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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-03-26 School Committee Minutes READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE Reading, Massachusetts Regular Session March 26.2001 CALL TO ORDER Chair Cavicchi called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. in the Superintendent's Conference Room. Present were School Committee Members Cavicchi, Dahl, D'Antona, Griset, Keigley and Twomey. Also present were Superintendent Harutunian and Associate Superintendent Richards. EXECUTIVE SESSION Mr. Griset made a motion to enter into executive session for the purpose of conducting strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with Teachers' Association,Secretaries & Clerks,Nurses, Custodial Maintenance Workers, Cafeteria Employees,Educational Assistants and Administrators,to discuss the deployment of security personnel or devices and approval of executive session minutes to return to regular session at 7:30 p.m. Mr. Keialev seconded the motion. The vote was 6-0 Ms. Cavicchi,Mr.Dahl, Ms. D'Antona,Mr. Griset,Mr. Keiglev and Mr. Twomey. CALL BACK TO ORDER At 7:38 p.m. Chair Cavicchi called the meeting back to order. All School Committee members were present. Superintendent Harutunian, Associate Superintendent Richards, Town Accountant Richard Foley and Student Representative Daniel Suchy were also present. Dr. Hamtunian showed the Coolidge Middle School video highlight of the Science Olympiad Day. Dr. Harutunian and the Committee thanked the staff and students of the Coolidge Middle School. Dr. Harutunian thanked Daniel Suchy for serving as student representative. CITIZENS INPUT There was no citizen input. BILLS& PAYROLL Bills and payroll were as follows: Warrant 68 2/20/01 $279,228.60 Warrant 70 2/26/01 $215,336.93 Warrant 72 3/5/01 $73,404.28 Warrant 74 3/12/01 $67,695.93 Regular Session 2 March 26.2001 {(y Warrant 76 3/19/01 $352,497.18 Payroll 67 2/16/01 $850,396.06 Payroll 71 3/2/01 $157,913.98 Payroll 73 3/8/01 $702,981.83 Payroll 75 3/16/01 $156,713.56 GIFTS Dr. Hamtunian thanked Andy Connelly for his generous donation to the Eaton Elementary School. Mr. Twomey moved to accept the donation of$1,764 for the Joshua Eaton School. Ms. D'Antona seconded the motion. The vote was 6-0 Ms. Cavicchi,Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Griset,Mr. Kei2lev and Mr. Twomey, SUPERINTENDENT/LIAISON REPORTS Dr. Harutunian advised that Andover is now using Everyday Mathematics. Dr. Hannunian discussed backpack safety and the presentation given to Administrative Council from the Winchester Hospital. After discussion it wag the consensus of the Committee to have Winchester Hospital make a presentation to the Committee at a future meeting. Dr. Hamtunian advised that he approved a field trip for the Parker Middle School 8" grade French class to travel to Montreal. Dr. Harutunian discussed the MCAS testing schedule. Dr. Harmunian advised that in the Committee's packet was a draft timetable for RMHS project from the School Building Committee. Mr. Twomey advised that the School Building Committee met last Thursday evening to review the status of the RMHS project. The draft timeline was developed by one of the School Building Committee members. He stated that the Committee felt it was a doable timeline and the Building Committee reconfirmed that the most appropriate course of action was to go forward to Town Meeting with a recommendation for all things that need to be done at the high school both building needs and educational needs. He stated that no plan has yet been endorsed, six or eight option have been presented and are still being evaluated by the Building Committee. 4 Regular Session 3 March 26, 2001 Dr. Harutunian advised that he would be checking with the SBA on partial work approval. Dr. Harutunian advised that Beth Klepeis notified him that Jackie Mandell requested a printout of the salaries of all approximately 800 employees for the Town and that per the Town Manager's policy all employees have been informed of this request. Mr. Dahl stated that he asked the Superintendent to look into a reported MISER enrollment study that became an issue after a letter to the editor regarding NESDEC enrollment numbers. Dr. Harutunian distributed information from architect Sid Bowen that indicated the memorandum referred to in the letter to the editor was his hand written notes and that there was no mention in the notes of a MISER study. He also stated that the reference to the 5-school versus 4-school scenario was in regards to a five school scenario being better for bussing purposes. Dr. Harutunian then distributed information from Paul Moore of DRA who indicated that Dr. George Collins did the enrollment projections for DRA and he was unaware of any connection to MISER. Mr. Twomey stated that he has been on the School Committee for some time and he had never heard of MISER, and he stated that it is frustrating to have misinformation put out to the