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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-10-23 School Committee MinutesREADING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reading, Massachusetts SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING REGULAR SESSION MINUTES OCTOBER 23, 1995 CALL TO ORDER Chair Matthew Cummings called the regular session to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Superintendent's Office. All members were present with the exception of Roberta D'Antona. Also present was Superintendent Dr. Harry K. Harutunian. ADJOURN Mr. Spadafora moved to adjourn to executive session for the purpose of union and nonunion bargaining_ negotiations discussions and to return to regular session later. Ms. Cavicchi seconded the motion The vote was unanimous. Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Stohlman, Mr. Spadafora, Mr. Twomey CALL TO ORDER Chair Cummings reconvened the regular session to order at 7:40 p.m. All members were present with the exception of Ms. D'Antona. Also present were Superintendent Dr. Harry K. Harutunian and Assistant Superintendent Dennis Richards. MINUTES Ms Cavicchi moved to approve the minutes of September 18, 1995. Mr. Stohlman seconded the motion. Mr. Stohlman asked that names be listed on page 1 under adjourn, on page 4 to note in the last sentence it should state Superintendent and the motion on page 5 to remove a proposed increase or decrease and to state line item adjustments totaling $214,548 with the total budget remaining at $18,213,000. Mr. Spadafora asked that he be recognized as the person who proposed to have a call -in time on page 4. . The vote was unanimous. Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Cummings Mr. Stohlman, Mr. Spadafora, Mr. Twomey Mr. Stohlman moved to approve the minutes of September 27, 1995 Ms Cavicchi seconded the motion The vote was 4 -0 -1. Ms. Cavicchi Mr. Cummings, Mr. Stohlman and Mr. Spadafora, Mr. Twomey abstained. BILLS AND PAYROLLS The warrant for bills were as follows: REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 2 OCTOBER 23, 1995 October 23, 1995 - Bills - $245,931.10 October 16, 1995 - Bills - $ 57,632.53 October 10, 1995 - Bills - $117,837.56 The warrants for payrolls were as follows: October 20, 1995 - Biweekly - $125,836.23 October 16, 1995 - Biweekly - $125,857.08 October 13, 1995 - Teachers - $489,301.88 LIAISON REPORT Mr. Spadafora, a liaison for the Teen Center, reported that Joe Connelly of the Recreation Department has started a youth council for grades 5 -8. Mr. Stohlman, a liaison for the Reading Year 2000 Committee, noted concerned citizens are looking into the renovation of the high school by the year 2000. They will work with the School Building Committee to see how this can be accomplished. Dr. Harutunian advised that ten architects have shown an interest in the high school renovation project at an informational meeting this week. The Superintendent stated the consensus was for Principal Mirkin go back to the Reading Year 2000 Committee, Russ Graham go back to the School Building Committee and at the next School Committee meeting Dr. Harutunian would report where we stand with an adjusted time table based on RFP information. CITIZEN INPUT There was no citizen input. SUPERINTENDENT'S AND SCHOOL COMMITTEE CHAIR'S REPORT Dr. Harutunian informed the School Committee that teachers, Leo Kenney and Michael Harney have been awarded the Wright Center for Science Education's interdisciplinary teacher scholar fellowship from Tufts University. He added Tufts University will be reimbursing our school for a substitutes salary up to $50 a day for each teacher, a total of $500. Chair Cummings stated Board of Selectmen Camille Anthony and Finance Committee Stephen Blewitt are trying to arrange the All Boards Meeting to a later time so everyone who is interested will be able to attend the hearing on the Police Department sites that are being considered. Dr. Harutunian advised that it would take a School Committee vote for the land across from the high school to be transferred to the Town. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 3 OCTOBER 23, 1995 PERSONNEL There was no personnel to report on this evening. NEW BUSINESS SUPERINTENDENT'S PRESENTATION ON THE FISCAL YEAR 1997 BUDGET Dr. Harutunian presented some information on the per pupil allocation for the FY97 Budget. based on the October 1 student enrollment figures as follows for text books, paper and pencils: High School Middle School Elementary School Special Education Prototype .4 Textbooks 1995 -1996 $125 x 1005 = $125,625 $110 x 839 = $ 92,290 $ 88 x 1966 = $173,008 $ 16 each $125 each 1QQF -1QQ? $135 x 1013 = $136,755 $120 x 878 = $105,360 $100x2018= $201,800 $ 20 each $130 each $10 per student He added that $39,000 more will be spread out among the schools for new text books. The Superintendent noted that SPED is going up. There were no ADD students before 766. More students are now being identified. Based on the FY97 redistricting plan there will need to be a $250,000 - $300,000 increase for new teachers. There will be programmatic change that will bring the middle school social studies and science up to the 6 periods in a 6 day cycle, same as math and English. Dr. Harutunian suggested this is a "preliminary" review of projections for FY97. He stated on November 1, at the Open Meeting with all committees, the School Committee will have an opportunity to discuss the proposed bottom line ($38,184,279) for the FY97 budget. SCHOOL COMMITTEES' INPUT INTO THE FY97 BUDGET School Committee members commented on input for the FY97 budget: Commit to a plan for a Technology Coordinator Supported $10 for each student solely for the purpose of text books REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 4 OCTOBER 23, 1995 Foreign Language - broadening offerings at the high school level and bringing it into the lower levels Dr. Harutunian stated the Administration is on top of the concerns the committee members expressed. He outlined a change in the look of the budget noting that the pink form is entitled Teachers Budget Request which is the form that our principals will be using to obtain budget information from our staff, and a blue form entitled Department Budget Request a form to be used by our staff to collect information by departments (Science, Math, English, Social Studies, etc.) throughout the system. The yellow forms are for the Administration expenses and the green forms are for each school in every area, K -12. The gold forms are for Special Needs, the light blue for Other School Services, and the pink for Custodial/Maintenance. When they are com- pleted it will be an Educational Budget. Dr. Harutunian explained that Lotus is the computer we are using. Principals will be handed a diskett with a blank spread sheet to plug in their items for the FY97 budget. The Superintendent and Chair Cummings expressed appreciation for the time that has been given to these formats. OLD BUSINESS REPORT ON THE SPECIAL EDUCATION COLLABORATIVE Dr. Harutunian reported that he has met will all of the Special Education staff, Dennis Richards, Jean McGah, JoAnn Testeverde, Reading principals and Robin Hamilton to receive input about Special Education Consortiums. After much consideration, he presented two recommendations: His first recommendation is that the Reading Public Schools join the North Shore Education Con- sortium. This Consortium is made up of the towns of Marblehead, Lynn, Nahant, Salem, Beverly, Peabody, Danvers, Masconomet Regional, Gloucester and Swampscott. Secondly, he recom- mended that during the 1996 -97 school year we also remain in the SEEM Collaborative. The Superintendent added that by joining the Consortium it will only cost our district $5,400 for membership each year, but will give us a fifteen percent reduction on students tuitioned into their programs. It will also provide bulk bid buying for paper and materials that normally this district buys on its own. He added he would look into the Consortium further to see if they could provide more options, i.e. special education vocational program and if for the same amount of money we could have the Consortium handle our transportation. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 5 OCTOBER 23 1995 Mr. Stohlman moved to approve membership in the North Shore Education Consortium for the amount of $5,400 each year as soon as possible Mr. Twomey seconded the motion The vote was unanimous. INFORMATION AND PROPOSALS Dr. Harutunian informed the School Committee of the enrollment figures as of October 2, 1995. He noted that we will have projected enrollment figures for the next five years shortly. ADJOURN At 9:00 p.m. Mr. Spadafora moved to adjourn Mr. Twomey seconded the motion The vote was unanimous. Ms. Cavicchi Mr. Cummings Mr. Spadafora Mr. Stohlman Mr. Twomey Z ectful Su itted, , Harry K. Harutunian, Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools READING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reading, Massachusetts SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING REGULAR SESSION MINUTES DECEMBER 21, 1995 CALL TO ORDER Chair Matthew Cummings called the regular session of School Committee to order at 7:35 p.m. in the Reading Public Library. All members were present. Also present were Superintendent- Dr. Harry K. Harutuman and Associate Superintendent Dennis Richards. GOALS Mr. Spadafora presented information on four proposals he prepared for Reading School Commit- tee's consideration: 1. Community Service Curriculum 2. Interactive and Efficient Meetings 3. Technology 4. Assess the Health Curriculum Ms. D'Antona suggested we add "students should demonstrate personal, social, and civic respon- sibility" to a school committee goal. Mr. Twomey suggested we find out if there is more information on the Common Core and whether or not we are already doing it. He also asked whether or not there would be any cost? He also mentioned we should investigate the feasibility of establishing a home page. The committee discussed other methods for improving communication. Ms. D'Antona indicated she would be supportive of retaining communication as a goal. Then each member of the committee suggested goals for the School Committee. The committee asked the Superintendent to organize the goals and present them to the committee on February 29 with some information on strategic planning. The committee agreed to hold February School Committee meetings on the 12th and the 26th with an additional meeting on the 29th for goals and strategic planning. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 2 DECEMBER 21, 1995 ADJOURN Ms. D'Antona moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:20 p.m. Ms. Cavicchi seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Cummings, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Spadafora, Mr. Stohlman, Mr. Twomey Respectfully submitted, C Harry Harutunian, Ph. D. Superintendent of Schools El READING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reading, Massachusetts SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES EXECUTIVE SESSION MINUTES DECEMBER 19, 1995 CALL TO ORDER Chair Matthew Cummings called the executive session of the School Committee to order at 7:18 p.m. in the Superintendent's office. All members were present with the exception of Roberta D'Antona and Robert Spadafora. Also present were Superintendent Dr. Harry K. Harutunian and Associate Superintendent Dennis Richards. EXECUTIVE MINUTES Mr. Stohlman moved to release the following, minutes to Open Session as found in the packet. September 14 1992, February 8, 1993, March 22, 1993: June 7, 14, 21, and 28, 1993; August 30, 1993, October 18 1993 December 6 13 and 20 1993, February 14, 1994, March 14 and 28, 1994 April 7 1994, May 9 1994, August 8 and 29 1994, September 26, 1994: December 1, 5, 12 14 and 19 1994, February 6 and 27 1995, March 27, 1995, April 3, 10, and 24, 1995, May 8 22 and 30 1995, June 7 12, 20, and 26, 1995 and July 12, 1995. Mr. Twomey seconded the motion The vote was 4 -0. Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Stohlman, Mr. Twomey ADJOURN At 7.23 p.m. Mr. Twomey moved to adjourn to regular session. Mr. Stohlman seconded the motion The vote was 4 -0. Ms. Cavicchi Mr. Cummings, Mr. Stohlman, Mr. Twomey v`