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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-09-08 School Committee MinutesREADING SCHOOL COMMITTEE Reading, Massachusetts Regular Session September 8, 1998 CALL TO ORDER Chair D'Antona called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. in the Superintendent's Conference Room. Present were School Committee members Cavicchi, Dahl, D'Antona, Stohlman and Williams. Also present were Superintendent Harutunian, Association Superintendent Richards, Director of Facilities Jeff Griffin, Town Manager Hechenbleikner and Mr. Debriegard. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Dr. Harutunian advised the public that the reason that the School Committee meeting was being held earlier than usual was that the Board of Selectmen were meeting at 7:30 p.m. and Town Manager Hechenbleikner was requested to attend both the School Committee meeting and the Board of Selectmen meeting. Dr. Harutunian stated that since Mr. Twomey was not in attendance he would briefly update the Committee on the status of the School Building Committee meetings. Dr. Harutunian advised that the Chairman of the School Building Committee was upset with an article in the local paper that indicated that the School Committee had decided to put an article on for town meeting requesting additional funds if the Coolidge Project came in over budget. The Chairman of the School Building Committee feels strongly that any request for additional funding should come from the School Building Committee. Dr. Harutunian advised the School Committee that he had spoken to the Chairman and informed him that no decision had been made at the School Committee meeting. The item was brought up only for possible discussion at a future meeting. Chair D'Antona stated that the School Committee may want to schedule a joint meeting with the School Building Committee to discuss this item. Ms. Williams questioned whether the School Building Committee was concerned about the School Committee having a discussion about any School Building issues without at least a School Building member being present. Dr. Harutunian advised that he believed the issue was money and the role of the School Building Committee to make recommendations and petition town meeting for funds for school building projects. Chair D'Antona stated that this would be discussed further when the Committee was discussing the proposed calendar. Regular Session -2- September 8, 1998 Dr. Harutunian thanked Mr. Debriegard, Mr. Keating and Town Manager Hechenbleikner for the assistance with getting the schools ready for opening. Dr. Harutunian also thanked Mr. Griffin for his outstanding job this summer in preparing the schools for opening day. Dr. Harutunian stated that this was one of the best openings the Reading Schools have had. He informed the Committee that there was one issue regarding bus routes and that Maureen Hanifan would be riding the buses tomorrow to determine if the bus route is too long and another bus route needs to be added. CITIZEN'S INPUT There was no citizen input. PEAT MARWICK REPORT Dr. Harutunian stated that the Peat Marwick report was done in March of 1998 and was in two parts, Custodial and Maintenance. The report listed several recommendations and the pros and cons. He stated that Peat Marwick made a presentation to the Budget Council in the spring and again in June. He stated that before the Budget Council meeting scheduled for September 10th, he felt the Committee should discuss the report and Mary Williams' letter to the Committee regarding the report. Dr. Harutunian stated that whether the school and town merge maintenance responsibilities or not, the School Department remains short of both custodians and maintenance workers. Dr. Harutunian stated the need to keep up the school buildings that the town has been investing money in. Mr. Griffin thanked Mr. Debriegard for his assistance. He stated that the Peat Marwick report does call for additional people and additional people are needed. Mr. Griffin stated his desire to make a difference in Reading but that additional staff is needed if we are going to maintain both the school and town buildings. Town Manager Hechenbleikner stated that there are three approaches that can be taken: 1. Consolidate maintenance under school department. 2. Consolidate maintenance under the town side. 3. Operate separately. He stated that regardless of how we handle the maintenance, the report still holds true that we need additional help and if we decide to operate separately the Town will need an additional supervisor. The Town Manager stated that if you look at the numbers there is an additional cost of $240,000 and a savings of $25,000. He stated that if it is decided to consolidate will need additional help and will need a program on how to proceed. He stated that he believed the Town and Schools should start to make modifications for FY99 if possible and proceed over the next 2 -3 years to hire the Regular Session -3- September 8, 1998 necessary help as recommended in the report.. Town Manager stated that if it is decided to operate separately, the School Committee will need to determine how they will be maintaining the grounds. The School Committee should also be aware that if it is agreed to operate separately, the town would be looking for the $30,000 back that it gave up when it was decided to merge. The Town Manager stated his opinion that the maintenance should be consolidated. He stated that it is not working right know but that it cannot be expected to work if it is without resources. Ms. Williams asked what the outcome was when several years ago the town decided to look into contracting out services. The Town Manager stated that the town had discussed contracting out and the result of the discussion was the current set up. He stated that contracting out does not run itself, you still need supervisors and someone available for emergencies and move boxes, files etc. Ms. Williams stated her concern that once the consolidation becomes permanent the lack of maintenance personnel will come down on Mr. Griffin if we continue to under fund. She stated that she would prefer to give the $30,000 back to the Town until there is a commitment to adequately fund maintenance. Ms. Cavicchi stated that she believes the joint venture has been successful and requested more information on how long it would take the fund the Peat Marwick recommendations. The Town Manager suggested a 2 1/2 year transition to full funding which would include putting additional resources in the FY99 budget. Dr. Harutunian stated that the Committee needed to keep in mind that the additional square footage at Coolidge and the possible addition of square footage at one of the elementary schools or possible addition of a fifth elementary school would need to be included when funding maintenance. Mr. Dahl asked whether other towns had merged maintenance successfully and if so was the town or the school department in charge of the maintenance. Town Manager Hechenbleikner stated that Danvers, Wilmington and North Andover merged maintenance and in all cases the town was in charge of maintenance. The town manager stated that he believed that maintenance belonged on the town side but that Jeff Griffin would be the person in charge of maintenance no matter which side it was on. Regular Session -4- September 8, 1998 Mr. Griffin stated that he worked for the Town of Lynnfield before coming to Reading and Lynnfield is set up with maintenance on the town side. He stated that the system did work but there were never enough people. Mr. Griffin stated that the workers in the maintenance department work very hard. He stated his concern that RMHS is old and needs to be renovated but while waiting for the renovations there are students who attend the school and it should look as good as is possible. Mr. Dahl stated that he would like to see the maintenance budget separated and become almost a separate entity. Mr. Dahl asked if any progress had been made in the maintenance direction in FY99. Mr. Dahl also asked if the Town Manager was satisfied with the contract cleaning. Dr. Harutunian advised that the School Committee only moved forward maintenance items that were needed to open the schools. The Town Manager advised that there is a higher level of satisfaction by building users but a supervisor is still needed to oversee the contractors. Mr. Stohlman stated that if maintenance were taken over by the town and wondered how the principals would feel if they were unable to make the recommendation for hiring custodians within their buildings. He also questioned whether having the custodians' boss at town hall as opposed to being the school principal would be an issue. Dr. Harutunian stated that if the delivery of service is good, the principals will be fine with it. Town Manager Hechenbleikner stated that the town workers do the exterior work at the schools now and deal well with the principals. He stated that the schools are usually the priority anyway. Chair D'Antona stated her main issue is with the financing. She would like to see a model that separates out the maintenance budget. Chair D'Antona stated that she did not want to be in a position where school priorities were competing with maintenance priorities in a focused budget process. The Town Manager stated that we could look into a budget jointly administered by the Town Manager and the Superintendent so that the maintenance items would not be competing with the school items in a focused sense, obviously they would still be competing in a global sense. Regular Session -5- September 8, 1998 Chair D'Antona stated that she needed more information. First, she wants a plan of how to fund the Peat Marwick maintenance levels. Second, she wants a plan on how to position the money so that it is not an issue of maintenance versus textbooks. Dr. Harutunian stated that he and the Town Manager are waiting to hear that the School Committee wants the consolidation to move forward. He had concerns at the last Budget Council meeting that some members of the council felt that there was adequate maintenance staff but the current staff needed to do more. Ms. Williams stated that she is committed to making the consolidation work if the town is committed to funding the consolidation. Chair D'Antona stated that she wants to see the 2 1/2 year plan and present the plan to Budget Council. She also stated that if there is no support at Budget Council there is no decision for the School Committee to make. Ms. Cavicchi stated that she agreed with Chair D'Antona regarding the need to have a clear plan with a realistic cost. Dr. Harutunian advised that he did not believe that the 2 1/2 year plan would be ready for presentation to the Budget Council on Thursday evening and he stated that he would prefer to present this plan to the School Committee first. Mr. Stohlman stated that what he took from the last Budget Council meeting was that the council believed maintenance should be consolidated but were unsure if it would be best on the town side or on the school side. Mr. Stohlman stated that we should be prepared to discuss that issue at Budget Council. Mr. Dahl stated that at the Budget Council meeting he heard concerns about whether there was enough staff or if the current staff needed to work harder. He also heard concerns whether the maintenance function belongs under the School Department. Mr. Dahl stated that the maintenance budget needs to be separate like the capital plan is separate. Dr. Harutunian stated that he would have serious concerns about turning the School Department's maintenance function and budget over to the town. He stated that a new budget should be created if this happens. The School Department's maintenance staff and workload is much greater than the town's. Regular Session -6- September 8, 1998 Chair D'Antona stated that the Committee needs to be careful and not just focus on the financial aspect but also accessibility and control of maintenance. Dr. Harutunian advised that he would bring to the Committee a list of major concerns that need to be addressed as well as unanswered questions that need to be investigated. FY99 REVENUES Dr. Harutunian distributed to the Committee a memorandum dated April 17, 1998 regarding final budget cuts. He also distributed a breakdown of current available revenues and his recommended uses for the revenue. Dr. Harutunian stated that because of growing enrollments, the highest priority at this time was to hire assistant principals for the elementary schools, hire four technology /computer assistants, hire one LAN Administrator K -12 and four regular ed elementary assistants for a total of $188,400. Ms. Cavicchi questioned the $33,000 maintenance cut that appeared on the cut list. Dr. Harutunian advised that this was cut because of the Coolidge Project approval. He explained that he did not want to do work at Coolidge when waiting for the renovation/addition to begin. Mr. Dahl stated his concern about increasing the budget annually with the addition of assistant principals and not having the decision to add assistant principals go into the regular budget discussion and process. Mr. Stohlman stated that he agreed with Mr. Dahl and he also could not support the addition of the assistant principals. He stated that a great deal of discussion occurred regarding last year's cuts and no where on the list of cuts does assistant elementary principals appear. Mr. Stohlman did state that he would look at the assistant principal issue for FY00 budget. Ms. Williams stated her concern that if you add elementary assistant principals and the budget is level funded next year we will have to find something to take out to balance the budget. Dr. Harutunian stated that he did not believe that it would be level funding for FY00. Ms. Cavicchi questioned if the Committee did agree to support the assistant elementary principals would the candidates for the positions be made aware, very clearly, that these positions would be temporary. Dr. Harutunian advised that he would make clear that the positions are temporary. Regular Session -7- September 8, 1998 Ms. Williams made a motion to accept the Superintendent's budget recommendations in the amount of $188,400. Ms. Cavicchi seconded the motion. Mr. Stohlman made a motion to amend the original motion to delete the $120,000 for the four assistant principals. Mr. Dahl seconded the amendment. Mr. Stohlman and Mr. Dahl agreed that the addition of four assistant elementary principals was a big ticket item and they both would like more time to think about it and discuss this item. Mr. Stohlman made a second amendment to the motion to instruct the Superintendent to suggest another $120,000 worth of expenses from the list of budget cuts in the memorandum of April 17 that list to include the $145,000 for the 20% hold back. Dr. Harutunian requested that the Committee consider tabling the motion and amendment and allow the Superintendent to come back to the Committee with a detailed list after meeting with the Administrators. After discussion, Mr. Stohlman withdrew his second amendment to the motion. Mr. Stohlman moved to table the motion and amendment. Ms. Williams seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Stohlman and Ms. Williams. CALENDAR Dr. Harutunian advised the Committee that two members are unable to attend the meeting on September 18`h and he is requesting that the Committee reschedule the meeting. After discussion regarding the Coolidge Project, Mr. Stohlman requested that Dr. Harutunian check with Town Manager and confirm that if the Coolidge Project comes in over budget that the Board of Selectmen can call a special town meeting immediately prior to the November town meeting and an article can be placed on that warrant regarding the Coolidge Project. After discussion, it was decided that a School Committee meeting to discuss School Committee goals and strategic planning would be held on October 3, 1998 at 8:00 a.m. at the Reading Municipal Light Department. Chair D'Antona advised that liaison positions would also be discussed at the October 3 d meeting. Regular Session -8- September 8, 1998 Mr. Stohlman made a motion to adjourn at 9:15 p.m. Ms. Cavicchi seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Stohlman and Ms. Williams. Respectfully submitted, Harry K. Harutunian, Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools