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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-03-12 School Committee Minutes READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE Reading, Massachusetts Regular Session March 12.2001 CALL TO ORDER Chair Cavicchi called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Superintendent's Conference Room. Present were School Committee members Cavicchi, Dahl, Griset, Keigley, and Twomey. Also present were Superintendent Harutunian,Associate Superintendent Richards and Town Manager Hechenbleikner. Ms. D'Antona arrived during executive session. At 7:02 p.m. Mr. Griset made a motion to enter into executive session for the purpose of conducting strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with the Teachers' Association,Secretaries and Clerks,Nurses,Custodial Maintenance Workers, Cafeteria Employees, Educational Assistants and Administrators and to discuss pending litigation. Mr.Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was 5-0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Griset, Mr. Keigley and Mr. Twomey. CALL BACK TO ORDER At 7:55 p.m. Chair Cavicchi called the meeting back to order. All School Committee members, Superintendent Harutunian and Associate Superintendent Richards were present. Chair Cavicchi read her letter submitted to the Reading Advocate and Reading Chronicle responding to Dr. Mandell's letter to the editor that appeared in the Reading Advocate. A copy of Chair Cavicchi's response is included as a part of the minutes. HIGHLIGHTS Dr. Harmunian thanked the teacher Chris Vasseur and the students of the Coolidge Middle School for providing the artwork for the School Committee room for the month of March. Dr. Hamtunian showed the Eaton video tape of the Senior Tea. Dr. Harutunian thanked the staff and students at the Joshua Eaton School. Mr. Dahl stated that Music Teacher At Mosier is shared between two schools and that means exposure to music for Reading's students is severely limited. He stated that if funds were available he would like to see a full time music teacher at each school. Mr. Dahl and Mr. Griset both stated Mr. Mosier is an outstanding music teacher and agreed that if a teacher had to be shared between two schools Mr. Mosier is an excellent teacher kto be handle the two schools. Regular Session 2 March 12, 2001 AW SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Dr. Harutunian updated the Committee and the audience on the FY02 budget presentation given to the Finance Committee on March 7ih. Mr. Dahl stated that the presentation to the Finance Committee went well and stated that Dr. Harutunian did a good job of handling the budget questions. He stated that the presentation gave the School Committee the opportunity to clarify points that the Finance Committee had questions on. Dr. Harutunian described the budget process and stated that approximately 250 copies of the School Committee budget are distributed. Dr. Harutunian advised that Commissioner Driscoll has informed Superintendent's that there will be no waiver for the snow days due to recent storm. Dv Harutunian advised that the SBA is looking at raising the reimbursement rate per square foot for building projects. Dr. Harutunian advised that he had approved the Reading Memorial High School baseball team's request to travel to Cooperstown,New York,to play a Middlesex League game against Lexington. He stated that this was the 8ih year the baseball team would make this trip. Dr. Harutunian updated the Committee on the Coordinated Program Review by the Department of Education. He thanked Dennis Richards for his outstanding work in coordinating the review process. He stated that the visiting team was very impressed with the preparedness of the Reading Public Schools and that the Office of Civil Rights information was some of the best work the visiting team had seen. Dr. Harutunian stated that the nutrition portion went well and that one of the suggestions received was to provide more information, in five languages, to students and families regarding the nutritional content of the lunches. He thanked Director of Food Services Cathie Cook. Dr. Harutunian advised that improvement in the area of special education paperwork is needed. He stated that the visiting team found that students were receiving the necessary services but that paperwork was not being completed in a timely manner. Dr. Harutunian advised that he expects to receive written recommendations from the DOE in the near future. He also stated that the DOE gave some passing areas because of the plans for the new elementary school. He stated that without the new elementary 4 school being as far along in the process as it is, the DOE would not have tolerated certain