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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-07-29 School Committee Minutes." READING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reading, Massachusetts SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES REGULAR SESSION MINUTES CALL TO ORDER JULY 29, 1991 Chair Barbara Philbrick called the regular meeting of the School Committee to order in the Superintendent's Conference Room at 7:35 p.m. All members were present with the exception of George Shan- non. Also present were Superintendent Robert J. Munnelly, Assis- tant Superintendent Lynn M. Bak, Finance Committee Member Nathan White and a reporter from the Chronicle. MINUTES Matthew Cummings moved to accept the minutes from the July 1, 1991 meeting. Mary Williams seconded the motion. The motion passed by a 4 -0 -1 vote. BILLS AND PAYROLLS There was no warrant for Bills. The warrant for Payrolls was as follows: August 2, 1991 - By Weekly - $37,572.81 CITIZEN INPUT Ms. Philbrick recognized audience interest in the FY92 Budget and advised that she planned to give an overview of the impact of the FY 92 budget on the school system and would request audience input during the meeting. OLD BUSINESS The Superintendent reported that the State Local Aid shortfall to the town is $650,000, and information from Special Education Director Dr. Alexanian indicates that there is a gap of at least $100,000 between our funded tuition accounts and the actuals. As Dr. Munnelly reviewed the situation he noted that the Town, in an effort to reduce the deficit, is planning to reduce curb side recycling for a savings of $144,900. In addressing the school department's portion of the shortfall, Dr. Munnelly stated that the school expenses have been depleted and staffing cuts would now have to be addressed. Dr. Munnelly informed the School Committee that he had notified teachers of the present situation. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 2 JULY 29, 1991 OTHER - FAX FROM ALLAN W. DRACHMAN j Dr. Munnelly shared the FAX received from Attorney Drachman that explained the rights and obligations of the Committee under Sec- tions 230 and 231: Teachers Salary Rollover Legislation, a deferral mechanism put into place this year by the State Legislature to allow cities and towns to soften the blow of local aid cutbacks. a Discussion between School Committee members continued. FinCom member Nathan White added that the deferral allowed a community to defer a portion of FY92 teacher salaries to FY94. Dr. Munnelly added that by the time the money will have to be paid, it is in hopes that the economy will have improved and the town's budget will be in a more stable condition. Stan Nissen moved that School Committee make no further cuts in its FY92 budget. Timothy Twomey seconded the motion. Discussion fol- lowed. The motion passed by a 3 -2 vote. The Superintendent stated a course of action should be to convince Town Meeting that this move is a good thing and fiscally prudent. Peter Greene, president of the Reading Teachers Association com- plimented the Administration and Committee for taking.a courageous stand. PROGRAM CUTBACKS AND ADDITIONAL FEES Chair Philbrick reminded the audience that the fee for parti- cipation in athletics had been increased several weeks ago from $80 to $90. Dr. Munnelly spoke in regard to the remaining $39,000 salary of the Fine Art Director. He offered alternatives for the use of the money including the reinstatement of a computer teacher and allocating some monies to assist the support of the instrumental music position. Discussion shifted to student bussing. Stan Nissen moved to eliminate $30,000 from the budget for all non - mandated bussing. Timothy Twomey seconded the motion. Discussion followed. Mary Williams moved to amend Mr. Nissen's motion to eliminate bus- sing for high school students only. Matthew Cummings seconded the motion. Discussion continued. The Chair accepted the modification to Stan Nissen's motion. The vote was unanimous. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 3 JULY 29, 1991 Stan Nissen moved to allocate $14,000 to the Instrumental Music program with the sum of $12,000 raised by the Music Committee to support 4/5 Instrumental Music position for the upcoming year. Mary Williams seconded the motion. Discussion continued. Timothy Twomey moved to amend the motion and allocate $18,000 to accompany the sum of $12,000 raised by the Music Committee to sup - port a full time Instrumental Music position for 1991 -92. Matthew Cummings seconded the motion. Discussion continued. Reading citizen and Instrumental Committee spokesperson, Judythe Meagher informed the School Committee that the Instrumental Music program now services 210 students. The amended motion carried with a 3 -2 vote. As budget discussions continued, Stan Nissen moved that the Chair enter into discussion with the Town Manager, Finance Committee, and Selectmen for funds required to operate schools and that any excess_ monies would be returned back to the municipal side to assist with the shortfall. Matthew Cummings seconded the motion.—The vote was unanimous. PERSONNEL RESIGNATIONS On the recommendation of the Administration, Stan Nissen moved to accept the resignation, with a thank you note, of Eaton Elementary School, Grade 4 teacher Claudia Corcoran, effective August 4, 1991. Timothy Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. APPOINTMENTS On the recommendation of the Administration, Stan Nissen moved to appoint the individuals identified on enclosure C -3 for FY92. Timothy Twomey seconded the motion. Discussion followed. The vote was unanimous. APPOINTMENT OF REPLACEMENT TEACHERS On the recommendation of the Administration, Timothy Twomey moved to appoint Raquel S. Jacobsen -as a Grade 6, Coolidge School Physi- cal Science teacher at the rate of Masters Level, Step 1; Leslie C. Carragham as a Barrows School Resource Room Special Education teacher at the rate of Bachelors Level, Step 1; Erica Everett as a Reading Memorial High School Science teacher at the rate of Masters Level, Step 1; Karen A. Macari as a Killam School Grade 2 teacher at the rate of Masters Level, Step 1; and Meredith Benfer as a Birch Meadow School Grade 2 teacher at the rate of Masters Level, Step 1 all effective September 1991. Matthew Cummings seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 4 JULY 29, 1991 APPOINTMENT On the recommendation of the Administration, Stan Nissen moved to appoint Marie Tomasello to her fourth contract as a Math teacher at the Coolidge Middle School effective September 1991. Mary Williams seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. OTHER Chair Philbrick reminded School Committee members that the next School Committee meeting would begin at 7 p.m. on August 26th. ADJOURNMENT At 11.15 p.m. Matthew Cummings moved to adjourn. Timothy Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Respectfully Submitted Robert I Munnelly, Ed. D. Superintendent Of Schools Secretary To The School Committee