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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-06-21 School Committee MinutesReading Public Schools Reading, Massachusetts Regular Meeting of the School Committee Open Session Date: June 21, 2010 Time: 7:30 p.m. (Open Session) Place: Superintendent's Conference Room School Committee Members Present Chuck Robinson Hal Croft David Michaud Karen Janowski Chris Caruso Lisa Gibbs Matt Conway, Student Representative Visitors: Christine Lyons, Reading Chronicle ~.~T. Call to Order r L L L E1 i ~ ~ '1 f'A r`~ 2010 JUL 21 P 12: S S Staff Members Present John Doherty, Superintendent Mary DeLai, Director of Finance and Operations Colleen Dolan, Director of Pupil Services Chairperson Robinson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. He welcomed guests and reviewed the agenda. A. New Business (Out of Order) Reorganization Mr. Robinson passed the gavel to Dr. Doherty who reviewed the reorganization process. Dr. Doherty opened the floor to nominations. Mr. Michaud nominated Mr. Caruso seconded by Mr. Croft. Mr. Croft nominated Mr. Robinson. On a roll call vote Mr. Caruso was elected Chair. The vote was 5-1. Mr. Michaud, Mrs. Janowski, Mr. Croft, Mrs. Gibbs and Mr. Robinson. Mr. Caruso voted for Mr. Robinson. Dr. Doherty thanked Chair Robinson for his support and leadership The gavel was returned to Chair Caruso who opened the floor to nominations for Vice Chair. Mrs. Gibbs nominated Mr. Robinson seconded by Mr. Michaud. Mrs. Janowski nominated Mr. Michaud seconded by Mrs. Gibbs. Mr. Michaud nominated Mrs. Janowski seconded by Mr. Croft. June 21, 2010 On a roll call vote Mr. Robinson was elected Vice Chair. The vote was 4-2. Mr. Caruso, Mr. Robinson, Mr. Croft and Mrs. Gibbs. Mrs. Janowski and Mr. Michaud voted for Mr. Michaud. Mr. Robinson was elected Vice Chair. Mr. Caruso thanked the School Committee for their support and recognized Chuck Robinson for his leadership over the past two years and his service to the School Committee. II. Recommended Procedure B. Public Input (I) C. Reports (I 1. Student Mr. Conway reported on the end of the school year. Final exam week went well and the spring sports, drama and band held their end of year banquets. The high school Film Production Club hosted a film festival and the Improv Troupe hosted hnprovosaurus last week. Mr. Conway shared there were educational enrichment activities throughout the summer including trips to Italy and Greece and Iceland. The Spanish exchange is taking place presently with the Spanish students here with their host families. 2. Liaison Mr. Robinson reported that he attended the Coolidge 8th grade graduation and the Parker Awards ceremony. Chair Caruso reminded the School Committee of the special election on Wednesday. Mrs. Janowski inquired about putting a district wide calendar of events on the website. Dr. Doherty said we could do that. 3. Superintendent's Report Dr. Doherty updated the committee on the elementary enrollment. He stated that there has not been much change since the last update but feels there will be some movement over the summer as we get closer to the start school year. He also reported that the last day of school for students went smoothly on Friday and the staff's last day was today. There were professional development opportunities as well as a chance for the Birch Meadow and Killam staffs to pack up the classrooms to make way for the performance contracting work that will be done over the summer. Dr. Doherty thanked the School Committee for taking part in the Friends and Family event. He said it was a great day and a good way for the community to connect. He also reported that he and April Goran have been working on revamping the edline pages and website. June 21, 20 10 Superintendent Doherty stated that this would be Colleen Dolan's last meeting. He thanked her for her three years of service to the district and all the positive change that has occurred during her tenure. He wished her luck in her new position at NEC. 4. Director of Finance and Operations 5. Director of Pupil Services D. Continued Business Naming Sub-Committee Repo Dr. Doherty asked the Naming Committee to provide direction for the policy development. Mr. Michaud reviewed the minutes and stated that the Naming Committee researched other communities' policies to develop the bullet points in their minutes. The School Committee members asked clarifying questions and went on to discuss the possibility of looking into revenue generation opportunities. Mr. Robinson and Mr. Croft felt it was important to keep the educational element with the corporate naming rights. - Ms. DeLai stated she would do fact finding on corporate naming rights. Dr. Doherty stated he would have a draft policy for the July 19th meeting. FYI I Budget Dr. Doherty reported that due to the increased number of students in the RISE Preschool program an additional class has been added. This class will be housed in the Joshua Eaton School. Dr. Doherty asked Mrs. Dolan to provide the background of the RISE program. She indicated that when she started 3 years ago all classes were integrated and had approximately 15 students. We now have 5 classes - 2 of which are substantially separate and the class sizes are 3- 7 students. The Reading Public Schools have seen an increase in the number of students with disabilities every year. Contributing to these increases are the number of children referred by Early Intervention programs. Dr. Doherty indicated that the additional classroom would require hiring an additional teacher that would be funded out of the regular day tuition account as well as the special education tuition revolving account. Ms. DeLai updated the community on the status of the stimulus funds. She stated that we have been notified of the amount of our FYl'l funds. The IDEA grant will be funded at approximately the same level as FY10. $330K of the $582K will be used to backfill the circuit breaker account and the rest of the funds will be used to maintain established programs. We will be carrying over $290K of the SFSF funding. $80K will be used to hire class size tutors for the larger classes in the district. The remainder will be used for technology and professional development. June 21, 2010 The district has also filed an application for an early Childhood grant which will be used for a preschool teacher. Dr. Doherty also explained that in discussions with Mrs. Dolan there is a need to reinstate the Team Chair position that was eliminated due to retirement in the FYl 1 budget. This position may be restructured to a transition position. Mr. Robinson moved, seconded by Mrs. Gibbs to authorize the Superintendent to restore the Special Education Team Chair position for the 2010-2011 school year, in which the hiring of the position will be contingent upon available funding. Mr. Michaud asked if this position is the number one priority from the cut list indicating that class size is also a concern. He also wanted to clarify that during previous meetings that the middle school administration would perform the tasks required by the elimination of this position. This will put an extra burden on the middle school administrators. Mr. Robinson asked what the salary would be. Dr. Doherty indicated it would be up to $72,000. Ms. DeLai pointed out due to the lateness in the posting of this position the salary would most likely be prorated and therefore less. Mrs. Dolan indicated that the Team Chairs play a key role in ensuring that the district is in compliance with all laws and regulations. The Team Chairs are a vital component in the goal of returning children back to our in-district programs. The vote was 5-1. Mrs.Janowski voting against. III. Routine Matters • Bills and Payroll (A) • Approval of Minutes • Bids and Donations Mr. Robinson moved, seconded by Mrs. Janowski, to authorize the Superintendent to enter into agreement with GVW Inc. of East Boston, MA to provide Town Hall Window Sash Construction in the Town Hall Annex as outlined in the Director of Finance and Operations memorandum dated June 18, 2010. The motion carried 6-0. to accept a donation in the amount of $1,250 from the Coolidge School Science Olympiad Support Group to be used to compensate the head coach for the 2009-2010 season as outlined in the Superintendent's memorandum dated June 17, 2010. The motion carried 6-0. _Mr. Robinson, moved, seconded by Mr. Michaud, to accept a donation totaling $5,706 from the Birch Meadow School PTO to be used to support technology and technology integration as outlined in the Superintendent's memorandum dated June 17, 2010. The motion carried 6-0. Mr. Robinson, moved, seconded by Mrs. Janowski, to accept a donation in the amount of $1,500 from the Friends of RMHS Girls Hockey to be used to support the coaching June 21, 2010 assistants for the program as outlined in the Superintendent's memorandum dated June 18, 2010. Mr. Croft expressed concerns over continuing to fund coaching assistants with donations. He feels that it disrupts the continuity of the coaching staffs. He inquired to why the Committee was approving so many donations for these positions. Ms. DeLai explained that the School Committee is now approving these donations from the booster and support groups because of the guidelines that have been put in place regarding donations. Mrs. Janowski asked if Ms. DeLai could provide a tally of donation received this year. The motion carried 6-0. Calendar Mr. Caruso reminded the School Committee that the next meeting is July 19th IV. Information V. Adjournment Mr. Robinson moved, seconded by Mr. Croft, to adiourn. The motion carried 6-0. VI. Future Business Meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m. NOTE: The minutes reflect the order as stated in the posted meeting agenda not the order they occurred during the meeting. 1 Joan F'. Doherty, Pd.D. Su rintendent of Schools