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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986-11-17 School Committee Minutes 43 READING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reading , Massachusetts SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING • MINUTES NOVEMBER 17 , 1986 Call to Order Chairman Cliff Allen called the regular meeting of the Reading School Committee to order at 7 : 33 p .m. on November 17 , 1986 in the Superintendent' s Conference Room at 34 Gould Street. All members of the School Committee were present, with the exception of Mr . Richard Coco, who had called the Chairman to notify him that he would be unable to attend the meeting . Cliff Allen also noted that the Superintendent, Dr. Robert Wells , would not be present as he was on sick leave because of physical problems . Others in attendance were Assistant Superintendents, Robert J. Munnelly and Ronald A. Winslow, Mr. Barry Low, Director of Music, students from the Reading High School Chorus, Dr. Mark Piechota, Principal of the High School , Mrs. Rena Mirkin, Advisor to Student Advisory Council, members of the Student Advisory Council , parents, and a reporter from the Chronicle. Approval of Minutes of November 3 , 1986 A motion was made by Mr . Nissen , seconded by Mr . Shannon , to approve the Minutes of the Meeting of November 3, 1986 . The vote was unanimous . Bills and Payrolls Warrants for bills and payrolls were approved as follows : Bills November 21 , 1986 - General Expense - $121 , 837 . 45 November 26 , 1986 - General Expense - 84 , 075 .78 December 5 , 1986 - General Expense - 17 ,658 .67 Payrolls November 21 , 1986 - Weekly - $30, 967 .22 November 26 , 1986 - Weekly - 32 , 376 . 11 December 5 , 1986 - Weekly - 42 , 554 . 18 November 26, 1986 - Teachers - 367 , 031 . 04 School Highlights Dr . Munnelly stated that Mr. Barry Low , Director of Music for Reading Public Schools , was going to present a musical program to the committee by the new chorus at the High School , "Singers Unlimited" , and to also speak to them about this year' s plans for :he chorus . Mr . Low stated the chorus would be having their 44 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES NOVEMBER 17 , 1986 concert debut on December 11th, and invited the School Committee and the citizens of the Town to come. The chorus gave a fine performance, and Mr. Low stated he was very pleased with the enthusiasm of the members and was hoping to build upon this beginning chorus so that Reading High School would again have a large and active choral group. Cliff Allen thanked the students and the Director for their program. Citizens ' Input Mrs . Kendra Cooper, a parent, asked to be recognized and stated that at the last meeting she noted her concern with the School Committee Policy on Field Trips , and in regard to that concern, she passed out an article from the Salem News covering the accident in Lynnfield involving 11 students going to a practice in one car . She also noted that she would like to have included in the previous minutes that her concern also stemmed from a recent field trip to Lancaster, MA. in which all first grade children at the Birch Meadow School were transported in private cars . She she felt that the current School Committee Policy could not prevent such an accident from happening in Reading , because it stated the use of private cars for field trips was up to the discretion of the Principal, and she was also aware there were no funds for field trips in the present Budget . Mrs . Cooper then asked if the School Committee thought it was not safer to transport students in busses? Cliff Allen stated he felt the definition of Citizens ' Input was to give the citizens an opportunity to bring to the attention of the School Committee a point of concern, but did not necessitate any immediate action on that evening. He stated he felt Mrs . Cooper had been successful in doing that , and it had been taken under advisement by the committee. Mr. Allen stated there were other issues that had to be discussed on that night' s agenda, which did not allow time for a discussion of Mrs . Cooper' s concern, but that was not to say this issue would be ignored. Home School Request Dr. Munnelly indicated he had received a request for a Home Permit from a Mr. & Mrs. Richard Rodriquez of Van Norden Road to educate their four children in their home under a program in which they had been enrolled in the Clonlara School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dr . Munnelly stated after a series of actions , Mr. Rodriquez had spoken to Dr . Munnelly and Dr . Wells in the Superintendent ' s Office along with Dennis Murphy, Principal of the Birch Meadow School, and Al Lahood, Principal of the Coolidge Middle School , at which time he presented the Educational Plan from the Clonlara School . He stated this plan included the curriculum , test materials , and approach to evaluate the students . Dr. Munnelly stated two questions were raised during the discussion, one was how the Clonlara School had arrived