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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-01-07 School Committee MinutesREADING SCHOOL COMMITTEE READING SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE Reading, Massachusetts Joint Meeting with the School Building Committee January 7, 2000 CALL TO ORDER Chair Dahl called the School Committee meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Reading Memorial High School Lecture Hall. Present were Mr. Twomey, Mrs. Cavicchi, Mrs. D'Antona, Mr. Dahl and Mrs.Williams. Mr. Keigley was ill. Chair Graham called the School Building Committee to order. Present were Mr. Radville, Mrs. Perry, Mr. Lupi, Mr. McRae. and Mr. Finigan. Mr. Struble arrived at 8:00 p.m. Chair Dahl explained that this meeting was an information session. He would make an opening statement and Mr. Graham would make an opening statement. They would then solicit and answer questions from the audience. Mr. Dahl asked that everyone direct one question toward the panel and after that if someone had a second question they would then answer second questions. Mr. Dahl introduced the School Committee members, Superintendent Harutunian and Town Manager, Hechenbleikner. The Superintendent and the Town Manger were present to provide back up information. Mr. Dahl went on to say that the School Committee voted on two occasions to build a fifth elementary school. The decision was approved by the Finance Committee and Town Meeting on two occasions. The School Assistance Bureau would reimburse the Town of Reading 66%. If we do not solve all our enrollment issues, none of the renovations or construction costs would be reimbursable. The School Committee realizes all of the enrollment issues. An Enrollment Committee was formed to review these issues. They spent thousands of hours and came up with thirty solutions. The solution has to be both cost effective and educationally sound. Mr. Graham stated that the School Building Committee is a committee independent of Town Meeting. The School Building Committee was created to bring back information and solutions. Enrollment is an issue in Reading. The majority of people on the School Building Committee and the majority of Town Meeting Members do not have school age children. They have been working to inform the public through many public forums at different schools, on several dates throughout the fall. At the November 15th Town Meeting, they did not leave until all the questions concerning the new school and renovations had been answered. Mr. Dahl stated that they would start answering questions at this time. He asked that everyone identify himself or herself before asking their question. Joint Meeting with the School Building Committee -2- January 7, 2000 Mr. Bill Denhard asked what funds the Town had on hand and what was the schedule for reimbursement by the state. Mr. Hechenbleikner answered that we do not have a Capital Reserve Account. The closest we have to that is a Sale of Real Estate Account. The funds in this account can only be used in three ways. The funds can be used for capital items, debt service and payment of unfunded retirement liabilities. We currently have approximately $ 1.4 million in this account. We can only fund Capital Projects with 6% of the total operational budget. The renovation of Reading Memorial High School would require a debt override. For the new school, the Town would pay interest-only for five years. The Town would purchase Bond Anticipation Notes for five years and obtain construction financing. The SBAB reimbursement would be about five years. Parker funds were received in four years. Keep in mind that the interest on the bonding is reimbursable. Mr. Hechenbleikner went on to say that the total cost of principal and interest is reimbursed at a rate of 66% over a twenty-year period. Ms. Fran Sansalone asked about the use of space at Reading Memorial High School. Housing elementary and kindergarten-aged children at the high school will not work. Will someone address this? Mr. Dahl stated that there is more than one way to address this issue. He asked Mr. Joseph Finigan, Assistant Principal at the High School to speak. Mr. Finigan stated that in 1970 there was not a RISE or REAP Program at the high school. There was no such thing as Special Education and the Superintendent rented space on Gould Street. All high school students now attend six classes per day. We no longer have open campus. All of these factors contribute to the space concerns. Mr. Radville indicated that there are 96 teaching stations at the high school. Six classrooms are used for Special Education. Seven Classrooms are used for computer labs and three classrooms are used for Department Offices. One room is used for the cable television station and one is used for the office of an assistant principal. The equivalent of four classrooms is used for the Administrative Offices. Two classrooms are used by REAP and four at the RISE Preschool. The SEEM Program uses two rooms and the high school yearbook takes up one classroom. If the Superintendent had to rent space elsewhere, where would that be and at what cost? Dr. Harutunian stated that if we moved kindergarten out of the elementary schools, the two classrooms that would be freed up would have to be used as an art room and a music room. In 1997 the firm, DRA calculated that it would cost 6.5 million to renovate space at the high school for kindergarten students. Mr. Twomey added that there would be educational issues with 