HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-10-07 School Committee MinutesREADING PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Reading, Massachusetts
SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES
OPEN HEARING
OCTOBER 7, 1991
The meeting opened at 7:05 p.m. in the Killam library with a
Highlights presented by Principal Paul Guerrette and members of
the Killam staff. George Shannon acting as Chair, Stanley
Nissen, Mary Williams, Timothy Twomey, and Matthew Cummings were
seated at the front of the audience. Channel 3 videoed the ses-
sion for future playback. About 35 citizens were in attendance.
HIGHLIGHT
Fifth grade teachers Karen Rickershauser and Susan Wood as part
of an effort to compact the broad expanse of American History,
which is the Core Curriculum of the fifth grade Social Studies
program, decided on an approach through three major themes:
Conflict, Expansion, Innovation. The teachers shared their
interdisciplinary unit which had interviews with senior citizens
about living in a time of war and use of 1940 newspapers.
DIALOGUE AND DISCUSSION
At 7:30 p.m. the open hearing part of the meeting commenced
with a question on the pros and cons of a kindergarten center
posed by parent George Foley.
Citizen Mike Riordan asked if the high school fees could be
recast as a "donation" so parents could deduct the money from
their income taxes.
Jeff Everson asked a question about Reduction in Force and
Seniority of the Staff. He followed up with an observation that
it would make sense to keep the strong staff members and reduce
the weak ones rather than to reduce on seniority alone.
The Killam Carnegie team offered ideas to the School Com-
mittee about some of the pluses and minuses of the program. In
addition to Paul Guerrette's comment, other commentators were
Parents Goodemote, Ottariano, Salenikas, Wong and Teachers Small
and Hondorf.
Parent Linda Martin, at the close of the session, asked
about the size of the first grade classes, now and in the
future.
ADJOURNMENT
Chairperson George Shannon adjourned the session at 9:00 p.m.