at the placement of the children in their respective grade levels and what criteria the 45 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES NOVEMBER 17 , 1986 school had used in evaluating the qualifications of the parents to teach their children. Dr. Munnelly stated the administration was recommending approval of this Home Permit with those two contingencies. Carol Lyons asked if there were any time frame on the two contingencies. Dr. Munnelly stated he had spoken to Mr . Rodriquez who stated he would alert the school of these conditions , and it didn' t seem to be a problem. Mr. Shannon made a motion, seconded by Mrs . Philbrick, that on the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools , the proposal for Home Education of the four children of Mr . & Mrs . Rodriquez of Van Nordan Road be approved for the 1986-87 School Year, contingent on Mr. Rodriquez' s providing the Superintendent with information from the Clonlara School officials about the proper curriculum/grade level placement of the children, and the basis on which the school judged the competency of the Rodriquez' s to teach their children. The vote was unanimous . Energy Conservation Improvement Program Mr . Ronald Winslow stated that last May data was gathered to submit an application for a Grant to the State Energy Office for energy conservation improvements . He noted that State had indicated that they would notify recipients who submitted applications of awards within a sixty-day period. He stated the application had to be submitted through the Board of Selectmen, the governing body of the Town. Mr. Winslow stated a proposal was submitted on September 4th, and he had just been notified that they were to be awarded $101 ,941 . 00 , the amount requested in the proposal . Mr. Winslow stated these energy improvements , itemized on Enclosure C-3, were to be done at Reading Memorial High School , Coolidge and Parker Middle Schools , and Joshua Eaton Elementary School , and had been included on an energy audit that was done previously . He stated that as soon as proper signatures were completed, the State would forward $30 , 000 to start these projects , and as the projects progress and further funds are needed, the State would forward them. Mr. Winslow stated at the completion of the projects , the State will deduct 30% of the cost ( approximately $30 , 000 ) through a "Cherry Sheet" transaction over a ten-year period. He noted that the payback period will cover approximately a 3 1/2 year period . Mr. Shannon asked if he was correct in his understanding that the Cherry Sheet deduction was over a 10-year period . Mr. Winslow stated yes , which would mean a payback of approximately $3 ,000 annually during the 10-year period . Mr. Winslow stated the Town would ultimately receive the benefit of $75 , 000 in energy improvements and also the expected savings in energy costs . 46 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES NOVEMBER 17 , 1986 Drug Abuse Task Force Dr . Munnelly stated in response to the National Drug and Alcohol Awareness Day, Jane Fiore , as a Prevention Educator and a member of the Health Department, was coordinating a Drug Abuse Task Force on Drug and Alcohol Awareness for Reading. He showed the School Committee the poster that would be used on that day. Dr. Munnelly also stated that such a Community group was a requirement for membership in the Governor' s Alliance Against Drugs , which included the right to apply for preventive education funding , in- service training funds , and access to name speakers ( e . g . M . C .Carr, of the cast of Fame) . He stated this Task Force would meet about three times a year to review programs and help establish policy and program direction for public education about drugs. Dr. Munnelly stated the School Committee is being asked to have one of its members as a representative on the Task Force , and noted their first meeting would be _December 1st. Cliff Allen then asked for a volunteer, and Mr. Shannon agreed to represent the School Committee on the Task Force. Dr. Munnelly stated he would inform Jane Fiore that Mr. Shannon would represent the School Committee . Art of the Book Program Dr . Munnelly then discussed the enclosure regarding the Art of the Book Program which was to be held on November 19th. He stated the meeting will be at the Parker Middle School , and the speaker would be Robert Coles from Harvard University, who would speak on the Moral Life of Children . Dr . Munnelly stated that the School Committee was invited to attend this Program. Student Advisory Council Dr . Mark Piechota , Principal of R . M . H .S . , Mrs . Rena Mirkin , Student Council Advisor , and six members of the Council were present to discuss a smoking survey they had undertaken and other projects that were planned for the year. Dr . Piechota stated that the Student Council was very important to him, and he felt they should be heard not only about student activities but also policies at schools that affected them. He stated the Council had already advised him on some issues this year. At that time Dr . Piechota stated Mrs . Rena Mirkin, faculty advisor to the Council , would introduce the Student Council , and they were as follows : Patti Harootian, Peter Harutunian, John Harutunian , Stacey Auld , Joseph Doherty , and Paul Girouard. After the introductions , Cliff Allen stated that the School Committee had always tried to have an open dialogue with the students to bring their issues before the committee in an informal way for an exchange or ideas . He then asked if there were any issues the students wished to discuss? 