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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-01-17 School Committee Minutes• READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES Call to Order JANUARY 17, 1983 Vice Chairman Coco, acting as Chairman in the absence of Chairman Garroway, called the regular meeting of the Reading School Committee to order January 17, 1983, at 7:30 p. m., in the Central Office Conference Room. Mr. Landers was also absent. All other members were present, as were Superintendent Wells and Assistant Superintendents Munnelly and Winslow. There were five visitors, including. representatives of the Citizens Advisory Council and the Daily Times and Chronicle. Approval of Bills and Payroll Warrants for the payment of bills and payroll were authorized as follows: Bills January 21, 1983 - General Expense - Total - $63,088.52 January 21, 1983 - Cafeteria Revolving Account - Total - $17,924.36 Payroll January 21, 1983 - Weekly - Total $25,551.84 Citizens' Input Mrs. Wendy Auld expressed disappointment that school had not been cancelled today because the sidewalks were not plowed at the time school opened, and she added, still were not. Acting Chairman Coco said that the Superintendent made the decision based on conditions as they were reported to him. He added that he would rather see the children in school than around Town, although he appreciated her concern about children who walked to school. Dr. Wells said he had consulted with the Department of Public Works Superintendent at 7:00 p. m. Sunday and had been assured plowing would be completed for the opening of school Monday. He said that had he known that DPW equipment would have many breakdowns after midnight he would have cancelled school. He added that with the heavy wet snow and the cold weather sidewalk conditions will leave much to be desired until there is a thaw. Budget Review Acting Chairman Coco stated that now that more accurate salary account figures are available it appears that $95,000 can be encumbered to offset the expense portion of the FY84 budget, adding that this would still leave about $7,000 between the FY84 budget and the Finance Committee guidelines, not taking into account the proposed DPW takeover of fields maintenance. He noted that the salary budget has not yet been fine tuned and figures on the cost of relocating the Central Office to the High School are not yet available, adding that he advised encumbering the $95,000 and leaving the difference at this time. Mrs. Philbrick moved, seconded by Mr. Nigro, and it was unanimously voted that $94,870 from the FY83 budget be encumbered to cover expenditures originally applied to the FY84 budget, as listed on document B -2 -a. F,,4 READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 17, 1983 Regarding the $7,388 difference between the budget and the Finance Committee guidelines, Mrs. Philbrick said she felt the School Committee had come close enough and could go to the Finance Committee with the budget as it stands. Acting Chairman Coco agreed, noting that he felt that to come this close with a budget of approximately $11 million was a remarkable achievement on the part of the Administration. Dr. Munnelly discussed the "Staffing Statistics" (dated 1/7/83) which had been distributed to the Committee, emphasizing the difficulty in anticipating salary expenditures due to the fact that when more experienced teachers leave they are usually replaced with less experienced people, at a lower salary rate. He added that some years the reverse could be true when higher paid teachers on leave return after having been replaced for a year by a teacher on a lower pay scale. He also pointed out that many staffing changes took place after the School Committee voted the budget and even after Town Meeting. Dr. Munnelly said that one of the ways used by Mr. Winslow in estimating the salary budget was to move each teacher up a step on the salary schedule, but there are many variables. The Chairman agreed it was better to estimate too high than to end up with a shortfall. Dr. Wells said that if the Administration can stay within 1 -2% of budget they should not be accused of poor planning. In conclusion the Chairman said he thought the budget process had gone very smoothly this year and commended the Administration for their efforts. Policv Review Mr. Nigro, as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Policy Review, said he would like to discuss three areas, the first being a form for evaluation of the Superintendent. Various forms which had been submitted to the Committee were discussed. Mrs. Philbrick moved, seconded by Mr. Allen, and it was voted unanimously to adopt for first vote the rating form entitled Evaluation of the Superintendent, with the addition of a column for "comments," to become a part of policy CBA. The next policy to