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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1982-05-24 School Committee Minutes3 SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES Call to Order MAY 24. 1982 The regular meeting of the Reading School Committee was called to order by Chairman Landers at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, May 24, 1982, in the Central Office Conference Room. Mrs. Philbrick was absent. All other members were present, as were Superintendent Wells and Assistant Superintendent Winslow . Assistant Superintendent Munnelly was unable to be present. Approval of Minutes of May 10, 1982 On a motion by Mr. Allen, seconded by Mr. Nigro, the Committee unanimously voted to apporve the minutes of the meeting of May 10, 1982 with the following correction and addition: Correction: Page 1, paragraph 1 - Mr. Garroway was not present. Addition: Page 3, paragraph 1, to the last sentence add "because he felt Town meeting approval of funds implied a full, not partial, restoration of varsity football field. Bills and Payrolls Warrants for bills and payrolls were authorized as follows: Bills. May 21, 1982 - General Expense - Total - $57,523.87 May28, 1982 - General Expense - Total - $24,080.32 May 28, 1982 - Cafeteria Revolving Account - Total - $15,173.82 Payrolls May 20, 1982 - Teachers - Total - $284,247.63 May 21, 1982 - Weekly - Total - $23,585.21 May 28, 1982 - Weekly - Total - $22,008.68 Citizens' Input There was no citizens' input. FY83 Budget Matters The Chairman stated that the School Committee was scheduled to meet with the Finance Committee again on THursday, May 27th to discuss the total budget to be presented to Town Meeting. He added that there were further salary items to vote and he believed that the "mix" of the budget, under the Finance Com- mittee's 5% guideline, would be determined during tonight's meeting. Mr. Garroway moved, seconded by Mr. Coco and it was unanimously voted to al- locate for Fy83 salary amounts as follows: Administration, $126,048; Secre- tarial, $127,585; Extra Hours, $5,415; Teachers' Salaries - Regular Day , $5,916,698, Special Needs, $442,966; Secretarial - Regular Day, $160,645, Special Needs, $22,654; Home and Hospital Tutors, $7,000; and Athletic and Imtramural Differentials, $91,706. SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 24, 1982 Chairman Landers said that the Administration has recommended that certain line items of the expense budget be adjusted and that $135,000 be added for replacement of the Birch Meadow Shcool r000f. He added that the budget would still be within the 5% guideline set by the Finance Committee. Mr. Garroway moved, seconded by Mr. Allen, and it was unanimously voted to adjust the expense portion of the FY83 budget as enumerated on document B- 2- a -(3), (revised copy distributed during the meeting)as follows: add - $631 for gasoline adjustments, $2,400 for programs with Other Districts and $135,000 for replacement of Birch Meadow School roof; subtract $10,000 from Replacement of Birch Meadow School roof. He added that the budget would still be within the 5% guideline set by the Finance Committee. During discussion of the above motion Dr. Wells said there has been trouble with the r000fs of the Birch Meadow and Coolidge Junior High Schools and a portion of the High School - over the girls' gymnasium - all of which are over 20 years old, but the Birch Meadow School roof presents the most pressing problem. He added that the amount budgetted for this roof is down from the $160,000 used two years ago in the long -range capitla outlay plan, probably due to the decline in the price of asphalt. The new estimate was obtained from a reputable roofing company. Dr. Wells also noted that the request for additional funds under 9100 series (Programs with Other Districts) was due to new regulations which state tuition for certain outside programs cannot be denied if the applicant is under 20 years of age and the School Committee has not set its budget. The Committee briefly discussed the Metco budget for FY83. Mr. Garroway moved seconded by Mr. Nigro, and it was unanimously voted to allocate $208,156 for the Metco Program for FY83, as described on document B -2 -a (5). Change in Date of School Closing Chairman Landers announced that, as he had been instructed, he had been working with R.T.A. President Rosemary McKenna and they had come to an agreement whereby the last day of school for both students and teachers would be Friday, June 25th and the teachers would remain in the school for as long as necessary to make sure all is in order in their classrooms. Originally the last day for students was to be June 28th and for teachers June 29th. Mr. Allen moved, seconded by Mr. Nigro, and it was unanimously voted that the School Committee authorize