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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-11-25 School Committee MinutesReading School Committee Reading, Massachusetts Regular Session November 25, 2003 CALL TO ORDER Chair Dahl called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. in the Superintendent's Conference Room. Present were School Committee Members Carpenter, Dahl, McFadden, Russo, Spadafora and Webb and Student Representative Nelson. Also present were Superintendent Schettini and representatives from AD and Design Partnership. Mr. Richards arrived at approximately 8:45 p.m. BILLS & PAYROLL Bills and payroll were circulated for signature. CITIZENS' INPUT Ms. Phillips discussed the social studies curriculum. Chair Dahl suggested and Ms. Phillips agreed to forward her written concerns to Superintendent Schettini. Mr. Carpenter asked Ms. Phillips for a brief summary of her main concerns. Ms. Phillips stated that her main concerns are the duplication of curriculum in 4th and 6th grade, the amount of copied pages used instead of a textbook, the requirement that 5th grade students organize and maintain copies of the copied curriculum information and the copied information has had errors and there is no publisher information on the copies to contact to correct the errors. GIFTS Mr. Carpenter moved to accept the donation of a large H.P. plotter to the Parker Middle School from Malcolm Pierney, Inc. Ms. Webb seconded the motion. The vote was 6 -0 Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Dahl, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo, Mr. Spadafora and Ms. Webb. REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN /SUPERINTENDENT Chair Dahl stated that he would like to have the School Committee representative from the Charter Commission and the Recreation Commission attend a School Committee meeting to update the Committee on their work. Superintendent Schettini stated that he is coordinating a date for the representatives to attend a December School Committee meeting. Regular Session 2 November 25, 2003 Superintendent Schettini stated that the Hall of Fame Banquet sponsored by Carl McFadden was a wonderful evening, and he stated the American Education Week Read - A-Thon at Joshua Eaton was a great success. Ms. Webb stated that the dedication ceremony of the sculpture at Birch Meadow was a wonderful event. Mr. McFadden stated that he attended the Stoneham/Reading Football Luncheon and heard many positive comments about how well Reading's captains spoke and represented the Town. Chair Dahl asked that Liaison Reports be added under routine matters to all future agendas. Mr. Carpenter distributed information regarding the RCTV Advisory Committee. He asked that any Committee member with input on the contract negotiations contact him as soon as possible. Mr. Russo stated that the Substance Abuse Committee had a workshop on binge drinking. He stated that the speakers were very informative but the turn out was disappointing. Mr. Spadafora stated that next Thursday evening, the Human Relations Advisory Committee will hold an open discussion regarding the Patriot Act. Superintendent Schettini distributed a revised School Committee calendar. He stated that due to a large number of agenda items the December 8th meeting would begin at 7:00 p.m. Superintendent Schettini updated the Committee on the status of the new school. He stated that the architect would attend the December 8th School Committee meeting to update the Committee on Barrows. Chair Dahl stated that the Committee will have many working meetings over the next year on building projects and in order to keep meetings on track and the projects moving forward he would keep comments to just those of the Committee until the end of the discussion at which point he would accept input from the community. HIGH SCHOOL PRESENTATION Mr. Hoffses distributed an updated milestone schedule. Chair Dahl stated that a mailing was sent to abutters and a meeting should be scheduled with abutters to discuss the project. Resular Session 3 November 25, 2003 Superintendent Schettini stated that he and Mr. Hoffses were working to schedule a meeting with abutters. Mr. Capaldo updated the Committee on the site plan including the retaining wall plans and the options for material to be used for the retaining walls. He stated that he believed Design Partnership would be recommending Versalock due to the durability and the cost savings. He stated that DPC would recommend the elimination of 11 parking spaces in the upper lot which would decrease the need for 100 feet of retaining wall and would result in a cost savings. Mr. Capaldo discussed plantings in front of the retaining walls, snow storage areas for the high school and which retaining walls would require guardrails. The Committee discussed their concern with the size of the retaining walls and asked AD to speak to the retaining wall design. Mr. Dunlap stated that the Committee has a requirement for an increase in parking spaces and the only way to achieve that parking is to use the