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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-01-25 School Committee Minutes ✓, Town of Reading � � ' Meeting Minutes 3 b �7,- +xceic� Board - Committee - Commission - Council: School Committee Date: 2016-01-25 Time: 7:00 PM Building: School - Memorial High Location: Superintendent Conference Room Address: 82 Oakland Road Purpose: General Meeting Session: Open Session Attendees: Members - Present: Jeanne Borawski, Linda Snow Dockser, Elaine Webb, Chuck Robinson & Julie Joyce Members - Not Present: Members Gary Nihan Others Present: John Doherty, Superintendent, Craig Martin, Assistant Superintendent, Director of Student Services Carolyn Wilson, Director of Finance Martha Sybert, Catherine Spinelli, Daily Chronicle, Student Representative Carl Gillies, Killam Principal Cathy Giles, Wood End Principal Joanne King, Barrows Principal Heather Leonard, Joshua Eaton Principal Eric Sprung, Birch Meadow Principal Patti Beckman, RMHS Principal Adam Bakr, Joanne Senders, Reading Advocate Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Linda Engelson on behalf of the Chair Topics of Discussion: I. Call to Order Chair Robinson called the School Committee to order at 7:02 p.m. II. Recommended Procedure A. Public Input Chair Robinson asked for public input on items not on the agenda. Mrs. Borawski read a statement from Michele Sanphy supporting the addition of the BCBA position. B. Consent Agenda Mr. Robinson reviewed the consent agenda and asked if any members would like any items removed from the consent agenda. Mrs. Borawski asked that the donation from Samantha's Harvest be removed from the consent agenda. Page I 1 Mrs. Borawski moved, seconded by Mrs. Joyce, to approve the consent agenda as amended. The motion carried 5-0. Accept a Donation Chair Robinson welcomed Lisa, Rob and Samantha Gibbs to the meeting. The Gibbs family, on behalf of Samantha's Harvest, presented the Reading Public Schools with a donation in the amount of$2,500 to be used to support special education professional development. Mrs. Gibbs provided a brief background of Samantha's Harvest and the fundraising efforts of the Samantha's Harvest organization. Part of Samantha's Harvest mission is to educate and support organizations for people with Down Syndrome. The group holds fundraisers throughout the year and is able to make donations to several organizations including the Reading Public Schools. Mrs. Borawski moved, seconded by Dr. Snow Dockser, to accept a donation in the amount of$2,500 from Samantha's Harvest. The motion carried 5-0. Mrs. Webb wanted to acknowledge the sizable donation from the Friends of Reading Wrestling to be used to purchase new mats. With the additional mats we will be able to host statewide wrestling events. C. Reports Student Mr. Gillies had nothing to report. Liaisons Mrs. Joyce shared that the girl's ice hockey team will once again hold their Pink in the Rink fundraiser on Saturday night. Dr. Snow Dockser mentioned that the SEPAC would be meeting on Thursday night. D. New Business FY17 Budget Discussion The School Committee began budget deliberations. Mr. Robinson reminded the committee that the proposed budget is $150,000 higher than the recommended budget increase from the Finance Committee because of the implementation of the new science curriculum. Dr. Doherty thanked all that contributed to the development of this budget document. Dr. Doherty pointed out that in addition to the operating budget the district relies on revolving account and circuit breaker offsets and grants to operate the schools. Page 12 In response to a question from the School Committee he reviewed the Professional Development cost center by line item. The Curriculum Leader stipend increase is due to an increase in Virtual High School participation. Virtual High School allows students to take online courses on subjects that are not offered at RMHS. The courses are also used for students transitioning back into a school setting from hospitalizations or other social emotional reasons. Mrs. Borawski asked about the decrease in enrollment between FY14 and FY15. Dr. Doherty explained that the VHS offerings were not well advertised. Mrs. Joyce asked who would be responsible for promoting these offerings. The RMHS Guidance Department would be the staff to make students aware of these offerings. The enrollment in VHS offerings has increased in the 2015-16 school year. Dr. Doherty reviewed the restoration in the building per pupil allocation back to FY15 levels. This allocation was reduced in the current fiscal year to avoid personnel cuts. This Per Pupil allocation is what the principals use to run their buildings. The funding is used for paper, supplies, copier contracts, etc. for the entire year. The Per Pupil is based in the October 1St enrollment numbers. The Superintendent next reviewed the reductions and offsets. Increases in the offsets taken from the revolving accounts for previous fiscal years were used to avoid personnel reductions. We are no longer in a position to sustain increases in a combination of reductions and offsets without making personnel cuts. Dr. Doherty provided a glimpse into the FY18 budget. The outlook is gloomy; we would be looking at a $1.8M reduction if everything stayed the same. Mr. Robinson also reminded the audience that the collective bargaining agreements will need to be addressed. Dr. Doherty said although this is not a great budget it does allow the district to continue to move forward. Questions The School Committee asked for clarification on some of the questions that had previously been submitted. Dr. Snow Dockser asked about the implementation of the science curriculum and Mr. Robinson followed up asking if there is a sense of what the cost of implementation over the three years would be. Dr. Doherty said the state will be approving the frameworks over the next few months putting us in a good position to roll out the curriculum. The cost would be approximately $150,000 per year. Dr. Doherty shared some concerns expressed by Dr. Nihan which include the elimination of the Health& Wellness Department Head. He is also concerned about the maintenance of the Fitness Center and the Challenge Course. There is funding included in the budget for the Fitness Center to be staffed 3 days/week Page 13 and we are currently contracting with a company that inspects the Challenge Course. Our Facilities Department will oversee the maintenance of the course. Budget parent Nick Boivin said that the teacher cuts are troubling. He feels there will be an impact on accessibility to teachers, teacher moral and the ability to attract and keep quality staff. He asked if there was a way to use extended day revolving funds to supplement the budget. Mr. Robinson explained that those funds would have to be used to support that program. Mr. Robinson feels the budget presented is spot on regarding the possible impact the cuts will have and is confident that it was well vetted before presented to the School Committee. Mrs. Borawski moved, seconded by Dr. Snow Dockser, to approve the FY2017 School Committee Approved Budget in the total amount of $40,847,666 consisting of the following cost center amounts: • Administration: $963,694 • Regular Day: $24,860,947 • Special Education: $12,223,473 • Other: $1,608,042 • School Facilities: $1,191,510 Mrs. Webb thanked the administration and principals for the hard work they put into this budget. Mrs. Borawski appreciated the speedy response to questions and Mrs. Joyce acknowledged that there have been difficult decisions made developing this budget. The motion carried 5-0. Mrs. Borawski moved, seconded by Mrs. Webb,to approve the FY2017 Town CORE School Building Budget in the amount of$2,273,115. The motion carried 5-0. Mrs. Borawski moved, seconded by Mrs. Webb, to approve the FY2017 Town CORE Town Building budget in the amount of$580,675. The motion carried 5-0. Mrs. Borawski moved, seconded by Mrs. Webb,to approve the FY2017 Town Facilities Budget in the amount of$286,900. The motion carried 5-0. III. Routine Matters a. Bills and Payroll (A) Warrant S1630 1.21.16 $166,455.77 Warrant P1615 1.15.16 $1,426,435.53 Page 14 b. Calendar IV.Information V. Future Business VI.Adjournment Mrs. Borawski moved, seconded by Mrs. Joyce to adjourn. The motion carried 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m. NOTE: The minutes reflect the order as stated in the posted meeting agenda not the order they occurred during the meeting. 4 Jo I, '. Doherty, El.D. Page I5 On Thursday, January 21, 2016 10:36 AM, michele sanphy <michelesanphvyahoo.com> wrote: Dear School Committee Members, Mrs. Wilson and Dr. Doherty, I was touched during the January 14th, 2016 school committee meeting when a member of the SEPAC read a testimonial about how a Reading family and their child's lives have improved as a result of the support of the in-district BCBA and support of the other members of the child's team. Our family has also benefitted by the support and expertise of the district's BCBA and I would like to briefly share how. Our daughter, Megan has the ability to outsmart people particularly adults because she has Down syndrome and people often underestimate her because of her disability. Megan is an energetic, push it to the limit, spunky and very compassionate 8 year old. She has experienced challenges in the area of behavior since her early days at the RISE Preschool. We have attended numerous meetings and have committed ourselves to further educating ourselves to best support Megan. The in-district BCBA got Megan's number upon her first encounter with Megan. The monthly home visits are wonderful brainstorming and information sharing meetings. Lisa Studor has trained and consulted with Megan's team members weekly. It has been a true team effort and strengthened the bond between home and school. We attend less meetings, are always adding strategies to our"toolbox" and the stress of meeting Megan's needs has lessened. Thank you for adding this position! In better budget years, I believe more BCBA's in -district would benefit ALL children, teachers, paraprofessionals and families. We are very grateful. Sincerely, Michele Sanphy