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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-01-26 School Committee Minuteso�N OFR Town of Reading b Meeting Minutes '639+1NCORQQPP� Board - Committee - Commission - Council: School Committee Date: 2017-01-26 Building: School - Memorial High Address: 62 Oakland Road Purpose: Open Session Attendees: Members - Present: R ttlLlflU� 1016 JAN 29 P Z 121 Time: 7:00 PM Location: RMHS Schettini Library Session: Open Session Version: Draft Jeanne Borawski, Chuck Robinson, Elaine Webb, Linda Snow Dockser, Gary Nihan, Nick Boivin Members - Not Present: Student Representative Mario Cutone Others Present: Superintendent John Doherty, Director of Finance Gail Dowd, Director of Student Services Carolyn Wilson, Assistant Superintendent Craig Martin, RISE Preschool Director Debbie Butts, Wood End principal Joanne King, Killam principal Sarah Leveque, RMHS principal Adam Bakr, Interim Human Resourses Director Jenn Bove, Parker Assistant Principal Brendan Norton, BOS Barry Berman & John Arena, Director of Social Emotional Learning Sara Burd, Fincom member Paula Perry, RPS Budget parents, RMHS Student Representative Alex Nazzaro, Reading Chronicle reporter Al Sylvia, Erin Calvo Bacci, Sherri VandenAkker Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Linda Engelson on behalf of the Chair Topics of Discussion: I. Call to Order Chair Borawski called the School Committee to order at 7:03 p.m. and reviewed the agenda. II. Recommended Procedure A. Public Comment Chair Borawski took public comment on the budget because of time constraints of the speakers. Coolidge Middle School 7`h grade students, Brody Wolter, Zach Nichols and Dylan Wolter addressed the School Committee requesting that foreign language and the double ELA block be restored to the FYI budget. They also asked the School Committee to support an override. Page 1 1 Board of Selectmen member Barry Berman stated that he is prepared to propose and support an override for a reduced term at reduced money. He asked the School Committee to do two things: 1. Find, to the best of their ability, to move reductions around to reduce the impact on teacher cuts 2. Assuming there is an override vote and it passes; identify reduction to be put back We need to win the trust of the community and he is more confident than despondent. Mrs. Borawski felt that the community may not have had the awareness on the previous override but pointed out that the committee had discussed it. She said that perhaps communication could have been better. Mr. Berman said he has had some conversations with the Town Manager. Mrs. Borawski is proud of the collaboration between the Town and schools in the fall. Dr. Snow Dockser stated that we need to continue to collaborate and trust the people with the expertise to make decisions. Marianne Downing asked for clarification on the Know Atom funding. Dr. Doherty said that the FYI building budgets will be used for the consumables. Mr. Martin added that at this point we will not be able to implement the Know Atom program at the lower elementary levels. Erin Calvo Bacci shared that she was able to co-chair the recent Real World Problem Solving activity. This was the first year that parents collaborated on the case studies. She said it was a tremendous event. We need to adopt more types of these programs in the district. B. Consent Agenda Mr. Robinson asked the Committee if there were any consent agenda items that they would like removed. There were none. Mr. Robinson moved, seconded by Mrs. Webb, to approve the consent agenda as amended. The motion carried 6-0. Approval of Minutes (January 5 & 9, 2017) C. Reports Student Representatives Student Representative Alex Nazzaro reported on the following: • RMHS midterms and Real World Problem Solving Page 1 2 Drama will be presenting 12 Dancing Princesses the first weekend in February The second semester began today Liaison's Report Mrs. Borawski said she attended an informational RCTV event to discuss the franchise licenses with Comcast and Verizon. RCTV will also be doing community outreach to gather information on what the community is getting from RCTV. Mr. Boivin reported on the presentation by author Tara Sullivan Boivin held at the Reading Public Library. He thanked the Reading students that attended. Mrs. Webb reported on the RCASA board meeting held earlier this evening. Director of Student Services Mrs. Wilson reminded the community that the SEPAC will be meeting on Tuesday, January 31't at 7:15 in the Superintendent's Conference Room. This is a business meeting. D. Old Business There was no old business. E. New Business FY2018 Budget Presentation Final Summary and Questions Mrs. Borawski has received three communications from the public that all support the restoration of middle school foreign language and increase in full day kindergarten tuition, a school resource officer at the middle school level and restoring positions. Dr. Doherty started off by saying that this has been a long budget process that began in June. He expressed an enormous amount of gratitude to the committee. He