400 extra students at the high school. We would also have to bus all of the kindergarten students to the high ' school at a significant extra cost. Joint Meeting with the School Building Committee -3- January 7, 2000 Mr. Harry Curtis stated that his question was of a financial nature. He asked what the cost is to build a new school and what is the cost of modular classrooms. Dr. Harutunian stated that the cost of modulars is carried out over ten years effecting the cash flow of the town. The cost for concrete modulars is approximately the same. Modulars have a useful life of 15-18 years. The problem with modulars is that you are losing on your core facilities. The cafeterias, gyms and auditoriums are being over taxed and will wear out before their time. A "turn-key" modular classroom includes everything but the teacher and the students. Mrs. Cathy Guyott asked when the fire station would be paid off and how does that effect the school situation. Carol Grimm responded that that we would be trading one debt for another. The ladder truck and the fire station are almost paid up. Mr. Hechenbleikner followed up with the fact that we have a very detailed capital plan. When something is paid we know that something else will follow. Mr Dahl stated that we have an impressive track record with our capital plan. Mr. Hechenbleikner recapped some of the capital items of the last ten years. We did major renovation and construction at Birch Meadow and Joshua Eaton. We had major renovations and construction at Parker Middle ,School and Coolidge Middle School. We renovated the Town Hall and built a new Fire Station. We completed all of these items with no override. Mr. Gary Nihan, educator, parent and taxpayer stated that we were at the crossroads ten years ago and we are at another crossroads now. If we had done everything we wanted to do at Joshua Eaton and Birch Meadow when we wanted to, we may not be in some of these predicaments now. Mr. Mark Wisniewski asked if we have been guaranteed the 66% reimbursement in writing as well as been given a payment schedule from SBAB. Mr. Graham read from a letter received by the school department from the School Building Assistance Bureau. The SBAB was pleased to confirm that the building of a new school and renovations to two existing schools is classified as a category 2 enrollment problem and would in deed be reimbursable at a rate of 66%. The reimbursement includes construction costs and interest. Mr. Dahl stated that it was a pre-approval not a guaranty. This is as good a response as we were going to get. Mr. Wisniewski asked how does the new school effect class size? He was told that this was hard to predict and measure. Mr. Dahl stated that the class size at the lower elementary levels (kindergarten and grade 1) is approximately 22. By the fifth grade it could be as high as 30 students without the new school. Joint Meeting with the School Building Committee -4- January 7, 2000 Dr. Harutunian added that the Dividence Road School could possibly be at maximum capacity the day it opens. 1995 had the largest number of births. We have had a strong economy. There are 16-18 teachers per grade across town. Some classes have more needs than others do. Mrs. Paula Perry says schools are not just bricks and mortar. Core size is just as important as class size. Space for the gym, music, art, special education and the cafeteria are important also. Mr. Wisnewski wanted to know how many students were being taught in stairwells and closets. Mr. Dahl told him that even one student was too many. Dr. Harutunian told him that all regular education students were assigned to classrooms. Situations arose, due to the lack of space, that some special education students occasionally had to be taught or treated in closets or stairwells. Mrs. Sheila Mulroy stated that maybe 4 students could be in a hallway for Speech or Music for a short time because of space issues. She went on to say that her first grader is in a class of 27. She has never had a child in a class of less than 24 and certainly not 17. At Birch Meadow, they do have speech classes in the boiler room. School concerts have to be divided by grade level because there are so many students. Mrs. Cavicchi stated that she has a young friend at Joshua Eaton. He stopped having pizza for lunch on Fridays because the line is so long that he did not have time to eat the pizza after he got it. Mr. John Russo from Granger Avenue stated that he was over 55 and would not be having any children. He said this new school was a permanent solution to a temporary problem. He said the number of children in Reading was declining. The general population in Reading stays the same. Mr. Twomey explained that there have been times when the number of children in Reading have numbered 6,000 and times when there have been 2,800 while the total population stays the same. It is a fact that the population of school aged children is definitely not declining. SBAB looks at the big picture and the best solution for the tax dollar. We need a permanent solution at this time. Dr. Harutunian repeated that births are not declining. Births are averaging 325 the last few years. Children born in 1999 will go to kindergarten in 2004 and probably be with us for thirteen years. 96% of the students who start in kindergarten graduate from the high school. Of the 4,500 Reading school children, about 150 opt to go to private school. Most people move to Reading for the total K-12 experience not just 9-12 or K-5. Joint Meeting with the School Building Committee -5- January 7, 2000 Karen Epstein asked the Committee what was found when they looked at temporary solutions versus permanent solutions. Paula Perry explained that the temporary solutions were costly with no reimbursement. The permanent solutions are cheaper. Mr. Lou White asked if the state were to pay 66% then who would pay the other 34%. He was told that the 34% would be paid by the Reading taxpayer via the Capital Plan. A citizen stated that over the past nine years his taxes have gone up 50%. That is almost 5% a year. His taxes have gone up over 59% in the past ten years from $ 4,200 to $ 5,900. He mentioned all the projects that have been done without an override. He now knows how all the projects were done without an override. Mr. Hechenbleikner explained proposition 2 ''/2%. Taxes could not increase more than 2'/a% in one year. The total tax burden has not increased more than 2'/z% in any year. Commercial property values have not increased like residential values. Real Estate taxes provide only two thirds of the revenue of the Town. Mr. Alfred Santosuosso has lived in Reading for six years. He cannot believe that we are discussing this man's tax bill. He cannot understand why we won't bring our tax dollars back to Reading. Mr. Twomey pointed out that students and teachers need to work and to learn in a healthy environment. Good physical facilities certainly help. Morale at Coolidge and Parker Middle Schools is certainly up. The best educational solution happens to be the best financial one. A fifth school would greatly reduce congestion. We would reinforce the neighborhood school. There was discussion about the site and the access roads for the new school. The architect has said that the location is the best site they have seen for a school. Mr. Dahl said most people find schools to be good neighbors. Mr. Roc O'Connell stated that things should be crystal clear but they are not. They must have information that he does not. Are we utilizing space the proper way? Mr. Dahl said that the high school will be filled with students. High school life and curriculum have changed greatly since 1970. Even if all the groups left the high school we would still be full. We should have renovated the high school 15 years ago. We have recently spent large sums of money just to keep it running. Mrs. Patty Beckman moved back to Reading after spending five years in Idaho. She now lives on Sun Set Rock Lane. She wanted to know where the access road for the new school was going to be. She wanted to know why other roads were not being considered. She was told that the final access roads have not been determined yet. The access road will be determined by the architect if and as the project progresses. The access road decision will be based primarily on safety, taking into consideration the footprint of the site. Joint Meeting with the School Building Committee -6- January 7, 2000 A citizen remarked that if you have SEEM and RISE at the high school why can't you accommodate kindergarten students. The Superintendent stated that the SEEM students are of high school age. The RISE program is self-contained. The RISE students do not go to the cafeteria or really use any of the facilities up at the high school outside of their area. Tracey Sutebach from Franklin Street asked how fully developed the town could be. Mr. Hechenbleikner answered that there is no decisive formula. What is available to build? Will Meadow Brook always be a golf course? It is said that there are no more lots but every time you turn around we see new construction. The Longwood Turkey Farm has thirty-five acres of land. Mr. Harry Curtis gave examples of space shortages at the Killam School. Mr. John Russo stated that not enough information had been received on time. Mr. Dahl said there was not much time between Town meeting and the Election but plenty of information was available. Mr. Graham was stunned to hear that information was not available. He stated that no new questions have been asked here tonight. He again listed all the dates of the public meetings and forums where everything was explained and information given. Fran Sansalone stated that she read about seven options in the Chronicle over a year ago. Diana Kaine asked if it were true that the care of the Library and the Town Hall was turned over to the Superintendent and if so would they soon look like the High School? Mr. Hechenbleikner explained that the Library and the Town Hall have been renovated in recent years making them easier to clean and no they would not look like the high school. He added that the Town Hall and the Library do not have 1300 students tramping through them either. Mr. Joe Westerman asked about redistricting. Dr. Harutunian responded that it was not known at this time how this would be handled. He has to sit down with the Principals and decide. Mr. Dahl began his closing remarks. He asked people to vote "yes" on Tuesday. Joint Meeting with the School Building Committee -7- January 7, 2000 ADJOURN Mr. Twomey moved to the School Committee Meeting adiourn. Mrs. Williams seconded the motion. The vote was 5-0. Mr. Twomey, Mrs. Cavicchi, Mrs. D'Antona, Mr. Dahl and Mrs. Williams Mr. Radville moved to adiourn the School Building Committee Meeting. Paula Perry seconded the motion. The vote was 7-0. Mr. Radville, Mrs. Perry, Mr. Lupi, Mr. McRae, Mr. Finigan and Mr. Struble. Respectfully submitted, Harry K. Harutunian, Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools