Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1975-10-07-MMTECH-min.pdf MINUTES Or tur uluurrrM^•. "rIONAi VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL SCHOOL COMMITTEE October 7, 1975, at Minuteman Facilities PRESENT Bilodeau, Cormier, Courtright, Cron, Hall , Heinrich, Kelsey, Merluzzo, Smith, Wales, Zeoli ABSENT Banfield STAFF Ricciuti , Resnick, Whitney, Less, Marotta, Gibson, !ovine, Weymouth, Bellmar, McDonald, lannarelli , Delaney, Purvis, Essman, Arnold, Lokich, Mayer, Phillips, DellaPenna VISITORS A former faculty member, a representative of the League of Women Voters, a student, many parents, four representatives of the press The meeting was called to order at 8 20 p.m. SPC'S Mr Hayward being unable to attend this meeting, the other SPC's and the administration wished to postpone their formal SPC review until October 21 , when it would be first on the agenda Meanwhile, background material was distributed Mrs Smith noted that the committee could only act on a speci- fic proposal , not on statements of philosophy Mr Cron added that while specific proposals may be needed for this year, recommendations of significance for the 1976-77 budget year are of greatest concern DRIVER Mr Belcher reviewed the two phases of the program for driver EDUCATION education The classroom phase, currently required of all tenth graders who have not already completed such a course, and a course of on-the-road instruction not yet under way The 46 days of classroom instruction, besides covering subjects required by the Registry of Motor Vehicles, also deals with recreational and two-wheel vehicles On-the-road instruction, for which 150 of the students desiring it will be eligible - this year, would be offered on a self-supporting basis at a cost of approximately $55 per student Discussion focused on whether the school should free itself of bookkeeping, scheduling and other problems by contracting out the entire instruction program, as many other towns are doing now Some members of the committee and administration believed that driving skills are so important that the school should ensure their being available to all It was MOVED by Mrs Wales, SECONDED by Mr Zeoli , AMENDED by Mr Kelsey, and VOTED UNANIMOUSLY, that before the beginning of another fiscal year, there should be a thorough review of oC� ��1915 (52) MMSC 10/7/75 • all cost factors involved in driver education and of whether Minuteman would be better off contracting the entire service CHILD Ms Phillips reviewed the rationale and plans for establishing CARE a Minuteman Child Care Center There is a continually growing CENTER and unfilled need for trained child care workers -- as teacher aides, in nursery schools, kindergartens, and day care centers (The training is of course also valuable for future parents) A most important part of the training is in actually working with small children, which will be made possible for three hours daily More than half the students in Child Care (a part of the Health component) are boys Other vocational areas will become involved with the Center Building Trades in putting up shelves, Communications in writing newspaper publicity, Graphics in photographing activities Ms Phillips expects no problem in attracting ten pre-schoolers, the maximum number that can be admitted with only one staff teacher in attendance Mrs Smith requested that the committee receive copies of the materials used in the presentation of the educational program. MALL Dr Ricciuti reported that the September 29 opening of the OPENING Minuteman Mall , with stores run by the Distributive Education Department, and the Fife and Drum Restaurant, run by the Culinary Arts Department, was well attended by the press, many photos had been taken, and all present were most enthusiastic. BUDGET Dr Ricciuti said he had given the Ways and Means Committee a preliminary budget for next year Mr Merluzzo announced that the Ways and Means Committee would meet October 28 to discuss the budget, and input from all committee members was requested At the October 28 meeting a schedule will be developed for steps leading to final budget approval by December 1st Chairman Cron reminded committee members that each has been given responsibility for a specific area of the budget ACTION ITEMS DRIVER It was MOVED by Mr Courtright, SECONDED by Mr Heinrich, — —EDUCATION and VOTED UNANIMOUSLY to approve--the Driver Education- program andproceduresas presented for the current year CHILD It was MOVED by Mr Heinrich, SECONDED by Mrs Wales, and CARE VOTED UNANIMOUSLY, to approve the Child Care Center regulations CENTER and procedures as presented (53) ` MMSC 10/7/75 Y' a • BACK- Dr. Ricciuti proposed a Back-to-School Night on November 19 TO- The purpose of the program, said Dr Ricciuti , would be to SCHOOL tell parents the Minuteman story, what the process is, what NIGHT is happening, to give them a tour of the building and an idea of a typical day's schedule The first hour parents would be in the classrooms, the second hour everyone would mingle informally in the cafeteria Committee members agreed that all would try to attend It was suggested that a) individual letters of invitation be sent to the parents of every student, b) easily legible name tags be used for identifying staff, administration and committee members, c) a specified location and a highly visible sign would enable parents to locate their representative committee members during the cafeteria hour, d) notices should include the fact that committee members would be present There was consensus that the chairman should notify the Parents' Organization and the faculty, as soon as possible, that the School Committee is entirely in support of this Back-to-School Night BUDGET There was some discussion of how to deal with the budget in light of uncertainty regarding future enrollment Projected enrollment is 1350, but at the current rate 1100 would be more likely It was suggested that the budget be submitted on the basis of high enrollment, and then revised downward in March if there are indications of another low enrollment Program revisions for a reduced budget would not consist of merely scaling down everything; some things would be done differently, some eliminated, some left unchanged For such an allocation review, the committee would want more input from the administration The budget for 1976-77 will also be considered in the light of program plans for 1977-78 Committee members expressed appreciation to the administration 2 for being on target timewise, one commented that he did not remember ever before having so much information so early PERSONNEL Chairman Cron announced to visitors that the committee was now operating under the new public