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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-04-03 School Committee MinutesREADING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reading, Massachusetts SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES REGULAR SESSION APRIL 3, 1995 CALL TO ORDER Acting Chair Matthew Cummings called the regular session of the School Committee to order at 7:30 p.m. in the Superintendent's Conference Room. All members were present with the exception of Roberta D'Antona and Timothy Twomey. Also present were Superintendent Robert J. Munnelly, Assistant Superintendent Dennis Richards, School Committee Student Representa- tive Christine Cerratani and a reporter from the Chronicle. BILLS The warrants for bills were as follows March 20, 1995 - Bills - $118,829.00 March 27, 1995 - Bills - $71,692.74 April 3, 1995 - Bills - $99,218.54 April 10, 1995 - Bills - $43,997.38 The warrants for payrolls were as follows: March 31, 1995 April 7, 1995 April 14, 1995 April 21, 1995 MINUTES - Teachers - Biweekly - Teachers - Biweekly There were no minutes for approval. CITIZENS' INPUT $458,193.51 $132,532.13 $459,425.58 - $128,358.58 Mr. Stolilman congratulated the Selectmen for winning the spelling bee. He suggested School Committee members have a team next year. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Dr. Munnelly stated there will be a hearing at the State House on April 6th regarding Special Education. He added it is important that the School Committee share their perspective with the legislature. The Superintendent will be writing a note to the Committee on Education. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 2 APRIL 3 1995 Mr. Stohlman agreed that funding for placements outside of the school system should be shared by everyone in the Commonwealth. VISITORS READING MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL TO THE READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE STUDENT SURVEY Student School Committee representative Christine Cerratani introduced the group of students from all four grades who represent the RMHS Advisory Council. Heather McDonald, Mary VonEuw, Tom Dulong, Heather Shannon, Marissa Freitas, Kate Mercer, Kate Chomsky- Higgins, Scott Given, Sarah Meehan, Jared Petkewich and Christine Cerratani reported on the recent survey given to all of the high school students. Some of the issues they discussed included: Comfort levels in the classrooms Discrimination of any kind A policy on Sexual Harassment that students could understand Vandalism /graffiti and smoking in the bathrooms Alcohol problems for students during weekends, parties and before, during and after school events Restructuring the school schedule, and Teachers could prevent boredom with new learning techniques Reevaluate the Decisions course for less facts and more hands on. School Committee members stated the smoking and vandalism issues need to be addressed. Another member stated early intervention, i.e. elementary level, is important and students need to feel confident to be able to stand up for what they believe in. Relating to the use of alcohol, Mrs. Mirkin advised parents to be more vigilant of their teenagers' activities. She added the school received high marks from a Department of Education delegation that recently visited the school. Acting Chair Cummings stated lie looked forward to the results and was happy that the group will be going forward to note work on changes. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 3 APRIL 3, 199.5 PRINCIPAL MIRKIN AND HIGH SCHOOL STAFF HIGH SCHOOL ALLIANCE Assistant Principal Bob Quinn discussed the process and composition of our particular alliance with the Massachusetts High School Alliance Network. The Northeast Alliance of High Schools includes 9 other communities. The Alliance Mission Statement is, "To provide professional development for all member school's faculty and administrators." He stated the Alliance finances for this year include $10,000 funding from the State and a $1,000 charge from each member high school. He noted that the $10,000 State money must be spent by June 30, 1995. He outlined the 199.5 workshops. CONFLICT RESOLUTION Physical Education Department Head Marc Alterio reviewed the 1994 -95 history and status of the conflict resolution initiatives. He highlighted that "Words Not Weapons Program" from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health include a school based violence prevention grant. Mr. Alterio added that this is a joint effort between school and community programs, a step toward peer mediation, and a promotion of a safe and healthy learning environ- ment. DIVERS IONANTERVENTION Mr. Alterio discussed the refinement of the Diversion/Intervention program from its inception to its current form as well as projections for next year. He outlined the Diversion program as follows: Diversion 1 - students are there to address their own behavior Diversion 2 - students spend 3 periods 1 day and 3 periods another day in the program - 2 days a total of 6 periods for students to examine their problem and develop a solution Diversion 3 - involves a parental conference, Assistant Principal conference, and a contract for the student to keep on the "straight and narrow ". Mr. Alterio stated they have been asked to showcase the program for the State Department. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SCHOOL Social Studies teacher Anna O'Brien and Assistant Principal Pat Schettini explained this year's progress on the partnership with the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. Ms. O'Brien spoke about the components of the partnership: mentoring, professional development, collegiality and the Images course. Ms. O'Brien said they are planning to see if Reading can become a re- gional site for UMass Lowell courses. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 4 APRIL 3, 1995 Mr. Schettini stated the UMass Lowell Chancellor will meet with the Department of Education to request a stronger connection between UMass Lowell and Reading Public Schools. He added that Ms. O'Brien has left her mark on the profession. GUIDANCE FOLLOW UP Guidance Department Head Jane Darveau highlighted the results of the survey sent to 2 and 5 year graduates, pointing out significant results and areas that need to be researched further. Ms. Darveau noted the overall quality of courses at RMHS rated in the very good and good categories. She added they will be sending out this kind of survey every 3 - 5 years. This year the survey was funded by the Reading Memorial High School Council. SEXUAL HARASSMENT POLICY Assistant Principal Pat Schettini stated the sexual harassment policy is in the developmental stage. He added the intent is to make it a policy students /parents /faculty can readily understand. An illustrative booklet is being prepared for all students by students and teachers that will identify all harassment issues and the procedures they should use to resolve the issue. LONG BLOCK MODEL Principal Mirkin advised that she will come back to this issue at a later time. ELIMINATION OF THE GENERAL TRACK Ms. Mirkin stated that on April 6th RMHS will host a meeting for Mary Mader of the Department of Education and the l 1 high schools which received an "Elimination of the General Track" grant. She added that RMHS does not track students but for the purpose of this report, they would designate level 3 to be the general track. Principal Mirkin added that $10,000 of grant money must be spent by June 30, 1995 and that we are assured of grant money for next year also. She stated the Federal and State are encouraged with the student /teacher risk taking and noted they feel quality suburban schools should be rewarded for their commitment to quality education. NEW BUSINESS VISITORS• BOSTON GAS REPRESENTATIVE, ARCHITECT DAVID FINNEY, AND SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE CHAIR RUSS GRAHAM (OUT OF ORDER) School Committee member Susan Cavicchi left this portion of the meeting because her husband is employed with Boston Gas. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 5 APRIL 3 1995 Other people present to discuss this issue were Building & Grounds Supervisor Michael Lombardo, Architect David Finney and School Building Chair Russ Graham. Acting Chair Cummings read the letter addressed to Chair Toomey from the Director of Commercial Marketing John Gilfeather. The letter laid out the plans for the gas main for Parker. It stated if the Town provides the gas pipe trench and backfilling, the gas service to the meter can be installed at no cost to the Town. Subject to availability of funds, Boston Gas would also like to offer their Energy Savings Plan for conservation measures at existing school buildings (Parker, Coolidge, RMHS, Birch Meadow and Eaton). It was noted that gas heat is required to benefit from this plan. Mr. Gilfeather and another Boston Gas representative Mr. Scandler reinforced the letter. Assistant Superintendent Richards stated that if there are problems with the wetlands, there is the possibility that the trench could skirt the wet lands and avoid Boston Gas laying the gas service using directional borings at a charge of up to $10,000. Acting Chair Cummings thanked Mr. Cavicchi for bringing down the cost from $250,000 to a possible $10,000. Mr. Stohlman had questions regarding maintenance of oil versus gas. Mr. Lombardo explained that tests have to be made every year on oil burners, that you never lose your prime with gas, no smoke outs or burn outs and no delivery problems. The consensus of 3 members was to move forward. JOSHUA EATON ROOF Dr. Munnelly discussed the options for re- roofing the existing slate portion of the Eaton School roof. Mr. Finney stated the cost for synthetic states would total $161,549 plus GC's overhead and bond cost for an estimated total of $175,300. He added the roofing contractor also submitted a price to replace the existing slate roof with a high quality architectural asphalt shingle of $95,973 plus GC's overhead and bond cost for an estimated total of $104,13 1. Mr. Finney continued by stating that even if we restrict all future changes to items that affect health, safety, code compliance and building integrity, it will be necessary to spend somewhere between $50,000 and $85,000 of the remaining contingency, leaving between $15,000 and $50,000 available from contingency for the roof. He added that we have unallocated funds from the Eaton bids totaling approximately $71,500. From this we must assume that between $25,000 and $30,000 will be needed to cover costs at the Birch Meadow School. Therefore we can anticipate that the total available within the project REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 6 APRIL 3, 1995 budget for the reroofing will be between $56,000 and $96,000. Mr. Finney stated he does not recommend using the money out of the contingency. Since it is clear that we cannot count on completing the Eaton reroofing with funds from the project budget, Mr. Finney presented the choices: a. To allow work to be completed by August 1995 additional funds would need to be found so the work could be done as a change order to the general contract. b. Bid the work to be done as a separate contract in the summer of 1996. The estimated cost for design, bidding and contract administration would be about $15,000. c. Break up the work so that some is done under the General Contract and some is done later. If the postponed work is bid as a separate contract, the cost of design and contract administration for a portion of the work will be close to the cost of bidding the entire job. When asked about the guarantee