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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-02-11 School Committee MinutesREADING SCHOOL COMMITTEE Reading, Massachusetts REGULAR SESSION February 11, 1998 CALL TO ORDER Chair Twomey called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. in the lecture hall of Reading Memorial High School. Present were School Committee Members D'Antona, Spadafora, Stohlman, Twomey and Williams. Also present was Superintendent Harutunian and members of the School Size and Enrollment Committee. Chair Twomey thanked the members of the School Size and Enrollment Committee for their comprehensive and thorough report and stated his appreciate for the time and effort put into the report. Chair Twomey advised that the primary purpose for tonight's meeting is for the School Size and Enrollment Committee to make their presentation and then have input from the public. He also advised that the School Committee would be holding meetings at each of the elementary schools so that the public would have the opportunity to have input regarding this report. He stated that babysitting services would be available by the Reading Honor Society. Dr. Harutunian advised that on March 4th or 5th, the School Committee will begin deliberating on the plan and hope to have a decision for March town meeting. Ms. Cavicchi arrived at 7:25 p.m. PRESENTATION Members of the School Size and Enrollment Committee made presentations regarding the three proposed solutions made by the Committee including pros and cons of each of the solutions. • New Elementary School and Addition /Renovation to Barrows • New Elementary School • Renovate Coolidge as Elementary School and Build New Middle School Chair Twomey thanked the Committee and opened the meeting to questions first by the School Committee and then by the public. REGULAR SESSION -2- February 11, 1998 Mr. Stohlman thanked the Committee and asked the following questions: 1. Will the SBAB turn down reimbursement for Reading if any portable classrooms remain? Dr. Harutunian advised that yes, they would turn down reimbursement if any Reading elementary schools continue to use portable classrooms. 2. Are the core facilities from the SBAB guidelines and if so is there any flexibility with the SBAB regarding computer facility? Mr. Davidson advised that they are from the SBAB guidelines and are required to install wiring in the facility but don't have to use. 3. The requirement for SPED space are there any guidelines regarding the number of rooms? Mr. Davidson advised that it has to be parallel to the regular education space, must be comparable. 4. What was the definition used for neighborhood school? Ms. Spence advised that didn't formally define, looked at proximity to school. 5. When central kindergarten solution was considered, the report from Mr. Orlando stated that there are 3 or 4 rooms available is that as RMHS currently exists? Dr. Harutunian advised that RMHS could create more space if significant policy changes. There has been a 21% increase in classes for students due to the 990 hour law. Also the available extra space referred to is spread out throughout RMHS complex. 6. Did the Committee look at building a new 6 -8 middle school on the high school grounds, not as part of the building but on the same grounds? Ms. Spence advised that it was not discussed but even though the buildings would be separate there would still be co- mingling among students and that was determined to be not desirable. Ms. Carol Sheehan stated her feelings that it is not appropriate to co- mingle middle and high school students on the same campus. REGULAR SESSION -3- February 11, 1998 Mr. Spadafora stated that it is not just class size that is important but also school size. Management of smaller school is much more sound. Ms. Cavicchi thanked the Committee for their work and asked the following questions: 1. The solution of renovating Coolidge and building a new middle school, what SBAB category would that be? Dr. Harutunian advised that Coolidge would also be listed as a "2" enrollment issue. 2. Was the potential impact on the operating budget looked at with the solutions? Ms. Klepeis advised that may be headed to an override to fix all the perceived wrongs. Staff for core classrooms and administrative costs will increase in order to deal with 250 new students. Ms. Cavicchi stated that need to be careful what overrides we ask for. If we need an override for the operating budget, RMHS and possibly an elementary solution will probably fail on 2 out of 3. All are crucial needs but need to be cautious what overrides we ask for. Ms. D'Antona thanked the Committee for their work and asked the following questions: 1. Would an elementary school at Dividence Road be considered a neighborhood school? Mr. Davidson advised that Dividence is a separate district and is the fastest growing area but the Committee did not adopt a formal definition of a neighborhood school. 2. Did you look at distribution of children around Dividence road because another cost may be busing? Mr. Davidson advised that the Committee did not go to that level, not street by street. REGULAR SESSION -4- February 11, 1998 3. Did the Committee stay strictly on class size parameters, what if adjusted from year to year? Ms. Spence advised that the Committee did not keep fixed guidelines, looked at many different ways. Ms. Williams thanked the Committee for their work and asked the following questions: 1. How did you determine that the north side is the fastest growing area? Ms. Spence advised that looked at census data, house sales and everything is constant except that the north side has most available land. 2. Did you look at map with roads leading into Dividence Roads in relation to traffic? Dr. Harutunian advised that a comprehensive traffic study would need to be done. Ms. Williams left the meeting. Mr. Spadafora thanked the Committee for their work and asked the following questions: 1. The increase in operating costs for support personnel wouldn't we need these people anyway to handle additional students? Dr. Harutunian advised that past way was to look at having 1 person per building not ratio to students for support personnel. 2. Are the enrollment numbers off already? Dr. Harutunian advised that yes we are up approximately 35 births from NESDEC predictions. Chair Twomey asked the following questions: 1. If new middle school at Dividence would we need to redistrict? REGULAR SESSION -5- February 11, 1998 Ms. Spence stated that it is her opinion that we would probably end up redistricting. 2. How strongly was comparable school size weight in considering recommendations for K -2 and 3 -5 split? Mr. Davidson advised that this was weighted heavily. The district should make schools as comparable as possible. We felt K -2 and 3 -5 could be workable and offered the most bang for the buck. ADJOURN At 9:55 p.m. Mr. Stohlman made a motion to adjourn. Ms. Cavicchi seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Spadafora, Mr. Stohlman and Mr. Twomey. Res ectfully 53abmitted , Harry K. Harutunian, Ph. . Superintendent