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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-05-04 School Committee MinutesREADING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reading, Massachusetts SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING REGULAR SESSION MINUTES MAY 4, 1992 CALL TO ORDER Chair Barbara Philbrick called the regular meeting of the Reading School Committee to order at 7:10 p.m. in the Superintendent's Conference Room. All members were present with the exception of George Shannon, who was expected to arrive later and Student Representative Carrie Bither. Also present were Superintendent Robert J. Munnelly and a reporter from the Chronicle. Students representing the Student Advisory Council were Beth Plansky, Sean Murphy, and Maura Cignetti. - MINUTES Matthew Cummings asked that the minutes of April 21, 1992 reflect the particular reason he voted not to ratify the contract arranged in negotiations between the Reading School Committee and Reading Teachers Association. He expressed his opposition to the Sick Leave Buy Back Program and the Reduction in this year's academic calendar of 2 days. Susan Cavicchi moved to approve the minutes of April 21, 1992 as corrected. Timothy Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. BILLS AND PAYROLLS The warrant for Bills was as follows: April 21, 1992 Bills $32,489.89 April 27, 1992 Bills $ 5,540.81 May 4, 1992 Bills $82,719.73 The warrant for Payrolls was as follows: April 24, 1992 Biweekly $89,358.38 May 1, 1992 Teachers $410,431.73 CITIZEN INPUT There was no Citizens' Input. GIFTS Dr. Munnelly identified the gifts and gestures received by Parker Middle School during the 1991 -92 school year. The Superintendent REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 2 MAY 4, 1992 and the School Committee thanked members of the Parker PTA, Arnold Berger, the Computer Lab, and individual parents for their gifts as outlined on enclosure B -4. Matthew Cummings moved to accept the gifts as identified on enclosure B -4 and send the appropriate notes of thanks. Timothy Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. OTHER Chair Philbrick advised a vote was necessary to release the School Committee Executive Minutes identified as H on Enclosure B -1 of the April 21, 1992 Regular Session meeting to the Open Meeting Book. Susan Cavicchi moved to approve the release of the Executive Minutes marked H (hold) on enclosure B -1 in the April 21, 1992 Regular Session Minutes to the Open Meeting Book. Matthew Cummings seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Dr. Munnelly informed the School Committee that all original School Committee minutes have been sent to Town Hall. He advised that they would be protected in a vault and records would continue to be kept at the Superintendent's office and at the Reading Public Library. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT The Superintendent informed the School Committee that Louis Adreani, Assistant Principal at Coolidge Middle School has been selected as the Massachusetts Middle Level School Administrator Association's Assistant Principal of the Year and will be pre- sented his award at the Spring Conference on May 7, 1992. Dr. Munnelly shared that members of the Reading Memorial High School West Suburban Science Team came in first place at the West Suburban Science League. Members of the team to be congratulated are: John Vaillancourt, Jon Griffith, John -Paul Lavoie, Chrissy Lanzoni, Thomas Lautzenheiser, Yee -Fan Sun, Ben Abbott, Mark Rulison, Lauren Zenewicz, Nona Childress, Erika Baumgartner, Julie Perreault, Andy Hsu, Colin Peterson, Yee -Li Sun and William Lautzenheiser. The Superintendent also congratulated the club advisors Judy Donovan and Leo Kenney. Dr. Munnelly acknowledged teachers Jeff Cryan and Bill Carne, who recently had an article, "It's Never too Early: A Fall Field Trip Develops Team Relationships" published in the New England League of Middle Schools Journal. The Superintendent also announced that Parker eighth grader Julia Mark's essay appeared within this article. Dr. Munnelly advised that Jack Delaney, Parker Middle School Principal and immediate past president of NASSP, talk at the Annual National Association of Secondary School Principals Annual Meeting was published in the NASSP BULLETIN. The Superintendent applauded the National History Day State Finalists; Michael Connor and Michael Daly from Coolidge Middle School; and from Parker Middle School Mark Harrison and Rick Stroman who received a Certificate of Achievement, Mark and Debbie Maguire who received third place medals, and Matt Pothier won first place in the individual media category for his original video entitled, "Changing Tracks: Railroads and Their Effect on Residential Patterns." Dr. Munnelly wished Matt Pothier good luck as he goes on to compete in the national finals in Washington, D.C. this month. PERSONNEL Dr. Munnelly stated Custodian Joe MacDonald and Cafeteria worker Lucy Serrechia