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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-01-22 School Committee Minutes READING SCHOOL COMMITTEE T RECEIVEp Reading, Massachusetts REt1DIN�MASS Regular Session JanuadMlr?iOQI Allrpl CALL TO ORDER Chair Cavicchi called the meeting to order at 7:37 p.m. in the RMHS Lecture Hall. Present were School Committee Members Cavicchi, Dahl, D'Antona, Griset, Keigley and Twomey. Also present were Superintendent Harutunian,Associate Superintendent Richards, Town Accountant Foley, and Finance Committee members McDonald and Robinson. SUPERINTENDENT'S AWARD Dr. Harutunian awarded the Massachusetts Association of Superintendents' Awards to seniors Mary Christine Kwiatek and Christopher Conlan. Mr. Dahl, on behalf of the School Committee, congratulated Mary Christine and Christopher for their outstanding achievements. He asked that the Superintendent write letters to the colleges Mary Christine and Christopher applied to outlining the award they received this evening. Chair Cavicchi and Dr. Harutunian thanked Jake McAleer for his service as student representative and noted that a new student representative would be appointed to the Committee for the third quarter. BILLS & PAYROLL Bills and payroll are as follows: Payroll 59 January 19, 2001 $167,391.08 Warrant 60 January 22, 2001 $347,890.41 Chair Cavicchi advised a short recess would be taken. PUBLIC HEARING FY02 BUDGET Chair Cavicchi advised that the Committee would take input from the public regarding the FY02 budget. Laura Wilson made a statement regarding the importance of class size at the elementary schools and thanked the Committee for their support. Reaular Session January 22, 2001 Paula Perry made a statement regarding the importance of class size at the elementary level and that more than just the number of students in a class needs to be taken into account when determining where teachers will be placed. She stated that she hoped the Committee would leave the decision on teacher placement to the principals who are aware of specific student issues in each classroom. Gary Phillips recommended that the School Committee revise the budget presentation and adopt an approach similar to the Board of Selectmen's so citizen's can compare items line by line from previous year. Linda Phillips asked why, when we have the same number of out of district special education students, is there such a large increase in cost. Mr. Dahl stated that the issue was discussed at the last meeting, the question had been answered, several time. Mr. Griset stated that it is unfortunate that we can't be civil. He stated that the question had been answered and Dr. Harmunian had agreed to provide documents again to Ms. Phillips. Linda Snow Dockser discussed the importance of class size and stated that more than the number of students in a class should be considered. She stated that the decisions on where to place teachers should be left to principals and staff who are aware of confidential issues with students. She thanked the Committee and Dr. Harutunian for allowing parents to participate in the budget process. Dr. Harutunian stated that no decision has been made regarding keeping two of the four elementary teachers, adding 1.2 middle school teachers and .8 high school teacher. Gael Phillips Spence discussed the importance of class size including the class size of remedial classes. Ellen Mounteer discussed the amount of fund raising that parents do in Reading to support the schools. She stated that the community needs to be aware of how much time and money parents invest in the Reading Public Schools. She stated that this budget may be the beginning of a downward slide for the school system because of lack of funding. She discussed the amount of money school PTO's raise each year to provide enrichment to the students. RRe ular Session 3 January 22,2001 Kathy Guyott stated that she took a survey of all PTOs in town and every year PTOs raise approximately $180,000. She stated that in addition to PTO's there are parents that have paid for intercom, books,copy machines, furniture, word processors and classroom equipment. She stated that Reading is one of the few towns that do not provide bussing. She stated that she checked and bussing costs are not included in the per pupil. Al Garbarino asked for clarification. He stated that the discussion was around adding two elementary teachers when in fact the recommendation is to cut two of the four elementary teachers. He also asked how many empty classrooms there are. He asked that the cost of operating a fifth school be reviewed. Dr. Harmunian advised that he is correct the Superintendent's Recommended FY02 budget included eliminating four elementary teachers. He has made an adjustment that would bring back two of the four