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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-02-27 School Committee Minutes` 'IJ U,, v FSJJ. Reading School Committee Reading, Massachusetts 1.1 Regular Session February 27, 2006 Call to Order Chair Spadafora called the regular session to order at 7:40 p.m. in the Media Center at J. Warren Killam Elementary School. Present were Mrs. Gibbs, Ms. Webb, Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Spadafora and Mr. McFadden. Also present were Superintendent Schettini, Assistant Superintendent Doherty and Director of Human Resources and Finance Mary DeLai. Bills and Payrolls Bills and Payrolls were circulated for signature. Citizen's Input There was none. Gifts There were no gifts. Mr. Spadafora welcomed everyone and thanked the Killam Community for hosting the event. He stated there was an informal gathering before the School Committee Meeting. The teachers gave highlights of the work they are doing. Ms. Webb thanked Mr. Guerrette for his unwavering leadership to our teachers. Liaison Reports Mr. McFadden stated he finished the Health Insurance Advisory Committee last week. They were expecting a 15% increase in the budgeted cost for heath insurance. In actuality there was no increase, saving the Town over one million dollars. Mr. McFadden attributes the savings as the Town treating the situation as a business and hiring a health care consultant to help. He stated that it would be hard for Blue Cross Blue Shield to justify a 15% increase in premiums when their earnings are so high. They anticipated an 8-10% increase in premiums for next year maybe less. Mr. McFadden thanked Steven Tringale, Reading resident and consultant, for his help. Chair Spadafora stated that health insurance is a significant part of the budget. Last year there was a 25% increase in health insurance. Chair Spadafora stated he asked Mr. Regular Session -2 Februarv 27, 2006 McFadden to be on the task force because of his entrepreneurial background. He stated he had a great deal of gratitude to Mr. McFadden. Ms. Webb highlighted a letter received from a 2004 Reading Memorial High School graduate. The point of the student letter was to thank her teachers and express her gratitude Ms. Webb went on to say that she is a member of the Fitness Five Committee. They were hoping to engage the School Councils in areas of health and wellness. Mr. Carpenter stated the Town now has contracts with two cable companies. A percentage of each bill goes to community television. The next RCTV meeting is March 14 and the Annual RCTV Meeting is March 15, 2006. Mr. Schettini stated that he had a conversation with Adan Rodriguez from SBA. He was doing a survey of the high school buildings and reported that he was impressed with the phasing and the work going on at the Reading Memorial High School Building Project. Mr. Schettini stated he went to an American Association of School Administrator's National Convention last week in San Diego. He stated that the items that he highlighted in the Spotlight on Education were themes of the convention Mr. Schettini introduced Mrs. Jane Darveau, Director of Guidance at Reading Memorial High School. Mrs. Darveau stated that at the request of the School Committee, she contacted colleges in the area and asked them how Reading is measuring up. She stated that the guidance department always asks returning students how they are doing in college. She said they usually see students around Thanksgiving. The answer is always the same. They are working hard but doing well. The Guidance Department corresponded with the Directors of Admission and/or the Admissions Counselors in charge of reading RMHS applications. In all cases, each college was contacted a second time if the Guidance Office had not received a reply within two weeks time. She stated that of the thirty schools contacted nine schools responded. She stated that many Admissions persons are out of town in the fall and that is why they only had nine responses. The nine schools which responded are Boston College, Bryant College, Colby College, Endicott College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Regular Session -3- February 27, 2006 Providence College, Quinnipiac College, St. Anselm College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She reviewed the questions asked in the survey. All schools answered in the affirmative when asked the first question about whether the academic program at RMHS is considered competitive with other "like" kinds of suburban high schools. All schools responded in the affirmative to question number 2. Question number two asked about whether RMHS students are considered competitive in the application process. The most competitive schools qualified their responses by stating that it depends on the quality of the RMHS students who apply. The third question asked the schools if they track the progress of RMHS students. Bryant College and Endicott College stated that they do. Providence College would track RMHS students only if they were athletes. Athletes are many times accepted with weaker academic credentials. All schools were asked to comment on the advantage, or not, of students having access to more Advanced Placement courses in high school. MIT and Colby College responded "not necessarily. As long as RMHS continues to motivate and challenge its students with the range and quality of courses it does offer. All other schools answered in the affirmative. It was stated that if RMHS chooses not to offer an Advanced Placement course in a particular area such as no AP English in grade twelve that RMHS should give the college a detailed description of the honors course offered in its place. In Reading the course is called "Idea of Man". Also, the colleges should be made aware if there is an enrollment cap on the class. Mrs. Darveau stated that the guidance department sends out a very compact, informative school profile to each college, which they continuously update. Mr. Dahl asked if colleges in this geographic area preferred students from this geographic area or if they prefer students from other geographic areas. Mrs. Darveau stated that Massachusetts's colleges do not want 98% of the freshman class to be from Massachusetts. There is not a quota from each town either. The colleges are looking for a broad range of students to make the freshman class more interesting. Ms. Webb stated it would be interesting to look at schools that our students typically do not get into and ask them what they are looking for. We want to deliver the best we can. Mr. McFadden thanked Mrs. Darveau. He asked her how we get this information to our middle school students. ivir. acnettmi stated that the RMHS principal gets together with all middle school students and this information is passed along. Regular Session -4- February 27, 2006 Mr. Finigan stated that he met with all middle school students back in November and that he is meeting with all of them again tomorrow. Mr. Carpenter thanked Mrs. Darveau for all the information. He asked her when the Admissions people come up for air. She told him April 15th Mr. Finigan stated that a goal of the District Improvement Plan was to offer more AP course. He said it was a personal goal of his as well. Mr. Dahl stated it would have been nice to see more responses but the ones we received were impressive. Mr. Dahl asked about the new grading system and how colleges look at that. Mrs. Darveau responded that most colleges look at the grade point average. All colleges are familiar with the 4.0 scale. They spent several years looking at different grading models. She gave an overview of different ways to grade. She stated that most colleges recalculate the grades for their own purposes anyway. Mr. Finigan thanked Jane Darveau for the support she gives our students. She stated she would contact the colleges again and report back if she received any more responses. Superintendent Schettini stated that on March 8th there would be a FinCom Meeting and a FinCom Meeting on March 15th Ms. Webb stated the Police Department would be hosting a program "Citizen Drug Recognition Academy" on four consecutive Tuesdays starting on Tuesday, March 7. She suggested people check the website for more information. Old Business Mr. Scott Dunlap from AD gave a review of the contingency fund and the change orders from the Reading Memorial High School Building Project. Mr. Dunlap asked that the Committee refer to page five of five of his hand out. He stated that the Change Order Breakdown is updated weekly and printed for distribution monthly. Regular Session -5- February 27, 2006 r Mr. Dunlap explained that all of the change orders are grouped into one of three categories. The three categories are Document Coordination, Unforeseen Conditions and Owner Changes. This report is of actual change orders. Mr. Dahl thanked Mr. Dunlap for his explanation. Mr. Dunlap stated there have been a number of change orders but no errors or mistakes. Less than 1% of change orders on the documents is good. Mr. McFadden asked of the schools listed on the hand out, how many of them had Project Management? Mr. Dunlap answered that some of them did and some did not. Mr. Dunlap stated that Contractors bid exactly what is on the documents. He said there is a difference between an incorrect item and a missed item. An incorrect item may be on the documents which is different from an item not shown. An item not shown is a value added item. If items were never on the documents you did not pay for them. He stated that after you add all the change orders you still are not even close to the next low bidder. Mr. Carpenter stated if TLT did not bid on the project we would not have been able to afford the next bidder. Ms. Webb wanted to acknowledge the efforts of Superintendent Schettini on this project. We knew that the contingency was too low to begin with. We need to maintain our efforts and tight controls. Ms. Webb thanked Scott Dunlap. Mr. McFadden asked about the auditorium. Mr. Dunlap told him it is scheduled for substantial completion on October 1, 2006. Chair Spadafora thanked Mr. Dunlap for the presentation. There was discussion concerning moving of funds from one project to another. Mr. Schettini stated that the warrant article is closing tomorrow so they had to decide if they would like to place, on the warrant, an article to transfer $150,000 from Barrows to the High School Project. Regular Session -6- February 27, 2006 Ms. Webb stated she was reluctant to give up the reimbursement on the Barrows money. Superintendent Schettini stated that Barrows had less technology than other schools. Mr. Doherty stated that Barrows had 37 "Type B" computers and two "Type A" computers. (Type B computers are over five years old.) The ratio of computer to child would be 200-1. Chair Spadafora suggested that the Committee take a vote and then have a discussion. Superintendent Schettini stated that Barrows needs money for technology. He just wanted the committee to know that this is an option. He is not recommending moving a specific amount. He wants the School Committee to consider all of the options. He stated if the school Committee votes to put the article on the warrant they can have further discussion on the issue before Town Meeting and decide to present or table it. Ms. Gibbs moved to request the Selectmen and the Town Manger place an Article on the Spring 2006 Town Meeting Warrant to transfer money from Barrows to the Reading Memorial High School Project Mr. McFadden seconded the motion The vote was 1-5. Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Spadafora, Mr. McFadden, Mrs Gibbs and Ms Webb voting against and Mr Dahl voting for The motion did not carry. There was discussion regarding the FY07 Budget. The Superintendent explained the budget was pared down to a 5.9% increase. They received good news on the Health Insurance. Chair Spadafora stated he appreciated the time spent on the budget. The new Assistant Town Manager is new to the budget process. Ms. DeLai stated the original budget had a 6.2% increase. They decreased the budget by $70,000 making the increase 5.9%. From that they had to decrease another $23,000. She gave an overview of the reductions. There was discussion regarding the circuit breaker offset. Ms. Webb moved to approve the FY07 School Department Budget of $33,601,474 and Town Maintenance Budget of $637,000 Mrs Gibbs seconded the motion The vote was 5-1. Mrs. Gibbs, Ms. Webb, Mr Carpenter, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Spadafora votmg in favor. Mr. McFadden opposed Ms. DeLai gave update on the FY06 Budget stating we still have four months left in the fiscal year and are currently in a cold snap. Regular Session -7- February 27, 2006 Approval of Minutes Ms. Gibbs moved to approve the minutes of January 3, 2006 Mr. Carpenter seconded the motion. The vote 5-0-1. Mrs. Gibbs Ms. Webb Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Spadafora voting for and Mr. McFadden abstaining Ms. Gibbs moved to approve the minutes of January 9, 2006 as-amended. Mr. Carpenter seconded the motion The vote 5-0-1 Mrs Gibbs, Ms Webb, Mr. Carpenter, Mr. McFadden Mr. Spadafora voting for and Mr. Dahl, abstaining Ms. Gibbs moved to approve the minutes of February 6, 2006 Mr. McFadden seconded the motion. The vote 6-0. Mrs. Gibbs Ms. Webb Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Spadafora and Mr. McFadden. Adjourn Mrs. Gibbs moved to adiourn Mr. Dahl seconded the motion The vote was 6-0. Mrs. Gibbs, Ms. Webb, Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Dahl, Mr. Spadafora and Mr. McFadden. Superintendent of School