Harutunian stated that out of district tuitions have risen, in accordance with Massachusetts law, and he stated there is no correlation to the number of students and the amount of money spent in special education. He stated that one child with minor needs could cost the district $500 per year while another child with severe needs could cost the district $100,000 per year. Ms. Phillips stated that a few years ago a list of transportation providers and a list of special education tuition placements were given to the public. She asked how prices could increase 15% if we have contracts. Dr. Harutunian stated that we transport students with the consortium of students from Lynnfield, Wakefield, Woburn and Saugus. Regular Session 6 January 27, 2003 Mrs. Phillips stated that she is disappointed that the School Committee does not go line by line through the budget. Chair Griset stated that the Committee does go line by line through the budget. Betsy Starvo stated that people can't lose focus that the cuts discussed this evening are real and will have an impact. Chair Griset discussed unfunded state mandates. A Coolidge parent stated his concern that more information on budget reductions needs to be put out into the community. Information on how the reductions will impact the schools needs to be provided to voters. Beth Ferraro stated that PTOs were formed to support the schools but are now subsidizing schools. She stated PTOs provide essentials such as paper and technology. Ms. Cavicchi stated that she has been asked and is putting together information on the cost of the overrides so voters have the information they need to make a decision. Paul Mistert stated that Reading needs to pull the entire community together in support of an override not just those people interested in providing for the schools. He stated that the message concerning the override must be successfully passed along to all members of the Reading community. Mr. McFadden stated that he appreciated Mr. Mistert's statements but wanted to make it clear that he does not believe there is anyone in town that is against the children. He stated that some people simply cannot afford to pay a tax increase and we need to be sympathetic to people who cannot support an override purely for economical reasons. Mr. Russo asked how many people in the audience want to reduce all extra curricular prior to making any reductions to academics. A majority of the citizens in the audience agreed that they wanted extra curricular eliminated before academics are reduced. Ms. West stated that a weekly news column from the School Committee stating the hard facts about current issues would help allow accurate information to be distributed to the public. Mr. McFadden stated that one approach to an override would be the menu approach allowing people to take control of what items they are willing to override taxes for. Regular Session 7 January 27, 2003 Mr. Lynch stated that the Town needs to get away from a them and us mentality. He stated that the trash fee would only be a band -aid approach to solving the fiscal problems of the Town. June Ewing need to get the big picture out to the public. The public needs to be presented with the cost of all the proposed overrides in a clear manner. Dr. Harutunian advised that the operational override is not as simple to present because the Town is still unsure what the Governor will reduce from local aid. Evelyn DiOrio asked why the assessors have not increased the values of homes in line with the current real estate market. Mr. McDonald stated that the tax revenue cannot increase by more than 2.5 %. Mrs. Phillips stated asked why the School Department pays administrators merit pay and vacation buy back. The cost was $98,000 and that is equal to 3 elementary teachers. Dr. Harutunian stated that vacation buy back is in the principals' contract as sick leave buy back is in the teachers' contract. He stated that administrators can only buy back up to five vacation days per year. He stated that often principals are unable to take vacation time during the summer because they are interviewing teachers for the beginning of the school year. He stated that $98,000 was not an accurate figure for vacation buy back and merit pay. He discussed the probationary period of administrators and that they are brought up to the average of the Middlesex League salaries in the fifth year of their employment. There were no further public comments and Chair Griset closed the public hearing. SCHOOL CALENDAR _Mr. McFadden moved to approve the 2003 -2004 school year calendar including the change in the teacher in- service day from the Friday before Memorial Day to the Friday before Columbus Day. Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Griset, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo and Mr. Twomey. MINUTES Ms Cavicchi moved to approve the minutes of December 17, 2002. Mr. McFadden seconded the motion The vote was 5 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Griset, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo and Mr. Twomey. Regular Session 8 January 27, 2003 Ms Cavicchi moved to approve the minutes of December 18, 2002. Mr. McFadden seconded the motion. The vote was 4 -0 -1 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Griset, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo voted yes. Mr. Twomey abstained. ADJOURN Mr. McFadden moved to adjourn at 10:20 p.m. Ms. Cavicchi seconded the motion_ . The vote was 5 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Griset, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo and Mr. Twomey. Respectfully submitted, Harry K. Harutunian, Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools