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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-09-23 School Committee Minutes v READING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reading, Massachusetts Reeular Session September 23,2002 CALL TO ORDER At 7:00 p.m. Chair Griset called the meeting to order in the Superintendent's Conference Room. Present were School Committee Members Cavicchi, Griset, Twomey and McFadden. Also present was Superintendent Harutunian. Mr. Dahl and Mr. Russo arrived during executive session. EXECUTIVE SESSION At 7:01 Mrs. Cavicchi moved to enter into Executive Session for the purpose of conducting strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations, Nurses, Coolidge Middle School Assistant Principal and Joshua Eaton Principal, approval of executive session minutes, to return to regular session at approximately 7:30 p.m. Mr. McFadden seconded the motion. The vote was 4-0. Mrs. Cavicchi, Mr. Griset, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Twomey. CALL BACK TO ORDER93 - Chair Griset called the regular session back to order at 7:30 p.m. z o g The Superintendent stated there would be an adjustment in the agenda order. ci D Smm DMo OLD BUSINESS = W;:r w Superintendent Harutunian recognized members of the Reading Booster Club. The Boosters purchased a defibrillator and donated it to the Reading Athletic Department. Mr. Richard Crosby, President of the Reading Boosters explained why the Athletic Department needed a defibrillator. He gave a short demonstration. He explained that this particular defibrillator would not shock a person if they had a pulse. The defibrillator came with a two-year service plan and provides for training for eight people. Dr. Harutunian explained that all school administrators are certified in CPR and first aid. Next year they will be trained to use a defibrillator Mr. Twomey stated that the defibrillator was a generous gift from the Reading Boosters. Mr. Vacarro complimented Reading Boosters. Mr. Dahl said thank you and stated that he appreciates the generosity of the Reading Boosters. Superintendent Harutunian notified the committee that High School Assistant Principal, Cheryl O'Brien would be leaving Reading to go to Marshfield Public Schools. He thanked Cheryl for Regular Session -2- September 23, 2002 her contribution to Reading. He stated that Gary Hart would move over to the high school from Coolidge Middle School where he was Assistant Principal, Superintendent Harutunian then introduced John Boyle, the Interim Assistant Principal at Coolidge Middle School. Mr. Boyle has come out of retirement. He was a Middle School Assistant Principal in Beverly for years. He was a School Committee member in Beverly for sixteen years. RMHS No-Smoking Initiative Presentation Cheryl O'Brien, Reading Memorial High School Assistant Principal, gave a chronology of the no-smoking initiative. The objective is stop smoking not decrease smoking at the high school. She explained the smoking ordinance. She stated the penalties for smoking. Mr. McFadden asked how many people have been ticketed at the high school for smoking. Ms. O'Brien stated that no tickets have been issued to date. Smoking has decreased, but it is still happening. Dr. Harutunian has given them until December 1, 2002 to stamp out smoking at Reading Memorial High School. The only way to guarantee no smoking in the bathrooms is to lock the doors and allow only one student in at a time. He might have to hire senior citizens to patrol the bathrooms. When the student is ready to leave the bathroom, the bathroom will be inspected for graffiti, smoking, damage etc. and then the student will be allowed to go on their way. When there are twenty students in the bathroom, how do you figure out who is smoking? Mr. McFadden is in favor of the Superintendent's plan. Mr. Griset wants administrators doing the work of administrators not writing tickets for smoking. Mr. Dahl stated that smoking is illegal in schools. Smoking has stopped in most restaurants and bars. A smoking lounge is not an option. He does not think the administrators should be made bathroom cops either. Just because someone has smoke around him or her does not make him or her guilty of smoking. Mr. Scarpitto stated that he does not accuse students of smoking frivolously. Mrs. Cavicchi suggested the use of smoke alarms. She had a concern about the use of community services hours if you were caught smoking being counted for community service hours for such things as National Honor Society. Dr. Harutunian explained why this would not happen. Candidate applications for the National Honor Society are reviewed thoroughly. 4 Mr. Russo stated that he is not in favor of suspending students for smoking. Regular Session -3- Sentember 23,2002 Mr. Twomey stated that he is pleased to see the initiative put into effect. It is not right that students are unable to use the bathrooms. We need to change the culture at the high school. The message of diligence is strong. He stated that he is discouraged to see school personnel smoking. He congratulated the High School Administrators for starting the program. INDUCTIONIMENTOR PROGRAM PRESENTATION Dr. Harmunian gave an overview of the mentoring program. He then introduced Paul Guerrette, Principal of the Killam School. Mr. Guerrette gave a presentation explaining the mission and purpose of the mentoring program. John Doherty had a display of the mentoring materials used at the orientation. Richard Davidson thanked the School Committee for their support of the mentoring program. Mr. Orlando was out ill so he was unable to attend. Superintendent Harutunian stated that he was pleased that the mentoring program was a new budget item this year. He was pleased that new teachers would be brought up to speed quickly with the help of a mentor. He thanked Principals Davidson, Guerrette, Doherty and Orlando. The program is comprised of a lot of hard work from a large group of people. Mrs. Cavicchi stated that she was a teacher, and the only teaching experience you really have is when you student teach. As a new teacher one can be terrified. You may not have time to ask other teachers questions. Superintendent Harutunian stated that having a mentoring program is an effective recruiting tool. Mentor and protegees then came to the table. Craig Martin, Coolidge teacher, introduced the mentors and protegees. Chair Griset welcomed them all. Victoria Griffin, RISE Pre School Teacher, stated what a great idea the program is. She stated that she has always been a mentor. She wanted to know if she was doing it right. The program provides a great give and take. Craig Martin stated that the program provide a collaborative culture. Charles Strout, RMHS Teacher, stated that the questions from proteges could be as simple as where is the photocopier located. Most of the questions are a lot tougher. The training prepared him to answer the tougher questions. 4 Regular Session - 4- September 23, 2002 Joanne Fitzpatrick, new high school mathematics teacher, stated that she was assured many times that she would not be thrown in the deep end with out a life preserver. She stated that she was glad that Mr. Strout was across the hall from her. With help from Mr. Strout she was able to do what she did best, teach. She thanked everyone for the program. Mrs. Fitzpatrick came from a college environment. In a college setting you do not have to deal with parents. This is a big change. Parent's Night can be challenging. Joyce Camenker, Preschool protege stated that she taught in two other public school systems and she never had a mentor. She felt she was thrown to the wolves then. Erica LeBow, new Coolidge teacher, asked during the interviewing process if there was a mentoring program. The program turned out to be beyond her expectations. The program allowed her to become acclimated to the culture of the school plus the curriculum Dr. Harutunian stated there are many examples of mentoring. Principals are mentored. He has received positive feed back from the Reading Teachers Association. This is a one-year pilot program. He hopes to upgrade and fine-tune the program with all the feed back he will receive through out the school year. Mr. Guerrette stated there will be on going mentor meetings with evaluations and feedback. The mentors do not evaluate the protegees. They only evaluate the program. The mentoring program is not a personnel evaluation tool. The mentor is not the supervisor. Superintendent Harutunian stated that the Principal does evaluations. Colleagues do not evaluate colleagues. Mr. Russo stated that hiring people is a hard job. Mr. Dahl stated that there was some good mentoring going on or some good hiring or some of both going on. The mentoring program was a new budget line item and the new program is in place. He thanked everyone. Chair Griset stated that the training would help retain teachers. Elaine Webb, Killam parent, asked about the teachers who were hired last year. Dr. Harmunian explained that the program was for new teachers only. We had to start somewhere. We can only go forward. The teachers who started last year are doing just fine. Mr. Phillips asked how much money would be spent on the mentoring program. He was told $120,000. Mr. Guerrette stated that the program was a group effort. He thanked everyone involved. At 9:25 p.m., Chair Griset stated there would be a two-minute recess. 4` Regular Session - 5- September 23, 2002 �+ At 9:27 p.m., Mr. Griset called the meeting back to order. REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE CHAIR, SUPERINTENDENT Superintendent Harutunian stated that RMHS student, Lisa Daniels has been named a semifinalist in the National Merit Program. Lisa is one is 16,000 students in the nation to be named as National Merit semifinalist. National merit semi-finalists represent one half of one percent of all students who took the PSAT in grade 11. Please join me in congratulating Lisa on her achievement. CITIZEN INPUT Chair Griset asked if there was anyone who wished to speak. Mr. Phillips readdressed a topic he brought up last spring. Mr. Griset told him the issue was dealt with last spring. The issue was addressed and we moved on. Mr. Russo suggested that Mr. Phillips put his request in writing and give it to the Superintendent for his review. GIFTS There were no gifts. RMHS PROJECT Superintendent Hannunian updated the Committee on last week's School Building Committee meeting. He explained that School Building Committee has put Option 1 in abeyance while they review Options 2 and 3. Option 2 includes some demolition and some new construction with the existing building. Option 3 includes major demolition and major new construction. He then mentioned a Brackett and Lucas letter concerning property information regarding the field house and Birch Meadow. There was discussion concerning property lines and individual lot lines. Mr. Twomey suggested that Dr. Harutunian speak to the Chairman of the School Building Committee before the meeting next week. There maybe funds in the budget to do a survey. Mr. McFadden asked where the money would come from if the cost of the survey were to exceed a stated amount. Dr. Hannunian stated that we needed to establish where each parcel of land is located. They were purchased or acquired at different times. He stated that there needs to be a full assessment. Regular Session - 6- Sentember 23, 2002 Dr. Hannunian stated that the Town Attorney and the Town Engineer recommend that a survey be done. We need to properly record the lot lines. Mr. Dahl made a motion to direct the Superintendent to attend the next School Buildine Committee meetin¢ repuestine the School Building Committee to consider a complete survey of the lots of land at the hieh school complex and surroundine ¢rounds. Mr. Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was 5-1. Mr. Russo voted no. Mrs. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Griset, Mr. McFadden,Mr. Twomey voted yes. MCAS RESULTS Superintendent Harutunian reviewed the MCAS results. He stated Reading did an outstanding job. We have had to cut curriculum initiatives in Math and Science. We have had to lay off teachers. We cannot continue this way and maintain our MCAS scores. CALENDAR The October 8, 2002 School Committee meeting was changed to October 9, 2002. October 8th is Town Meeting. MINUTES Mrs. Cavicchi made a motion to approve the minutes of August 28, 2002. Mr. Dahl seconded the motion. The vote was 6-0. Mrs. Cavicchi,Mr. Dahl,Mr. Griset, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo Mr. Twomey Mrs. Cavicchi made a motion to approve the minutes of Ammst 29, 2002. Mr. McFadden seconded the motion. The vote was 6-0. Mrs. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl,Mr. Griset, Mr. McFadden, Mr. Russo Mr. Twomev ADJOURN Mr. Twomey made a motion to adjourn. Mrs. Cavicchi seconded the motion. The vote was 6-0. Mrs. Cavicchi,Mr. Dahl,Mr. Griset, Mr. McFadden,Mr. Russo Mr. Twomey The time was 10:06. Respectfully submitted, Harry K. Harmunian, Ph.D. 4 Superintendent of Schools