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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-06-06 School Council - Wood End Elementary MinutesF k Town of Reading Meeting Minutes O e3s+llr�o4 *_ Board - Committee - Commission - Council: School Council -Wood End Elementary Date: 2016 -06 -06 Time: 7:00 PM Building: School - Wood End Address: 85 Sunset Rock Lane � n 4 2111b JUN 13 P 1: 23 Location: Conference Room Purpose: Monthly Meeting for June 2015 -2016 School Year Attendees: Members - Present: Joanne King, Caitlin Koehler, Lynda Michel, Melissa Murphy Members - Not Present: Christine Daly Others Present: Michele Sanphy and Abby King Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Lynda Michel Topics of Discussion: The ninth monthly meeting of the Wood End Elementary School was held in the conference room of the Wood End Elementary School on June 6, 2016. Call to order: A quorum of members being present and the meeting having been duly convened at Wood End School by the Wood End Principal, Joanne King had called the meeting to order at -7:05 p.m. and proceeded with business. Review and Acceptance of Minutes: Members reviewed draft minutes from May's meeting. There being no discussion, Mrs. King moved that the minutes be accepted as drafted. Mrs. Murphy seconded the motion. The members then voted unanimously to approve the minutes. Vote: Minutes Accepted 4 -0 -0 New Business: "Yes for Reading" - Mrs. Sanphy, member of the "Yes For Reading" organization came to inform and update the School Council of the outcome of the first Community Listening Meeting for the Town's potential upcoming override, October 18, 2016. (Please see attached flyer for more information about this organization). Mrs. Sanphy began by telling the School Council that the community forum was well represented - Board of Selectman, Town Manager, School Committee representation, Superintendent to name a few. Mrs. Sanphy also stated that there Page 1 1 were about 60 townspeople in attendance that consisted of a well diverse group (elderly, incoming parents, graduate parents, business & community members). Mrs. Sanphy stated that there seemed to be a split sense of whether people felt we really needed the override, but the Town informed the people that the last three years there has been limited funding available for spending. The Town then asked the townspeople to think about things in the community they must have, could do without, and are most important and least important. The townspeople could not answer the questions, but started to ask questions about the override: What's an override? What's Proposition 2 1/2? Mrs. Sanphy also informed the School Council that there was a slide shown during the presentation representing other communities that had overrides and discussed the split tax rate. Mrs. Murphy stated that communities like Wakefield have many small businesses in their downtown, but Reading cannot seem to sustain small businesses - it is hard for small businesses to come into Reading and this is a problem for the community. Mrs. Sanphy met with Lisa Eagan from the Chamber of Commerce as she is concerned with how overregulated Reading is and doesn't have a large support base. She stated there is not a huge knowledge base within Reading i.e. not many people know that small businesses do not have Town "rights" including trash removal. It's hard sometimes to get small businesses on board. Mrs. Joanne King asked if the group talked about level services vs. level funding, but Mrs. Sanphy reported they did not. Mrs. Michel asked if people were aware that this is not just a school issue. Mrs. Joanne King followed up by saying it is affecting the town as a whole including police, fire, seniors (repairs to building), not being able to replace necessary equipment. Ms. Abby King made a suggestion to have a realtor speak about the impact of property values. Sharing a personal story about living in Windham, NH, she said that the town was in worse shape and the impact was no qualified educators and administrators wanted to work in the schools. She shared that it began to affect house values and many families began moving to other communities. Mrs. Sanphy added that personal stories would be helpful to share at the Community Listening Meetings. Ms. Joanne King asked whether the Board of Selectman were the only folks that spoke and Mrs. Sanphy told the School Council that Dr. Doherty also spoke. She praised his speaking ability and knowledge as well because he spoke in a way that people understood what was actually happening. Mrs. Sanphy also added that the Board of Selectman are "running the show" and are the only ones who can authorize an override. Mrs. Sanphy then explained the goal of the "YES for Reading" was to "advertise" that the Town is in more of a financial hardship than expected and the group wants to inform townspeople. She is hoping they will understand the hardship and get people to vote "Yes" on the special ballot in October. Mrs. Michel asked how we (townspeople) could help. Ms. Sanphy stated to like and share FB posts, make donations, or volunteer. She also stated to get people to attend the Community Listening Meetings and take a more active role in the community. Ms. Michel then asked if there has been a NO for Reading group and Ms. Sanphy stated that as far as she was aware there has not been an organized group but she is aware of people that are not in favor of the override. Page 1 2 Ms. Koehler asked: Will the ballot question be written clearly for voters so people can understand it IF they haven't been following along? Who writes this? Ms. Sanphy stated that, as far as she was aware, the Board of Selectman and Town Manager make the decision and write the question. There was also discussion about the timing of information presented to the community, concerns around the "Late Start" issue being discussed at the same time, and the override. It is important NOT to overwhelm the community with too many important issues at one time. Other concerns discussed at the meeting were communities that had free full -day vs. tuition -based full -day Kindergarten programs like Reading. The feeling was families would not want to pass the override if kindergarten tuition was not going to be free. The Special Election is October 18th, 2016 School Council Member update: Mrs. King recognized that Christine Daly will not serve on the School Council next year, but we are happy to welcome Michele Sanphy to serve on the parent side. Mrs. King has reached out to the school staff hoping to get one or two more volunteers for the School Council. Kindergarten Update: Kindergarten 2016 -17 will consist of: • 2 full -day classes with about 18 students in each • 1 half -day class with about 12 students enrolled All kindergarten letters including placement were mailed on June 3, 2016. A meet and greet with the kindergarten teachers will take place on Wednesday, June 15th from 1:30 -2:30. Parking Lot Signage Update: Drop- Off/Pick -Up— procedures, signage is still being looked at. Joe Huggins, Dave Savio, Town may want to consider extending to side neighbors as there have been issues in the neighborhoods with parking and traffic. Old Business: No old business is left; all business being discussed was new business, updates Adjournment There being no further business, the School Council adjourned at 8:05 with plans to meet again in October, 2016 at the regularly scheduled time of 3:15 — 4:15 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Lynda Michel Recording Secretary Page 1 3