Regular Session 3 March 12,2001 areas including having the elementary DEC center and kindergarten classes at Coolidge Middle School Mr. Twomey asked what the issue is about having the DEC and kindergarten programs at the Coolidge Middle School. He asked what the ramifications would be if the DOE told us to move the DLC and we did not comply. Dr. Harutunian advised that there was an issue because having the elementary DEC at the Coolidge Middle School was not the least restricted environment. He stated that the DOE,because of the short-term nature of housing students at Coolidge, is not requiring us to move the students. He stated that if for some reason the elementary project did not move forward and the DOE required that the DLC be moved and we did not comply we would lose Chapter 70 funding. Mr. Griset requested that grants be looked at to comply with the DOE's nutrition recommendation. GIFTS Mr.Twomey moved to accept the$1,000 donation from the Young Women's League of Reading. Ms. D'Antona seconded the motion. The vote was 6-0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl,Ms. D'Antons, Mr. Griset, Mr. Keigley and Mr. Twomey. Mr. Twomey moved to accept the $1,000 anonymous donation to 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. Keiglev and Mr.Twomey. Mr. Twomey moved to accept the $500 grant from ExxonMobil to the Reading Memorial High School. Ms. D'Antona seconded the motion. The vote was 6-0 Ms. Cavicchi Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Griset,Mr. Kcialev and Mr. Twomev. Mr. Dahl stated that he is, as always, impressed with the level of generosity from the community. LIAISON REPORT Mr. Dahl again thanked the Superintendent for his presentation to the Finance Committee on March 7". Mr. Dahl distributed information regarding comparable towns, population, school population, number of students attending public school,per pupil expenditures and MCAS scores. Mr. Keigley stated that Reading is a bedroom community with one tax rate for both residential and commercial. He stated that we need to capitalize on the educational factor in Reading and try to bring some college campuses into town. Regular Session 4 March 12, 2001 Mr. Dahl stated that the chart shows that we generate a very respectable education for our students for the fiscal realities of the town and money spent on education. Chair Cavicchi stated that she and the Superintendent would be attending the Recreation Commission meeting to discuss rental of facilities on Wednesday evening. Mr. Griset advised that the Substance Abuse Advisory Council had a wonderful forum scheduled for this past Tuesday which had to be cancelled due to the weather. He stated that the forum would be rescheduled. CITIZENS INPUT Ms. Linda Phillips stated that the Committee had made$300,000 in cuts and asked when the additional $200,000 in cuts would be voted and what the process would be. Chair Cavicchi stated that the Committee has a prioritized list of reductions. Dr. Hamtunian stated that the School Committee has a list of$1,000,000 of reductions and a prioritized$500,000 worth of reductions, the amount recommended by the Town Manager. He stated that the Committee is waiting to hear on the Finance Committee's recommended split. 4 Mr. Griset stated that there was a distinction in the $500,000 of prioritized cuts. He stated that after the first$300,000 the remainder of the cuts would cause significant programmatic loss. CALENDAR The Committee tentatively agreed to a meeting date of April 12ih. NEW BUSINESS After discussion, the Committee agreed to schedule a retreat in May. Dr. Harutunian advised that he would send a memorandum to the Committee asking for input on the agenda and their recommended outcome. SUPERINTENDENT"S EVALUATION It was the consensus of the Committee to have a subcommittee of Chair Cavicchi, Jim Keigley and Bill Griset review the Superintendent's Evaluation instrument and make recommendations to the Board for frameworks. 4 Regular Session 5 March 12,2001 MINUTES Ms. D'Antona made a motion to approve the minutes of February 12, 2001. Mr. Twomey seconded the motion. The vote was 5-0-1 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Griset and Mr. Keigley voted yes, Mr. Twomey abstained. EXECUTIVE SESSION At 9:05 a.m. Mr. Griset made a motion to return to executive session for the reasons Previously articulated and to discuss the possible sale or lease of real estate and to approve executive session minutes. Not to return to regular session. Mr. Keiglev seconded the motion. The vote was 6-0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl,Ms. D'Antona,Mr. Griset, Mr. Keiglev and Mr. Twomey. Respectfully submitted, Harry K. Hamtunian, Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools