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Home My WebLink About1987-03-09 School Committee Minutes115 READING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reading, Massachusetts SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES MARCH 9, 1987 Call to Order Chairman Cliff Allen called the special meeting of the Reading School Committee to order at 7:30 p.m. on March 9, 1987 in the Superintendent's Conference Rocm at 34 Gould Street. All members CZ the School Committee were present, with the exception of Mr. Nissen who was out of Town. Also present were the Superintendent, Robert S. Wells, Assistant Superintendents, Robert J. Munnellv, and Ronald A. Winslow, Ms. .Nancy Kendall, Associate from Management S Leadership Systems, parents, and a reporter from the Chronicle. Aooroval of Minutes of March 2, 1987 A motion was made by Mr. Shannon, seconder by Mrs. Philbrick, to approve the Minutes of the Meeting of March 2, 1987. Mrs. Kendra Cooper asked to be recognized and requested that a correction be made on pace 4, last paracraph, 10th line, "requests from the PTO" be changed to "requests to the PTO ". A vote was taken on the motion to ancrove the Minutes of March 2, 1987, with noted correction, and the vote was una.n.imcus Bills and Pavrolls warrants for bills and payrolls were approved as follows: Bills Marc: 16, 1987 - General Ex -_ease - $96,597.69 P;=1" s Mar; 13, 1987 - weekly - $30,382.70 C_t zenG' lnnut i .ere wa= C, _2 ".M C.A. - Land - Ar. �� B. Lc_ Drive Dr. hell= stated that the is interes er in developing land that they now own on Forest Street. He stated there isva 6- foot strip of land bordering this property on Arthur B. Lord Drive owned by the Town of Reading which the Y.M.C.A. would like to purchase. Dr. Wells stated that in the Winter of 1904, the 116 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES MARCH 9, 1987 Selectmen asked the School Committee if it had any use for the land between the Coolidge Middle School and the Birch Meadow School, and the School Committee stated it had not and that land was sold to the Y.M.C.A., with a 6 -foot strip being reserved, for unknown reasons, for the Town of Reading between the street and the property line. He noted he assumed it may have been to build a sidewalk as there is one across the street which the children use in approaching Birch Meadow Sc`.ocl. Dr. Wells stated neither he or Mr. Winslow saw a need for the School Department to retain control of this land. Mr. Winslow stated in 1965, the Y.M.C.A. was given an easement to use this land for their purposes. He stated the Y.M.C.A. would now like clear title to that land so they can pursue the development of the land on Forest Street. Dr. Wells stated if the School Committee acted on this tonight, the Se1ecI.—men will call for a Special Town Meeting at which they would ask the town to vote to give or sell this land to the Y.M.C.A. r. r-t• i - , was r. -7 mrs • ph i l trick, ec`cr,ded by Carol Lvons , that t:_e Sc oc� Co--'t_ee r =_'_ease interest or. the 6 -foot strip of land along Arthur B. Lord Drive. Mr. Coco asked if the Town wouldn't still remain in control of this strip, if it were to be used as a sidewalk, at least from the property line, negating the advantage of owning the property. He asked what the Y.M.C.A. would be gaining by this purchase? Mr. Winslow stated they would gain total access to their property, without the legal infringements of easements. Mr. Shannon stated he felt the School Committee was doing this more in a housekeeping effort, stating we have no interest in the land. He noted it will then be up to the Town to make restrictions, etc. A vote was taken on the motion and it was unanimously accroved. Basic Skills - Test Results Briefing Dr. Liunnelly stated this was to brief the School Committe on the results of the Basic Skills Testinc conducted last Fall, which the State would be forwardinc sor.,etime next week, hoo_efully in time for the School Co- ,:nittee Meeting of March 16th. He noted that this testing was for students in Graces 3, 6 and 9 for the basic skills of reading, writing, and math. Dr. Munnelly stated under Cha..,ter J�S, t. ^:e testl'Ig of basic skills takes place with all 5 .en —z ✓V na -,°, as c� cs eG t0 the assessment program w er° th st =den: s tack c__ :ere ^.t Ca_ __ c_ t'_ test which has �e =.. f_leC into a:: eve_a__ view cf ...._ of t'. e sc ^col. These tests were c_iven to assure that st--:cents who neecec help in Basic Skills would c:_ it. Dr. Munneliv =__a,.ed there was one cc- m-olication this beCa'152 a��. ^.O L'^ it «.s t. ^.e Sta_e's p, =n to set a i - r yecr, ` standard for passing the test statewide, they do not have a standard yet. He noted that the standards will be based on what the students did on this first test and will be set and apply every year thereafter. 117 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES MARCH 9, 1987 Dr. Munnelly then stated that in reading, all students in grades 3, 6 and 9 took a 50 -item test, and 50 items in math. In addition, he noted, each student had to write an essay to demonstrate their writing skills and the essay was written with a prompt, with 12 different prompts at each grade level. Next year there will be only one prompt per grade level, making all the writinc comcarisons across the state equal. Dr. Munnellv stated the results that the department will receive on each individual student will have individual reports on how each student did on the test, in both reading and math, and on whether they passed or didn't pass t:,e writing part of the test. We will also be getting a pare. letter which will be distributed when the results are reported. Dr. Munnelly stated what we will get this first year is the report in reading and math with a percentage of passing, but because there is no State standard, t_^.ev are cuing to give us the percentage of young people w;.o would pa-ss the test if the standar_4 were, sav, 60 %, and another set of numbers if the standard had been 703, 800 , and so on. They will also give State aver" ^es. � -e noted f.-cm these results tnev w__1 toke a Standard sett_'C and next year, there will be an actual figure. Dr. Munnelly stated when it comes to writing, the number will come from the number who pass and fail. We will get a report on the number who pass statewide, in the Reading school district, and tt,e number in each school. He noted that one of the confusions in the State Assessment test is that the State had compiled a group of communities together, and we were in an economically mature suburban area. For purposes of this report, that. kind of comparison is net included, although he stated we would get comparison score bands for each of these points, such as used in they Assessment Tests. Dr. Munnelly stated he expected that the reading scores will be good and feels that our students have at the least, minimum standard in basic skills. Carol Lyons asked if she understood correctly that each parent will get an individual reher_. Dr. ?lunnelly stated that was correct. He stated they will be printed by Cc'Cllter, and t ^:ere is a meeting scheduled with the Principals to cc over that item. Dr.Munne_"'v stated t ere wit'_ also be some narrative_ ccr. :� ^,ents on these reports. Mr. Cocc asked i= the -C t W share with the cc-,.muni 4..es t. ^. °1_ r7et c(f of Setting the stancar c. L7r. ?1unne_' :1 stated he understood t -lei Would. Mrs. yen.._a Cccze_ was �ec=C ; ze : and a5 {eC W'a� t e �s Were ..aY_ 'D4 or �;.__.. tn2'7 Were u5!_a_ '' Ja ^S'"c_1 1ntrCCU'CtCr'! ^Se- tee :ce or two t. -C t� :e students were 118 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES MARCH 9, 1987 Mrs. Philbrick noted there was a correction on the School Committee's Annual report which stated that Carol Lyons was elected for three years, and it should be two years. The correction was noted by Dr. Wells. Cliff Allen stated in speaking to Mr. Nissen they had discussed next year including the Annual Report on the Agenda for the School Ccm ittee, and he thought this was a good idea. The committee members agreed. Dr. Wells noted this item had been planned for the Agenda for this meeting, but due to the short notice given by Town Hall for these reports (Fr_day afternoon, to be ready for Monday afternoon) this had not been possible. Professional