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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-03-03 School Committee Minutes0 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE Reading, Massachusetts REGULAR SESSION March 3, 1998 CALL TO ORDER Chair Twomey called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. at the Barrows School. Present were School Committee members Cavicchi, D'Antona, Stohlman, Twomey and Williams. Also present were Superintendent Harutunian and Associate Superintendent Richards. SCHOOL SIZE AND ENROLLMENT PRESENTATION Ms. Callan thanked the members of the School Size and Enrollment Committee and gave a presentation on the School Size and Enrollment Committee's recommendations to the School Committee for solving the elementary school enrollment problem. Ms. Callan described the three solutions recommended by the School Size and Enrollment Committee including the pros and cons of each solution: 1. New elementary school and addition /renovation to Barrows. 2. New elementary school only. 3. Convert Coolidge to K -5 or 3 -5 elementary school and build new middle school. Chair Twomey then opened the discussion up to questions from the audience. Mr. Stohlman told the group that he had met with _Beth Klepeis and that there is good news and bad news. The good news is that the $3,000,000 in the capital plan for Killam School was assumed not to be SBAB reimbursable, however, it appears that it may be reimbursable which will increase the potential pool of money for capital projects. The bad news is that the capital plan is in draft form and is based on the following two assumptions. First, the town will sell the landfill for $4,000,000 and second that there are no extraordinary increases in the operating budgets. Have not factored in the costs for materials and teachers to handle the increased enrollment. REGULAR SESSION -2- March 3, 1998 Emily Long asked for clarification on the SBAB guidelines. Chair Twomey advised that the SBAB has three categories for reimbursement. Category I is to correct racial imbalance, Category II is for enrollment issues and Category III is for renovations to address programmatic issues. The formula is based on demographics and the economic status of the town. Chris Himathah asked if the numbers and projects in the capital plan take into account issues of the School Size and Enrollment Committee. Chair Twomey advised that the plan was done in anticipation of addressing enrollment issues at the elementary schools and the middle school. Jackie Chipman asked how proposal #3 related to the article for the Special Town Meeting for Coolidge Renovation. Chair Twomey advised that the School Building Committee is an independent group. They have concluded that the best solution for the middle school enrollment issue is to renovate and add on to the Coolidge School. The School Committee will have to address proposal #3 from the School Size and Enrollment Committee at tomorrow night's meeting. If the School Committee supports the School Building Committee then proposal #3 from the School Size and Enrollment Committee will be negated. Joanne Douglas asked what the School Building Committee plans are for Barrows. Chair Twomey advised that the School Building Committee has not yet addressed the elementary issues. Dorothy Kesselara asked if the $1.8 million for repairs to the high school is for last year's budget. Chair Twomey advised that FY98 is the current fiscal year and most of the renovations to the high school are environmental and the work is being done now. Mark Nelson asked if solution #1 can be staggered. Do the new school first and then move renovation to Barrows to 2002. REGULAR SESSION -3- March 3, 1998 Chair Twomey advised that it is certainly possible. There is still a great amount of thinking that the School Committee needs to do for all of the proposals. Any solution will have to take into account the impact on the children. Donna Haymer asked if it is a given that one of the three proposals will be the solution. Chair Twomey advised that anything is possible at this point. Will be requesting $50,000 from town meeting for a feasibility study for the elementary solution. Will ask that a four school solution and a 5 school solution be looked at and will also look at the best way to maximize SBAB reimbursements. School Size and Enrollment member Gary stated that one recommendation he would make is that the issue of what is the best size of a elementary school be looked into. Chair Twomey advised that a four school solution would be approximately 600 students per school and a five school solution would be approximately 480 students per school. Was believed that a 600 student elementary school was too large but need to look at costs for operating fifth school. A parent asked what the estimated cost versus actual costs may do, is there a formula that is followed. Also, if poultry farm is developed as housing, has that been factored into the enrollment projections. Chair Twomey advised that numbers from SBAB are guidelines per square foot. Chair Twomey also advised that estimated 50 houses could be built at the poultry farm and those figures have, to some extent, been included in the projections. - Mike Linehan asked what the process will be to renovate Barrows if not adding on to Barrows. Chair Twomey advised that the School Committee will be looking at all school needs. The goal is fix all schools and address the enrollment issues. Mark Johnson stated that a variety of independent efforts to correct the issues, how does the school plan to find your way through this project. REGULAR SESSION -4- March 3, 1998 Chair Twomey advised that it may appear that it is variety of independent efforts but the School Committee is at the center of all projects. The capital plan is recommended by the School Committee. The School Committee is at the heart of the entire process for K -12 solution. He stated that the School Building Committee works with the School Committee to arrive at solution. The School Building Committee makes no judgement regarding education programs look only at physical issues. Sheri Nichols asked if the all the proposals were within the capital plan constraints. Tom Stohlman stated that if you assume Killam is SBAB reimbursable then you can increase by $6 million the capital plan then option 1 is still out of reach but option 2 and 3 are within the plan. Steve Long stated that the long term solution will have an impact on the short term needs. Have another 150 students coming in, how do we handle. Chair Twomey stated that the elementary solution is slated for 2000 but we are looking at short term solutions. Negotiating to rent private space for kindergarten students. Donna Selger asked in any money would be in the budget for someone to oversee the project. Chair Twomey stated that assumption is built in for site architect. Theresa Jamison stated that neighborhood schools are important to young children and both Barrows and Dividence Road have significant traffic issues. Chair Twomey stated that any school project raises safety concerns and traffic issues. If the middle school goes to Dividence and Coolidge to elementary there would be greater redistricting. The neighborhood concept may work better with elementary at Dividence. REGULAR SESSION -5- March 3, 1998 Mr. Stohlman stated that on page 13 there is a matrix which shows the 3rd solution has the least number of students moving out of home district. A parent asked why REAP and RISE are at the high school. Why rent space for short term kindergarten? Dr. Harutunian advised that moved RISE of out Killam and he is required by law to provide space. REAP uses 2 classrooms, took one classroom away already. The School Size and Enrollment Committee looked at central kindergarten option and discarded. A concerned parent stated that there are traffic issues at Barrows and before anymore space is added on will there be a traffic study to solve the problem of the intersection with the main street. air Twomey stated that no decision has been made but ditionally a traffic and safety study will be done. A - oncerned parent asked if the School Committee looked into renting space at Austin Prep. Chair Twomey advised that the School Committee is looking into many options but can not discuss yet. Kendra Cooper asked if the SBAB required that the portables be gone completely or can they be used for other purposes. Chair Twomey stated that the SBAB is clear that the portables cannot be used as an instructional facility. ADJOURN Ms. D'Antona made a motion to adjourn at 9:35 p.m. Ms. Cavicchi seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -0 Ms. Cavicchi, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Stohlman, Mr. Twomey and Ms. Williams. Respectfully submitted, '< , 6�- Harry K. Harutunian, Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools