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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-03-28 School Committee MinutesREADING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reading, Massachusetts SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES MARCH 28, 1988 CALL TO ORDER Chairman George Shannon called the regular meeting of the Reading School Committee to order at 7:35 p.m. in the Conference Room of the Superintendent's Office at 34 Gould Street. All members were present except Mr. Coco. Also present were Superintendent Robert J. Munnelly; Assistant Superintendent Ronald A. Winslow and Lynn M. Bak and a reporter from the Chronicle. Mr. Shannon also welcomed the newly - elected Margaret Cowell to the School Committee. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by Stan Nissen, seconded by Carol Lyons, to approve the Minutes of the meeting of March 7, 1988. The vote was unanimous. BILLS AND PAYROLLS Warrants for bills and payrolls were approved as follows: BILLS March 21, 1988 - General Expense - $39,807.72 March 28, 1988 - General Expense - $49,514.78 April 4, 1988 - General Expense - $54,115.52 PAYROLLS March 11, 1988 - Weekly - $4.6,509.90 March 18, 1988 - Weekly - $48,191.51 March 25, 1988 - Weekly - $49,371.77 March 24, 1988 - Teachers - $357,909.55 CITIZEN'S INPUT There was no citizen's input. SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS Ms. Lynn Bak then introduced Mrs. Joan Morse, Library Media Coordinator for all local schools, to the School Committee members. Her focus was on Reading's school media program to date and the constant interaction of all school specialists and teachers in planning and instruction for the students. By way of a slide show, Mrs. Morse gave the School Committee a few illustrations of what each library media specialist at each school was involved with in the past year and at the present time. Mrs. Morse then introduced each of the media specialists SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES 2 portrayed in the slide show from each Munnelly and Lynn then thanked all of :. their attendance at the meeting, presentation and for their continued updating the library's curriculum for children. MARCH 28, 1988 school. Mr. the library for their efforts in the benefit SUPERINTENDENT'S AND SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT Shannon, Dr. personnel for slide show expanding and of Reading's Dr. Munnelly introduced Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner to the meeting and to the community members present. Mr. Hechenbleikner presented the Town Meeting Warrant Booklet and a flow chart for informational use. Mr. Hechenbleikner gave a brief statement about articles in the Town Warrant and how the School Committee may be involved in each of them. His sense of urgency to bring the Town Hall issue to completion was shared with the School Committee members. With a flow chart, he showed step -by -step the various courses of action. The discussion was then turned over to the School Committee for their questions or comments about the issues at hand. Mr. Nissen spoke for the School Committee and advised the Manager that the School Committee may not be able to act on a decision about Pearl Street this spring. Mr. Shannon then thanked Mr. Hechenbleikner for his input. NEW BUSINESS Bids Mr. Winslow recommended to the School Committee the lowest bidder for the repair of the corridor ceiling at Reading Memorial igh chool. He stated that the company being recommended has not worked in Reading up to now, but all references from nearby systems were good. T and T Acoustics, Inc. of Dracut, Massachusetts is the contractor to replace the ceiling at the High School. A motion was made by Mr. Nissen, seconded by Mrs. Philbrick to approve T and T Acoustics as the contractor to furnish and install the high school corridor ceiling for the amount of $19,709.00. INFORMATION AND PROCESS Report of K -12 Computer Education Coordinating Committee Dr. Munnelly introduced Mr. Charles Papandreou (Principal at Barrows School) as Chairman of the Computer Education Committee to review with the School Committee the progress to date on computer education in the Reading Public Schools. Mr. Papandreou then gave a slide presentation highlighting computer education at the high school level, middle school level and elementary school level. Dick Gillis, Reading Memorial High School; Don Welford and Laura Nash, Parker and Coolidge Middle Schools; and Joe Buckley, Killam Elementary School; each gave brief explanations of the progress of this type of education at SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES 3 MARCH 28, 1988 each of their specified levels. Pat