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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-06-18 School Committee MinutesREADING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reading, Massachusetts School Committee Meeting REGULAR SESSION MINUTES JUNE 18, 1996 CALL TO ORDER Vice Chair Susan Cavicchi called the regular session of School Committee to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Superintendent's Conference Room. All members were present with the exception of Mr. Cummings and Ms. D'Antona who were expected to arrive later. Superintendent Dr. Harry K. Harutunian was also present. Associate Superintendent Dennis Richards was not present. ADJOURN Mr. Spadafora moved to adjourn to executive session for the purpose of conducting strategy trategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with union and non -union personnel. Mr. Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Spadafora, Mr. Stohlman, Mr. Twomey CALL BACK TO ORDER Chair Cummings reconvened the regular session to order at 8:10 p.m. in the Superintendent's Conference Room. All members were present. ROUTINE MATTERS BILLS AND PAYROLLS The warrants for bills were as follows June 17, 1996 - Bills - $143,810.46 June 10, 1996 - Bills - $1,078,381.60 June 3, 1996 - Bills - $59,862.84 May 28, 1996 - Bills - $125,198.82 May 20, 1996 - Bills - $79,651.56 The warrants for payrolls were as follows: June 14, 1996 - Biweekly - $128,578.57 May 31, 1996 - Biweekly - $128,104.67 May 23, 1996 - Teachers - $511,710.73 REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 2 JUNE 18, 1996 May 17, 1996 - Biweekly - $140,762.32 MINUTES Mr. Stohlman asked to defer the approval of the April 30, 1996 minutes so he could edit them more thoroughly. Ms. D'Antona asked Mr. Stohlman if he could reconstruct the chart he presented at that meeting. Mr. Spadafora requested that his comments about maintenance be reflected on page 4 before his motion. Chair Cummings pointed out that air quality testing was not reported in the minutes and also the building maintenance schedule at Parker. Mr. Spadafora asked that his remarks under Home Economics be included in the minutes, specifically to the Administration that Health Education, Decisions, and Family Issues be moved from freshmen level to middle school level in lieu of home economics and that his remarks about maintenance be added before his motion. Ms. D'Antona asked if Dr. Harutunian had provided an updated contingency for the Collins Field's running balance. School Committee directed Dr. Harutunian to adhere to the maintenance schedule as outlined by the Maryland Report and Dr. Smuts directions. Ms. Cavicchi moved to defer approval of the April 30, 1996 minutes. Mr. Stohlman seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous, 6 -0. NEW BUSINESS LETTER FROM CONCERNED PARENTS (OUT OF ORDER) Dr. Harutunian began discussion on the June 10, 1996 letter from concerned parents to the School Committee members and himself. He noted that there are approximately one hundred and four questions that these parents requested to have answered by June 20, 1996. This would require help from a variety of sources. David Finney, of Design Partnership of Cambridge, provided an estimate of what it would cost to provide the School Department with this additional information. The Superintendent noted that there response for 30 to 50 hours of principal's time at a billing rate of $125.00 per hour would translate into a cost of between $3,750 and $6,250. Since he is only authorized up to $5,000 on non - discretionary spending on this project he was asking the School Committee for their authorization to move forward . He pointed out that it will REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 3 JUNE 18, 1996 require many hours more for himself and other administrators in the School Department to complete this project. The parents also requested that this information be provided by June 20, 1996. Dr. Harutunian replied he has been doing site visits and will continue them through the following week. He felt it would be impossible to give the concerned letter to the parents in the time requested to answer their questions. Chair Cummings acknowledged the presence of the School Building Committee representatives Margaret Cowell, Richard Radville and Russ Grahamn, and asked about the requirements to provide the parents with this information. He added legal representation is expected shortly. School Committee member and School Building member Ms. D'Antona read her remarks regarding the School Building Projects to the audience: The past few weeks several issues have been raised around the integrity of the school building projects. Those persons who have taken on the responsibility of the building projects have been charged with failure to keep the primary safety and health of the children in the community first and foremost. A group of so called "concerned citizens" has insinuated by the tone of the accusations and the language of the inquires that the Building Committee is either ignorant or mal intended. I can assure that neither is true. It is outrageous that the integrity of those committed individuals would be challenged at this time. It is a matter of timing -- why now - where were you? The Building