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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987-01-26 School Committee MinutesREADING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reading, Massachusetts SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES Call to Order JANUARY 26, 1987 Chairman Cliff Allen called the regular meeting of the Reading School Committee to order at 7:38 p.m. on January 26, 1987 in the Superintendent's Conference Room at 34 Gould Street. Members of the School Committee who were present were: Cliff Allen, Carol Lyons, Barbara Philbrick & George Shannon. Absent were Richard Coco and Stanley Nissen, both of whom had called the Chairman to indicate they could not be present because of previous commitments. Also present were the Superintendent, Robert S. Wells, Assistant Superintendents, Robert J. Munnelly, and Ronald A. Winslow, Donald Farnham, Principal of the Joshua Eaton School, Mrs. Rachael Baumgartner and Cathy Symonds, parents and Co- Chairpersons of the P.T.O. Enrichment Committee at the Joshua Eaton School, parents and a reporter from the Chronicle. Approval of Minutes of January 12, 1987 A motion was made by Mr. Shannon, seconded by Mrs. Philbrick, to approve the Minutes of the Meeting of January 12, 1987. Cliff Allen then asked if there were any corrections. A Mr. John Carpenter, who had spoken at the January 12, 1987 meeting on the Birch Meadow fencing, requested that a few corrections be made to that portion of the Minutes. He stated he would like included on Page 2, under Citizens Input, in the first paragraph of Minutes after the statement that the Birch Meadow PTO had approached IBM for funds for this fencing, the reason for the denial, which was that IBM felt this was a Capital Item, and therefore, was the School District's responsibility. Mr. Cliff Allen stated the Minutes only reflected an outline of what was discussed under this item and the fact was that the request from IBM was unsuccessful. Therefore, Mr. Allen felt the statements as recorded in the Minutes would suffice. Mr. Carpenter then stated that at the bottom of this same paragraph, it stated that Mr. Allen responded to Mr. Carpenter's request for a letter from the School Committee, stating their reasons for not including this item in the Budget, if this occurred. Mr. Carpenter stated he did not recall that a response was made, and felt the "he" in the sentence did not clearly indicate who it referred to. Mr. Carpenter also requested that at the top of the next page, first paragraph, where it stated that: "Mrs. Jane Giacaloni, a parent who worked at the Birch Meadow School ", should be changed to: "Mrs. Giacaloni, a parent who :. READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 26, 1987 worked as a volunteer at the Birch Meadow School" as she was not an employee. Mr. Cliff Allen then stated that on the matter of the response for a letter from the School Committee at the last meeting, he clearly recalled that he had hesitated in answering this request, but then did state he was not prepared to answer that point specifically at the time. Mr. Allen and the members of the School Committee read the sentence referred to in the Minutes at the bottom of this paragraph, and all felt that the "he" clearly indicated Mr. Allen. Mr. Allen stated in regard to the request that Mrs.Giacaloni's status at the Birch Meadow School, as stated on Page 3, be made clear, he agreed that the fact that she was a volunteer and not an employee should be included in the Minutes. Mrs. Kendra Cooper then asked to be recognized and requested that under Citizens' Input on Page 3, she felt that her comments should include the fact that she was referring to the fencing at Birch Meadow , for reason that her comments followed a statement from another parent regarding the Special Needs van, and it appeared she was referring to that subject. Chairman Allen agreed to include this correction in the Minutes. Mr. Allen then asked for a vote on the motion to approve the Minutes of the January 12, 1987 Meeting, as amended and corrected, and the vote was unanimous. Bills and Payrolls Warrants for bills and payrolls were approved as follows: Bills January 26, 1987 - General Expense - $ 43,471.72 February 6, 1987 - General Expense - 50,482.98 February 9, 1987 - General Expense - 105,714.62 Payrolls January 30, 1987 - Weekly - $ 29,597.91 February 6, 1987 - Weekly - 31,762.48 February 5, 1987 - Teachers - 364,046.46 School Highlights Dr. Wells stated that Mr. Donald Farnham, Principal of the Joshua Eaton School, Mrs. Rachael Baumgartner and Mrs. Cathy Symonds, parents and co- chairpersons for the P.T.O. Enrichment Committee were present to discuss the purpose of the Enrichment Committee and how it works in conjunction with the school to provide activities to enrich and expand the curriculum, events such as assemblies, displays, speakers, and especially, informational fairs. Mr. Farhnam stated the Joshua Eaton PTO's have always been very helpful in raising funds for various projects at the school, M. READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 26, 1987 but during the last two years the group had undergone a change in structure; such as changing the By -Laws, increasing their Executive Board, setting up sub - committees, and the incorporation of the PTO. He stated he felt they had done a wonderful job, and he was very appreciative of their contribution to the school. Mr. Farnham then introducted Cathy Symonds and Rachael Baumgartner, co- chairpersons of the Enrichment Committee of the PTO. Mrs. Baumgartner described