retaining walls discussed by DPC. He stated that to reduce the retaining wall to 8 feet would eliminate approximately 100 spaces. Mr. Bell suggested that members of the Committee could drive by Hingham South Elementary School, which has a similar retaining wall. Mr. Russo stated that he would like to see cost estimates on material options for the retaining walls. Mr. Bell update the Committee on the entry plaza and fieldhouse. He discussed the plan for using pavers and the raised intersection. He stated that the plexiglass in the area above the library would be replaced with glass. He stated that this area provides natural light to the library. Mr. Carpenter asked that the size of the radius of the planting in front of the fieldhouse be reviewed. Mr. Capaldo discussed the existing condition analysis and how cleaning/repairs would be done to the existing exterior of the building. Mr. Bell discussed different glass options for the memorial. He distributed samples for the Committee's review. He discussed the acoustics in the main, entry and stated that the recommended flooring would absorb sound well. Regular Session 4 November 25, 2003 Superintendent Schettini stated that the administration continues to work on the technology portion of the project and would report back to the Committee at a future meeting. Superintendent Schettini stated that he and members of the RMHS staff have scheduled tours of other high schools to look at colors and patterns. He asked if any School Committee members would like to attend the tours. After discussion among the Committee, Chair Dahl advised that Ms. Webb and Mr. Spadafora would attend the tours. Superintendent Schettini stated that the update on security plans at the high school should be done in executive session. Ms. Phillips stated that she would like the Committee to provide the same detail on the new school project as was presented on the high school project this evening. Ms. Stephanie Anderberg informed the Committee that there was a raised intersection they could view on Third Street in Cambridge. Mr. Russo asked for the final number of classrooms in the design. He asked if block scheduling would be a problem in the future. Superintendent Schettini stated that there are 75 classrooms as well as a number of other learning spaces. He stated that the design of the building would not prohibit block scheduling but noted that the administration has not discussed changing to block schedules. Mr. Russo stated that for the last three months he has been voting no on the high school because we still don't have a commitment from the state for reimbursement. He stated that we have a commitment to the community who approved the project based on reimbursement of between 52% and 55 %. He said he would have no problem voting for the project if reimbursement came back at 52% to 55% or even 45% or more. MINUTES Mr. Spadafora moved to approve the minutes of October 30, 2003. Mr. Webb seconded the motion. The vote was 6 -0 Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Dahl, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo, Mr. Spadafora and Ms. Webb. Mr. Russo stated that he should have spoken sooner but he had changes to the October 30, 2003 minutes. Regular Session 5 November 25, 2003 Mr. Carpenter moved to rescind the vote approving the minutes of October 30, 2003. Mr. Spadafora seconded the motion. The vote was 6 -0 Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Dahl, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo, Mr. Spadafora and Ms. Webb Mr. Spadafora moved to table the approval of the October 30, 2003 minutes. Ms. Webb seconded the motion. The vote was 6 -0 Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Dahl, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo, Mr. Spadafora and Ms. Webb Mr. Spadafora moved to approve the minutes of November 3, 2003 with changes as noted. Mr. Carpenter seconded the motion. The vote was 6 -0 Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Dahl, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo, Mr. Spadafora and Ms. Webb. Mr. Spadafora moved to approve the minutes of November 10, 2003 Mr. McFadden seconded the motion. The vote was 6 -0 Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Dahl, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo, Mr. Spadafora and Ms. Webb. Mr. Spadafora moved to approve the minutes of November 12, 2003 Mr. McFadden seconded the motion. The vote was 6 -0 Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Dahl, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo, Mr. Spadafora and Ms. Webb. EXECUTIVE SESSION At 9:45 p.m. Mr. Spadafora moved to enter into executive session to discuss the deployment of security personnel or devices and to approve executive session minutes not to return to regular session. Mr. Carpenter seconded the motion. The vote was 6 -0 Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Dahl, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo, Mr. Spadafora and Ms. Webb. Respectfully sub fitted, Patrick A. S ettini, Jr. Superintendent of Schools