have submitted their resignations for the purposes of retirement. George Shannon, on the recommendation of the Administration, moved to reappoint for the 1992 -1993 academic year METCO Coordinator Wilma Fraser, at the rate of Bachelor Level, Step 2, contingent on 1992 -1993 METCO Grant funds awarded from the State Department of Education. Matthew Cummings seconded the motion. The vote 'was unanimous. The Superintendent requested a sense of how the School Committee would like him to respond to readjusting Athletic Director Jack White's job description and salary. Discussion continued with Committee members stating they did not want Dr. Munnelly to proceed with the adjustment of Jack White's employment arrangements. VISITORS Dr. Munnelly introduced Reading Memorial High School Principal Rena Mirkin, English Department Head Kathy Montejunas, and Student Council Member Beth Plansky. Beth then introduced other members of the Student Council who were present, Sean Murphy and Maura Cignetti. OLD BUSINESS REVIEW OF HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS The Superintendent began tonight's discussion of the Graduation Requirements and advised that follow -up would continue at the next School Committee meeting. Dr. Munnelly requested students and the community to write to School Committee members or the Chronicle and share their input regarding what they envision a Reading graduate to be and what they want the schools to be doing. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 4 MAY 4, 1992 Dr. Munnelly reviewed the Reading School Committee Policy IKF, Graduation Requirements - Reading Memorial High School and the draft with the suggested revisions. The Superintendent stated the current IKF policy for required courses states "Every student must enroll ", and the suggested revision would state "Every student must pass ". Principal Mirkin stated that there are many support systems in place to help students who may be having problems with their grades and other avenues, such as tuition paid Saturday school or evening assistance courses, are being investigated. A question regarding the drop -out rate was raised. Ms. Mirkin advised early intervention and-direction would continue to retain the present low drop -out rate and that the option for students to come back and complete their education would be kept open. The Student Advisory members agreed that if a student is required to take a course they should be required to pass it. The School Committee expressed unanimous support for the "pass" revision for required courses. Dr. Munnelly shared graduation requirement revisions voted by the School Committee, but not made into policy statements. They include 6 semesters instead of 4 years of Physical Education where -Y a student receives a letter grade and may elect in areas such as: hockey, tennis, yoga, CPR, or self- defense. School Committee suggested that the semesters should reflect when the 6 semesters are to be scheduled for students. Principal Mirkin spoke on the School Committee current and suggested computer policy. She advised that a computer competency test should be given in freshman year. School Committee raised questions as to what would happen if we have more students than teachers signing up for computer courses, how many class offerings, and what percentage of teachers are computer literate. Dr. Munnelly and Principal Mirkin stated they would come back to School Committee with more information on Computer Education after the May 11th Open Hearing. Dr. Munnelly stated he would like to retain the Fine Arts requirement for the class of 1992 -93 and 1993 -94 and come back in the future for further discussion. Ms. Mirkin noted that 129 Juniors have completed their Fine Arts requirement in January; 25 Juniors will complete the requirement by June; 72 Juniors will have completed half of the requirement by REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 5 MAY 4, 1992 June; and 75 Juniors have not completed the requirement and will need to schedule accordingly. Ms. Mirkin stated that she felt it would be poor judgement to change the Fine Arts requirement at this time. She noted that there are 14 new options for students to choose from such as, Musical Theater and Desktop Publishing. Discussion continued regarding this requirement as a pass /fail grade, the cut backs in the Fine Arts areas, and skills gained by students. The Superintendent advised the required Health Decisions course with School Committee concurrence would be moved from the 9th to the 11th grade curriculum. Principal Mirkin recommend the change because the new placement would be timely in that students in the 11th grade are making "life- affecting" decisions. School Committee members stated that Decisions should not be put off until the 11th grade. Members felt that a Decisions type course should be offered to both ninth and eleventh grade students. Ms. Mirkin replied that the ideal way to have Decisions would be Decision I in the 7th and 8th grades; Infusion in the 9th and 10th grades; Decision II in the 11th grade, and Infusion in the 12th. School Committee questioned who would teach the course to keep it consistent and at what grade level. Further discussion on all of the requirements will be part of the next School Committee meeting. INFORMATION AND PROPOSALS READING BOOSTERS CLUB REPORT ON CRAFT FAIR Booster Club President Jim Murphy and Vice - President Chuck Schena reported that there were over 2,000 people in attendance for the first Reading Craft Fair. Mr. Murphy shared that Booster's voted to make this event an annual affair and have already rented out 100 booths for 1993. He added that the Craft Fair raised more than $8,000. Mr. Murphy stated that questionnaires were sent to crafters. He shared their comments regarding the students, over 100, who were very polite and courteous as they helped the crafters set their boothes up at 7 a.m. and assist in breaking them down at the end of the fair. Mr. Murphy also advised the audience that Reading Rockets number plates were still available. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 6 MAY 4, 1992 OTHER Principal Mirkin shared the following information regarding students: The Computer Team, Ben Abbott, Asher Cutter, Mike Healthstrom, Seth Hoyt, Nick Morrione went to Wentworth Institute with their advisor Gene Kaczowka and came in first place. Ms. Mirkin noted that the team solved seven problems 1 1/2 hours before the second place team. On April 28th the Middle School Band put a joint concert on at the Field House. May 1st the Parker Advanced Band and the Reading High School Concert Band with the Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble presented and evening of concert at the Field House. Along with the Mass Youth Wind Ensemble the Parker Band played music from the "Little Mermaid" and the High School Band played a suite from "Robin Hood ". Ms. Mirkin added that she read from the "Lincoln Portrait ". The Honor Society raised money through a bake sale and came in during school vacation to paint the corridors. NEW BUSINESS GRANT ASSURANCE PROCESS The Superintendent advised a pro forma vote for assurances which we have to file in order to receive federal monies from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Education is necessary. Timothy Twomey moved to appoint the School Committee Chair to sign on behalf of the School Committee the Department of Education Master Agreement Contract - Standard Terms and Conditions. Matthew Cummings seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. INFORMATION AND PROPOSALS CAFETERIA FINANCIAL REPORT AND UPDATE ON CAFETERIA OPTIONS Dr. Munnelly introduced the Director of the Cafeteria, Cathy Cook. Ms. Cook reported that March was a profitable one, although sales are off with students having limited monies to purchase the additional purchases, such as an extra milk or ice cream. Ms. Cook shared the cafeteria statement for the month of March and Year to Date profit figures that also include repairs. The Lunch Program Director stated total participation for 22 days in March was 40 %. Dr. Munnelly shared information about cafeteria progress in nearby towns. Discussion on the number of towns which have had private management firms such as; Republic, Marriott, ARA, Servomation who REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 7 MAY 4, 1992 in most cases enter into an arrangement to manage the program only followed. The Superintendent noted that receipts are maintained by the town, that food, overhead, employees, benefits, director, and secretary are billed by the management company. Dr. Munnelly added that if the management company covers everything their Administra- tive Fee is higher. The Superintendent advised that the new Massachusetts procurement law, Ch. 30, provides for a "Request for Proposals" (RFP) approach whereby a School Committee can solicit RFP's for any variety of management services. He added that the criteria for selection can be made without reference to cost and that the cost estimates must be sought in the RFP but there is no requirement to take the low bid. The general consensus, after more discussion of pension and benefit costs, was not to go forward with Cafeteria Privatization. RENEWAL OF LABOR COUNSEL CONTRACT Matthew Cummings moved to appoint Allan Drachman, from Deutsch Williams Brooks DeRensis Holland & Drachman, P.C. to continue to represent the Reading School Committee for the FY93 at the rate of $130 per hour for his services and $_125 per hour for associate time, plus expenses. George Shannon questioned if Mr. Drachman had been called to see if he would accept a lower rate and to also make other calls to see what other counsels have to offer. Matthew Cummings withdrew his motion. The consensus was to bring this issue back to school committee when more information has been obtained. ADJOURNMENT At 11:30 p.m. Matthew Cummings moved to adjourn. Timothy Toomey seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous.