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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-01-07 School Committee MinutesReading Public Schools Reading, Massachusetts SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING BUDGET MEETING JANUARY 7, 1997 CALL TO ORDER Chair Susan Cavicchi called the budget session to order at 7:40 p.m. in the Superintendent's Conference Room. All members were present with the exception of Matthew Cummings who was expected to arrive later. Also present were Superintendent Dr. Harry K. Harutunian, Associate Superintendent Dennis Richards, Reading Town Accountant Richard Foley, FinCom Chair Stephen Blewitt and members Nate White, Gerry McDonald, James Kiegley and Rocco Nenarella, Student Representative Marissa Freitas and a Chronicle representative. There also were parent representatives from the schools. FY 98 BUDGET DISCUSSION Dr. Harutunian stated the FY97 narratives in the programmatic budget were 95% accurate. For greater accuracy changes have been made for this year. Mr. Stohlman asked to have the Proposed Capital Plan as well as last year's plan included with the FY98 budget. Dr. Harutunian asked School Committee to plan on inviting the Student Advisory Committee to our February 10th meeting from 7:00 -7:30 p.m. He shared the advertisement he will put in the Chronicle for the Public Hearing on January 21, 1997. The Superintendent asked how the School Committee wanted to proceed with the budget. The consensus was to do the whole thing and vote at the end. Dr. Harutunian stated he wanted to be ready to send the School Committee's recommended budget to the Town Manager on February 3rd. BUDGET SESSION MINUTES 2 JANUARY 7, 1997 He added that he, Chair Cavicchi, other available School Committee members and selected members of the Administration will meet with FinCom members Stephen Blewitt and James Kiegley on Thursday, January 19, 1997 at 7:30 a.m. to discuss their budget related questions. Dr. Harutunian said Reading Realtors provided him with statistics that say we have more children per family. He added that older couples are selling their homes to couples with one child and another child on the way. We have not seen the peak yet - there probably will be 280 live births for 1996. Our kindergarten in 2000 will be 400 children. Space becomes the major issue. The Superintendent asked the audience to turn to page 3 of the Superintendent's Recommended Budget FY1998 and add as a first bullet School Committee Goals - Fall 1996. In the last sentence he asked that the sentence state, Over the next five (FY98 -FY02) years we project enrollment will continue to increase, adding an additional 404 students. On page 4 he noted the first bullet should read ......with educational research, K -2 at or below mid 20's, Grades 3 -5 mid 20's, as it applies to the Reading Public School System. The second bullet should read - redistrict kindergarten students to fully........ Last bullet should read - three year program to address enrollment issues at the Parker Middle School. Under Highlights - fourth sentence beginning with, These positions are necessary to implement the middle school enrollment program issues and the 990 hour..... Mr. Cummings arrived at 8:45 p.m. Wherever redistrict(ing) appears change to enrollment. BUDGET SESSION MINUTES 3 JANUARY 7, 1997 When asked about the middle school model, Dr. Harutunian stated the middle school student is going through social and emotional change. School Committee members felt we would be rushing into a change if we reconsidered the middle school concept now. A time in February was suggested to discuss this further. Dr. Harutunian asked to go to page 19 where he suggested we can maintain and menu our Library Media for the NOBLE program. Mr. Cummings and Mr. Twomey asked how we plan to spend that money and Mr. Cummings asked for a breakdown by grade and discipline. On page 41 next to Textbooks add the word (Replacement). When asked what it would cost to drop Foreign Language to the Grade 6 level, Dr. Harutunian answered around $90,000. Mr. Twomey suggested an Option A Budget with same totals for the FY98 budget and FY97 budget and to note where money will be best spent. Ms. D'Antona said we may want to deliberate any reasonable requests for adjustments. Dr. Harutunian noted on page 34 the Special Needs change is because one teacher was taken out of regular day and added to Special Needs. Mr. Stohlman requested more detail on how the figure on page 36 for Adminis- tration was arrived at. Dr. Harutuman explained it was a 12% increase for the three Administrative positions in Central Office and it also includes the 10 new days added in for assistant principals. He added he could cut this figure back to 5 %. There was further discussion with the amount being cut to $224,750. On page 37, Mr. Cummings moved to adjust the Professional services amount under the Superintendent of Schools Recommended Budget FY -1998 down to $10,000. Mr. Spadafora seconded the motion. Mr. Twomey asked to amend the BUDGET SESSION MINUTES 4 JANUARY 7, 1997 motion to add (Strategic Planning) beside Professional services. Both people agreed to this amendment and the vote was 6 -0, unanimous. Mr. Cummings moved to adjourn to executive session and return to regular session. Mr. Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Cummings, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Spadafora, Mr. Stohlman, Mr. Twomey CALL TO ORDER At 11:05 p.m. the School Committee meeting was called back to order. Mr. Cummings moved to adjust Labor counsel, 5304 -000, from $25,000 to $15,000. Mr. Stohlman seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Mr. Twomey moved to adjust District awards, 5783 -000, from $5,000 to $2,500. Mr. Cummings seconded the motion. The vote was 4 in favor and 2 against, Mr. Spadafora and Mr. Stohlman. Mr. Cummings asked how many telephone lines were in each school and the cost per school. He also asked for a year to date on Professional Development and Tuition Reimbursement. ADJOURN At 11:40 p.m. Mr. Spadafora moved to adjourn. Mr. Stohlman seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Ms. Cavicchi Mr. Cummings, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Spadafora, Mr. Stohlman, Mr. Twomey R spectfully mitted, arry . Harutunian, Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools