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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986-10-20 School Committee Minutes 29 READING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reading, Massachusetts SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 20 , 1986 Call to Order Chairman Cliff Allen called the regular meeting of the Reading School Committee to order at 7:35 p.m. on October 20 , 1986 in the Superintendent's Conference Room at 34 Gould Street. Members of the School Committee not present were Stanley Nissen and Richard Coco. Others in attendance were Dr. Robert S. Wells , Superintendent, Mr. Robert Penta, Asst. Principal at Joshua Eaton School , and Director of Chapter I , Patricia Bouchie and Cathy Holland, parents working with Chapter I , Kathy Melconian, Gifted & Talented teacher, parents , and a reporter from the Chronicle. Approval of Minutes of October 6 , 1986 A motion was made by Mr. Shannon, seconded by Mrs . Philbrick , to approve the Minutes of the Meeting of October 6 , 1986 . The vote was unanimous . Bills and Payrolls Warrants for bills and payrolls were approved as follows: Bills October 24 , 1986 - General Expense - $57 ,452. 12 October 31 , 1986 - General Expense - $72, 108 .00 Payrolls October 24 , 1986 - Weekly - $29 , 592 . 43 October 31 , 1986 - Weekly - 30 , 167 . 10 October 30 , 1986 - Teachers - 366 , 625 . 04 Citizens ' Input Mrs. Kendra Cooper, a parent , asked to be recognized and asked if the School Committee members had any objections to possibly havinc the Agenda ready earlier so that the Readinc Chronicle could publish it on Friday before the meeting, so that citizens could be aware of any subjects which would be brought up at the meetinc in which they might be interested. Cliff Allen, the Chairman, stated he didn ' t know of any rule that would not allow this , and perhaps the Administration and the people from the Chronicle could discuss this possibility. 30 READING SCHOOL COMMaeTEE MINUTES OCTOBER 20 , 1980 School Highlights Dr . Wells spoke briefly about the Chapter I program and the background of its beginnings in Reading . He stated that the purpose behind the Program was to meet the needs of children in low income areas and who were disadvantaged. He then introduced Robert Penta, Director of Chapter I , who, Dr. Wells regretfully informed the School Committee, would be leaving soon to become a Principal at an Elementary School in Gloucester. Mr. Penta stated before he spoke about Chapter I , he wanted to say that he was very sorry to be leaving Reading and appreciated the support he had received from both his Principal and the Administration of the School Department in his years in Reading. He then stated he had brought two parents from the Parents Advisory Council with him, who would speak to the Committee after he had outlined the Program, and some of the good results they had experienced. Mr. Penta stated although these were Federal funds ,_ they were applied for through the Department of Education and were`"' to be allocated to those areas in the Town with the largest number ,,, of low income families . The schools that were targeted were the" Birch Meadow, Killam, the Coolidge Middle School, and R.M.H.S . He stated then an educational needs assessment is done, and it was decided that ours were Language, Arts, and Math on the elementary level and Language and Arts on other levels . Mr . Penta then stated student selection is then done and diagnostic testing of each one follows . He then spoke of the parents ' participation and the fact that conference nights are held between parents and Chapter I teachers , and parents are also involved in workshops . He then introduced Mrs . Kathy Holland and Mrs . Patricia Bouchie who have children in the Program and are on the Parents Advisory Council . Mrs . Holland stated she has had a daughter in the Chapter I Program for three years and because of the tremendous progress her daughter has made , she has very positive feelings about the Program. She stated that after participating in the Program the last 2 or 3 years , her daughter has reached grade level and can now compete with other students in her regular classroom. Mrs . Holland stated her daughter' s need was in Math, and that so far this year, she is receiving A' s and B ' s on her report card. Mrs . Trisha Bouchie then spoke and stated she had 3 children in the Reading School system. She stated that her son, Matthew, who was in the fifth grade at the Birch Meadow School , had been in the Chapter I Program since the first grade . Mrs . Bouchie stated the Program has helped Matthew tremendously and without it , he would have been lost . Mrs . Bouchie also stated that she felt Mr. Penta had been instrumental in the success of the Proaram and had a'_sT been a great help to all the parents. Cliff Allen thanked Mr. Penta, Mrs . Holland , and Mrs . Bouchie for coming to the meeting and sharing their experiences with Chapter I with the committee. 31 'READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES OCTOBER 20 , 1985 Capital Outlay Projections Dr. Wells stated this was an annual Fall business item that came before the School Committee . He noted that because the Town Manager was so newly hired , the information had been received later than normal . Dr . Wells stated the Town Manager would report the next night to the Finance Committee on the Town ' s Capital Budget . He referred the committee to Enclosure B-3-a , which- was the Proposal for a Five-Year Capital Outlay Plan. Dr . Wells stated that because Mr. Winslow was not present, Larry Moore , Supervisor of Maintenance, would explain any questions they might have of a technical nature in regard to any item. He stated that if the School Committee had any revisions to the list in perhaps a week or two, he felt there would not be any problem. Mrs . Philbrick stated she had a question on Item 8 , Remodelling for Declining Enrollment, regarding the need to carry this item beyond 1988. Dr. Wells stated it was his understanding that there was money in the Budget for this Item for Fiscal '87 and that one more year should be sufficient to complete it. Mr. Shannon stated he just wanted to be clear that this was just an initial plan and that any item could be changed if this was necessary. Dr. Wells stated this was correct. Dr . Wells stated that on Item 17 , Installing Gas- Fired Hot Water Heaters, the Administration would like to do that throughout the system. He then asked Larry Moore to explain the item further . Larry Moore stated these Gas-Fired Hot Water Heaters would be an energy efficient item, and would cut energy cost approximately 10% per school . Larry stated the department is going to ask for government grants for these installations and that is why he was pursuing it so actively. He stated that with these heaters , it won' t be necessary to run the big burners to provide hot water for athletic teams in the Summer, Spring and Fall . Mr . Allen and Mr . Shannon had some questions on what the 10 % savings would be on. Larry Moore stated it would represent a 10% savings on total oil consumption. Dr . Wells stated he would also like Larry to brief them on Item 25 , Transformer Maintenance at RMHS . Larry then stated that in the past there had been some leaks of PCP in the transformers , and they had been patched. He stated the Fire Department, for the present, keeps a constant check on the transformers . However , ne stated, in the near future they would have to be more permanently repaired which would be expensive , and which would require the shutting down of the building a wing at a time . Dr. Wells stated that Item 18, Replacement of Classroom Furniture, was , in the past, a regular item on this list, but for the past 10 years during the period of declining enrollment, the schools have 32 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES OCTOBER 20 , 1986 been taking the best of old furniture and using it where it was needed. He stated that now the department has about exhausted this supply and will have to again list this item. A motion was made by Mrs. Philbrick , seconded by Carol Lyons , to approve the Proposal, Five-Year Capital Outlay Plan, Enclosure B-3-a. The vote was unanimous . Speech Therapy Vacancy Dr. Wells informed the School Committee, that the Administration has been unable to find a replacement for this position. He stated the position has been advertised in the Boston Globe three times , they have called upon various agencies and Directors in Special Ed. in surrounding towns , contacted placement offices in colleges and hospitals , but have been unsuccessful in finding a qualified candidate. Dr. Wells stated that there are children in the system not getting these services which has forced them to propose hiring a specialist from the WISNEA Assoc. He stated the Association has a good reputation, and does have qualified people for clients. Dr. Wells stated, therefore, the Administration is recommending that the School Department enter into a contract with the WISNEA Assoc. to provide a speech therapist until the second semester , at which time they will again search for a full—time staff person. He also stated that the RTA was aware of the difficulty the administration has been experiencing in locating a full-time staff person and are aware of the plan to contract for these services until January. Carol Lyons asked Dr. Wells what the Administration knew about the WISNEA Associations as she had asked some of her colleagues at Northeastern , and they didn ' t know much about them. Dr . Wells stated they were a licensed company and have been checked out by Dr . Alexanian. He stated a person from this agency has already been interviewed by Dr. Munnelly and is qualified and ready to begin, pending the approval of the School Committee. A motion was made by Mrs . Philbrick , seconded by Mr . Shannon, to approve the hiring of a Speech Therapist from the WISNEA Assoc. at the rate of $25 . 00 an hour until the beginning of the second semester, as outlined on Enclosure C-1. The vote was unanimous . Educational Technology Grants Dr . Wells explained to the School Committee the backcround of these Grants . He stated there were two Grants which had been applied for, but the people who prepared them thought the chances were slim that they would be accepted because of the small amount of funds available for these Grants at the present time . Dr . Wells stated the funds would be increased to $3 , 000 , 000 by 1988 , and if not accepted this time , the Grants would be resubmitted, 33 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES OCTOBER 20 , 1986. Dr . Wells stated that one of the Grants had to do with the interconnect with Cable T. V. which would provide live instruction between Wakefield and Reading, and later, perhaps in 3 or 4 years , with North Reading and Lynnfield. He stated another Grant was asking for $17 ,000 for equipment and for inservice training to utilize this equipment. He noted he also understood that there was a proposal made by Librarians at the Birch Meadow and Killam schools to obtain electronic textbooks in order to bring the elementary students in contact with some of the equipment they will be finding at their college and town libraries in the coming years. Theses were submitted today and sometime late in November the Librarians will be notified if their Grants were successful. Dr. Wells stated he would keep the School Committee informed of the progress of these Grants. Report Card Review Dr . Wells stated that from 1972 to 1984 the same form of elementary report card had been used, and entailed conferencing with parents . It was at that time that early release days began in order to make available time for parents to have these conferences . Dr. Wells stated two things have to be done: ( 1 ) some kind of an indication of grade marking that will permit a child to have self-esteem, and (2 ) to have students and parents understand where their child's academic ability fits with other students . He stated two years ago a process was started with principals , teachers and parents to redesign the elementary report card. Dr. Wells stated this new card is in its second year, and some parents have indicated that they are not pleased with it, mostly because they feel we are not mindful enough of the self-esteem aspect . He stated that he has again instructed the Principals to look at the elementary report cards , making sure that parents are involved and perhaps later in the Spring discuss some changes with the School Committee , and in the Fall have another revision prepared. Dr . Wells stated he felt there was some concern among parents about C Grades , for instance , following the child through High School and then to Collece. He felt this was lack of communication with the parents , as he always found colleges were mainly interested in the last few years grades on students entering their schools , particularly the last two. Mr. Shannon stated he recalled that parents had been very involved in the last revision, and he felt that they were getting caught up with the letter Grade C, not the concept . Mrs . Philbrick stated she felt that the old report cards had much more written narrative and always included a conference with parents . She stated she felt the new report cards did not contain enough narrative and that a conference would not have beer. given unless she had asked for one. Dr . wells stated the Schools preferred each parent to conference about their child. He stated he was sensitive to the fact that this present report card is not satisfying some people , and that the Administration was going to do something about it . 3.4 - READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES OCTOBER 20 , 1986. Resignations al Dr. Wells read a letter from Mr. Robert Penta, positionteffective of the Joshua Eaton School , resigning November 14 , 1986 in order to accept .the position of Supervising Principal of the West Parish Elementary School in Gloucester. A motion was made by Carol r v Robert Pe ta, Assista Philrick, to ncipal of accept the resignation o Joshua Eaton School, effective November 14 , 1986. The vote was unanimous . Dr . Wells then read a letter he had received from Mrs . Elaine Clancy Gagnon, who was presently on a Child-Rearing Leave from her position in the Kil in the College ofgEducat in on at the University position of lecturer of Lowell. A motion was made by Mrs. Philbrick, seconded bGagnon,Mr. Shannon,nnon, to ito - accept the resignation of Mrs. Elaine Clancy immediately, from her position at the Killam School. The vote was unanimous. Dr. Wells briefly discussed the information on the Art of the which had been included in the School Committee members' packets . very excited stated out that the Programs that were involved coming up and hoped some of excited about the School Committee members could attend. At 8 :25 p .m. , a motion Execut made Session, after a brief seconded recess ,PPhilbrick, to go into discuss filing of a criminal complaint, the lease of Real Property, and Strategy with respect to Collective Bargaining . The vote was unanimous .