the structure of the committee and their purpose in the school program. She gave a list of the programs which have been carried out at the school and future plans which had been arranged. Mrs. Baumgartner stated that she had received much help from other Town PTO's who had been willing to share flyers, programs, etc. She stated the funds for these programs had come from three areas, some from the School Department budget, some from the PTO budget, and some had come from the School Improvement Councils who had requested suggestions for programs which could be funded by them. Mrs. Baumgartner felt the most unique program this year had been the Information Fairs, which had been planned so as to fit into the school's curriculum. She stated 7 or 8 displays had been set up in the Auditorium, on the stage, in the hallways and lobbies, and each class was allowed time to visit these displays. Mrs. Baumgartner showed the School Committee a display of pictures they had brought with them showing some of the Fairs in progress. She indicated that recently the committee had received a Grant from the Reading Arts Council to fund a program on the subject of Folk Art. Mr. Farnham indicated that everyone at Eaton was very excited about these programs, and it had taken a lot of cooperation between parties at the school to make this program so successful. Mrs. Philbrick stated she agreed with Mr. Farnham that the committee should be applauded. Mr. Allen thanked Mr. Farnham and the committee for their presentation. Continuation of FY88 Budget Review Dr. Wells stated he would begin with Series 9100, Public Schools and Occupational Education Tuition. He stated that no funds had been expended this year from this account. He indicated this was tuition for students who couldn't get the courses they needed either at the N. E. Regional Vocational School or can't take what they wish to take at the High School. Dr. Wells stated, under the Occupational Education Tuition, the budget is basically for two people. He stated if a student is under 19 and meets the criteria, the School Department must pay the tuition, but if they have had a prior opportunity, say. after two years of attending N. E. Vocational, for example, decide they want something else, then the department does not have to pay. Dr. Wells stated he would get more information for the committee on the public school tuition for the next meeting. .i READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 26, 1987 Special Needs Budget Dr. Wells stated he had spoken to the Town Manager about the increase in the Special Needs Budget, which had almost doubled this past year. He stated a lot of this had to do with transportation costs, which had increased 20 %. Dr. Wells noted that the reason for the tuition increase had to do with a court case between Dartmouth and some parents with a special needs child in which the Court ruled that the Public Schools must have outstanding educational programs for these children, where public law had previously stated only adequate programs must be in place. Because of this precedent, parents make Appeals for private schooling for such children, and Appeals Officers are agreeing because of this case. Dr. Wells stated that the tuition for one special needs child at a private school could run $25 to 30,000 dollars, although most are approximately $8 to 10,000, and transportation costs run about $8 to 11,000 for each child. Dr. Wells stated it was his recommendation that when the School Committee went before the FinCom at Town Meeting, we should find a,' way of obtaining permission to reduce this budget, with the understanding that if we have to draw on some of these other_: expenses, we could go to a reserve account or fund. He stated' that the Special Needs has run well over their budget already this year. Mrs. Philbrick had a question about page SP -9, listing the Programs with other Districts, she assumed the places where there is no listing for next year at certain schools, was because of the child's age or they are leaving the school. Dr. Munnelly stated there are some students who have transferred to schools,.. and we are probably paying versions of their costs, but anticipating we will be paying the full costs for them next year, and also there is sometimes knowledge that the child will be attending another school the following year. Dr. Wells stated that Year '86 -87, showed what was budgeted, and that perhaps it would be helpful to get an actual of these figures, and he would have this for the next meeting. Mrs. Philbrick stated this would clarify the fact that the department, in budgeting $284,501 for next year was doing so because the costs this year have already gone well over the budgeted amount of $155,445. She stated this would more clearly indicate that the increase for next year is not so great as it appears. Dr. Wells stated on the transportation costs for these children, Mr. Winslow always tried to get 3 or 4 quotes. He stated he had also spoken to Bob Lyons from SEEM about perhaps getting a collaborative program going for transportation. Dr. Wells stated this was not the most efficient way to get the children back and forth to school, but under the rules and regulations which had to be followed, it was the best way. Carol Lyons had a question on the item listed, Resource Room Expense, through the elementary, middle and high schools. She stated each one was different, for example, one indicated a decrease and another an increase. Mrs. Philbrick stated she felt Dr. Munnelly had explained at the last meeting that this was IR READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 26, 1987 because more audio - visual equipment was being used and the purchase of additional textbooks had decreased. Dr. Wells stated that the Principal's noted that most students don't spend much time in the Resource Room per day. He also stated every Resource Room now has a computer and software and other audio- visual aids. Dr. Wells stated that on Page SP -9, under SEEM Collaborative, the $38,474.00 was the cost for transportation for the SEEM Collaborative Office and supervision costs for Special Needs teachers. Dr. Wells noted that he had talked with the Town Manager today, who also had a copy of same Budget that the committee had, and they had arranged a meeting for 8 :30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28th to discuss it. Athletic Budoet Dr. Wells stated in this Budget the largest single increase was in the area of transportation. He stated he was hopeful there may be some revisions to this Budget before Town Meeting, perhaps as a result of the sub - committee which was authorized by the School Committee at the last meeting, regarding alternatives for transportation. Dr. Wells stated the Selectmen were now wrestling with Liability and Insurance needs in regard to transporting youngsters in their Recreational Program. He stated up to this time, it has been done by volunteers. Dr. Wells stated the Town is very concerned about getting Liability Insurance, and that parents have to know what their risks are when they volunteer. Dr. Wells stated overall this Budget is up 17 %, caused mostly by transportation which has increased 40 %, and the anticipated income is $22,800. He stated another area of concern was crowd control, about which he had spoken with the Chief of Police. He stated Jack White was aware that if there is a small crowd, there could be a minimum staff sent from the Police Department. Dr. Wells noted that the cost of maintaining the field has decreased quite a bit, and that the fields are in good to excellent shape. He stated dues were to pay the MIAA which helped the department to keep up with controls, rules, and regulations governing high school sports. Dr. Wells stated he had spoken with the Athletic Director and the Principals in regard to some smaller teams, such as the tennis team, golf team, and cross - country team perhaps not receiving transportation funds. He stated, although he knew it would not be a popular cut, perhaps they could get parents to volunteer to drive 3 or 4 students to the games. Dr. Wells stated that the department got a lot of support from the Friends of Hockey, who did not charge for their time. He stated home games are at Woburn and the Officials there take care of everything in the building, and do turn over a percentage of the gate. Dr. Wells stated the gross budget is much larger than what the taxpayers will actually have to pay for after the income figure is applied. M READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 26,1987 Mr. Shannon then stated he would like to go back to the last meeting in regard to the Birch Meadow fencing. He stated he had received a letter from concerned parents during the week, in which it appeared that Mr. Murphy had changed his position, and was now in favor of the fencing. He stated he would like to get some additional feedback from Mr. Murphy for the next meeting on whether he now felt this was a Priority One item or still thought this could wait until next year. Dr. Wells stated he had spoken with the Chief of Police about signs, and he stated that he didn't think we could get a School Zone light there, as there is a criteria for passage of at least 250 cars an hour which was not the case on these streets. Dr. Wells stated the Chief had promised that he would try to get signs with posted speed of 20 MPH. There was a brief discussion on obtaining signs. Mrs. Philbrick had a question in the 2000 Series on Page 3 under Directors and Misc., Gifted and Talented. She asked if there was anywhere else in the Budget that there was specific funding for this Program? Dr. Munnelly stated this figure was the money that was in Mrs. Melconian's control. He stated if it is money for a particular school, the funds would come out of the Principal's Office Expense, supplies or materials for projects, etc. School Improvement Council Expenditures Dr. Wells stated this was the second year for the School Improvement Councils, although the first for the High School. He stated in October, most schools had their Councils in place. Then the State informed the Department that it would have to elect an additional member, who must be an independent citizen of the Town. The State did allow the Towns who had their School Improvement Council's in place by October 1st, to go ahead with the proposals they had planned for this year. Dr. Wells stated the School Committee could veto items in the proposals, but could not replace it with one of their own, and that portion vetoed must be returned to the Council for replacement. Dr. Wells stated the money for these funds will not be released until the proposals have been approved by the School Committee, and Dr. Wells reports this to the Department of Education. He stated the money then goes directly to the Town Treasurer and does not come to the School Department. Dr. Wells and the School Committee then reviewed the proposals for all 7 schools and there was brief discussion on each list. A motion was made by Mrs. Philbrick, seconded by Mr. Shannon, to accept the recommendations by the School Improvement Councils for each of the schools as submitted in Enclosure B -3 -a. The vote was unanimous. Dr. Wells stated he would inform the Department of Education and Town Treasurer of the School Committee's approval. 