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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-02-10 School Committee MinutesReading School Committee Reading, Massachusetts Regular Session February 10, 2003 CALL TO ORDER Chair Griset called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Superintendent's Conference Room. Present were School Committee Members Cavicchi, Dahl, Griset, McFadden, Russo and Twomey. Also present was Superintendent Harutunian. EXECUTIVE SESSION Ms. Cavicchi moved to enter into executive session for the purpose of conducting strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with the Teachers' Association, Secretaries and Clerks, Educational Assistants, Nurses, Cafeteria Employees, Custodial Maintenance Workers, Administrators, Superintendent, Associate Superintendent, High School Principal, Coolidge Principal, Parker Principal, Barrows Principal, Birch Meadow Principal, Eaton Principal, Killam Principal, two high school assistant principals, Coolidge and Parker assistant principals, Directors of Special Education, Food Service, Athletics, Nurses, Facilities, Assistant Director of Facilities, Secretary to the Superintendent, Administrative Assistant to Finance, Administrative Assistant to Personnel, Administrative Assistant to Curriculum and Administrative Assistant Central Office, to discuss pending litigation and to discuss the sale or lease of real estate to return to regular session at approximately 7:30 p.m. Mr. Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was 6 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Griset, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo and Mr. Twomey. CALL BACK TO ORDER At 7:35 p.m. Chair Griset called the meeting back to order. All School Committee members were present. Also present were Superintendent Harutunian, Finance Committee Members Martin and McDonald. BILLS & PAYROLL Bills and payroll circulated for signature. CITZENS INPUT There was no citizen input. Regular Session 2 February 10, 2003 SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Mr. Dahl stated that he would like to show the video on Reading Memorial High School before the Committee moved to other agenda items. Dr. Harutunian stated that he had spoken to Greg Birne of the Office of Campaign and Finance and received clearance to show the video. Mr. Russo stated his objection to showing the video, which is readily available for viewing on the local cable channels. He stated that the Committee was only allowing one point of view to be seen. Chair Griset stated that if some other point of view comes before the Committee and the Committee wishes to view that materials it has the right to do so. Mr. Russo retracted his objection. Dr. Harutunian advised the Committee that the student absentee rate has increased significantly in some of the schools. He stated that increase is not due to one thing but a combination of strep throat, head colds and flus. Dr. Harutunian discussed the information distributed at the Board of Selectmen's meeting on Saturday including the Town Manager's recommendation that the town school split be moved to 70/30. Dr. Harutunian stated that he felt at least one member of the Committee should attend the Board of Selectmen's meeting tomorrow evening for discussion on this matter. The Committee discussed the lack of notification from either the Board of Selectmen or the Town Manager of the Town Manager's proposed change. Mr. Twomey moved that the School Committee, in the strongest possibly terms, urge the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee to relect the Town Manager's recommendation and maintain the 1/3 and 2/3 split that we have had for the last X number of years by which schools and towns have addressed revenue sharing and cuts. Mr. Dahl seconded the motion. The vote was 6 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Griset, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo and Mr. Twomey. Mr. Twomey urged parents interested in the viability of the school system to attend the Selectmen's meeting and make them aware of their feelings on this proposal. Reiular Session 3 February 10, 2003 Dr. Harutunian notified the Board that he had accepted the position of Superintendent in North Andover pending contract negotiations. The Committee thanked Dr. Harutunian for his years of service. Chair Griset stated that under new business the Committee would discuss the process to be used for the superintendent search. After discussion it was the consensus of the Committee that Town Accountant Foley report to the Committee at least every month on any over expenditures in the school department budget. Dr. Harutunian advised that he would notify Mr. Foley. He also stated that he would notify the Committee in writing at any point if he felt he would be unable to meet the budget requirement. Mr. McFadden asked about the status of heating oil costs. Dr. Harutunian advised that heating costs were high but electricity was low so he believed we could zero out the two accounts. FY04 IMPACT STATEMENTS Mr. Twomey stated that he wants to see a proposal that spreads the reductions out equal to the percentage of the budget that each area represents. For example regular day is approximately 66% of the budget and he wants the regular day reductions to equal 6% of the total reductions. He stated that after review the Committee may not want to implement those reductions but he felt the Committee should at least look at the scope of those type of cuts. Mr. Dahl agreed with Mr. Twomey. Mr. Dahl discussed removing unanticipated from the FY04 budget. He discussed not providing for unfunded mandates and litigating those issues. He discussed negotiating lower rates for special education tuition and transportation costs. Mr. Russo stated his concern about entering litigation if we were not 99% sure we could win and the cost of the penalties if the case is lost. He discussed requesting waivers from the Department of Education for unfunded mandates including professional development and MCAS. Dr. Harutunian stated that the RTA could not legally give up the rights of its members to professional development. Regular Session 4 February 10, 2003 Mr. Twomey stated that he also wanted the administration to come up with a list of unfunded mandates and the dollar amount attached to each one. Dr. Harutunian recommended that he and 3 members of the Committee meet with the Commissioner and bring information from that meeting back to the Committee and the community. Mr. McFadden discussed increasing revenue including bus fees, charging user fees for extra curricular activities including band and drama and increasing the number of all day kindergarten classrooms. Mr. McFadden asked for the cost to use classrooms at either Coolidge or RMHS as kindergarten rooms be provided to the Committee. Ms. Cavicchi asked if it is possible to raise fees in