47 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES NOVEMBER 17 , 1986 The President of the Council , Patti Harootian, stated the Council had taken a survey for re-evaluating the smoking policies. The results indicated that out of 1,300 students , only 240 smoked, and of those that smoked, 56% smoked more than 6 cigarettes a day. She stated there was also a question on the survey on whether smoking should be banned , and only 20% thought it should be . Carol Lyons asked if there were designated areas where smoking was allowed. Patti stated there was an area in the parking lot where students were allowed to go there . Patti indicated she had voted not to ban smoking herself, although she did not smoke because the area was away from the student population and did not affect non- smokers . There was a brief discussion about how smokers responded to the question of whether they wanted help to stop smoking. Another member of the Council, John Harutunian, talked about a petition that was being signed and when completed would be sent to President Reagan to speak to students on national television regarding arms control which had been started at Milton Academy and would be sent back there when signed. When Milton Academy had collected 100 sets of signatures they would forward them to the President . He stated there was a positive response to the petition, and approximately 1, 000 signatures had been collected . Members then talked of their collection of canned goods which they would be undertaking for the Home for Little Wanderers . They stated it had been done last year, and they had been very successful . They stated this collection would extend to all schools. Mrs . Mirkin stated the Home for Little Wanderers indicated last year that no other group had raised so much in one effort . There was a brief discussion on the Bloodmobile which would be coming to the school. There was also a discussion about the number of lavatories that were opened for students ' use and their condition. Mr. Shannon after hearing some of the students complaints regarding the lack of running water, paper towels , etc . asked that the administration report to the committee at the next meeting of what was being done to correct these conditions . Cliff Allen then thanked the Council , Dr. Piechota and Mrs . Mirkin for coming to the meeting and stated that the committee hoped to meet with the Council at least twice more during the year. State Assessment Testing Briefing Dr . Munnelly stated that the results of the State Assessment testing had been received the previous week and that Reading students did very well in all grade levels, 3 , 7 and 11 , and in the three areas of testing , math, reading , science , and in fact , were well above the State average of 1300 in all test results . Dr . Munnelly then explained the State had created a range of scores where Reading individually would be expected to fit based on socio-economic information. In most respects , Reading schools landed in the expected ranges of comparisons with similar schools of similar backgrounds, and in most of those comparisons there was 48 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES NOVEMBER 17 , 1986 a weighing to the high side, although there were some on the low side which would be discussed. Dr. Munnelly stated that no large gaps in the curriculum or instruction program appeared in the test results . Dr. Munnelly then went over some of the more detailed items in the test results with the committee . He stated any changes that would be considered would be well thought out and considered by the staff as they were dealing from a sense of strength with a fairly high performance across the board when talking about the system as a whole. Dr . Munnelly then explained the breakdown by school of the testing. He noted the High School was above average in all areas of testing. Dr. Munnelly stated the pattern in the Middle School needed to be talked about because the comparison showed the Parker Middle School did extremely well, scoring high above the average , but in raw scores alone , he stated there was a large difference between Parker and Coolidge Middle Schools . Dr. Munnelly stated the score that was of real concern was the Coolidge School score in Science . He stated in the area of reading between Parker and Coolidge Schools, there was a difference of 40 points in the band of expectancy, and even though they are both above the State average , there is this expected difference