Search Information Cliff Allen stated at the last meeting it was voted to engage the services of a Consultant, Rcr..eo Mar--,-,is, of Management Leaders;.ip Systems, to assist in the Superintendent's search. He introduczd Ms. Nancy Kendal'_ frcr., that fir- who was present to speak tC t--- cc - -- ittee later ;n -xe__t --Ve Sess_cn. Ms. Kendal! then stated she was here representing her firm to assist the committee in the process of selecting a new Superintendent for the school system. She stated her firm has been involved in the City of Lynn's search for a new Superintendent and in fact, she felt they were very close to selecting a final candidate. Ms. Kendall stated she would be discussing with the committee tonight a Work Plan for this process. Mr. Allen thanked Ms. Kendall and then stated the committee would now go into Executive Session, but would return to Open Session in approximately one hour. At 8:15 n.m., on a motion by Mr. Shannon, seconded by Mrs. 1 -1 i1 rick, the Sch ool Committee voted unanimcus1V to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing items relative to personnel negotiations. A*- 9: 32 p.m. , t`- e School Committee ret,,:r; ed to Open Session. School Committee held a discussion regarding whether they woul,? a ^_r =_e to a regional vs. a national search for a new Superintendent. It was agreed that they_ would need more information, before making this decision. The CC mittee then agreed that they wcu'ld 'advertise In the tReaC -:; c C' "iC C-ce tic icston Glote, t' «C weeKs .. =i : -e° atve_ z_s.n: :,avers. Mc. wcu: .0 Cc score f r-;-n Mr. MarC'�' s w,e t,-- - - ° -c gnus e• .�r res::cn =c to warrant an expencit'..re of S1,000. The CC......ittee also reec on a cloy nc Cate for re= CCP._e tC t'e at 0. s^ � 30t -.. 119 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES MARCH 9, 1987 Ms. Kendall informed the committee that on a tentative Work Plan, Mr. Marquis would be available on March 18 or March 25 (also, March 23, but this was not possible for the committee, as this was the date of Town Elections). Mr. Alien felt the staff meeting should be held as soon as possible and possibly at 6:30 p.m. There was a short discussion, and it was agreed that there would be a public meeting on March 18th at 7:30 p.m., and a staff meeting at 6:30 p.m. on March 25th, at which the Consultant would Chair. Cliff Allen then reviewed the tentative Work Plan which had been discussed and agreed upon in Executive Session as follows: 1. Set salary or range. 2. Prepare ad. 3. Run ad. 4. Conduct Public Meeting 5 Staff Meeting, & summarize criteria. 5. School Committee acceptance of criteria & integration of School Co::mittee's priorities. 6. Prepare_ school and co,: :unity infor- :at_on for applicants. 7. Receive inquiries, send information, organize application. 8. Appoint Screening Committee. 9. Conduct preliminary screening to identify semi- finalists, have preliminary reference checks, and make recommenda- tion to School Committee. 10. School Committee interviews the semi- finalists and makes in -deoth reference checks and site visits. 11. School Committee selects 2 or 3 finalists, determines entry steps and negotiates contract. The School Committee agreed they wanted to prepare a brochure and wanted applications sent to Consultant. Cliff Allen requested that interested community members write to the committee indicating their interest in the Screening Committee, which he would recommend on a first -come, first -serve basis. It was agreed that the Consultant will screen down applica=tions to about 20 -25 and refer them to the Screening Committee. There was a discussion on coordination of Consultant and School Committee, and it was the consensus that Cliff Allen would be the liaison person for the committee. Ms. Kendall stated she would call Dr. Wells the next day to cet co::,.:,unity information needed for the Ad, then she would ass the Ad or. to Cliff for his approval before running lt. She a_SC s'u�� °St_ t e CC_ 7L:,, ittee review t"e jot) descripzicn and u':ca_e A t 10 05 e... cn a :c`_cr by m S':.a^ seconded b ?r- P::__ -c: {, to was u ^ar - __ 17 V to ec 0 :. -