thanked his Central Office team and administrators for the hard work during this particularly draining process developing a budget that has the least impact on students. Dr. Doherty reviewed the impact if an override is not approved. It will be the 41' year in a row of making reductions to develop a level service budget, the school department will have to make approximately $2 million in reductions which could equate to 30-35 FTE in personnel cuts and any reductions of this magnitude will have an impact on student outcomes and on students. If there is an override vote and it is successful, the administrative team will work diligently on restoring the reductions that focus on the classrooms. Page 1 3 The Superintendent reviewed where Reading ranks for District and Instructional Leadership vs. comparable communities. Reading ranks 26 out of 30 comparable communities. This lack of district and instructional leadership puts a hardship on our building administrators with high numbers of staff to supervise and evaluate. In response to a School Committee question the Superintendent shared information on the years that elementary class sizes reached 26 and above. Additional information was provided regarding the school year calendar. We are required by Massachusetts General Law to build in five additional days into the calendar. Schools must also ensure that students are scheduled to receive a minimum of structured learning time per school year. Dr. Doherty reviewed the guiding principles given to the Superintendent at a November meeting which include minimizing the impact on the juniors and seniors by keeping programs and sections available to students, the focus should be on the core programs as best as possible, retain structures which will best promote emotional -social -behavioral health for each and every child, maintain frameworks and positions within our schools that support our student, teachers, and administrators, maintaining programs such as art, music, drama and course choices to enable students to find their strengths like language, robotics and engineering, avoid increases in fees and offsets, the budget needs to be sustainable and there should be no gimmicks used to develop it, preserve classroom teachers, everything is on the table and should be student centered, keep class sizes low, make data -driven decisions and before adding anything new look at evidence based data, and be aware of federal and state mandates. The Superintendent pointed out that 83% of the budget is salaries. FY2018 Discussion Chair Borawski moved onto discuss potential cuts and put backs as she requested of the committee at the last meeting. She is thankful for the amount of work put into this budget by everyone involved and said that cuts cannot be made line by line in this magnitude to address the deficit. The committee discussed a proposal presented by Mr. Robinson which included: • Adding $438,000 to restore 7.0 FTE middle school positions with the funding source as a free cash request • Adding back $150,000 to fund the second year of the new science curriculum with the funding source as a free cash request • Adding back $50,000 to restore the 3.3 FTE Kindergarten paraeducators. This will be funded by an increase in the full day kindergarten tuition • He agreed to Dr. Doherty's desire to add back 2.0 FTE elementary teachers based on new budget assumptions Mr. Robinson supports an override but feels it needs to be done correctly proposing that an override be put on the ballot in a year to properly prepare. He Page 1 4 pointed out that the override amount should include $588,000 taken from free cash. If successful, the $588,000 would go back into reserves preferably the Stabilization account that was established after the last override passed in 2003. This proposal is essentially a "loan" from free cash to be paid back from the override. We have put override receipts into reserves in the past so it is not a new concept in Reading. The School Committee continued discussion on Mr. Robinson's plan. Dr. Nihan asked what if the Finance Committee did not approve the "loan" from free cash. The Chair would make the determination on how to proceed. Mrs. Borawski listed four areas as alternative areas to cut the budget: 1. Cut athletics — this does not yield a big savings 2. Administration — sees no cuts in this area 3. Professional Development — once again there is not great savings in this area 4. Art & Music She feels this would educationally and logistically unwise. Mrs. Webb addressed the foreign language cut and asked for the history of money returned to the town each year. Dr. Nihan asked about the possibility of cutting the Literacy coach instead of the math coach, reductions in the administration cost center, reductions in the building based budgets and funds due to staff turnover/funds returned. Mrs. Borawski pointed out that the Literacy coach is assisting in addressing the grade 2 ELA scores at Joshua Eaton. Mr. Boivin asked about professional development spending. Mrs. Webb pointed out that we have cut professional development for the past 4 years. Dr. Nihan