summer school program. Dr. Harutunian advised that the fees could be raised by that we need to remain competitive. Chair Griset stated his concerns about the costs of entering into litigation over unfunded mandates. He stated that the Committee would have to add a budget line for legal fees if they decide to move forward with litigating the state. Mr. Dahl moved to increase reduction line B to $110,000 leaving $10,000 in the Mentor budget line. Mr. McFadden seconded the motion. The vote was 4 -2 Mr. Dahl, Mr. Griset, Mr. McFadden and Mr. Russo voted yes. Ms. Cavicchi and Mr. Twomey voted no. Mr. Twomey stated that he voted no because he wants information on the minimum amount the district is required to spend on the mentoring program before voting on the dollar amount. Ms. Cavicchi stated that she also wants to know the minimum requirement before voting on a number. Mr. Twomey stated that he agrees with Mr. Dahl and Mr. Griset regarding unfunded mandates. He stated he needs to have more information in order to determine the likelihood of success in litigating unfunded mandates before agreeing to move forward. Mr. McFadden recommended instead of having a group meet with Commissioner Driscoll that the Committee invite Representative Jones and Senator Tisei to attend the next School Committee meeting. Reiular Session 5 February 10, 2003 Mr. Twomey agreed that inviting Representative Jones and Senator Tisei to a School Committee meeting would be beneficial. Mr. Dahl questioned why specialists are below teachers on the reduction list. Dr. Harutunian stated that specialists' positions deal with students throughout the district. Chair Griset stated his support of the library media specialist positions. Mr. Dahl stated that each item should be carefully prioritized because the final state budget may not be available until the fall. Ms. Dorothy Casalaro stated that the Committee must think creatively. She suggested looking into a reorganization of the district to avoid deep cuts to regular education. Ms. Susan Young asked about the timing for notification of the all day kindergarten slots. Dr. Harutunian advised he expects to notify people by May 1St Mr. Steve Dennen asked how much a $5 million override would cost each taxpayer per year. Mr. McDonald advised that an override would cost the average taxpayer $125 per million dollars per year. So a $5 million override would cost the average taxpayer $625 more per year. Mr. Russo discussed the underride that he had requested the Selectmen consider as an option. Ms. Elaine Webb stated that the Committee should move forward with the prioritization of reductions. She stated the cuts to regular day, especially elementary, are unacceptable. Mr. Tim Houston agreed with Ms. Webb. He stated that we have to focus on the core mission of the district. He urged the Committee not to do anything that will negatively impact the classrooms. Ms. Liz Richissin stated that as a special education parent she felt she should speak to the special education issue. She stated that students receiving services are receiving them because the professionals within the schools believe they need the services. She stated that special education funds do benefit regular education including educational assistants in the classroom. Regular Session 6 February 10, 2003 She stated that if special education assistants are eliminated there will be more disruption in the classes and more stress on the teachers. Chair Griset thanked Ms. Richissin and stated that the Committee is trying to balance the needs of all students. Mr. Dahl stated that he is trying to save money in special education in areas where students will not be impacted including lower tuition and transportation fees. Ms. Richissin stated that in the business world if your company does not make money you do not receive a raise or options and that should be applied to the schools as well. A member of the audience stated that all coaches should be eliminated. He also asked if the METCO program is profitable. He stated his concern that all professional development not be eliminated. Dr. Harutunian advised that all coaches will be funded through the user fees. He stated that he did not want to lose the revenue from METCO. Ms. Cavicchi discussed the benefit of educational foundations that many communities have. She thanked the PTOs for their work in raising money to support the schools. Ms. Judy Castaluccio stated her concern that the all day kindergarten program not grow so big that classroom space is eliminated and class size is increased. Mr. Tim Houston thanked Ms. Cavicchi for her discussion regarding an educational foundation but stated his concern that parents are subsidizing public education. Mr. Twomey stated that he would like to see a revised reduction list that better balances the reductions in regular day. He asked for a separate list of mandates and the dollar amounts required. Mr. Russo stated that he would like to look at eliminating educational assistants in the library and using volunteers instead. Mr. Dahl requested that professional development be reduced, the unanticipated in special education be reduced by %2, RMLD be contacted regarding a possible reduction in rates for school buildings and that a letter be sent request full funding for the METCO program. Regular Session 7 February 10, 2003 Mr. McFadden stated that he had spoken with RMLD and they hope to have an answer by April 1" on the reduced rate. Mr. McFadden stated that he believes the revenue estimate for athletics is low. He asked that a sliding scale for athletics be looked into. He asked that all students participating in any extra curricular activities be charged the user fee. He requested that Representative Jones and Senator Tisei be invited to attend a future school committee meeting. Ms. Cavicchi stated that she would like to see a list of unfunded mandates and the minimum dollar amount that we must fund them at. SUPERINTENDENT'S SEARCH The Committee discussed the process to be used for the search for the new superintendent of schools. The Committee discussed the School Committee policy and the type of screening committee they may want to put together. Mr. Dahl moved to direct the Superintendent to move forward with preparing RFQ to request proposals from appropriate consultants for assistance in the Superintendent search. Mr. Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was 6 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Griset, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo and Mr. Twomey. I: 11111111;791 At 11:00 p.m. Mr. Twomey moved to adiourn. Mr. McFadden seconded the motion. The vote was 6 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Griset, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo and Mr. Twomey. Respectfully submitted, cj�" g�. Q'�� Harry K. Harutunian, Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools