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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-06-07 School Committee MinutesREADING SCHOOL COMMITTEE Reading, Massachusetts Regular Session June 7, 1999 CALL TO ORDER Chair D'Antona called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. in the Superintendent's Conference Room. Present were School Committee Members Cavicchi, Dahl, D'Antona and Keigley. Also present were Superintendent Harutunian, Associate Superintendent Richards and Town Manager Hechenbleikner. EXECUTIVE SESSION At 7:05 p.m. Ms. Cavicchi made a motion to enter into executive session for the purpose of conducting strategy session in preparation for negotiations with the Teachers' Association, Custodians and Maintenance Workers, Cafeteria Employees, Association of Secretaries and Clerks, Educational Assistants, Nurses and Tutors and to discuss the possible sale or lease of real estate and to discuss pending litigation to return to regular session at approximately 7:30 p.m.. Mr. Keigley seconded the motion. The vote was 4 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, and Mr. Keigley. CALL BACK TO ORDER Ms. D'Antona called the meeting back to order at 7:40 p.m. Ms. Williams arrived during executive session. Student Representative John Kachichian arrived for regular session. BILLS & PAYROLL Bills & payroll are as follows: Payroll 97 June 3, 1999 $604,364.52 Warrant 98 June 7, 1999 $120,665.02 CITIZEN'S INPUT There was no citizen input. Ms. Cavicchi requested to make a statement regarding her residency. She stated that she had sold her home but was remaining in Reading. SUPERINTENDENT'S CONTRACT Chair D'Antona advised that the Committee awarded Superintendent Harutunian a three year contract July 1, 1998 through June 30, 2002 salary of $96.965 for FY99 and $101,328 for FY00. The merit bonus for Superintendent Harutunian was voted for the second time earlier this evening and the vote was unanimous to award Superintendent Harutunian a merit bonus of $5,500. Reeular Session -2- June 7, 1999 Mr. Dahl stated that he feels that Superintendent Harutunian is a strong administrator, and an effective communicator. Mr. Dahl stated that he never feels uniformed about an issue and the Superintendent articulates the goals of the School Committee well. He feels that the Superintendent has made steps forward educationally and administratively. Ms. Williams stated that she felt the community is lucky to have Superintendent Harutunian because he has pushed the system forward through the process. She stated that she believes economic hard time are coming up and she hopes that Dr. Harutunian will stay with the system through the hard time. Ms. Cavicchi stated that she agrees with everything that was said. She stated that she is impressed by the forward movement of the school system. Ms. Cavicchi stated that the Superintendent communicates well with the children and his very responsive to concerns of parents. Mr. Keigley stated that while he was a member of the Finance Committee he was kept well informed on school issues by Superintendent Harutunian. He stated that it has been a pleasure to work with the superintendent as a member of the Finance Committee and as a member of the School Committee. Chair D'Antona read a statement from Mr. Twomey regarding the Superintendent's bonus merit. The statement will be included entered into the record Chair D'Antona agreed with the previous statements and added that not only was the Superintendent well respected in the district but that he is also well respected by other Superintendents. Dr. Harutunian thanked the Committee for their support and stated that it is a pleasure to work with the students and members of the Reading community. Superintendent Harutunian thanked the staff of the Reading School District, especially Dennis Richards for his support. CURRICULUM PRESENTATIONS (out of order) Mr. Richards thanked the Committee for the opportunity to make this presentation to them this evening. Dr. Harutunian advised that Tony Di Sanzo has been appointed the new Foreign Language coordinator for 6 -12. Regular Session -3- June 7, 1999 Foreign Language Tony Di Sanzo made a presentation to the Committee regarding Foreign Language including the sixth grade program, the Spanish 2B Program and AP in Spanish and French. Mr. Di Sanzo then opened the discussion up to questions. Ms. Williams asked whether the 7th grade language program had compatible software that parents may be able to purchase. Mr. Di Sanzo advised that there was compatible software. Mr. Doherty advised that a letter had been sent to parents informing them of the name of the software program and information on where to purchase the program if they are interested. Mr. Dahl stated that he was glad to see that the 6th grade program was in place. He stated that learning about a country's culture would assist students in making an educated choice when deciding which language to chose for the 7th grade. Science Dr. Harutunian and Mr. Richards introduced the science curriculum presenters and thanked Chris Redford for her work on "Everyone's a Mathematician and Scientist Week ". The science curriculum group gave a presentation to the School Committee regarding the science curriculum at elementary, middle and high school levels. The group then opened up the discussion to questions from the Committee. Ms. Williams asked if there was one piece of equipment that Ms. Budrewicz would like to see what would it be. She also asked if any of the textbooks were 1980 books. Ms. Budrewicz stated that she would like one stable computer in each classroom for internet access. She also stated that human biology was one area that needed updated textbooks. Mr. Dahl asked how many AP books were purchased and how was the number determined. Ms. Budrewicz stated that 11 books were purchases. Last year there were nine students and added two more as an estimated increase. Regular Session -4- June 7, 1999 Mathematics Dr. Harutunian and Mr. Richards introduced the mathematics curriculum group. The mathematics curriculum group gave a presentation to the School Committee regarding the mathematics curriculum at elementary, middle and high school levels. The group then opened up the discussion to questions from the Committee. Ms. Cavicchi stated that Reading did well on the MCAS tests but asked what the correlation is to the frameworks. Ms. Redford stated that there is a very tight correlation to the frameworks. Ms. Williams stated that last year at the same presentation she had asked what was being done to challenge the students who are getting the math and getting it quickly. After listening to tonight's presentation, she stated she noticed that the issue of children who need the program modified in order to succeed has been addressed. However, once again, she has not heard anything in the presentation that addresses what if anything would be done to challenge the students who are getting all of the introduced concepts very quickly. Mr. Richards stated that work would be done over the summer with teachers and the goal is to have all students in all subjects challenged at all times. Mr. Dahl stated that he was pleased with the increased graduation requirements for RMHS and thanked Dr. Harutunian, Mr. Richards and the curriculum group. Ms. Cavicchi asked for clarification on the graphing calculator policy Mr. Moscariello stated that a public school cannot require a student to purchase a graphing calculator but students are strongly encouraged to purchase the calculator. He stated that there are a limited number of calculators available for classroom use by those students that do not have the calculator but that they could not remove the calculators from the classroom. Student Representative John Kachichian stated that he has found the graphing calculator to be a very valuable tool for classes and also for SATs. At 9:30 p.m. Chair D'Antona advised that the Committee would take a short break. At 9:33 p.m. Chair D'Antona called the meeting back to order. I Regular Session -5- June 7, 1999 Social Studies Dr. Harutunian and Mr. Richards introduced the social studies curriculum presenters. The social studies curriculum group gave a presentation to the School Committee regarding the social studies curriculum at elementary, middle and high school levels. The group then opened up the discussion to questions from the Committee. Mr. Dahl questioned at what point geography will be taught if replacing World Geography with World Studies. Ellen Howland advised that geography was not being abandoned by spread out K -12. Ms. Cavicchi asked about the MCAS pilot social studies test. Ms. Callan advised that the test was taken at all schools but that no results will be given back to the individual student or to the schools. Ms. Cavicchi asked Student Representative John Kachichian his experience with the social studies test. Mr. Kachichian stated that he did not have a problem with the test but may have if he had received a different version of the test. He stated that he felt the test was very fact oriented. English Lanauaae Arts Dr. Harutunian and Mr. Richards introduced the English Language Arts curriculum presenters. The social studies curriculum group gave a presentation to the School Committee regarding the English Language Arts curriculum at elementary, middle and high school levels. The group then opened up the discussion to questions from the Committee. Ms. Williams asked if the changes in the English Language Arts would mean that SSR would be eliminated at the middle school. Ms. Howland advised that SSR is gone from the middle schools. Committee members stated that they were very impressed with the presentations given this evening and the high level of commitment shown by the staff members. At 10:45 p.m. Mr. Kachichian left the meeting. Regular Session -6- June 7, 1999 WEB Page Demonstration Technology Director John Marion gave a presentation to the Committee on the Reading Public Schools WEB Page. TRANSPORTATION Ms. Cavicchi moved, based on the recommendation of the administration, that the Committee accept the bid from North Suburban for the transportation of Reading School children for the next 3 ey ars (1999- 2002). Mr. Keigley seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Keigley and Ms. Williams. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Dr. Harutunian updated the Committee regarding the meeting with that was held with the state representatives and state senator regarding funding. He advised that this would be discussed at the Budget Council meeting scheduled for June 9 "i. The Committee then discussed strategy for the Budget Council meeting. ADJOURN At 11:20 p.m. Mr. Keigley made a motion to adjourn. Ms. Williams seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Keigley and Ms. Williams. Is ectfully subm' ed, ell LA Harry K. Harutunian, Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools