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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-03-26 School Committee MinutesREADING SCHOOL COMMITTEE Reading, Massachusetts REGULAR SESSION MINUTES MARCH 26, 1990 CALL TO ORDER Chairman Stan Nissen called the regular meeting of the Reading School Committee to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Superintendent's Conference Room. All members were present with the exception of Carol Lyons. Mary Williams arrived later. Also present were Superintendent of Schools Robert J. Munnelly, Assistant Superin- tendent Lynn M. Bak, Business Manager Warren Hopkins, Student Representative Thomas Fuller, several teachers, community members, and Holly Spousta a reporter for the Chronicle. Chairman Nissen introduced newly elected School Committee member James Nally. He congratulated both Mr. Nally and Barbara Philbrick, who was elected to her seventh term. APPROVAL OF MINUTES There were no minutes. BILLS AND PAYROLLS The warrants for bills and payrolls were as follows: BILLS March 19, 1990 General Expense $ 58,711.75 March 26, 1990 General Expense $135,866.13 April 2, 1990 General Expense $134,372.49 PAYROLLS March 8, 1990 Teachers $406,549.24 March 22, 1990 Teachers $413,366.89 March 2, 1990 Weekly $ 85,041.37 March 16, 1990 Weekly $114,055.35 March 30, 1990 Weekly $117,179.97 CITIZEN INPUT Reading Memorial High School English teacher Hal Croft, a member of the "Teacher's Alliance ", responded to the newly proposed cuts of seventeen staff members. Reading Memorial High School English teacher Harold Bond read a prepared statement from the alliance for public record. The statement addressed the issues of the Assistant Superintendent's position, professional development, Director's positions and the Focus program at Reading Memorial ,,, High School. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 2 MARCH 26, 1990 Reading Teacher Association President Peter Greene stated that be- cause of the failure of Proposition 2 1/2 to pass that the School Committee reconsider the need to cut teachers and to consider eliminating extra curricula activities so teaching positions could remain. Hal Croft reaffirmed Peter Greene's suggesion. Chairman Nissen replied that the FY91 Budget that was set forth in January, 1990 and approved by the Finance Committee will remain as is. SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS Barrows Elementary Principal. Charles Papandreou accompanied by his fourth grade teaching staff; Irene Montigny, Judith Angus, and Lauren Singleton shared their experiences with the unit entitled Paws....for Poetry. Several posters, made by the children along with their poetry, decorated the Superintendent's Conference Room. Judith Angus spoke on the different characters of cats, one of which was the children's favorite, ".Macavity" - a mystery cat! Irene Montigny shared another cat personality "Mr. Misoffelees ", who was a magician and also "The Old Gumble Cat ", a cat who liked to stay home. Lauren Singleton shared how they integrated the theme of cats into daily classroom activities and curricula while sometimes listening to the music from the stage production of "Cats ". This theme was the background for various art work and development of reading skills. The teachers are presently looking to integrate this unit into part of a science curricula with discussion from the M.S.P.A. on endangered species of cats. Discussion continued with members of the School Committee thanking the Barrows staff for this presentation. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Dr. Munnelly announced that Barbara McLean, of Eaton Elementary School, a recipient of a National Geographic Magazine Award, will be a presentator at the New England Social Studies Conference. Dr. Munnelly also shared that Art Director Susan Wheltle has arranged for an "Understanding the Third World Through Children's Art" exhibit to visit our schools during the month of April. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 3 MARCH 26, 1990 OLD BUSINESS BUDGET FY91 : Chairman Nissen stressed the importance of correct information reaching the public and how volunteers will now be needed to fill in the gaps of services that will be cut. Dr. Munnelly shared FY91 budget information that Town Meeting will be asked to approve next week. The requested $14.6 million is four percent less than the budget for the current year. He noted that the result is a major decrease in educational services well beyond four percent in all parts of the school system except special edu- cation whose costs have increased by fifteen percent. He added that priorities the School Committee have set forth for "putbacks ", in the event some new money appears, will be available for review by Town Meeting. PLAN FOR DIRECTORS Dr. Munnelly proposed that we advertise and post for staff a full time Director of Unified Arts position. School Committee approved of this action and suggested that the job description be rewritten. Dr. Munnelly stated that the job descriptions for the Athletic and Physical Education Directors needs to be developed. It should re- flect a limited amount of time for the director's responsibilities to be accomplished. Discussion continued with School Committee requesting that Dr. Munnelly come back with more detail of the job descriptions and recommendations on how these positions would work as half time directors and half time teachers as a unified posi- tion. With reference to the third Directorship; Data Processing, the responsibilities will need to be shared with staff at Reading Memorial High School. Dr. Munnelly stated that he would come later before School Committee with a more detailed job description for this responsibility. [TSRR RRRS Chairman Nissen discussed that a firm schedule of fees need to be set for final determination. Dr. Munnelly stated that Jack White, Marc Alterio and himself are drafting fees related to the cost of the extra curricula programs throughout the system and that fees would be to offset - not cover the cost. Stan Nissen requested that all fees be defined before the end of this school year. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 4 MARCH 26, 1990 UPDATE OF NEED FOR ARTICLE ON SPECIAL EDUCATION COSTS AT SPECIAL TOWN MEETING Dr. Munnelly shared that the proposal School Committee developed for extra money for Special Education costs should not have to go before the Town. The savings in the teacher salary account will offset the special education tuitions. Stan Nissen recommended that a call be made to the Town Manager to remove this - proposal from the Warrant. T. TCENSF.q Chairman Nissen informed the School Committee that on their behalf he had signed the licenses which finalized the Committee's deci- sion to grant an easement at Reading Memorial High School and to allow a developer to loop a water line over Birch Meadow property. NEW BUSINESS On the recommendation of the Administration: George Shannon made a motion to recommend the list of staff members as outlined on enclosure Dla for their fourth TENURE Con- tract. Barbara Philbrick seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. On the recommendation of the Administration: Barbara Philbrick made a motion to notify Ruth Hood, the least senior member of the Home Economics staff, that due to financial restrictions she will be laid off effective at the close of school in June, 1990. George Shannon seconded the motion. The vote was 4 -0 -1. TOWN MEETING CEREMONIES Dr. Munnelly shared that Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner has suggested April 9 or April 12 for Exemplary Teacher Awards and April 27 for Principal's Recognition. INFORMATION AND PROPOSALS READING BOOSTERS Dr. Munnelly introduced the President of the Reading Boosters Jim Murphy, who requested the use of Reading Memorial High School Sta- dium for a Cow Chip fundraiser. Mr. Murphy explained the details of this type of fundraiser and noted it would not include student participation. Discussion continued with School Committee indi- cating a level of approval. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 5 MARCH 26, 1990 EVALUATION STANDARDS FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION Assistant Superintendent Lynn Bak shared the standards being used by the staff as it prepares the evaluation of the Science, Techno- logy Education and Home Economics Curricula for the schools K -12. Ms. Bak identified the Methods of Evaluation for these content areas including the use of grades, test scores, observations and surveys, and shared that through these evaluations, curricula guides will be developed, which will identify specific content and skills for grade levels. The School Committee will be hearing from the Technology Education Staff and Home Economics Staff on May 7th and on May 24th from the Science Staff. BASIC SKILLS RESULTS Assistant Superintendent Bak discussed the results of the Basic Skills Testing Program. Ms. Bak shared that Reading students in Grades 3, 6, and 9 fell within the middle to high comparison score band for the content areas of reading, mathematics and writing. A three year summary was also included that showed Reading students ranging within 87% to 98% in all three test areas throughout the district. Our students continue to perform exceptionally well. PFRgONNFT. On the recommendation of the Administration: Barbara Philbrick moved to appoint Birch Meadow Principal Richard Davidson to his fourth contract. George Shannon seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. On the recommendation of the Administration: George Shannon moved to appoint the candidates to their respective second and third contracts as outlined on enclosure Dlc. Barbara Philbrick seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Assistant Superintendent Bak explained that based upon fiscal re- straints the twenty -five names listed on enclosure Dld are recom- mended for nonrenewal. It is hoped that by September, 1990, some of these teachers will be back on staff. On the recommendation of the Administration: Barbara Philbrick moved to notify all staff identified on enclo- sure Dld that their contracts will not be renewed for school year 1990 -91. Mary Williams seconded this motion. Discussion continued with Dr. Munnelly stressing that because of the legal process the names of the recommended nonrenewals have to be notified by April 15th. School Committee members requested that they be updated on transfers and teachers coming back into the system. The vote was unanimous. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 6 MARCH 26, 1990 LEAVE OF ABSENCE Assistant Superintendent Bak shared that Janet Sullivan of the Music Departmant has submitted notification of a maternity leave effective on May 2, 1990 through the end of the school year. DESIGNATION OF PARKER CO- PRINCIPAL Dr. Munnelly shared that Parker Principal Jack Delaney will be starting his responsibilities as President -elect of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). As soon as official notice is sent by NASSP, arrangements must be made to plan for Dr. Delaney's absence and the level of responsibility that cur- rent Assistant Principal Bill Cowles will incur. OTHER INFORMATION Chairman Nissen announced the next School Committee meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 18th. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m. on a motion made by Barbara Philbrick. The motion was seconded by George Shannon. The vote was unanimous. Respectfully Submitted Robert J. Munnelly, Ed. D. Superintendent Of Schools Secretary To The School Committee n