Committee, which was created by Town Meeting, has been in existence since 1988 -- and some of us are charter members. The meetings are now and have always been open and legally posted. Surely, with the expertise of the membership of this group of concerned citizens, you would have that information. It's so easy to be a "nay sayer" -- to jump in at this point and challenge the caliber and the intention of the members who have been meeting regularly for countless hours over the past eight years and have given up their time -- to strategize a political process, work out the financial issues, hire architects, approve designs and follow the construction. The work of the committee has been outstanding -- one that reflects and inclusive, collaborative process which has galvanized a town to make sound choices for the future of the education of our children. At this point I feel it is time that the real issue be put on the table. I am referring to the notion of undermining basic trust within the school system. The members of these committees are honest, committed community leaders who have been proactive in bringing nearly 20 million dollars of school building and renovations. These divisive attacks on the School Building Committee, the School Committee and the School Administration do nothing but erode the confidence of the community in the intentions of those custodians of the education or our REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 4 JUNE 18, 1996 children. The School Building Committee, the School Committee and the School Administration have been more than indulgent in taking additional time to respond to the issues that have been raised. There comes a point when all of the issues have been considered that we need to refocus on the main goals of the school system -- the education of our children. The evidence that has been presented that assured us, the decision makers, that the process and the resolutions that have been determined are reasonable, prudent and safe -- with the best interest of ALL of ' the students involved. As far as I am concerned I will not support or indulge any further time spent outside of the primary mission of the .schools which is education. Message to the parents of students and the general taxpaying public: There has been much negative publicity in the paper regarding the status of the building and construction projects within the school system. There have been many unfounded charges regarding potential hazards. The School Building Committee, the School Committee and the School Administration have examined all of these issues and have made choices based in reason, prudence and the most current information. I would caution you when these issues come to your attention to consider the difference between committees such as the School Building Committee, the School Committee and the School Administration who are accountable and self serving, self appointed, watchdog committees who thrive on insinuation and innuendo and are accountable to no one. Ultimately 1 trust you the members of the community to laud the achievements of those who have publicly served the schools and celebrate their accomplishments. Mr. Stohlman asked what the best way was to answer the one hundred and four questions and if their questions could be narrowed down. He also stated we need to follow what ever legal requirements are. Chair Cummings stated some specific questions need answers, others are asking to be provided with information and others may require setting policy. Mr. Twomey commented the issue is that people who are concerned about the well being of the children have a difference of opinion. We need to comply with legal requirements and respond reasonably to the parents concerns. Mr. Graham stated there was one question to the building committee, he added that committee was created by Town Meeting and the criteria was determined by those elected by the people to do so. Mr. Radville stated the Parker Project has been designed to meet the current standards of laws. Chair Cummings requested that the Superintendent ask for input into the air quality testing issue. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 5 JUNE 18 1996 Dr. Harutunian called 8 or 9 of the parents that appeared in the Globe regarding the carpeting and since ceiling tiles. He has requested air quality testing be done at least twice in all schools next year. On Parker he wants to sit with the parents and find out what company they would feel most comfortable using. Chair Cummings suggested the companies the parents felt comfortable with could then be put on a bid list. Finance Committee member Stephen Blewitt said many of these questions relate to all of the buildings. These questions should be folded into a Health and Environment in the buildings policy. There was $14,000,000 given to the Parker Project from Town Meeting. He questioned if the cost would continue to mount and hinder the Technology and the Parker Project. Dr. Harutunian stated this would require more office help to do this in a timely manner. Attorney Cheryl Blaine of Attorney Ted Cohen's office stated that School Committee under Public Record Laws are but not obligated to provide information and allow the public to inspect documents that have already been