Schettini, also of Reading Memorial High School, is a member of the committee, but was sick and unable to attend this meeting. Mr. Papandreou noted five areas of major concern which the Coordinating Committee is addressing: o application of introduction to keyboarding skills; • well- defined structure and coordination among program levels; • software program /program evaluation strategies; • hardware upgrading /maintenance of equipment; • teacher training /staff development. Mr. Shannon and Dr. Munneily thanked the Computer Education Committee for their time and for their informational slide presentation. Mr. Papandreou also noted his thanks to Nancy Hoover for her time in the production of the slides. AIDS Task Force Carol Lyons was then asked to present to the School Committee the AIDS Task Force Committee. Their presentation was introduced by Dorothy O'Leary, R.N. with a brief showing of a video starring Rae Dawn Chong on the facts and myths about AIDS. Mr. Dave Williams of Parker Middle School gave facts and statistics to date on the virus with the use of overheads. Mrs. O'Leary read through the Executive Summary from the Task Force's report, highlighting the Task Force's concerns. Mike Curren of Reading then presented the Task Force's recommendations to the School Committee on what and how they thought were the best ways to commence with the teaching and development of a curriculum for AIDS and the workability of their ideas. The Task Force then invited the staff members- and town members to offer their comments and reactions on the report and video. Mrs. O'Leary then gave a final wrap -up and summary for the School Committee, and Kr. Shannon thanked the Task Force for their informative presentation and complimented the Task Force for the quality of the study report and the energies which went into its preparation. Business Manager's Report Mr. Winslow submitted to the School Committee the recent Cafeteria Report and included a brief overview of the account balances, the timetable for his bids, asbestos, PCB's and the roof. The discussion was then turned over for questions or comments. SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES 4 MARCH 28, 1988 LEAVES Mr. Nissen made a motion, seconded by Carol Lyons to approve the request for a child- reading leave of absence for Beth Delforge, for the 1988 -1989 school year. The vote was unanimous. Mr. Nissen made a motion, seconded by Carol Lyons to approve the request for a child- rearing leave of absence for Barbara Lanney, for the remainder of the 1988 school year. The vote was unanimous. RESIGNATIONS Carol Lyons made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Philbrick to approve the resignation of Mr. William Hinch, METCO Academic Tutor, effective April 22, 1988. The vote was unanimous. Carol Lyons made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Philbrick, to approve the resignation of Ms. Catherine Powell, Early Childhood Education Program Coordinator, effective the end of the present 1988 school year. The vote was unanimous. The School Committee noted they would miss Cathy and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors. APPOINTMENTS Lynn Bak stated that according to State Law, the School Department must notify teachers by April 15th if they are to be reappointed. She reviewed the reappointment of teachers for 2nd, 3rd and 4th tenure contracts with the School Committee for the School Year 1988 -1989. She stated all of the teachers had been through the evaluation process and administration was recommending each individual teacher on the list for reappointment. A motion was made by Mr. Nissen, seconded by Mrs. Cowell, to approve the reappointment of the teachers listed on Enclosure F(2) and F(3) for 2nd, 3rd and 4th tenure contracts. The motion was unanimously approved. Dr. Munnelly then reviewed Enclosure F(1) with the School Committee, which listed the names of administrators to be reappointed on 2nd, 3rd and 4th -year contracts and stated that the Superintendent was recommending their contracts be approved. Dr. Munnelly singled out for praise the work of Principal Mark Piechota, Assistant Principals Quinn and Schettini, Athletic Director John White and Principal Richard Davidson. A motion was made by Mr. Nissen, seconded by Mrs. Cowell, to approve the reappointment of the administrators listed on Enclosure F(1) for reappointment on 2nd, 3rd and 4th -year contracts for the School Year 1988 -1989. The motion was unanimously approved. SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES 5 MARCH 28, 1988 ADJOURN'4ENT At 10:35 p.m., a motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Nissen, seconded by Mr. Shannon, and the vote was unanimous.