public. AW Ms. D'Antona asked Dr. Hannunian to explain who NESDEC is and why we used them for enrollment projections. Dr. Hannunian advised that NESDEC(New England School Development Council) is recognized by the Department of Education as a demographic expert with a high level of credibility and a high level of accuracy. Mr. Griset recapped that no one in the administration, no one at DRA and no one at MISER has any record of the Reading Public Schools having contracted with MISER to do enrollments. Ms. Phillips stated that the Committee was splitting hairs and the issue is really that she spoke to NESDEC and NESDEC stated they were never hired to do any numbers for the elementary project. She stated that the last project that NESDEC did was the Coolidge Middle School numbers and those numbers are different than Dr. Collins numbers and there is a need to get updated figures. Mr. Dahl stated that the point was that the public was mislead by the letter to the editor to believe that the School committee received an enrollment projection from MISER and had ignored the data. Regular Session 4 March 26.2001 Mr. Russo stated that the important thing is that we have two different sets of data and both sets should be looked at. Dr. Harutunian advised that the next School Committee meeting is scheduled for April 10'". Chair Cavicchi stated that there will be a public forum regarding the FY02 budget tomorrow evening at 7:30 p.m. in the lecture hall. Mr. Keigley stated that he went to the pops concert, and it was a wonderful performance. Mr. Dahl stated that the capital budget was reviewed at the last Finance Committee meeting, and they went line by line looking at typical capital requests. Chair Cavicchi advised that she, Dr. Harutunian and Phil Vaccaro attended the Recreation Committee meeting and Dr. Harutunian answered all questions regarding facility rentals. She stated that the Recreation Commission is in the process of looking for a new administrator. Mr. Griset stated that the substance abuse advisory council was working to reschedule the forum that was cancelled due to weather. PERSONNEL REPORT Dr. Harutunian advised that the personnel report was included in the Committee's packet. FY02 BUDGET Dr. Harutunian reviewed the budget process to date including the Superintendent's recommended budget and the School Committee's recommended budget. He stated that the Committee has already approved $500,000 in reductions from the School Committee budget and that if an override passes another $17,014 needs to be reduced from the budget. Dr. Harutunian discussed the split for reductions between the town, schools and maintenance. He stated that if the override fails a total of$961,644 will need to be reduced from the budget. Mr. Twomey moved to authorize the superintendent to further reduce the$500,000 reductions by an additional$17,014 from the per pupil account as proposed. Mr. Keigley seconded the motion. The vote was 6-0 Ms. Cavicchi,Mr. Dahl,Ms. D'Antona,Mr. Griset,Mr. Keigley and Mr.Twomey. 4 Regular Session 5 March 26,2001 Mr. Twomey moved to authorize the Superintendent to reduce the town and school maintenance budget by $59329 in the fuel accounts. Ms. D'Antona seconded the motion. The vote was 6-0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona,Mr. Griset,Mr. Keiglev and Mr. Twomev. Dr. Hannunian discussed the non-override budget. Mr. Dahl asked what the plan is if energy prices increase, and we are unable to fund the fuel purchases because the accounts have been reduced by$110,365. Dr. Harutunian advised that a request for a transfer of funds would be requested at Town Meeting. Mr. Twomey stated that free cash may not be available this year and we will have to heat the buildings so the reduction may ultimately have to come from other places. He asked if the Finance Committee had reviewed the capital plan. He questioned whether capital items could be held. Mr. Dahl stated that the as soon as the capital plan is approved bids will go out for approved items. Dr. Harutunian advised that as of today, there is no accurate list of what is included and what is not included in the capital plan. He stated that the Board of Selectmen created the formula for reductions and that it would not be prudent to reduce maintenance staff because of the addition of space to town and school buildings. Mr. Keiglev moved to authorize the Superintendent to reduce the school and town fuel accounts, in proportions as outlined in the memorandum of March 26th, by a total of up to$110,365 in a non-override budget. Mr. Dahl seconded the motion. The vote was 5-0-1. Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona,Mr. Griset and Mr. Keiglev voted yes,Mr. Twomey abstained. Ms. Cavicchi noted that it was ironic that the approximately $110,000 being reduced from the fuel account was the amount spent on the lawsuit. Mrs. Phillips asked how money in the revolving accounts is spent. Dr. Harmunian stated that the money from the revolving accounts goes back into the buildings. Dr. Harutunian discussed the proposed $961,664 in reductions necessary for a non-override budget. Mr. Griset stated these cuts will be very difficult, and he has reviewed the recommend reductions and can't see how reductions could be done with less pain. Regular Session 6 March 26.2001 Mr. Twomey stated his concern about reducing elementary classroom teachers and asked if physical education could be further reduced and state requirements still be met. He asked if the administration made a conscious decision to reduce academics and not reduce athletics. He asked when the administration would know how many outside placements could be expected to enter the Reading Public Schools next year. Dr. Harutunian reported that the administration is trying to maintain athletics and extra curricular activities because research shows that young people get into the most trouble between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., and the athletic and extra curricula activities are important to help with this problem. He also stated that we have seen an increase of approximately 200 students participating in these activities. Mr. Griset stated that he did not agree that physical education was not taking a large enough reduction. He stated that the reduction in the physical education teacher represented a 17%reduction while the reduction of elementary teachers was a 6% reduction. Mr. Twomey stated that he was not comparing apples to apples because physical education is only one course while elementary teachers have 25 students per day five days per week. Mr. Griset stated that physical education and athletics is a lifestyle that helps our students. He stated that he shares the pain of reductions at the elementary level but that the high school has increasing enrollment and cannot be ignored. Dr. Harutunian stated that projected class size at the elementary level is the best it has been in ten years. Mr. Dald stated that either of the reductions would be difficult. He stated that RMHS has 70 additional students going in to the freshmen class and he is not comfortable about reducing elementary teachers. He asked if pushing the curriculum initiatives out two years was discussed. Dr. Harutunian stated that he felt that continuing to move curriculum forward is equally important as moving capital forward. Mr. Keigley stated that smaller class size would be of little value without moving curriculum forward. A concerned citizen asked if the Committee was going to have a 3rd grade class with 28 students and a 4s'grade class with 29 students if they would change their policy on class size. 4 Regular Session 7 March 26,2001 AAW Dr. Harunmian stated that the policy reads when possible maintain reasonable class size. Chair Cavicchi stated that we are, unfortunately, discussing a non-override budget and the pain of reductions should be spread equally over grades K-12. Mr. Keigley stated that he was prepared to make a motion to approve the recommend cuts as outlined in the Superintendent's memorandum. Mr. Twomey and Mr. Dahl stated that they would be voting against the motion for the reasons they previously stated. Both asked that Dr. Harmunian look into the areas they discussed and get back to them with recommendations. Ms. D'Antona stated that she felt more discussion was necessary before voting on the reductions. Mr. Keigley moved to approve the recommend cuts as outlined in the Superintendent's memorandum of March 23` of up to $961,664. Mr. Griset seconded the motion. Mr. Dahl moved to table the motion. Ms. D'Antona seconded the motion to table the motion. The vote was 3-0 Ms. D'Antona,Mr. Dahl and Mr. Twomey voted yes, L Ms. Cavicchi,Mr. Griset and Mr. Keigley voted no. The motion to table the motion �y did not pass. The vote on the original motion was 3-0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Griset and Mr. Keigley voted yes,Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, and Mr. Twomey voted no. The motion did not pass, Mr. Twomey suggested that the Committee vote on the total amount of the reduction as recommended by the Finance Committee without, at this time, attaching priorities. Mr. Twomey moved to reduce the recommended budget by up to$961,664 in a non- override budget not including building maintenance. Ms. D'Antona seconded the motion. The vote was 6-0 Ms. Cavicchi,Mr.Dahl,Ms. D'Antona,Mr. Griset, Mr. Keigley and Mr.Twomev. Dr. Harutunian suggested that the Committee hold April 2n°, 4" and 5`h open for a meeting to discuss prioritized reductions. Regular Session S March 26.2001 EXECUTIVE SESSION At 10:55 p.m. Mr. Griset made a motion to reconvene into executive session for the reasons previously stated and to discuss the sale or lease of real estate. Mr. Keiglev seconded the motion. The vote was 6-0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Griset,Mr. Keigley and Mr.Twomey. Respectfully submitted, Harryk. Harutunian, Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools 4 4