that the last day of school for the current year for both students and teachers be June 25, 1982. Track Bids Mr. Winslow reported that on May 21st seven bids had been received for refurbish- ing the High School running tract; that consulting engineer Philip Christensen was in the process of annlyziang them; and that his recommendations will be presented at the next School Committee meeting. Adult Education - Driver Education Mr. Winslow explained that when the School Committee made driver education a self - supporting course it became part of the Adult Education Program. However, classroom instructors were paid less than the instructors of other Adult Edu- cation courses. Therefore the Administration was recommending that the hourly classroom instructor's rate for driver education be brought up from $7.53 to $11.90 (the hourly 1981 -82 rate for Adult Education instructors, plus 7 %) for SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 24. 1982 FY83. Tot cover the cost, a $5.00 tuition increase - to $85 - per student was also recommended. Mr. Garroway moved, seconded by Mr. Nigro, and it was uannimously voted that the School Committee authorize for FY83 an hourly rate for Adult Education instructors, including classroom instructors of the Driver Education Program, of $11.90 and an hourly rate of $7.49 for on the road Driver Education instuc- tors, plus an increase to $85 per student for driver education tuition, to cover the cost of the wage increases. Another recommendation of the Administration was to decrease the length of courses each semester from ten weeks to eight. Mr. Nigro asked why the re- duction was proposed. Adult Education- Driver Education Mr. Winslow explained that when the School Committee made driver education a self- supporting course it became part of the Adult Education Program. However, classroom instructors were paid less than the intructors of other Adult Education courses. Therefore the Administration was recommending that the hourly classroom instructor's rate for driver education be brought up from $7.53 to 11.90 (the hourly 1981 -82 rate for Adult Education instructors, plus 7 %) for FY83. To cover the cost, a $5.00 tuition increase - to $85 - per student was also recom- mended. Mr. Garroway moved, seconded by Mr. Nigro, and it was unanimously voted that the School Committee authorize for FY83 an hourly rate for Adult Education instructors, including classroom instructors of the Driver Education Program, of $11.90 and an hourly rate of $7.49 for on- the -road Driver Education instructors, plus an increase to $85 per student for driver education tuition, to cover the cost of the wage increases. Another recommendation of the Administration was to decrease the length of courses each semester from ten weeks to eight. Mr. Nigro asked why the reduction was proposed. Adult Education Director Donald Welford said that statistics show attendance has a major drop in the last two weeks of a course. Therefore the Advisory Board (composed of citizens involved in the Adult Education Program), in light of increased costs, had advised reducing the number of sessions rather than increasing the fee - keeping the tuition at a level they feel people can afford. Mr. Garroway moved, seconded by Mr. Allen, that the School Committee follow the Advisory Board recommendation to reduce Adult Education courses which normally have been ten weeks to eight weeks and that the tuition fee remain the same. The motion carried 4 -1, with Mr. Coco casting the negative vote. During discussion of the preceding motion Mr. Coco pointed out that this would mean a 20% reduction in instruction time. He voiced concern that students taking SAT courses would need the ten weeks. Mr. Welford replied that the SAT course was unique in that it ran two nights a week for seven weeks (28 hours of instruction) and would not be affected by the proposed change. 6 SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES Cafeteria Projection and Recommendation MAY 24, 14.32 Chairman Landers explained that the cafeteria projection and recommendation will be on the agenda, under new business, at the next meeting but members could question Food Services Director Mrs. Catherine Duerr now on the pre- liminary proposal. He added that in June the Committee can look at the entire program as well as the possibility of contracting food services to a third party. Mr. Winslow noted that ordinarily the projection and recommendations would have been forthcoming in March. but had been delayed because of negotiations with cafeteria workers. He said that there are several ways the projected deficit - caused by declining enrollment, could be overcome. Mrs. Duerr has made three suggestions (as described on document C -2), which in two cases would provide for subsidizing the program from the tax levy and in the third would establish a fast food service at the High School, for avoiding a deficit in FY83. Mr. Winslow said that if the School Committee supports the idea of a fast food service Mrs. Duerr would prepare a complete presentation, otherwise he would recommend that $21,675 be included in the 3400 account for FY83 to pay the salary of the Food Services Director and a cafeteria worker who assists her in the office. The other alternative would be to appropriate $21,000 for labor costs. He regQm- mended the fast food service method. He added that bids for contracting food services would be opened May 28th. In answer to questions from School Committee members Mrs. Duerr said lunch program participation is now about 26% and 112 students are eligible for meals at reduced prices. She also said that labor costs would not necessarily decrease at the rate of enrollments and participation because the decreases were spread over eight schools and a minimum number of workers had to be on duty regardless of the number of students served. She predicted that even with the deline in enrollment that the same number of students will be served next year. In describing the proposed fast food service for the High School, Mrs. Duerr said that the food would not be "junk food;" the service would be patterned after a well -known fast -food chain; it would feature hamburgers and french fries, a grill and commercial fryer would be needed; food would be better prepared and more nutritional than under the present system of baking; food would be basically the same but the meth6ds of preparation and serving would change; this method has been successful in other communities; any capital outlay items could be purchased from the revolving account (which showed a profit this year) and would cost $10= 15,000; the major expense may be relocating kitchen equipment; and a change in packaging could mean the use of more disposable products. Mr. Coco inquired as to how participation might be increased at the elementary and junior high school levels. Mrs. Duerr said she had offered her services as a speaker to PTA's and some "gimmicks" could be tried, but she has found it difficult to motivate cafeteria workers this year because of the uncertainties of an unsettled labor contract and the possiblity of contracting food services to a third party - morale has been low. She also mentioned that state -wide participation is down 32 %. Mrs. Duerr added that the a la carte program had much to do with 1 avoiding a deficit this year. SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 24, 1982 Mr. Coco asked Mrs. Duerr to bring in - at a later date - figures on how much Town subsidization would be required if the price of lunch was lowered to 60(�. Kindergarten Enrollments Dr. Wells noted that the projected kindergarten enrollment for next year was 251 - 9 of whom would be repeaters. Previous projections were for 240 first -time kinder- garten students. He also mentioned that it may be necessary to transport some kindergarteners from Birch Meadow and Pearl Street Schools to the Killam School for the 1982 -83 school year. Resignation Mr. Coco moved, seconded by Mr. Allen, and it was uanimously voted to accept the resignation of Mrs. Esther Williams of the cafeteria staff, effective June 25, 1982. ointment of Director of Athletics Dr. Wells recommended the appointment of Mr. R. Gilbert Congdon, of the Profile Junior - Senior High School, Bithlehem, New Hampshire, as Director of Athletics, to replace Mr. John Hollingsworth who retires at the close of the school year. Dr. Wells described the process which preceded his recommendation, i.e., a screening committee interviewed 21 of the 42 applicants and submitted to him an alphabetical list of the names of the six finalists, who were then interviewed jointly by 'him and Mr. D'Orlando. He added that the six finalists were among the highest quality people he had interviewed for a position in a long time. They were: in addition to Mr. Congdon, Theodore Bryson, Charles Cooke, Patrick O'Reilly, Peter Moscariello and John White. The candidates were evenly divided between within the REading School System and out of town. Mr. Coco moved, seconded by Mr. Nigro, that, on the recommendation of the Administra- tion, the School Committee appoint Mr. R. Gilbert Congdon as Athletic Director and two- fifths mathematics teacher, at an annual salary of $28,657, effective July 1, 1982. The motion carried 4 -1, with Mr. Allen casting the negative vote. Executive Session - Adjournment At 9:04 p.m. Mr. Garroway moved, seconded by Mr. Coco, and the motion carried by a unanimous roll call vote, to enter into executive session to discuss matters concerning negotiations. The executive session ended and the meeting adjourned at 9:23 p.m. Respectfully submitted,