moved, seconded by Mrs. Webb, to put forward to the Town Manager a budget in the amount of $41,889,661. Discussion continued regarding the proposed budget. Dr. Snow Dockser asked about the possibility to raise the RISE Preschool tuition an additional 5% to allow the return of the music teacher. Ms. Butts shared that the parents have been informed of a 5% increase in tuition for next year and received no pushback from parents. Dr. Nihan supports the additional 5% increase to restore the position. Mrs. Borawski cautioned the committee that she has concerns going out to the community with this additional increase. Dr. Snow Dockser made a friendly amendment, seconded by Dr. Nihan, to raise the RISE tuition by 10% to offset the cost of the 0.6 FTE position. Mr. Boivin made a friendly amendment, to not raise the family caps on athletics and extra -curricular fees and reduce the building based budgets by $8,500. Page 1 5 Mr. Boivin withdrew this motion. Dr. Nihan asked if by not raising the family cap the difference could be paid for in the savings achieved in the athletic cost center in the reduction in the pool fees and no increase in ice rental. A Curtis Street resident said that borrowing money is not sustainable. He feels the School Committee should submit an unbalanced budget. He also said he would have no problem paying increases in the RISE tuition. He asked if the return of the 7.0 FTE at the middle school level was all or nothing. He asked about savings if athletics was eliminated. Dr. Doherty responded by saying the middle schools piece has to be looked at in its entirety to restore the middle school structure. Fincom member Paula Perry shared that money returned to the Town has already been accounted for in the numbers. Selectman John Arena questioned if the School Committee can ask for a "loan" as described and the committee is obligated to submit a balanced budget to the Town Manager. Mr. Robinson pointed out that the monies would be returned if the override passed. Mr. Arena pointed out if the override failed we would be right back where we are now. Chair Borawski wants to send a message to the town that the School Committee is unwilling to support a budget the decimates the middle school. Alicia Williams felt that an additional 5% increase in the RISE tuition would leave a bad taste and anger residents. Geoffrey Coram agrees with Mr. Robinson's proposal to use free cash and he feels that by the Finance Committee projecting conservatively it has handcuffed the School Committee's ability to fund its budget. Resident Brian O'Mara asked about the return of the 2.0 FTE elementary positions asking if they are restored. Superintendent Doherty stated they were due to decreases in projected enrollment and attrition. A Bartlett Circle resident is concerned about another override but is comfortable waiting a year. Mr. Robinson said that he chose 12 months as the time period after listening to the Board of Selectmen. Dr. Snow Dockser said the School Committee has heard loud and clear from the Board of Selectmen to let them know exactly what we wanted. Page 1 6 Resident Jim Martin applauds Mr. Robinson's plan; he does not feel a one year waiting period will devastate the Town. RMHS Foreign Language Department Head Joanne Alvarez thanked everyone on behalf of the middle and high school foreign language departments. Dr. Snow Dockser moved, seconded by Dr. Nihan, to raise RISE tuition from the proposed 5% to 10% and increase the offset by an additional $30,000 to cover the .6 FTE teacher. Mrs. Borawski expressed concerns because the applications have gone out with the expectations of a 5% increase. This is a public trust matter. Alicia Williams said this additional increase will have a financial impact on many families. The motion failed with a 3-3 vote. Mr. Boivin moved, seconded by Dr. Nihan, to modify the existing budget to reduce the athletic family cap to the 2017 levels and reduce the athletic offset by the corresponding amount. The motion carried 6-0. Mr. Boivin moved, seconded by Mr. Robinson, to modify the existing budget to reduce the extra -curricular family cap to the 2017 levels and reduce the extra -curricular offset by the corresponding amount. The motion carried 6- 0. Mr. Robinson moved, seconded by Mrs. Webb, to add back into the Superintendent's Recommended Budget: • the amount of $588,000 which includes $438,000 for the 7.0 middle school positions and $150,000 for the second year implementation of the science curriculum, • $50,000 to be appropriated by raising the kindergarten tuition by $250 per student and an increase the kindergarten tuition offset by $50,000 and approve an unbalanced budget in the amount of $41,899,661. The motion carried 6-0. III. Routine Matters a. Bills and Payroll (A) b. Calendar IV. Information V. Future Business VI. Adjournment Page 1 7 Adjourn Dr. Nihan moved, seconded by Mrs. Webb, to adjourn. The motion carried 6-0. The meeting adjourned at 10.35 p.m. NOTE: The minutes reflect the order as stated in the posted meeting agenda not the order they occurred during the meeting. *A - JV F. Dohert, Ed.D. Page 1 8