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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-11-23 School Committee MinutesREADING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reading, Massachusetts SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING REGULAR SESSION MINUTES NOVEMBER 23, 1992 CALL TO ORDER Chairman Matthew Cummings called the regular meeting of the Reading School Committee to order at 6:45 p.m. in the Central Office Conference Room. All members were present with the exception of George Shannon who was expected to arrive later. Also present were Superintendent Robert J. Munnelly, Interim Assistant Superintendent Susan Wheltle, Student Representative Michael Shannon, and a reporter from the Chronicle. MTTTTTrPFC Barbara Philbrick moved to approve the minutes from the October 19, November 2, 1992 and the Open Hearing of November 10, 1992. Susan Cavicchi seconded the motion. The vote was 5 -0. Susan Cavicchi Barbara Philbrick Matthew Cummings Timothy Twomey Roberta D'Antona BILLS AND PAYROLLS 1992 - Teachers - The warrant October for Bills was as follows: Biweekly - November 9, 1992 - Bills - $42,130.24 November 16, 1992 - Bills - $47,276.86 November 23, 1992 - Bills - $94,194.52 The warrant for Payrolls was as follows: November 13, 1992 - Teachers - $410,672.94 October 9, 1992 - Biweekly - $109,694.44 October 23, 1992 - Biweekly - $115,944.02 November 6, 1992 - Biweekly - $116,177.49 November 23, 1992 - Biweekly - $120,295.31 CITIZEN INPUT There was no citizen input. GIFTS Barbara Philbrick moved to accept and thank Mr. & Mrs. Gilbert Radlow for their donation to Reading Memorial High School of an IBM personal computer. Susan Cavicchi seconded the motion._ The vote was unanimous. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 2 NOVEMBER 23, 1992 SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Dr. Munnelly shared his enthusiasm for the successful season of the Fall sport teams. The Superintendent complimented the Reading police for the felony arrest of two Reading Memorial High School students who have been charged with the recent fire at the high school. Dr. Munnelly thanked Matthew Cummings who took the Capital Committee for a tour of five of Reading's schools. He added that another tour for the other two schools will be con- ducted later. Mr. Cummings reported that the tour was planned in conjunction with the Capital Budget Committee. In response to The Superintendent's request for instructions on how to carry out the budget review, School Committee members offered that an Education Plan should be discussed first on December 7th and that they would like to work from a level service budget. They also encouraged members of the FinCom to attend School Committee meetings on December 7, 14, 21 and in January. Chairman Cummings advised that School Committee member Susan Cavicchi has volunteered to be the liaison for 766 PAC. PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT Timothy Twomey moved to appoint Kenneth Holbrook as the Head Boys Swimming Coach for the 1992 -93 school year, at the salary rate of Sport A, Step 1 effective immediately. Susan Cavicchi seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. RESIGNATION Barbara Philbrick moved to accept the resignation, with regret, due to medical problems of Psychologist Natalie Jansen effective at the close of this calendar year, December 31, 1992. Roberta D'Antona seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. OLD BUSINESS POLICY APPROVAL - SUPERINTENDENT'S EVALUATION George Shannon moved on a second vote for the Policy CBA, Evaluation of the Superintendent, as outlined on enclosure D- 1. Timothy Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 3 NOVEMBER 23, 1992 NEW BUSINESS APPROVAL OF BID FOR COMPUTERS Dr. Munnelly advised that the four bids that were received for the MS -DOS computers, were opened on November 10, 1992. He recommended the lowest bidder, C & J Consulting. George Shannon moved to contract C & J Consulting for the 27 computers, 20 for the high school and 7 for school administrative purposes as outlined on Enclosure E -1. Susan Cavicchi seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. INFORMATION AND PROPOSALS MEAP TEST RESULTS Dr. Munnelly presented for comparison the results of the state wide MEAP tests with Reading's scores. He asked the Interim Assistant Superintendent Susan Wheltle to give a brief report. Ms. Wheltle stated that Reading's overall scores were very positive, in the 1400 and 1500 range. She advised that some of Reading schools' scores even went into the highest range of 1600. Ms. Wheltle added the highest scores in general were in Math. She noted throughout the Commonwealth scores peaked at the eighth grade and lowest scores were in the high school area. The Interim Assistant Superintendent shared that this is only one indicator of Reading students' performance, but fails to capture some of their other accomplishments. Ms. Wheltle had enclosed several pages of analyses for School Committee to review before addressing these results at a future date. VTSTTnRR Dr. Munnelly presented the schedule of interviews for the Assistant Superintendent position as follows: At 7:15 p.m., Mary Dunderdale, a resident of Washington, Maine and presently the K -12 curriculum coordinator for the MSAD #40 school district in Waldoboro, Maine. At 8:15 p.m., Sheldon Berman, a resident of Concord and presently the president of Educators for Social Responsibility in Cambridge. At 9:15 p.m., David Moriarty, a resident of Winchester and presently the director of language arts K -12 for the Medford Public Schools. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 4 NOVEMBER 23, 1992 After candidates introduced themselves, School Committee members interviewed them for approximately 45 -50 minutes with a list of six questions. There was discussion of the candidates following the interviews. Dr. Munnelly thanked the Screening Committee and expressed appreciation to the committee members who were present during the interviews. He noted that the Screening Committee process is to affirm the characteristics of the candidates. The Superintendent expressed regret that Dr. Jack Delaney withdrew his candidacy for the job because he was unhappy with the process. Some School Committee members stated that the appropriateness of the process of candidate selection should be discussed. These members felt that the School Committee and the Screening Committee might have been using different criteria. Dr. Munnelly stated that some School Committee members made premature decisions before the evaluation of Dr. Delaney for the Assistant Superintendent position could be made in an open process. Some School Committee members objected to the idea of School Committee members discussing the candidates with the Superintendent prior to the public interviews. OTHER Mr. Shannon questioned student grade qualifications for participation in sports and asked if this could be readdressed in the future. Dr. Munnelly noted that the School Committee photo will be taken on December 7, 1992 ten minutes before the regular session begins. ADJOURNMENT At 11.45 p.m. George Shannon moved to adjourn to executive session for matters of discussion of strategy for collective bargaining Timothy Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Susan Cavicchi Matthew Cummings Roberta D'Antona Barbara Philbric George Shannon Timothy Twomey