87 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 26, 1987 Telephone Services - 34 Gould Street Dr. Wells reviewed Enclosure B -3 -b with the School Committee listing costs for a new telephone service for the Central Office. He stated he would also be bringing a proposal for new telephone services for the High School, but was still gathering information on that issue. He stated he felt that to have the School Department own its own telephone equipment would be a big savings to the Town over a period of 8 years. Dr. Wells stated he hoped that the enclosure would make clear what those savings were. He stated the figures were based on quotations from Sonitrol and A.T. &T. He stated the new equipment carried a lot of new improved features which could be utilized by the Central Office and that at the end of the 5 -year period we would own the telephone equipment. Dr. Wells stated in the 15 years we have had the present system, he has not had to replace any equipment, therefore, he would assume the new equipment would last as long. Dr. Wells stated he was recommending an outright purchase'of the equipment for the Central Office which would save between $8 to $10,000 a year over an 8 -year period. He stated if the School Committee preferred the 5 -Yr. Lease - Purchase Plan, the savings would be a little less, $6 to 7,000 per year. Dr. Wells stated he had been informed by Town Council that any Board or Committee contemplating Lease - Purchase for a period over 1 -year must get permission first at Town Meeting. Dr. Wells stated the School Committee had three alternates; one was to approve the proposal with the purchase of the equipment outright, to approve on a 5 -year lease /purchase, or not to approve the proposal at all. He stated, if approved, although some of the money was budgeted, there will be some discussion on the remaining funding. Cliff Allen stated he appreciated this information, and he felt it better indicated the savings over a period of time. He then stated that as long as Dr. Wells was returning on Feb. 9th with a proposal for the High School, he would like to see the whole package before making a decision. Mr. Shannon then stated his only concern was the issue of moving the Central Office in the near future. He stated, he questioned whether it would be cost effective to install a new system now. Mr. Shannon did agree though that both proposals should be reviewed before a decision could be made. Dr. Wells stated he felt the moving of the Central Office should not be considered an issue, as no matter when this move occurred, there would be a cost for transferring the equipment. Cliff Allen stated he felt it was then the consensus of the Committee to wait for the High School Proposal before making a decision. Notification of All Boards Meetin Dr. Wells stated this was to inform the School Committee of this meeting which was scheduled to be held at the High School Lecture Hall on Feb. 2, 1987 at 7:30 p.m. He stated he READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 26, 1987 was assuming that Town finances and the budgets would be the primary purpose of the meeting. Gifts to School Department Dr. Munnelly stated that a gift had been received from John Rivers of The Rivers Construction Company for the Gymnastics Program at the High School: two floor mats, two portable scoring signs and a large cushion for floor exercise purposes. He stated this equipment would be used by both girls and boys teams. Dr. Munnelly stated he felt Mr. Rivers should be thanked publicly for his generous gift. Cliff Allen stated the School Committee was very appreciative for the equipment donated by Mr. Rivers and asked the administration to send him a letter of thanks. Policv on Use of Public Funds for Gifts Dr. Wells stated Peter Hechenbleikner, the Town Manager, informed him this policy does not apply to the School Department, but Peter did suggest that the School Committe think about adopting a policy covering this area, so as to be compatible with the Town's new policies. Horace Mann Teachers Dr. Wells stated this enclosure was for informational purposes. He stated he would have specific proposals on February 9th, but wanted the School Committee to be aware of progress on this issue. Dr. Wells stated Charlie Papandreou, Principal of Barrows School, and Dr. Munnelly had reviewed some of the proposals before they went to the Selectmen and felt they were of very high quality. He stated there were now about 35 of them, totalling approximately $60,000. Dr. Wells stated the amount the State would be sending for these proposals was $31,000. Leaves Mr. Winslow stated he had received a request for an unpaid leave -of- absence from Mrs. Eleanor Carey, Cafeteria Worker at the Birch Meadow School, who had worked here since 1980. He stated Mrs. Carey had requested this leave because of medical problems and on the advice of her doctor for the balance of the School Year, and the administration was recommending approval. A motion was made by Mr. Shannon, seconded by Mrs. Philbrick, to approve an unpaid leave -of- absence to Mrs. Eleanor Carey, Cafeteria Worker at the Birch Meadow School, for medical reasons for the balance of the 1986 -87 School Year. The vote was unanimous. At 9.20 p.m. a motion was made by Mrs. Philbrick, seconded by Mr. Shannon to go into Executive Session. The vote was unanimous. Cliff Allen announced the Committee would not return to Open Session.