be discussed was BCF - Citizens Advisory Council. Mr. Nigro pointed out that when the Citizens Advisory Council (CAC) was formed there were ten schools, and now there are only eight. He suggested that the numbers referring to membership be deleted from the policy. After a brief discussion among School Committee members and CAC representatives, Mr. Allen moved, seconded by Mrs. Philbrick, and it was voted unanimously, for first vote, to revise Policy BCF - Citizens Advisory Council by omitting the column of numbers in the section "Composition of Advisory Council" and changing the last sentence of the same section to read, "Up to six members at large to include as near as possible a cross section of the Reading Community." The third policy areas discussed was School Committee Bidding Policy - DJC. The Committee had received copies of a proposed revision which would bring School Committee Policy into conformance with the Town By -Laws. Dr. Wells noted that by law the School Committee could make its policy more stringent but not less than the Town's. Q READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 17, 1983 Mr. Allen moved, seconded by Mr. Nigro, and it was voted unanimously, for first vote, to accept the language on document B -2 -b, School Committee Bidding Policy - DJC, to be in agreement with the By -Laws of the Town of Reading. Mr. Nigro requested the Committee to review Series E Policies for discussion at the next meeting. Board of Public Works - School Committee Agreement Acting Chairman Coco, as liaison to the Board of Public Works (BPW) and Recreation Committee (RC), noted that the School Committee had received the final draft of an agreement whereby the BPW would maintain school fields and the RC would be responsible for scheduling use of the fields and play areas, and hoped they had been able to review it. Dr. Wells suggested two amendments to the Memorandum. The first was that on Page 2, Section III A, first line, "July" be substituted for "August." The second amendment suggested was that an "Appendix B" be added to read as follows: "If after the first year this Agreement is not satisfactory the Board of Public Works will return any any all equipment transferred to it by the School Committee." The Chairman noted that the High School football field and track are not part of the Agreement but that the practice field is a part of the package. Mr. Allen moved, seconded by Mrs. Philbrick, and it was unanimously voted to accept the Memorandum of Agreement Between the School Committee, The Board of Public Works and the Recreation Committee, to include the above amendments suggested by Dr. Wells and the list of equipment attached to the Agreement (B -2 -C). School Committee Winter Schedule - Superintendent's Schedule Noted for the record were the School Committee Winter Schedule (1983) and the Superintendent's Schedule (Winter- Spring Administrative staff meetings and school visitations). Citizens Advisory Council Survey Discussed briefly was a Citizens Advisory Council survey on seat belts in school busses. The CAC has requested that the Administration make 2100 copies of the survey which it plans to distribute through PTA's and PTO's. Dr. Wells pointed out that question 3 -a on the survey quotes a School Committee Policy which does not exist. He also said he does not consider the questionnaire to be a fair one. Mr. Nigro said he felt that in order to give informed answers those filling out the survey should know more about the costs involved and how these would reflect on their taxes. Mrs.Philbrick said she feels the CAC recognizes that there are a number of problems and hopes the survey will be used only as a very preliminary tool. Dr. Wells said he would contact CAC Chairman Donald Shepheard and request that question #3 -a be revised or omitted before the survey is duplicated for distribution. READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 17, 1983 Resignation Mr. Allen moved, seconded by Mr. Nigro, and it was unanimously voted to accept the resignation of Miss Rosemary McKenna, physical education teacher on leave from Parker Junior High School, for purposes of retirement, effective immediately. Appointment Mrs. Philbrick moved, seconded by Mr. Nigro, and it was unanimously voted, on the recommendation of the Administration, to appoint Mr. Stephen J. Johnson, 141 Summer Avenue, Reading to a custodial position, at the beginning salary of $13,973.03 annually, effective January 24, 1983. Executive Session - Adjournment Mrs. Philbrick moved, seconded by Mr. Nigro, that the Committee enter into executive session for the purposes of discussing matters pertaining to bargaining and negotia- tions. The motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote at 9:00 p. m. The Committee remained in executive session until it adjourned at 10:02 p. m. Robert S. Wells, Secretary �