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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-01-21 School Committee MinutesREADING SCHOOL COMMITTEE Reading, Massachusetts REGULAR SESSION January 21, 1998 CALL TO ORDER Chair Twomey called the public hearing to order at 7:05 p.m. in the lecture hall of the Reading Memorial High School. Present were School Committee members Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Spadafora, Mr. Stohlman and Mr. Twomey. Also present were Superintendent Harutunian, Associate Superintendent Richards and Town Accountant Foley. At 7:10 p.m. Ms. Williams arrived. PUBLIC HEARING Dr. Harutunian gave a brief over view of the budget process followed by the Reading School Department. The meeting was then opened to input from the audience regarding the proposed budget. Ms. Burke stated that she is very supportive of the expansion of foreign language and requested that the School Committee follow through on the expansion. She also stated that she supports the expansion of AP courses at the high school and requested that the School Committee strongly consider this for next year's budget. Dr. Harutunian advised the group that on January 30th at 2:30 p.m. the Director of Admissions at Harvard would be speaking at Reading Memorial High School and the meeting is open to the public. Ms. Jamison directed the following three questions to the Committee: 1. Will the Committee look at the analysis of space at the high school again with regards to a central kindergarten? 2. Has the possibility of moving the administrative offices to the old police station been looked at. 3. What are the educational issues involved in the combination of grades that has been discussed? REGULAR SESSION -2- January 21, 1998 Chair Twomey advised that the architect hired will tell us what locations at the high school can be reorganized that will result in blocks of space. Right now the high school is approximately 100,000 square feet larger than necessary, however, the space is not in one area but spread out throughout the building. Chair Twomey advised that he was not sure of the Town's plans for the old police station. However, he felt it was an interesting thought regarding moving the administrative offices to the old police station. Dr. Harutunian advised that could not look at moving classrooms into the police station because of different code laws, including lead paint and asbestos. Dr. Harutunian advised that any 4th /5th grade combination is still very much up in the air. He stated that in the early 1980's Reading had combination classes. If the combination is offered it may be looked at as a voluntary option. Dr. Harutunian stated that this is only one of many options being looked at. Ms. Montere questioned why there was no decrease in SPED budget. Dr. Harutunian advised that more children are being identified as SPED students. Dr. Harutunian advised that he compared Reading's SPED spending to ten comparable communities and Reading came in 5th. He also stated that if the new law goes into effect, Reading's saving is only $65,000. Ms. Pission questioned the status of the Coolidge middle school project and questioned what the effect the teachers contract negotiation will have on the budget. Chair Twomey advised that the School Committee is negotiating with all staff this year, not just the teachers and that the School Committee has built into the budget what we believe is a reasonable amount. Chair Twomey also advised that the School Committee will be meeting with the School Building Committee and are hoping to bring the issue to the special Town Meeting in March and hopefully will gain support for the project. Ms. Montere asked whether the three custodians at the town building are included in the total number of 27 listed. REGULAR SESSION -3- January 21, 1998 Dr. Harutunian advised that the three are paid for by the Town but are supervised by the School Department. Mr. Stohlman requested that Dr. class sizes and layouts for the Committee. Harutunian provide the assumed elementary schools to the Dr. Harutunian distributed the information requested to the Committee. Ms. Pissino asked whether the numbers included METCO students. Dr. Harutunian advised that currently there are no projected METCO students at the first grade level and grades two, three, four and five are listed as they exist pending further review after town meeting. Ms. Perlit asked whether approval of the Charter School have any impact on the budget. Dr. Harutunian advised that, if the Charter School is approved, the Superintendent must be notified of projected enrollment by April 1st. No further questions were asked by the audience and Chair Twomey closed the public hearing at 8:05 p.m. CALL BACK TO ORDER Chair Twomey called the meeting back to order at 8:15 p.m. BILLS & PAYROLL The bills and payroll are as follows: Bills January 20, 1998 $88,363.43 Payroll January 15, 1998 $553,376.32 SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Dr. Harutunian recommended to the Committee that public hearings be scheduled at each of the elementary schools and possibly one final public hearing