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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-06-02 School Committee Minutes ',/f0 r` � �� Town of Reading 1 : 2' ilr Meeting Minutes % . ry 1NCOR4- Board - Committee - Commission - Council: School Committee Date: 2014-06-02 Time: 7:00 PM Building: School - Memorial High Location: Superintendent Conference Room Address: 82 Oakland Road Purpose: Open Session Session: General Session Attendees: Members - Present: Linda Snow Dockser John Doherty, Superintendent Hal Croft Craig Martin, Assistant Superintendent Elaine Webb Mary DeLai, Assistant Superintendent Jeanne Borawski Chris Caruso Chuck Robinson Members - Not Present: Alison Elmer, Director of Student Services Andrea Nastri, Student Representative Others Present: Al Sylvia, Reading Chronicle John Arena, Board of Selectmen Dan Ensminger, Board of Selectmen Lori Hodin, Human Relations Advisory Committee Monique Pillow Gnanaratnam, Human Relations Advisory Committee Nancy Docktor, resident Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: John F. Doherty, Ed.D. Superintendent Topics of Discussion: I. Call to Order Chair Croft called the School Committee to order at 7:04 p.m. He reviewed the agenda, announced the meeting was being recorded and welcomed guests. New Business (out of order) Human Relations Advisory Committee Presentation Superintendent Doherty introduced Lori Hodin to present the awards to the winners of the Human Relations Advisory Committee Art Contest. The contest theme was "Create a work of art that shows a community where no one feels left out. Through Page I 1 your art work imagine Reading as a place where all are welcome. Our goal is to promote the Town of Reading as a place that celebrates all of its community members, because diversity enriches our lives." Ms. Hodin thanked Rotary for their support and funding of this annual event. Ms. Pillow Gnanaratnam announced the winners and presented the students with their prizes. Elementary school winners were Maria Grguravic and Caitlin McKenna, both students at the Killam School. The winners from the middle schools were Amy Xu and Rachel Shurland from the Parker Middle School and Megan Coram from the Coolidge Middle School. Ms. Coram has won this contest three years in a row. Timothy Kwan and Abryahna Deguerre were the winners at the high school level. Recognition of Staff Dr. Doherty explained that each year we recognized members of our staff that have achieved milestones which include Professional Teacher Status, 10, 20, 30+years of service and retirees. He asked Parker principal Doug Lyons to present the awards to his staff that included: CAIAllA GAIL 10 CRISTI LEAH 10 JONES TAMMY 10 FERRAZZANI ROBYN 20 KALMAKIS SUSAN 20 BARNETT JACOB PTS BOOTE KIMBERLY PTS LORD REBECCA PTS LUSKIN LAUREN PTS PELLETIER TAYLOR PTS JORDAN LORI Retirement Next to present was Coolidge principal Sarah Marchant. Coolidge honorees included: FRIBERG CHRISTINE 10 HESLIN JACKELYN 10 MATHESON NANCY 10 STEINHAUSER CHRISTINE 10 GRANT MARCIA 20 MCCARTHY JOHN 20 NADEAU PAMELA 20 MACLEAN E.LEWIS 35+ BRUNO ANDREA Retirement BURTON MARK Retirement Killam principal Cathy Giles presented to the following staff members: HOTCHKISS MELISSA 10 TRITES ERLINE 10 MACMILLAN KATHLEEN 30 Page 12 GALDO DANIELA PTS OCKERBLOOM ALISON PTS KASPARIAN LYNNE Retirement Birch Meadow Eric Sprung recognized his staff which included: BECKMAN PATRICIA 10 THURNAUER MAUREEN 10 TUCKER DANIELLE 10 CASAVANT CAROLE PTS MCCRACKEN PATRICK PTS STROB KELLY PTS Joshua Eaton principal Karen Feeney recognized her staff which included: AMMENDOLIA KATHLEEN 10 CALLAN MICHELLE 10 CARREGAL JODY 10 MANNA ANNE 10 MERRILL JANE 10 HOPKINSON MICHELLE PTS DOHERTY PATRICIA Retirement RISE Preschool Director Debbie Butts presented awards to her staff which included: MAKRYS DEBORAH 10 MCCORMICK CAMILLE 10 TIERNEY KATHLEEN 10 WHELAN KATHERINE 10 RMHS principal Kevin Higginbottom present awards to his staff which included: ALLARD MARY 10 BUONO FRANK 10 DEE JANET 10 LACASSE JULIE 10 ORESCOVICH LAURA 10 RADVANY MICHAEL 10 DUNN LYNN 20 SHIELDS PATRICIA 20 MOORE MARTHA 30 CORY ANNEMARIE PTS DALBY ELIZABETH PTS DECOFF JENNIFER PTS FERRANTI ERIKA PTS FULLER SARAH PTS RICHARDSON LEIA PTS Page 13 Wood End principal Joanne King recognized her staff which included: DIMAMBRO PAULA 10 JORDAN ISABELLA 10 LEAHY DEBORAH 20 STEIGER MELISSA PTS Ms. DeLai recognized the following staff: MORELLO KRISTIN Food Service 10 KEENAN WILLIAM Facilities 30 GOODWIN CINDY Food Service 20 Dr. Doherty presented awards to the following staff: DELAI MARY Central Office 10 FEENEY KAREN Joshua Eaton 10 KING JOANNE Wood End 10 LYONS DOUGLAS Parker 10 Chair Croft congratulated all that were recognized this evening and feels it is important to hold this event each year. Superintendent Doherty thanked Elizabeth Conway and Kristyn Cohen for coordinating this effort. Chair Croft called a brief recess at 8:47 p.m. The meeting was called back to order at 8:52 p.m. A. Public Input (I) There was no public input. B. Reports Students Sub-Committee Mrs. Borawski reported on the first meeting of the Director of Finance and Operations Search Committee. The Search Committee has developed questions and will interview candidates on Thursday. Dr. Snow Dockser reported on the Samantha's Harvest Road race this past weekend. She thanked all the volunteers that helped out and encouraged runners to keep going. Mrs. Webb reported on the recent RCASA Board meeting. The Board discussed expanding the efforts for community outreach. They also discussed the importance of getting the message out regarding social host liability. Page I4 Superintendent Dr. Doherty stated that the senior activities are in full swing. The prom was held last week and the kids had a great time. The senior cruise and all night party, class day and the baccalaureate are coming up this week culminating with graduation on Sunday. It is an exciting time for the seniors. Dr. Doherty reported that he will present information on the PARCC testing program at the meeting on June 23rd. The School Committee will need to take action at that time to decide if the district opts to administer the PARCC or MCAS testing in the spring of 2015. C. Continued Business Director of Finance & Operations Qualities Mrs. Borawski shared that she had Dr. Snow Dockser's list of qualities and shared them with the Search Committee. Mrs. Webb would like to have someone that is willing to be a student of the position, staying current in the field and all facets therein. She would also like a person that is always looking for new ways to improve their skill set including networking. Collaboration with the town side is also an important quality to ensure that the relationship that has been nurtured continues to grow. Mr. Robinson would like an individual that can look at the big picture and how the numbers relate. Dr. Snow Dockser would like to have an individual that will continue to exhibit a truly transparent budget development process and to understand the needs of the schools. Mr. Croft asked Ms. DeLai what qualities she would look for if she was hiring a Director of Finance and Operations. Ms. DeLai said gone are the days when Business Managers relied on the use of spreadsheets alone. She feels the position has an educational aspect and is evaluated with a rubric similar to that of educators. Early Childhood Center Update & Discussion Dr. Doherty reviewed the next steps and the make-up of the proposed working group. This proposed working group will be made up of a diverse group of members from town, education and community members. An invitation will be extended to the entire community to participate as a member of the working group. Members of the original working group will also have the opportunity to participate as well. Once the working group has been selected they will meet to consider the preschool and kindergarten needs. They will review the current options as well as explore other possible options. Page 15 A geotechnical study will begin in the next few weeks on the Oakland Road site. A traffic study will also be done in the fall when school starts to allow for accurate data collection. The group will also need to develop a communication strategy. Dr. Snow Dockser asked if there are resources available to explore possible new options and asked if it would be possible to televise the working group meetings. Dr. Doherty said there are limited resources to explore new options and believes we have a lot of information available to us from the work done by the current working group. Mrs. Webb feels that when selecting the working group, the members should have a diverse skill set to make up for the limited additional resources. Mr. Caruso would like to thank the original working group for their time and commitment to the process and asked what the impact would be if a decision on an option was not made in time for the November Town Meeting. Dr. Doherty said decisions regarding early childhood education will need to be made in the early fall prior to the budget development process. Mr. Robinson feels a discussion needs to be held to determine if we are in a position to offer free full day kindergarten at this point and use some of the revenue to offset the construction costs of an early childhood center. Ms. DeLai indicated we would not be able to use tuition funds to offset the construction costs. Mr. Croft feels the community should be updated every couple of weeks on the progress of the working group. Following up on Mr. Croft's point, Dr. Snow Dockser wants to be sure all groups are targeted using sources other than the newspapers. Mrs. Borawski pointed out that the new working group would continue the process begun by the original working group. Mr. Arena asked if the School Committee was performing any kind of gap analysis after the Town Meeting discussion to address the concerns. Mrs. Webb said the School Committee had an extensive discussion regarding the concerns brought up by Town Meeting at their meeting after Town Meeting. Mr. Robinson reinforced that we cannot rush the process and need to get comprehensive information to be able to present to Town Meeting and the community. Mr. Caruso moved, seconded by Mr. Robinson, to accept the Early Childhood Working Group membership as outlined in the Superintendent's memorandum dated June 2, 2014. Page 1 6 Mrs. Borawski made a friendly amendment, seconded by Mr. Caruso, to strike the word November and have the memo read; `Be prepared to present to Town Meeting a proposed solution.....". The motion carried 6-0. Mrs. Borawski made a friendly amendment, seconded by Mrs. Webb, to change the name to Early Childhood Education Space Needs Working Group. The motion carried 6-0. Mr. Caruso made a friendly amendment, seconded by Mrs. Webb, to add to the membership list the following: 10. The group will be chaired by a School Committee member. The motion carried 6-0. The vote on the original motion as amended carried 6-0. Superintendent's Evaluation Timeline & Process The Superintendent reviewed the process and pointed out that the whole process will be done in open session. He reviewed his Annual Educator Plan which includes updates on his goals that were presented earlier in the year. School Committee members are asked to prepare the End-of-Cycle Summative Report and send it to Mrs. Webb by June 17' , who will compile the scores and create a final evaluation. He will then meet with School Committee members individually to discuss the draft evaluation. After the individual meeting, School Committee members will make changes if necessary and complete the evaluation. All evaluation documents should be submitted to Mrs. Webb by July 7th at which point she will complete the final report. The school Committee will review and vote on the Superintendent's Evaluation at their meeting on July 21St II. Recommended Procedure D. New Business Friend & Family Day Mr. Caruso suggested the School Committee provide information for the public suggestion lists of accomplishments, the high school brochure and perhaps information on the Early Childhood Center. Mrs. Webb, Mrs. Borawski and Dr. Snow Dockser will not be able to attend due to prior commitments. Dr. Doherty suggested participation by the board at the Town Street Faire in September. Mr. LeLacheur arrived at 8:54 p.m. III. Routine Matters a. Bills and Payroll (A) Page 17 The following warrants were circulated and signed. Warrant S1448 5.22.14 $348,768.28 Warrant S1449 5.29.14 $164,857.46 Warrant P1424 5.23.14 $1,378,944.28 b. Approval of Minutes c. Bids and Donations Mr. Caruso moved, seconded by Mr. Robinson, to accept the donation from the RMHS PTO in the amount of$3,495 to be used to purchase student agendas for the 2014-15 school year.The motion carried 6-0. Mr. Caruso moved, seconded by Mr. Robinson, to accept the donation from the Joshua Eaton PTO in the amount of$6,780 to be used to purchase Ipads and Ipod Touches for the students of Joshua Eaton. The motion carried 6-0. d. Approval of Minutes Mr. Caruso moved, seconded by Mr. Robinson, to approve the open session minutes dated May 19,2014. Dr. Snow Dockser asked that the portion of her report referring to the girls lacrosse game reflect that she was impressed by the passion, stamina and good sportsmanship displayed by the girls and that they won the Middlesex League Championship. The motion as amended carried 6-0. Calendar IV. Information Dr. Doherty presented Mr. Croft with a chair in recognition of his last meeting and service to the School Committee. He thanked Mr. Croft for being a strong advocate and supporter of the Reading Public Schools and wished him well. Mr. Croft said he enjoyed his tenure on the School Committee and it was a difficult decision to make. He enjoyed the process. V. Future Business VI.Adjournment Executive Session The Chair shall declare that executive session is necessary to protect the negotiating position of the body. Page I8 Mr. Caruso moved, seconded by Mrs. Borawski, to enter into executive session to discuss strategy with respect to Collective Bargaining, and the approval of minutes and not to return to open session. The roll call vote was 6-0. Mrs. Webb, Mrs. Borawski,Dr. Snow Dockser, Mr. Robinson, Mr. Croft and Mr. Caruso. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m. NOTE: The minutes reflect the order as stated in the posted meeting agenda not the order they occurred during the meeting. II ! / v gF. Dohert Ed.D. Page 19