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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-05-02 School Committee MinutesREADING SCHOOL COMMITTEE Reading, Massachusetts REGULAR SESSION MINUTES MAY 2, 1990 Chairman Stan Nissen called the regular meeting of the Reading School Committee to order at 7:05 p.m. All members were present with the exception of Mary Williams; James Nally arrived later. Also present were Superintendent Dr. Robert J. Munnelly, Assistant Superintendent Lynn M. Bak, Business Manager R. Warren Hopkins, Student Representative Thomas Fuller, a reporter from the Chronicle, and members of the community. APPROVAL OF MINUTES George Shannon made a motion to accept the minutes of the April 18, 1990 meeting. Barbara Philbrick seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. BILLS AND PAYROLLS The warrants for bills and payrolls were as follows: BILLS April 30, 1990 May 7, 1990 PAYROLLS April 27, 1990 May 3, 1990 CITIZEN'S INPUT General Expense General Expense Bi- weekly Teachers $18,964.38 $60,340.19 $105,888.07 $415,783.17 Reading citizen Diane Korta, a parent of a kindergarten child at Barrows, expressed a concern for the safety of the children affected by the elimination of bussing within two miles. School Committee members responded to her concerns and reassured Mrs. Korta that they are aware of all issues. School Committee members encouraged concerned citizens that Town Meeting is an open forum for citizens to express their concerns about the school budget. Another citizen questioned what budget a safety issue should be placed in and if the funds for bussing could come from somewhere other than school budget. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 2 MAY 2, 1990 Town Meeting Member Kendra Cooper stated that the Birch Meadow bussing information meeting had been scheduled the same evening as Town Meeting and expressed her concern that future meetings be planned so as not to conflict with other Town meetings. George Shannon replied that the meeting was not in violation of the by -law. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT NATIONAL HISTORY DAY STATE COMPETITIONS Dr. Munnelly congratulated the nine entrants in this year's State History Day Contest recently held in Springfield. Reading Memorial High School students who distinguished themselves in lst and 2nd place categories and will represent the state of Massachusetts in the National Contest to be held the week of June 10th in Washing- ton, D.C. are as follows: IN THE GROUP PROJECT CATEGORY: lst place to Kirsten Manville, Amy Stinson, and Colleen Sumner for their project entitled "The Scien- tific Method: A Method to the Madness" IN THE GROUP PERFORMANCE CATEGORY: lst place to John-Fagan, Matt Lavoie, and Matt Prudente for their performance entitled "East Meets West: Promontory Point, Utah, 1869" IN THE GROUP MEDIA CATEGORY: Ruede, and Jenn Thompson for Chapter in History: The Atomic Grabarek and Mike Manville f( Knowledge There is Change" 2nd place to Kristen Dulong, Becky their presentation entitled "A New Age" lst place to Mark Erelli, Chris )r their presentation entitled "With IN THE INDIVIDUAL MEDIA CATEGORY: 2nd place to Andrea Ferrari for her presentation entitled "Freezing the Moment... Seizing the In- visible" lst place to Susan Coco for her presentation entitled "Electronics in the Palm of Your Hand" IN THE HISTORICAL PAPER CATEGORY: lst place to Dan Bolnick for his paper entitled "Unforeseen Consequences." Dr. Munnelly also added an interesting note that of the fourteen senior high school winners representing the state of Massachusetts, Reading has seven! JOSHUA EATON SCHOOL Dr. Munnelly noted that Elia D. Marnik and Barbara McLean of the Joshua Eaton faculty gave a presentation of programs previously given as School Committee Highlights at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Reading Association. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 3 MAY 2, 1990 1990 SUMMER COURSE OFFERINGS Dr. Munnelly distributed a pamphlet to the School Committee that included several of Reading's faculty who are offering summer courses through the Northeast Consortium. SSACHUSETTS ADMINISTRATOR OF THE YEAR Dr. Munnelly called the School Committee's attention to the fact that the recipient of the Edmund K. Fanning Award, Coolidge Middle School Principal Al Lahood, was honored this week as the Massachusetts Middle Level Administrator of the Year. School Committee members shared their pride. OLD BUSINESS BUDGET 1991 Dr. Munnelly shared information that the put backs for the FY91 budget, were never prioritized within each category. Discussion followed. The School Committee suggested that put backs may need to be discussed at length at another meeting. GRANTS 1989 -90 SUMMARY REPORT Dr. Munnelly reported the 1989 -90 State and Federal Grants that come into the school system, their administrators and the total amount of each to the School Committee. As an addition, Assistant Superintendent Lynn M. Bak noted that her name should also appear with Earscelle Wilkerson as an administrator of the Metco program. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Business Manager Warren Hopkins presented the special account balances as of March 30 1990; Town Meeting Article Accounts, Federal Grant Accounts, State Grants, Revolving Fund Accounts, and Local Accounts to the School Committee. He added that the Cafeteria Revolving Account should have appeared on this list also. School Committee questioned if the Cafeteria Account would be running with a deficit this year. Mr. Hopkins replied that it would be running in the red at approximately 6 %. Mr. Hopkins also shared the year to date balances of of March 30, 1990 in the Fund 1 Expense Accounts and the month of March 1990 Cafeteria Statement. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 4 MAY 2, 1990 GIFTS POLICY ADOPTION Rewording of the criteria for Policy #KIC was suggested by School Committee members as follows: #1. o Has a purpose consistent with those of the school. #3. o Will not begin a program that the committee would be unwilling to take over when gift or grant funds are exhausted. #5, o Places no restrictions on the School Committee. #8. o Will not conflict with any provision of the school code or public law. George Shannon on a second vote made a motion to accept the Policy #KIC, Public Gifts to Schools with the changes as shown. Carol Lyons seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. RELEASE OF PUBLIC RECORDS Barbara Philbrick made a motion to accept the Policy #BP, Release of Information to the Public, with the addition of "not to exceed fifty cents per page." George Shannon seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. NEW BUSINESS PLAN FOR DIRECTORS top, Superintendent Munnelly asked the school to endorse his plan for Directors developed as a response to the budget cutbacks. The plan, presented first at the March 26th meeting would create a Director of the Arts unifying Art and Music in one Directorship, and half -time Director for Athletics and Physical Education who would also teach half -time. Dr. Munnelly urged the School Committee to see this plan as the best way to meet the leadership needs of the school system given the personnel qualifications and contributions of Susan Wheltle, John White and Marc Alterio. By consensus, the School Committee agreed with the Superintendent's recommendation. Dr. Munnelly shared the drafts of job descriptions for the half- time directors /half -time teachers positions for physical education and for athletics, and for a Unified Arts Director position in the Reading Public School system and added he would welcome School Committee input. Dr. Munnelly stated that a vote for the termination notice for the half -time Director of Data Processing would be necessary. Barbara Philbrick made a motion to notify Kristina Dewey, half -time Director of Data Processing that her position has been eliminated, effective June 30, 1990. Carol Lyons seconded the motion with the vote being unanimous. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 5 MAY 2, 1990 Chairman Nissen stated that Teacher Aide reductions were not yet finalized and would be discussed at the next School Committee meeting on Tuesday, May 15th. PLAN FOR REDUCING SECRETARIES Dr. Munnelly shared the enclosed memo, B -3 -c, laying out the plan to reduce five secretaries. The cuts represent about 20% of the secretarial assignments. Discussion followed, with the President of the Reading Association of Secretaries and Clerks_ presenting a memo to the School Committee requesting an opportunity to bargain over the impact the potential changes will promote. Barbara Philbrick made a motion to notify the following secretaries and clerks, as least- senior members of the bargaining unit, that their employment is terminated as of June 30, 1990; Mary Ann Cum- mings, Carol Tribou, Betty Vanasse and Cathy Butler. George Shannon seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Dr. Munnelly stated that in developing the plan to restructure the secretarial services for the system, he had reshuffled part -time positions with other positions to take best advantage of the people available after the reduction in force. Alice Waldron, bookkeeper in Central Office will be retiring this fall and, under Dr. Mun- nelly's plan, Jan Deveau would leave the Confidential Secretarial position to become the bookkeeper. Since there are now positions for each person who remains in the school system, a sorting out process will take place to finalize all secretarial assignments in the near future. PLAN FOR REDUCING CUSTODIANS Dr. Munnelly presented his recommendation for reducing custodial staffing for FY91 on enclosure B3e. On the recommendation of the Administration: Carol Lyons moved to notify the following custodians, as least- senior members of the bargaining unit, that their employment is terminated as of June 30, 1990. The reduction -in -force would include: Donald Owen, John Talbot, Fred Kirkland, William Martin, Walter Hall, Scott Wade, James Magno, George Smith, and Donald Tapley, George Shannon seconded the motion. Discussion followed. The vote was unanimous. ANNUAL ASSURANCE FOR GRANTS Dr. Munnelly shared the FY91 Statement of Assurances, which accompanies each grant of funds we apply for. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 6 MAY 2, 1990 On the recommendation of the Administration: Carol Lyons moved to authorize the School Committee Chairman and the Superintendent to accept the Statement of Assurances for FY91. Barbara Philbrick seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. INFORMATION AND PROPOSALS CLASS OF 1990 GIFT Dr. Munnelly shared that the 1990 class officers have proposed to have a monument /sign erected at the corner of Birch Meadow Drive and Oakland Road. Carol Lyons made a motion to accept the gift from the Class of 1990. George Shannon seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. PURCHASE OF NEW FOOTBALL HELMETS Dr. Munnelly advised the School Committee that Riddell and Max -Pro, the supplier of football helmets, will no longer be liable for helmets purchased prior to 1985 and have issued a disclaimer for all helmets that are ten years or older. Our reconditioner, Sportbilt Co. has inventoried all our football helmets and informed us that thirty -nine were rejected. The' Supbrintendent' shared that by ordering thirty helmets minimum, we would receive one extra helmet at no cost for every ten _pUrchased'. With all costsaving factors realized, a helmet normally costing $112.95 each would now actually cost the school department' $69-.84 each. On the recommendation of the Administration: Barbara Philbrick made a motion to authorize $2100 for the addi- tional expenditure to replace rielmets as necessary. carol Lyons seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. ATHLETICS UPDATE Dr. Munnelly shared some facts and figures that had been presented to him by Athletic Director Jack White as follows*:' Report "A" calculates the pupil participation for 1990 -91 in light of coaching staff reductions, Report "B" is the amount of money for coaches salaries, and Report "C" is the projected costs of athletics before the cuts. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 7 MAY 2, 1990 Dr. Munnelly requested that School Committee advise him on the four alternatives being presented for charging Athletic fees for student participation as demonstrated below: 1. 800 student participants paying $50,000 is about $65 per student per sport. 2. Charge $75 for one sport participation and $45 for those choosing to be active in the second season. 3. Break up the sports on form "C" by cost and set a rate accordingly. 4. Another version -- break up the sports by equipment costs to parents (e.g. soccer 100 vs golf 450) and set a rate taking sport cost and parent cost into consideration. Discussion followed with School Committee considering options 1, 2, and 3. Chairman Nissen suggested putting together a proposal and having a public hearing so citizens could offer their suggestions before finalizing. OTHER RUNNING TRACK Business Manager Warren Hopkins shared recent correspondence from California Products Corporation requesting permission to install Trackote -400 latex material on the track section for field events at no charge to Reading Memorial High School. Mr. Hopkins added that California Products recognizes that Reading has one of the oldest latex running tracks and would be a prime candidate for this new coating. This corporation would do this work without charge or risk to the school as long as they may have access to inspect the facility for long- wearing characteristics. Discussion continued noting that the finished work will have a one year ,Warranty with a life expectancy of five to seven years. Barbara Philbrick moved to approve the resurfacing of runway and pits in the track area of the:Reading Memorial High School field from California Products Corporation. Weather permitting, work would begin the week of May 7, 1990. Carol Lyons seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. JOSHUA EATON EMERGENCY Dr. Munnelly shared the existing emergency at the Eaton Elementary School and the "cease and desist" order from the Building Inspector regarding the special education area. Discussion continued with alternatives being considered for serving food during lunch hour, and the availability of a portable classroom so special education classes could be located in a regular classroom. The School Committee recommended that the Building Inspector place in writing what code he has referenced, the purpose for reference at this point in time, and give a reasonable time for it to be responded to by School Committee. REGULAR SESSION MINUTES 8 MAY 2, 1990 Barbara Philbrick moved that the Administration be directed to go before the Town Manager and FinCom to apprise them of the emergency situation at Joshua Eaton Elementary School requiring the expenditure of some funds for a portable classroom and ask how best they would like to handle it. George Shannon seconded the motion. e vote was unanimous. PERSONNEL Assistant Superintendent Lynn Bak shared personnel issues as follows: NON RENEWAL On the recommendation of the Administration: George Shannon moved to notify Marguerite Grimes that due to FY91 budget cutbacks her position as a two - fifths Math teacher has been eliminated effective the end of the 1989 -90 school year. Carol Lvons seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. APPOINTMENT On the recommendation of the Administration: Barbara Philbrick moved to appoint Pamela Pratt as a fulltime teacher of the SEEM classroom at Reading Memorial High School on the Bachelor, Step 3 Level. James Nally seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. CHILD REARING LEAVE On the recommendation of the Administration: George Shannon moved that the Administration grant a childrearinq leave to Virginia Quinn, effective May 7, 1990 until the end of the 1989 -90 school year. Barbara Philbrick seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. OTHER Chairman Nissen stated that the next School Committee meeting would be held in the Superintendent's conference room on Tuesday, May 15, 1990 and that a Public Hearing regarding Athletics -Fee Preparation should be advertised for Tuesday, May 22nd at 7 p.m. in the Reading Memorial High School Lecture Hall. School Committee meeting to follow at 8 p.m. ADJOURNMENT At 10.15 p.m. George Shannon made a motion to adjourn. Barbara Philbrick seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Respectfully Submitted Robert I Munnelly, Ed. D. Superintendent Of Schools Secretary To The School Committee