generated at a cost per page within 10 days of request. They are not obligated to provide documents that are not already in existence. Mr. Stohlman asked what the obligation was to School Committee to answer general questions. Attorney Blaine stated that the information requested is extremely broad. Some of the information, would allow inspection of general documents if a particular question is answered. Mr. Twomey referred to question #1 of the June 10th memo from concerned parents. He added there are project meetings that outline who the bids were. Do we have an obligation to provide this information? Attorney Blaine stated committee meetings should be made available to the public for some of the questions. She added that a citizen could come in and look through committee minutes. Chair Cummings stated that the minutes for the public to look through will be available for their inspection. Citizen Mary Williams apologized for what she believed a misinterpretation of the letter and stated it was not their intention to make insinuations. She had received a phone call to come to this meeting to ask particular questions of the Superintendent to start to work on. Mr. Stohlman stated he is committed to air quality and along with that Mr. Spadafora said he is committed to maintenance being done. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 6 JUNE 18, 1996 Concerned parents pointed out when asked Dr. Delaney did not provide the names of schools that had carpeting already. The committee added they want a healthy /safe building and would like a tally sheet of who is out sick, blocks of time for adults as well as students. At 9:00 p.m. Ms. D'Antona announced that she had a family emergency she had to attend to and again stated the parents concern regarding the integrity of any committee was uncalled for. Another parent Mary Keohan shared a brochure dated March 1992 from The Carpet and Rug Institute and the Environmental Protection Agency and pointed out the warnings about warranties on antimicrobial treatments because the durability of the treatment is dependent on the type of cleaning methods and solutions used, the frequency of cleaning and unusual chemicals used outside of the normal cleaning program. Michelle Carrick stated she took offense to Ms. D'Antona's remarks. She added that her intention was to take the responsibility of asking questions, not to slander. Ms. Carrick said she appreciated Mr. Stohlman and Mr. Twomey's questions. She thought it would be easily accessible to get the information. She stated these are serious concerns that could affect the children and added that trust about health issues is low. Concerned citizen Kendra Cooper stated many of the questions in the letter were created by information from the Fort River School for Children that was given to the Amherst School Committee in 1992 regarding schools that were being renovated. Ms. Cooper hand delivered this information to Dr. Harutunian's office on June 10, 1996. That was in time to cover the 10 days required to answer these questions. Mr. Stohlman admonished Ms. Cooper by stating some of these issues had not been addressed at all but had been, but in fact they had. She added the concerns in Brookline High School's renovation issues and pointed out that Reading should not make the same mistakes as other schools. Ms. Cooper presented a brochure from OSHA Standard Time - Worker Safety Rules for Schools, another from the EPA, New Carpet Emissions and their Impact on Air Quality and Health, a report from Somerset where they are pulling up the carpeting, and an article from the Newton Graphic regarding air quality. Mr. Stohlman stated we need to get a company for air quality testing and would like to find out the concerned citizen's specific concerns. He asked Dr. Harutunian and Design Partnership to find a company for the air quality testing. He added that he was trying to arrive at a solution that would please everyone and asked Ms. Cooper to give the School Committee what they would like to know about air quality in the schools. The Superintendent should not spend time on all of these questions. A parent suggested a comprehensive list of questions that would address the financial /health issue. Another citizen stated how low maintenance in the new wing at Eaton Elementary is and her amazement after all the discussions that carpeting is going into the Parker Middle School. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 7 JUNE 18, 1996 Finance Committee member Nate White asked when did the School Building Committee begin? Mr. Graham answered in 1988. Mr. White noted that there have been many meetings since then and decisions have been made and could not understand why these questions were coming to the fore front now. Major decisions were made at public open meetings. Mr. Stohlman stated the public has a right to ask questions. Again he expressed his concern for maintenance. Potential health issues would not be a problem if proper maintenance is used, as suggested by the Maryland Rules. He added if it doesn't work then we would put in vinyl tile at a lesser cost to us later on. He stipulated the Parker Project should not be delayed Ms. Cavicchi continued by saying the Parker staff voted for carpeting because of the noise level. She is