on asphalt shingle, Mr. Finney replied 40 years. Mr. Sansted stated by the end of July or early August we should be able to predict the cost of change orders. Dr. Munnelly suggested the roofer do the roof in 3 portions. First 2 portions would cost near $70,000 and we could get started as soon as possible. It was noted that the roof at Eaton was not on the Capital Plan. INFORMATION AND PROPOSALS PROPOSAL FOR ATHLETIC DIRECTOR'S SALARY Dr. Munnelly once again recommended an upgrading of our Athletic Director's salary. He pointed out a comparison with other Middlesex League Athletic Directors' salaries. The Superintendent added that the athletic program is one of quality with 550 students on varsity teams. He highlighted the success of the teams and recommended that the Athletic Director take over the work of the finance person. This would raise his salary an additional $4,000 for 1995 -96. Dr. Munnelly stated 30% of Mr. Vaccaro's salary would be as a teacher and the re- maining 70% would be as the Director. In addition he would receive $1,000 for tournament responsibilities. Acting Chair Cummings said the School Committee would take this recommendation under advisement. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 7 APRIL 3, 1995 NEW BUSINESS SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH - APPOINTMENT OF SCREENING COMMITTEE (POSTPONED) OLD BUSINESS (OUT OF ORDER) BUDGET FY96 - PREPARATION FOR TOWN MEETING & FINANCE COMMITTEE SESSION Dr. Munnelly advised that School Committee would be meeting with the Finance Committee on April 5th. He discussed Article #9 which requests funds for an architectural study of RMHS. Mr. Cummings noted that School Committee members are due back with the Selectmen on April 4 with a list of what would be cut if the $108,000 short fall remains in the budget. He added it was important that they go back to the Selectmen as a committee for support of the School Department's budget. Tile Town Manager advised that the proposed House Budget contained $170,000 less for Reading this year. Dr. Munnelly reported Reading is #23 on the SBAB budget list and under the proposed House Budget there may not be enough funds to provide us with funding this year for the Birch Meadow and Joshua Eaton construction projects. Mr. Stolllman raised questions regarding the 2 proposed custodians in the budget. He asked if we would work with a contracted custodial services or hire employees on a part time basis. Mr. Stohlman stated the need to discuss this as a committee and how to avoid adding personnel into our system that would be difficult to let go when the crunch comes. He also asked if professional development technology expenses contained funds for technology. Mr. Richards replied it does. NEW BISINESS (OUT OF ORDER) SUPERINTENDENT'S AUTHORITY TO REVISE CALENDAR REGARDING THE LAST DAY OF THE 1994 -95 SCHOOL YEAR Dr. Munnelly suggested the School Committee give Assistant Superintendent Richards the authority to change the 1994 -95 calendar to appropriate closing dates for students and staff after Easter and the threat of snow is over. The Committee agreed with the Superintendent. CONSIDERATION OF POLICY ON MEDICAL CORRESPONDENCE (POSTPONED) REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 8 APRIL 3, 1995 INFORMATION AND PROPOSALS (OUT OF ORDER) INTERIM ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT Assistant Superintendent Richards advised the School Committee members of his choice for an Interim Assistant Superintendent. His choice is Dr. Patsy J. Baugh who recently completed an assignment with distinction as Interim Superintendent /Business Manager in Lynnfield. Dr. Baugh owns her own consulting firm which provides school districts with services that are designed to help school personnel and community members know how to understand, initiate, carry out and report on change and school improvement. Dr. Baugh's education include a Doctor of Education Degree from Harvard University, Invitational Superintendents Work Conference at Columbia University, Master of Science Degree from Texas Tech University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Baylor University. Mr. Cummings asked if the School Committee needed to appoint the Interim Assistant Superin- tendent? Mr. Richards agreed to investigate. FINANCIAL REPORTS - CAFETERIA The Superintendent reported the February Cafeteria Statement from Catherine Cook is on the plus side. She informed the Superintendent that there were 15 lunch days in February with a profit of $1,473.39 STATUS OF APPROPRIATIONS Mr. Stohlman expressed concern over the areas that have the highest percent spent on the March Status of Appropriations report. He asked that Dr. Munnelly report back on the Personal and Non Personal amounts spent at Barrows and Birch Meadow. Mr. Cummings asked to have available for the next meeting further explanation of the Eaton Special Education amount and the Building Maintenance Account. SCHOOL CHOICE - NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING The Superintendent reminded the School Committee that each city, town or regional school district shall notify the State prior to June first their intention for School Choice. He suggested that the Committee ►nay want to hear what the public has to say. The Committee agreed with the suggestion. ADJOURN At 11.35 p.m. Susan Caviechi moved to adiourn to executive session for the purpose of discussions regarding labor negotiations with union personnel and stated they would not be REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 9 APRIL 3, 1995 returning to regular session. Thomas Stohlman seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Susan Cavicchi Robert Spadafora, Jr. Matthew Cummings Thomas Stohlman Respectfully Submitted C.J Dennis Richards Interim Superintendent Secretary to the School Committee