to receive input regarding the report from REGULAR SESSION -4- January 21, 1998 the School Size and Enrollment Committee. The School Committee will be meeting with the School Size and Enrollment Committee on February 5th. After discussion, it was agreed that Dr. Harutunian should come back to the Committee with proposed dates for the public hearings regarding the School Size and Enrollment Committee report. A proposed draft informational letter to the public from the School Committee regarding the proposed Reading Charter School was distributed to the Committee. There was no consensus among Committee members with regards to the letter. It was agreed to discuss the letter further after the presentation on the Coolidge Middle School and the Capital Plan discussion. COOLIDGE PROJECT Gene Raymond from Strekalovsky and Hoit, Inc. gave a presentation on the proposed Coolidge Middle School Project. Mr. Stohlman stated for the record that he had previously worked for Strekalovsky & Hoit, Inc. Mr. Raymond discussed the five possible options looked at for the Coolidge Middle School Project. A. One story addition out the back of the school. B. Come out to the east side of the site. C. Second story addition over the back of the existing building. D. Demolish western 1/3 of building and build a three story addition. E. Tear down existing structure and build a new two story building. Strekalovsky and Hoit recommend option A, a one story addition out the back of the building. They believe that this will be the least disruptive, shortest construction time, and most efficient option. Mr. Stohlman asked whether Strekalovsky and Hoit looked at whether the building would be more efficiently run as a junior high school rather than a middle school. REGULAR SESSION -5- January 21, 1998 Mr. Raymond advised that they did not look at that, their task was to look at making the building a true middle school. Mr. Spadafora asked about the time frame. Dr. Harutunian advised that one of the recommendations from the School Size and Enrollment Committee may be to build a new middle school and turn the old Coolidge Middle School into a grade 3 -5 school. If the Coolidge project is put on the special March town meeting agenda for renovation, it can be pulled if the Committee decides to go with a new middle school. Mr. Stohlman stated that the Committee needs to look at elementary and middle school problems as a whole, if we dismiss Coolidge as an elementary now, we are dismissing a potentially good solution. Chair Twomey asked whether all of the options solve the problem and it is more a matter of construction costs. Mr. Raymond advised that all five options would solve the problems. Dr. Harutunian advised that he did not feel he had sufficient personnel to bring two major projects to town meeting at the same time. Ms. Grim stated that the capital plan is still not balanced and priorities have to be set. At 10:10 p.m. Chair Twomey stated the Committee would take a ten minute break. At 10:20 p.m. Chair Twomey called the meeting back to order. CAPITAL PLAN Dr. Harutunian updated the Committee on the capital plan and stated that several issues are holding up the capital plan including the report from the School Size and Enrollment Committee. REGULAR SESSION -6- January 21, 1998 SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT (continued) Mr. Stohlman stated that he believes it is counter productive to be acting as individuals regarding the proposed Charter School rather than acting as a Committee and believes that the Committee should have an open discussion regarding the Charter School. Dr. Harutunian advised that the law actually asks for input as individuals and as a Committee. He stated that any open debate at this point can draw the School Committee into a public forum on charter schools and that this is more a role of the state than the School Committee. Ms. Williams stated that it is the School Committee's responsibility to inform parents of correct information. Dr. Harutunian advised that you can't obstruct the Charter Schools opportunity to recruit students. Prior to the 23rd, the Commissioner wants as much information as possible however, anything after January 23rd can be perceived as interference. Mr. Stohlman asked whether Reading will lose $6 million over five years if the Charter School is approved. Dr. Harutunian advised that yes over five years Reading will lose $6 million, however, it is escalation and not evenly divided over the years. A member of the audience stated that doing nothing opens Reading to losing control of $6 million dollars and the town will have no control over the charter school or how the money is spent. Mr. Stohlman stated that the flip side of the previous statement is that the charter school has a method of control, parents have chose to send their children to that school and that is the difference. ADJOURN At 10:51 p.m. Mr. Spadafora made a motion to adjourn. Ms. D'Antona seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -0 Ms. D'Antona Mr. Spadafora, Mr. Stohlman, Mr. Twomey and Ms. Williams. Respectfully submitted, Lirr K Harutunian Ph.D. Superintendent