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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986-01-06 School Committee Minutes READING PUBLIC SCHOOLS 157 Reading , Massachusetts SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 6 , 1986 Call to Order Chairman Allen called to order a meeting of the Reading School Committee on January 6, 1986 , at 7: 32 p.m. . in the Central Office Conference Room. Present in addition to •Chairman Allen were Messrs. Coco, Shannon and Nissen, Superintendent Wells , and Assistant Superintendents Munnelly and Winslow. Mrs. Philbrick was not present. There were a number of visi- tors including Principal Charles Papandreou of Barrows Elementary School and Teachers Tom Hoffrage and Larry Conn, FinCom representatives, the representative of the League of Women Voters and a reporter for the Daily Times Chronicle. Approval of Minutes of December 23 , 1985 On a motion by Mr. Coco and seconded by Mr. Nissen , the minutes of the School Committee meeting of December 23 , 1985 were unanimously approved . • Bills and Payrolls . . Warrants for bills and -payrolls were approved as follows : Bills January 9 , 1986 - General Expenses $104 ,830 . 29 Payrolls January 9 , 1986 - Teachers $327 , 876 . 81 January 10 , 1986 - Weekly $25, 698 .12 Citizens' Input There were no statements made by the public. School Highlights Principal Charles Papandreou and the 5th grade teachers Tom Hoffrage and Larry Conn of the Barrows School were present . to .share with the School Committee the educational applications of the computer at the elementar - level . 158 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 6 , 1986 The teachers demonstrated how LOGO programming is taught to all 4th and 5th grade elementary children and provided specific illustrations of teaching sequences and of competencies which students develop as they learn LOGO programming. Principal Papandreou presented an overview of other uses of the computer in the elementary schools , such- .as the Barrows School Newsletter done with the Newsprint software and some of the logic/reasoning software. Chairman Allen thanked the Barrows staff for the informative and enjoyable presentation. New Business • • Filling of School Committee Vacancy. Chairman Allen informed the School Committee that 4 candidates had applied for appointment as the interim replacement for Mr. Lewis who resigned last month from the School Committee. The decision cn a replacement will be made by the present members of the School Committee who will meet with the Selectmen at 7:30 p.m. Monday, January 13 , at the Selectmen' s Office at the Town Hall. Dr. Wells is to invite the applicants to the meeting of the 13th where they will be given the opportunity to speak on behalf of their candidacy before the vote of the Selectmen and the School Committee. Chairman Allen asked Superintendent Wells to invite the successful person to be prepared to return with the School Committee for a budget meeting at the School Committee office. Puoil Transportation Issue = The Superintendent asked the School Committee for instructions concern- ing transport_tidn of a student to Birch Meadow school. Mr . Coco moYed , seconded by Mr. Shannon to notify Mr . and Mrs . # Martorana , pursuant to the vote of the School Committee that transpor- tation to and from Birch Meadow School will cease to be provided after Tuesday , January 21 , 1986 . The vote was 4-0 . ADoointments Mr . Coco moved , seconded by Mr. Shannon that Marjory Gamblin of Leslie Road , Rowley be appointed as secretary to the Superintendent and School Committee effective immediately at the first step of the confidental secretary salary schedule. The motion was approved 4-i . Lewis MacLean of 900 Main Street Reading was appointed as a replacement teacher in the Math deoartment 2/5 ' s time for the remainder of the year, salary prorated at $7 ,200 . The motion was made by Mr. Coco, seconded by Mr. Shannon, and the vote was 4-0 . • 159 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 6 , 1986 Old Business Budget Review. As the review of the proposed FY87 budget got underway, Superintendent Wells informed the School Committee that the legislature had made the necessary technical corrections to Chapter 188 which would permit Reading to get reimbursed for raising all teachers to a minimum of $18 ,000 per year. Under this provision, Reading will receive $14 ,000 in addition to the $8 ,000 allocated. The money will be received into a special account at the Treasurer' s Office for disbursement without any other Town Meeting appropriations vote. Dr.Wells said the budget is presenting a number of bondable items with- drawn from the earlier budget proposal. Now that the School Committee has a proven track record of getting 60% reimbursement on renovation items , he feels these items , such as the Eaton roof replacement and $60 ,000 other renovations should be submitted as separate articles. This version of the budget is for $12,501 ,097 and represents an 8.2% increase over the FY86 budget of $11 ,572,443. Dr. Wells reminded the School Committee that the difference of $928 , 654 may be reduced by applying the Professional Development money which will come to the Town under Chapter 188 . He said that if for illustrative purposes we apply $200 , 000 of Professional Development monies, the difference will be $728 ,654. Chairman Allen asked FinCom Representative O'Leary if the FinCom expected any additional State money on the Cherry Sheet. Mr. : O'Leary said the Cherry Sheet may increase but it' s too early to know. He said that he personally would be receptive about submitting bonding articles when substantial reimbursements from the State can be expected. The School Committee began its review cf the budget with an examination of the 1000 Series (Administration. ) After some discussion about the value of the Series provided by the School Committee Association for dues cf $1 ,613 , and about the value of School Committee travel to conferences Mr. Coco moved , seconded by Mr. Shannon that MASC dues of $1.,613 be deleted. This motion was defeatec by a vote of 1-3 with Mr. Coco voting affirmative. Mr . Coco moved , seconded by Mr. Shanncn that out-of-state travel under the 1100 School Committee category be deleted. This was votec unanimously. Under the 1200 Superintendent Office Expense segment of the budget, th€ value of various information and research series was discussed. Mr Nissen requested a report at a later meeting of expenditures during th last year in the 1200 series . 160 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 6 , 1986 During the discussion of the 2100 Superintendent' s Expense Account, _ Coco moved ; seconded by Mr. Shannon to reduce the following items ] their FY36 level: Travel interstate $400 to $300 Travel local 1390 to 1 190 Travel out-of-state 785 to 750 Office supplies 1000 to 0 Each line item was voted singly and by votes of 1 in favor (Mr. Coco) tc 3 , each motion was defeated. The School Committee looked over the remainder of the Regular Da- Program budget and raised a series of questions which Dr. Wells offere• to have answers by the next budget review meeting . The questions are : How much of School Committee In-State Travel was expended? How much expended in other 1200 categories? . How come $1,000 for Directors 2100 supplies? What are dues paying for in Central Office? High School? Middle School? Why no dues for Elementary? • Awards for Middle Schools? Why such a big increase in High School Office Supplies? Look at Computer Supplies which appear in many places in t` budget? • Many increases-decreases demand explanation. e.g. ; Elementary. Explanations for estimates of Utilities needed. Word processors in the system/budget? costs? e .g . different prices priority? other computer equipment, e.g. Killam SpEd , Parker SpEd Why two vehicles? On a motion by Mr. Shannon , seconded by Mr. Nissen the chairman cori . t a roll call a to Executive t ly Session c unani th at a'=ect 9 in na and negoti t i no The mot on passed .-_-- - - at 10 :43 . Respectfully submitted,