Minutes 2014-11-18.pdf - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

defer to the judgment of the Chair of the School Building Committee.The member from Belmont noted that he has worked positively with Mr.Manjarrez on the Finance Subcommittee and the Education Plan Task Force,and would defer to the judgment of the Selectmen in Sudbury. The inconsistency inherent in approving this recommendation and sending the letter to the Town Moderator of Sudbury approved earlier was raised.MSBA's role in approving membership was questioned and explained. [Ms. Sheffler left the meeting at 9:35 PM.] Mr.Manjarrez attempted to explain that a statement he made and outlined in the letter was taken out of context,and this was found to be not germane to the current discussion. The following vote was then taken: ACTION 2014#127 Moved(Flood)and seconded(Weis) To approve the recommendation of David Manjarrez, Sudbury,to serve as a voting member of the School Building Committee Vote: 2 in favor,9 opposed(with 11 members present) Mr. Spalding suggested that the Chair write a letter to the Board of Selectmen informing them of the decision. Mr. Manjarrez noted he had forewarned his Board of Selectmen of this possible result. 10. ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT FOR FINANCE REPORT,Kevin Mahoney a. Review of Financial Statements: Q1 FY 15 period ending September 30,2014 Given the hour,the Chair suggested deferring this item to the December meeting. The Vice-Chair argued against it, noting the importance of the material. Another member suggested scheduling 2 meetings/month to wrap things up and to keep the meetings shorter. Mr.Mahoney asked for a moment,and was given the go-ahead to inform the School Committee of two items: the savings in fuel costs has resulted in a savings in the transportation budget, which has allowed for a late bus every Tuesday. The Governor has issued 9c cuts because of a projected revenue shortfall for FY 2015. This action impacts regional transportation,and details will come out over the next few weeks. The reimbursement rate is anticipated to be cut from 93%to 75%. Mr.Mahoney pointed out that Minuteman is still in excess in this area,but he wanted the School Committee to be aware of the possible impact. The member from Stow noted that regional transportation is often cut when a new governor takes office,and she suggested that a letter be written in support of this line item. The Chair saw this as the Superintendent's purview. 11. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS a. Policy Task Force The Policy Task Force Chair noted that there have been no comments about these policies. It was confirmed that the auditor has reviewed the policies,and that they were discussed at length in the Finance Subcommittee meetings. A clarifying edit was made on DIBB,and the following vote was then taken: ACTION 2014#128 Moved(Spalding)and seconded(Flood) To approve for 2nd Reading three policies from Section D(DIB,DIBB,DIBC) Vote: 10 in favor, 1 abstention The policies can be found as Attachment L. b. School Committee Evaluation Subcommittee The Chair of the School Committee Evaluation Subcommittee explained that in addition to developing the evaluation of the Superintendent,the Superintendent Negotiations and Evaluation Subcommittee was charged to implement District Goal No.4-Relational Functionality: improve professionalism of the School Committee, beginning with a baseline measure gathered through a self-evaluation tool. He explained that to establish a baseline, the Subcommittee has adopted the"School Committee Self-Evaluation" instrument developed by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees(MASC). He explained the process that will be followed after each School Committee member fills it out and returns it,noting that the Subcommittee will compile the data,present the results at the December 16th School Committee meeting,so that the School Committee can determine next steps,such as a no cost workshop led by a field director from MASC.He asked that the evaluation be filled out by hand by each