that were recommended to be eliminated. He stated that right now there are no empty classrooms. He stated that depending on where the principals and administration decide to place two elementary teachers there may be an empty classroom next year. Dr. Harutunian stated that people need to remember that the new school is not being built just for the next five years but for the next 40 years. He stated that building the new school would allow all other elementary schools to have core facilities including art and music rooms. Mr. Keigley stated that the project has been delayed because of litigation and that is increasing costs for the new school and that the economy is slowing. Ms. D'Antona stated that some teachers going to the new school will be from portable classrooms that will be eliminated because of the building project. Mr. Dahl advised that 16 classrooms would be removed from the existing elementary schools to provide space for dedicated art/music, etc and those classrooms would be moved to the new school. He stated that the cost of a principal, secretary,media specialist etc. would be increases to the budget. Karen Petterson stated that she is pleased with the MCAS results but is concerned about the fact that students will need to pass the test in order to graduate. She asked what was being done to help students who are at risk. Dr. Harmunian stated that he feels that he will not be successful unless 100% of the students taking the MCAS test pass the test. He stated that a program has been started to work towards the goal of 100%passing the test. I Regular Session 4 January 22 2001 Mr. Phillips stated that he is a signer of the taxpayer's complaint and that Mr. Keigley stated that the litigation is causing the delay of the schools and he stated that the litigation has nothing to do with the delay. Dr. Harutunian stated that Mr. Phillips is welcome to make comments but that the Superintendent and School Committee have been advised by council not comment on pending litigation. Mr. Philips stated that the Barrows school had an enrollment in 1998 of 498 students and enrollment is down by 100 students. Dr. Harutunian stated that the Barrows school never had an enrollment of 498. Mr. Phillips stated that he had documentation that proved that Barrows had an enrollment of 498 students and he asked Dr. Harutunian whether he would admit publicly that he was wrong once Mr. Phillips produced the documents. Dr. Harutunian stated that the Barrows school never had an enrollment of 498 students. Mr. Twomey recommended that the Committee not discuss budget reductions until the Board of Selectmen makes a determination on the override. Karen Peterson asked if the community would have an opportunity to hear proposed reductions by the School Committee once the Selectmen make a decision. The Committee tentatively agreed to meet Monday January 29t'at 7:30 p.m. to discuss budget reductions. Nadine Wandzilak from the Advocate stated that there was some discussion Wednesday evening of the possibility of$900,000 cut she asked when the School Committee would be discussing that issue. Dr. Harutunian advised that he has put out$1,000,000 of proposed reductions and that the Committee would be waiting for the Selectmen to make a decision. Mr. Twomey clarified for Ms. Wandzilak that the School Committee was not present at the Wednesday evening meeting and comments made by members of the School Committee were personal comments and did not represent the Committee's view. Dr. Harutunian responded to Mr. Phillips' questions about Barrows enrollment. He stated that the official October I"enrollment for 1998 was 475 students, but that Mr. Phillips needed to realize that of the 475 students there were 8 kindergarten classes or half-day students. Regular Session 5 January 22, 2001 Mr. Philips thanked Dr. Harunmian for addressing the issue. Al Garbarino asked if the override passes would we still be reducing the number of teachers from last year. Dr. Harmunian advised that the FTE's would remain the same but that positions may be shifted. Al Garbarino asked if we would have less teachers than Dr. Harutunian believed we should. Dr. Hartnunian advised that we would have less teachers than he believed we should. ADJOURN At 8:45 p.m. Mr. Griset moved to enter executive session for the purpose of conductine strategy session in preparations for negotiations with teachers, secretaries and clerks, custodial maintenance workers, cafeteria employees, educational assistants and nurses and to discuss pending lineation. Not to return to regular session. Mr. Keigley seconded the motion. The vote was 6-0 Ms. Cavicchi, Mr. Dahl, Ms. D'Antona, Mr. Griset,Mr. Keigley and Mr. Twomey. Respectfully submitted, K .G� Harry K. Harmunian, Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools 4