between the two based on socio-economic differences . Dr . Munnelly stated the area of Science at Coolidge Middle School was one which could be reviewed and problems possibly identified when all the information had been received from State. In the Elementary School Reports , the bands of expectancy were reported for three schools ( for some reason Killam' s had not been reported) and of the three that were received there was a 40-point difference in the band of expectancy in reading, and math, and a 20-point difference in science . Barrows and Eaton had an expectancy band which is quite high, while Birch Meadow had an expectancy band that was lower than the others , although all schools came within the high side in their respective band. Dr. Munnelly stated all these factors have to be taken into consideration in interpreting the results . He noted that the Principals, Directors , and faculty were looking at the results to see how they can utilize the information. Dr. Munnelly stated in January he expected to receive a complete technical report on each school . He also stated that testing would be administered again in two years, and he expected at that time that the area of social studies would be added to the test. Mrs . Philbrick stated as Reading ' s score for our kind of community was 1 , 350 , was that the average for the State or the average for the category that our schools fall into? Dr. Munnelly stated the State did something called scaled scoring, meaning they picked a number out of the air, which was 1, 300 and structured the whole reporting result from that figure. Mrs. Philbrick asked if Dr. Munnelly had seen any scores from other communities or which made comparisons between them? Dr. Munnelly stated he had seen some 49 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES NOVEMBER 17 , 1986 results of about 15 communities that were printed in Saturday ' s Boston Globe , but not enough information was printed to make comparisons. Mr . Aaron Boornazian, a parent, asked to be recognized and stated in regard to the band of expectancy, when there was an aggregate of students who you expect to have more trouble achieving certain levels of competency, you should expect to give those students more effort , resources and a higher level of instruction. Dr . Munnelly stated that the administration did not know until this past week , what these expectancies were . He stated he was aware they were using the composite sccre band which was expected to differ from school to school , but until that came we did know exactly what the differences were , and had always prided ourselves on keeping an even distribution of resources, etc. Dr. Munnelly stated now that these results have been received, and score bands established, perhaps that policy could be reviewed. Mr. Boornazian stated when these kinds of problems are studied and some plans or objectives are set , he would like to see that information publicly disseminated . Dr . Munnelly stated he felt that i= had always been the policy of the School Administration to have open discussion about reports . Cliff Allen stated it should be kept in mind that these reports were only received a week ago. Appointments Dr . Munnelly stated that four members of the staff had applied and been interviewed for the position of Director of Chapter I caused by the resignation of Robert Pena , and the administration was recommending the appointment of Claire Flynn, a teacher at the Barrows Elementary School . He stated Ms . Flynn had been one of Reading ' s first exemplary teachers , had had experience in the Chapter I program at the Highland School , and also had some administrative experience. A motion was made by Mr. Nissen , seconded by Mrs. Philbrick , to appoint Claire Flynn as Director of the Chapter I Program, at a salary of $15 .00 per hour, effective immediately. Mr . Shannon asked how this would impact the teaching schedule? Dr . Munnelly stated it may necessitate the hiring of a substitute on the days when Claire is dealin= with the Program, as was done when Bob Penta was Director. Mrs . Philbrick asked in order to refresh her memory, were these funds taken from our Budget or were they federally reimbursed? Dr . Munnelly stated these funds were federally reimbursed for which a very detailed program and expenditure report must be submitted to the State . He stated quarterly checks are sent to the Town which are deposited in a separate account. A vote was taken on the motion and it was unanimously approved. 50 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES NOVEMBER 17 , 1986 There was a brief discussion about the date for the Annual Christmas Party , sponsored by the School Committee , and Mr . Winslow was to poll the schools and decide whether December 17th or 18th were more convenient for all involved . At 9 : 30 p.m. , a motion was made by Mr. Shannon, seconded by Mrs . Philbrick , to go into Executive Session to discuss Lease of Real Property. The vote was unanimous . At 10 : 10 p .m. , the meeting was adjourned in Executive Session . •