meeting laws, which place more business in open session, such as voting on personnel appoint- ments (A profile of all personnel to be appointed is sent to committee members before the voting) It was MOVED by Mrs Wales, SECONDED by Mr Hall , and VOTED UNANIMOUSLY, to approve the appointment of Henry Mastey, Staff Level , SPC, to begin October 8 at a salary of $14,000 (54) s � MMSC 10/7/75 It was MOVED by Mrs Smith, SECQNI4ED by Mr Zeoli , and VOTED UNANIMOUSLY, to appoint Wendy Osborn, Associate Level , IRC, starting October 8 at a salary of $11 ,000 It was MOVED by Mr Hall , SECONDED by Mr Zeoli , and VOTED UNANIMOUSLY, to approve the appointment of Benjamin Nighelli , Staff teacher, Science Department, starting October 8, 1975 at a salary of $13,000 SUB-COMMITTEES BUILDING Dr Ricciuti requested that the chair establish a review REVIEW committee to work with the administration in considering new COMMITTEE construction and building modification as it relates to Minuteman facilities (Examples bus dispatch station, field house, storage units) The committee agreed by consensus that Mr Cron and Mr Banfield should be members of an ad hoc committee for this purpose. It was also suggested that other members of the original Building Committee be included SUPERINTENDENT Mr Hall reported on progress toward hiring a superintendent- SEARCH director: of 81 applications received so far, 24 had passed an initial screening, 46 had not, and 11 had been received since the screening Letters had been sent to colleges and universities requesting nominations In answer to a written request from Local 3191 that three members of the faculty be allowed to participate in the superintendent selection, the sub-committee described their plan for final selection The most promising candidates would be invited to come to Minuteman, where they would be interviewed in one session by superintendents of schools in sending towns, and in a second by members of all Minuteman constituencies, including the faculty There was some discussion of sending committee representatives 1 to the AVA convention in California in December Mrs Smith and Mr Kelsey volunteered This would give an opportunity for personal contact with many candidates Mr Zeoli commented that at the cost of approximately $1 ,000, a fraction of a percent of the two-and-a-half million dollar budget, "this is the least we can do The most important job we have here is to choose the best superintendent " BOSTON Mr Zeoli reported that the Boston Edison wished to expand its EDISON sub-station It had been determined that this would not violate the Wetlands Protection Act Mr Cron said he had contacted the company regarding the easement, and suggested that more screening should be provided since the expanded plant would be even more visible (55) MMSC 10/7/75 POLICIES Mr Kelsey stated hopes of having a report for the October 21 meeting from the committee studping admissions policies MINUTES Mrs Wales MOVED, Mr Zeoli SECONDED, and it was VOTED UNANI- MOUSLY, to accept the minutes of September 30 f TREASURER'S Mr Cron read a report from Mr Lombardo the balance in the REPORT Regular Budget Account was reported as $17,178.54; in the Site and Construction Account, $11 ,962.65 OTHER BUSINESS Mrs Wales requested that theadministration provide the committee with a job description for the position of teacher aide Mrs Smith expressed concern, and desire for more information, about clusters, vocational groupings, SPC's, use of the computer, remedial skills for non-special needs students as well as special needs students, 11th grade curriculum, debugging the student program preference system, and whether physical education is meeting the needs of all students Mr Heinrich inquired about recruiting more students for next year An open house arrangement was suggested but the administra- tion pointed out that if only 75% of the region's 4,000 eighth graders came, it would pose a logisitcs problem A few at a time are always welcome Meanwhile, Mr Hayward is working on a recruitment plan In answer to an inquiry from Mrs Wales, Dr Resnick stated that he hoped to have a report on the Occupational Competency Grant at the next committee meeting, and that the project was expected to begin December 15 In answer to an inquiry from Mr Courtright, Dr Ricciuti said the Massachusetts Bus Company had promised to provide a per- formance bond Mr Courtright reported he had been asked to meet with the Acton Board of Selectmen Tuesday, October 14 He expected questions on whether Metco students were receiving preferential treatment, in that they may be attending Minuteman free of charge while other non-resident students are required to pay full tuition Mr Courtright asked about the legal situation and requested an answer before October 14 Mr--Cron announced that Minuteman could not increase its gasoline storage because of Lexington regulations Other possible solutions are being examined Mr Cron reminded the committee that according to General Laws Chapter 71 , Section 41 , three teachers hired September 1 , 1973, would automatically be granted tenure if rehired for next year Teachers hired in February, 1974, would not yet be eligible for automatic tenure, but could be granted early (56) R MMSC 10/7/75 tenure, if widely recommended 'Mf Cron requested that this reminder be forwarded to all faculty members It was announced that a series of hearings would be held in the greater Boston area (one in Cambridge October 20) on the revised guidelines for determining how OCG funds are spent Dr Ricciuti agreed to forward to all committee members a copy of the hearing notices QUESTIONS Chairman Cron opened the meeting to questions from the audience These included Why was the car wash cancelled? (Because of the vote of Local 3191 not to take part in extra-curricular activities until a contract is signed ) Why is it taking so long to sign the contract? (This is the first time around, the subject of negotiation is not a single issue but the entire contract ) Why are so many library shelves empty? ($60,000 have been spent on books but processing takes time ) Why can't the question period come earlier in the meeting? (Studies have shown that it lengthens the meeting by an hour- and-a-half ) There were also questions about vocational course offerings, crowding and use of power tools in the shops, textbooks and handouts in academic classes Mrs Smith MOVED, Mr Zeoli SECONDED, and it was VOTED UNANIMOUSLY, to adjourn the meeting and reconvene in 1} minutes in executive session to discuss collective bargaining The meeting was adjourned at 11 50 Respectfully misubmitted, L C�7CI L Recording Secretary Approved 4(21- ao, 1975- eltx4h (Ai 640.k343 Ruth W Wales, Secretary