not ready to assume that the carpeting will not be maintained and that Parker will be a cleaner building than if we had tile. Mary Keohan stated the carpet industry explicitly warned about designing areas of both carpet and tile in transitional areas. Mr. Spadafora stressed that the minutes of April 30th would reflect his concern about maintenance. He added that he respects the democratic process for discussion and that he trusts the system. Health is a serious concern of his and added that the Town needs a Health Advisory Committee. He noted that not once was text or curriculum at Parker talked about. Chair Cummings suggested that maintenance, air quality, some kind of tracking of illness and other questions that were raised here tonight are the major focus. The School Committee needs to give closure to the Administration with respect on how to handle this. Dr. Harutunian added that many of the parents' questions could be answered after they review the architectural plans, feasibility plan, minutes and general documents. He will make this information available for parents to come in and review the documents next week. Then parents were asked to resubmit their questions. Mr. Twomey stated someone would be needed to watch over the documents so the project record would not get out of order. Dr. Harutunian said that we need an air quality expert and names of a consultant that could guide him. He added that he verbally asked building maintenance in September about the chemicals being used in buildings. He received written information in January and gave a copy to the Reading Fire Department. MSDS forms have been given to him and principals. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 8 JUNE 18 1996 Ms. Carrick said they would reorganize the questions for a more effective tool. They will concentrate on carpet emissions and would like to see the school department work with an indoor air quality specialist. They need to be able to have a dialogue with someone who knows. Ms. Keohan was told by the new Town Clerk that the minutes she was looking for were not available. Dr. Harutunian said he would provide for two days available information by 8:00 a.m. on June 28th and if it is not available he will call the 11 parents. Ms. Carrick said that sounded reasonable. There was a timeframe that concerned citizens agreed to. Ms. Cooper wanted to know where the furniture and materials were being located during demolition. Dr. Harutunian stated the architect would be here to answer their questions along with available Parker Project documents and asked concerned citizens to streamline their questions and to then bring forward any questions they did not get answered. THERE WAS A ONE MINUTE RECESS SIXTH GRADE REQUEST FROM PARKER On the recommendation of the Superintendent, Mr. Spadafora moved for one time only to amend the first day of school for sixth graders to August 29, 1996 and for seventh and eighth graders to begin on August 30, 1996. Mr. Stohlman seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous, 5 -0. REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE CHAIR AND SUPERINTENDENT Chair Cummings noted that Ms. Cavicchi's term as School Committee Representative to the Recreation Committee expires on June 30, 1996. He added that Ms. Cavicchi has agreed to continue for another year as its liaison. Mr. Twomey moved to appoint Susan Cavicchi for another one year term as the School Committee Representative to the Recreation Committee. Mr. Spadafora seconded the motion. The vote was 4 -0 -1, Ms. Cavicchi abstained. Dr. Harutunian announced that Frank Orlando has been chosen as the new Reading Memorial High School Principal. He will begin this position on August 1, 1996. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 9 JUNE 18, 1996 He also noted the joint venture of the Library Boards. The Superintendent included: • his response to the Commissioner of Education about voting not to participate in the School Choice program; • information about the check for $27,015.85 for damages done to the Killam roof during the snow storm over Martin Luther King weekend (check has been forwarded to the Town of Reading and has been deposited); • Coolidge Middle School Ceiling Tiles memos; • information from METCO director about placements for the 1996 -97 school year; • Medicaid Reimbursement of $46,066 transferred to a Reading vendor code we originally submitted; • Addison - Wesley Publishing Company Staff Development Programs for workshops with our administrators; and • a copy of the Senior Citizen Property Tax Work Off Program forms that will enable them to offset their town property taxes. Dr. Harutunian asked School Committee members to come to Monday, June 24ths meeting with their goal setting dates. He suggested discussion with the custodians for the purpose of negotiations be set for 7:00 p.m. on July 11, 1996 and with the nurses at 7:00 p.m. on June 26th. ADJOURN At 10:40 p.m. Mr. Stohlman moved to adjourn to executive session to prepare for negotiations with union and non -union personnel. Mr. Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous, 5 -0. Ms Cavicchi Mr. Cummings, Mr. Stohlman, Mr. Spadafora, Mr. Twomey C pectfully fitted, Harry Harutunian, Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools