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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-06-11 School Committee Minutes READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE Reading, Massachusetts _ I CLERK VV JIfJu. MASS, COMMUNITY MEETING 7"91W LV pX'11: 45 CALL TO ORDER Vice Chair Pete Dahl called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. at the Senior Center. Present were School Committee Members Dahl, Keigley, Russo and Twomey. Ms. Cavicchi and Mr. Griset arrived late. Also present were Superintendent Ham[tmian and approximately 45 members of the public. OPEN DISCUSSION Ray Porter stated his concern over Mr. Dahl's tone in his letter to the editor in response to Mr. Porter's letter to the editor. He asked Mr. Dahl for a public apology. Mr. Dahl stated that he apologized if Mr. Porter took offense to the tone of the letter but that he stands by the facts in his letter. Ms. Blanchard asked why the school district couldn't have parent paid bussing K-12. The Committee and Dr. Harutunian discussed the history of bussing in Reading and Dr. Harutunian suggested that Ms. Blanchard call him to schedule a meeting to discuss the possibility of parent paid bussing. Ms. Dorothy Marshall asked about the condition of Reading Memorial High School and the time frame for renovations. Mr. Twomey discussed the feasibility studies that have been done and the different plans the School Building Committee is reviewing. lie stated that the School Building Committee hopes to bring a request for $500,000 for plans to Town Meeting in November. Mr. Brown stated that he would not vote for the new high school plan until the landfill is sold. Mr. Tucker stated that Mr. Twomey is the first person that has told him that the School Building Committee is reviewing six or seven alternatives to the high school solution. He stated that we need to have that information publicized so people know that alternatives are being looked into. I le stated that the enrollment issue still needs to be resolved. Ile asked if the citizens would have an opportunity to vote on their idea of the best solution. 4 ( COMMUNITY MEETING 2 lune 11 2001 Mr. Twomey stated that the charge of the School Building Committee is to bring to Town Meeting what they believe to be the best solution. He stated that Town Meeting could certainly amend the School Building's mission and request that they bring more options to Town Meeting to consider. Mr. Tucker stated that the problem seems to be that Town Meeting will vote one way, but the majority of the town voters will vote the other way. Mr. Tucker stated that Town Meeting does not represent the view of the citizens and that is what leads to the disconnect. Mr. Dahl discussed the different enrollment studies that that school department has had done over the past five years. Dr. Mandell distributed information regarding the enrollment studies. He stated that the MISER report that the school department had done was not the community life cycle study which costs between $2,000 and $5,000 and uses more data. He stated that the DRA has more validity. Ms. Kathy Keane stated that while the bantering regarding enrollment studies continues children are being adversely affected. She stated that there are 26 students in the classroom and they are too young to be in that size class. She stated that there are no art rooms and no music rooms. Bo Garrison stated that the community meetings are a great idea. He stated that he hoped that these meetings would allow people we don't know to be heard. He stated that there is a group of people who are polarized and perhaps a mediator is needed but that we need to hear from new people with new ideas. Mr. Herrick asked about the cost of operating the new school. He stated that the school department needs to get information out to the people. He stated that the only source of information is letters to the editors. He stated that he is still not sure if the Barrows project would have been reimbursable without the new school. Dr. Hai utunian advised that the information regarding the cost for the new school is available and the difference in costs is approximately $157,000. Dr. Harutunian stated that we have a letter from State Representative Brad Jones stating that after meeting with representatives from the SBA it is his understanding that as a stand alone project Barrows would not be reimbursable by the state. Dr. Harutunian stated that he would be looking in to having direct mailings and other alternatives means of getting the information out to people. 4 COMMUNITY MEETING 3 June 11.2001 �y Ms. Linda Philips stated that she knows that statement regarding Barrows to be untrue. She stated that Christine Lynch was deposed and said that Barrows could go forward without the new school Ms. Nancy McNosa stated that the security issue at Barrows with the portables is totally unacceptable and that the doors should be locked and teachers should be issued keys. Ms. Anne Ward stated that the level 2 curriculum at the high school needs work, the books they are reading are not challenging enough and classes are over crowded. Chair Cavicchi stated that the restructuring committee is working on the curriculum issue but in order to eliminate over crowding money is needed to hire teachers. Mr. Gary Phillips thanked the Committee for holding these meeting and asked the Superintendent why if a citizen disagrees with the administration and School Committee they are black balled and why he reads the names of individuals at public meetings who request information from the school department. He also asked why it was never made public that the Superintendent spent$5,400 to avoid being deposed during the ten- taxpayer lawsuit and why an inaccurate figure of$5,200 was used to tell the public the cost of the bid protest. Mr. Gri set stated that the attorney's for the ten-taxpayers requested that Dr. flarmunian give a deposition on the first day of school. He stated that a day to a day and one-half is needed to prepare a client for a deposition. Having the Superintendent out of the district for the start of school would have been incredibly disruptive to the school system. He stated that the school attorneys contacted the attorney's for the ten-taxpayers to request a change in date and that request was denied. He stated that in order to keep the Superintendent in the district on the first day of school they were forced to go to court. The judge agreed not to have the Superintendent deposed on the first day of school. Mr. Griset said he would do this again in order to keep the Superintendent in the district for the opening of school. Dr. Hamtunian stated that he was directed by the School Committee to bring forward requests for information. He also stated that his office staff prepared the information regarding the cost of the bid protest and he had not checked the figures but he believed they were correct. Mr. Gerry McDonald stated that the school department should not be handling maintenance. He stated that maintenance should be under the DPW. He also suggested that prisoners be used during July and August to work on the school buildings. He stated that he supported fixing the high school but not for $60 million. 4 COMMUNITY MEETING 4 June 11 2001 Mr. Tom Ryan stated that budget cuts did not mean a decrease in spending. He stated that every year since 1971 there has been in increase in school spending. Dr. Harutunian stated that he had produced a document for Mr. Russo regarding actual expenditures for the school department going back ten years and he would check the information and get back to Mr. Ryan to confirm if spending had decreased. Mr. Edward Clarke stated that we need to come to a compromise to do something good for the kids and something that people on a fixed income can afford. Mr. Keigley stated that he wanted to attend these meetings to see what the public had to say. He thanked the members of the audience for attending this evening's meeting and for their comments. A member of the audience asked what is being done to assist students who may not be able to pass the MCAS tests. Dr. Harutunian advised that a remediation program has been implemented for students who are at risk. He discussed the PASS Program being piloted at the Coolidge Middle School. Mrs. I lerrick suggested that the school department newsletter be revived and sent out monthly either by mailing or including as an insert in the Advocate to all Reading residents. Mr. Herrick stated that the people want a ten-year plan so they can make informed decisions. Discussions were held on other possible ways to communicate including websites and e- mails. Mr. Dahl stated that there is a ten-year capital plan but the plan should be articulated better. Mr. Bo Garrison stated that the school department needs to start a mailing program for outreach to the community but the mailing should not be propaganda. A citizen from precinct five asked how the school counsels pregnant teenagers. Dr- HartUnian advised that the great body shop curriculum is used. Dr. Harutunian also thanked the Town of Reading health department for their work in this area also. 4 COMMUNITY MEETING 5 .tune 11 2001 Ms. Kendra Cooper stated her concern about maintenance of buildings, lack of maintenance plans and asbestos issues including the disappearance of asbestos plan books. She discussed SBA regulation and reimbursement changes and the differences between NESDEC and MISER. Ms. Cavicchi stated the Committee is aware of the pending changes in SBA regulations and reimbursement and have met with Jeff Wolfson. Mrs. Herrick stated that she wanted to make it clear that her comments regarding the condition of the high school were not directed at the custodians. She stated that the custodians are doing a good job but there are not enough custodians to get the job done well. Dr. Harutanian stated that every year the school department has spent at least what was budgeted or more for maintenance except one year when a geotechnical study was done out of the maintenance budget. Mr. Be Garrison stated that he is satisfied with the maintenance at the Barrows school. He stated that the RMHS building might be behind the curve but that he believed that good quality education is occurring at RMHS. 4 Ms. Phillips suggested that the School Committee meet quarterly on RCTV to field questions and that the Superintendent address the school budget page by page. She stated that the Secretary of State's Office should never have to be contacted by a Reading citizen to get information, the Committee should release executive session minutes in a more timely manner and that the violation of state bid laws needs to stop. She stated that it is an issue of credibility and integrity. She stated that a separate meeting with the ten- taxpayer lawsuit complaints should beheld with the School Committee, Chair Cavicchi stated that a few years ago the School Committee did do a call in show on RCTV. She stated that there were not a large number of callers to the program and the Committee decided to stop. She stated that perhaps the Committee should revisit the idea of call in show. Chair Cavicchi also stated that the way Mrs. Phillips phrased her comments was upsetting. Chair Cavicchi stated that her integrity is a priority to her and that only legal executive session items are discussed in executive session and those minutes are not released until the matter is no longer considered executive session. She stated that the School Committee lists all people who make requests for public information and she felt that Mrs. Phillips is upset because her name is used more because of the number of requests. COMMUNITY MEETING 6 June 11, 2001 Mr. Griset stated that he support a citizen's right to obtain information but asked Mrs. Philips is there was any number of requests that she saw as heading towards abuse of the system. Dr. Harutunian stated that his office is not set up in the same manner as the Town Clerk's office. He stated that the information requested is gathered as quickly as possible. He stated that members of the public have complained to the Secretary of State's Office about non-compliance with a request for information even before the ten-day limit has passed. Mr. Herrick and Mr. Tucker both stated that they believe that Town Meeting does not represent the majority of the town. The Committee thanked the audience for attending and participating in the community meeting. ADJOURN At 11:05 a.m. Mr. Griset made a motion to adjourn Mr. Dahl seconded the motion The cote was 6-0 Ms. Cavieehi, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Griset, Mr. Keielev Mr. Russo and Mr. Twomev. Respectfully Ksubmitted, tarry K. Harutunian, P Superintendent of Schools 4