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MINUTES OF THE MINUTEMAN REGIONAL VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL SCHOOL COMMITTEE
January 20, 1976, at the Minuteman School
PRESENT Bilodeau, Cormier, Courtright, Cron, Hall , Heinrich, Merluzzo,
Shimkus, Smith, Wales
Lombardo
ABSENT Kelsey, Zeoli
STAFF Fitzgerald, Ricciuti , Resnick, Whitney, Marotta, Hayward, Mayer,
Essman, Lydiard, Szpila, DellaPenna, lovine, Warren, lannarelli ,
Palmer, Boissonneau, Zoglio, Delaney, Curt, Wolman, Taverna,
Papas , Garcia
VISITORS Several students , several parents , representatives of the
League of Women Voters, the Regional Finance Committee,. :and the ' !. ,
press fvi ,z
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Cron at 7 40 p m 71-4, --
The
The Committee AGREED by consensus to adopt the revised agenda
proposed by Superintendent Fitzgerald '
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4 N, 3
AUTORAMA Dr Fitzgerald announced that Minuteman's entry in the New '$f ", ic?^` b'
PRIZE England Autorama at Haynes Auditorium had won Second Playle Fri " 4'
WINNERS the Personal Sports Car Division, and that the overall, display 1,,,,
had won a First Prize � '`'' '
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Mr Delaney explained that this was a true team effort, with 'I `'
manystudents ` ' `i
participating Those students among the team +°
who were present were introduced, including Paul Cote, Qavid ,,,4
Maroni , Frank Lettery, Steve Freiner, Frank Forti & *7 �'n -+
Committee and visitors adjourned briefly to the Trades Hall , t �'
to view and admire the impressive project, and listen to a .4`b' �
tape made at the Autorama :*„ '$ '
The committee extended warmest congratulations to Mr Delaney, '"
Mr Curt, and all the students on this outstanding achievement„
which marked the first time a high school entry had ever been
accepted in the highly professional competition
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RECRUITING The student recruiting effort was reviewed meetin,gs '� red'"be un
January 19 and would continue through February 12. A f y;5,
members on the team are Nancy Palmer, Michae,illovine, e444 ,0
Wallace and Pat Magnell ,s, ,,�' i', '
A 10 minute sampling of the slide-tape presentation prcj.Ocgd
by Jim O'Reilly and Beverly Lydiard was enjoyed and ai aAtd d
for its excellent portrayal of the schools offeri', • ae' .cP
the student's feelings about the school '1r' `"
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REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT
LETTER Dr Fitzgerald distributed copies of a letter of intent which
OF INTENT he had filed (before the January 15 deadline) , tentatively
FOR OCG requesting federal funding and making specific (but also
tentative) suggestions for the OCG program for next year
Committee members were REQUESTED to study the letter and give
their comments to Dr Fitzgerald
PERSONNEL Copies of the teacher component of a revised approach to
EVALUATION personnel evaluation were distributed Dr Fitzgerald said
this form would be reviewed at a staff seminar January 27,
and would be put to use almost immediately; the whole process,
however, would be open to change on the basis of continuing
committee and staff review
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EMPLOYER- A cooperative, employer-based program is being developed, and 1/4'
BASED Dr Fitzgerald announced hopes of beginning an experimental ,
PROGRAM project on a very limited basis (three to six students) in the -n;°'f
near future Results would help in planning for next year 'v 1
More details would be presented at a future meeting
BOSTON On the basis of requests from several individuals and -i. -
REQUEST officials in the city of Boston, Dr Fitzgerald REQUESTED- } , .
that the committee approve a letter he had drafted In '440 ""
response This letter would begin exploration of an arrange- 7:,ment whereby a specific number of spaces at Minuteman would' ,be committed to tuition students from Boston Suggested ion-
ditions for the arrangement would include a comm,ittment of "i' '- 4iy
25 to 50 spaces for four full years; in return, a special
tuition rate reflecting capital costs as well as operating. ¢.
costs; tuition payments to be made in advance, before each 4,i,,-r $ ,
semester
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After some discussion, it was MOVED by Mrs Smith, SECONDED
by Mrs Wales , that the committee approve Dr Fitzgerald's ,:.
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letter and procedure The MOTION received 5 votes, in favor,
5 opposed, and so failed to carry
It was then MOVED by Mr Merluzzo, SECONDED, by Mr -C.ourtright, )
to table this proposal until the 2nd.,,meeting in March;. after
some discussion, this motion was VOTED, 6 in favor, 3 .,apposed,
1 abstaining It was understood that Dr Fitzgeral,df'.wbU44
.,
seek answers to some of the questions that had b_ ee'riGrais,:ed= by
committee members ,e- ,-.
While on the subject of tuition students, it was, de! rmined*:
that tuition was still unpaid for three regular tui on studehts
and 9 Metco students Mr Essman was sending remih s Mr
(111)
Merluzzo REQUESTED that the Superintendent recommend action
to be taken if these tuition payments were not received
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FACILITIES At the recommendation of the Superintendent , it was AGREED by
consensus to approve the request of an informal group to use
the basketball courts every Wednesday evening until March 30,
with an Arlington resident accepting responsibility Mr
Cormier further SUGGESTED that citizens of the district be
reminded a) that they can use the facilities, b) under what
circumstances they may do so, and c) how to request approval
Dr Fitzgerald agreed to pursue this
BUDGET FOR Mr Merluzzo, on behalf of the Ways and Means Committee,
1976-1977 presented the final version of the 1976-77 budget for the
committee's approval He also thanked Dr Ricciuti , Dr
Resnick, and Mr Whitney for their assistance in the prepara-
tion and revision of this budget, a process which has been
continuous since last September
It was then MOVED by Mr Merluzzo, and SECONDED by Mrs Wales,
that the School Committee adopt the Operating Budget for
1976-77 as presented, totalling $3,181 ,356 VOTED UNANIMOUSLY
The discussion ; 4`'
prior to the vote covered the following points 31
The anticipated reimbursements from the state will almost '.
certainlycome through The surplus from this
9 P year will L let. ,k �;t±
applied to next year's budget Thus the assessments will be ,
made on the basis of $2,996, 121 Mr Cron presented slides
showing the increases from this year to next student body,
anticipated increase, 6 q; budget , 38%; total assessment, "'
P5 9 �
9 5%. The projected per pupil cost is $2,651 ;.
It was MOVED by Mr Merluzzo, SECONDED by Mr Hall , that the
School Committee approve the capital budget in the amount of
$1 ,717,900, for the year 1976-77 VOTED UNANIMOUSLY 1',r
'fsf; —
* .:
It was then MOVED by Mr Merluzzo, SECONDED by Mrs Wales, that
the Treasurer be directed to assess the towns in the district, i"z
a total of $2,996,121 for the year 1976-77 VOTED UNANIMOUSLY'
Mr Merluzzo then MOVED, and Mr Courtright SECONDED, that the
School Committee agree to take action at the first meeting in
March, in accordance with the recommendation of the Regional
Finance Committee, namely, that the assessment be reducedby
$1 ,694 per pupil for every student under 1200 applying"; for
admission on a full -time basis for 1976-77 After not1hg', that
not all students are required to apply that early, the time
specified was AMENDED to "no later than the second meeting in
March" The AMENDED MOTION was then VOTED UNANIMOUSLY
During the discussion, Dr Fitzgerald pointed out than the
budget does not include local funding for the OCG program• for
next year, and that such local funding is a prerequisge, for
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obtaining further federal funding Dr Fitzgerald also noted
that the "head count" on which assessments to towns would
be finally determined, should preferably reflect the presence
in the school of time-sharing and OCG students; while the
current agreement with the Regional Finance Committee should
be honoured, he said, this question deserves more thorough
study next year; both these programs are wanted by the
District, and should receive its support - A committee
member asked if under the RFC agreement the committee would
be unable to accept more students if they applied after March
15 The reply was that this clearly was not the intent of the
Regional Finance Committee
It was noted that for towns having town meeting shortly after
the committee's second March meeting, a reduced assessment
would have to involve an amendment to the warrant article --
It was REQUESTED that copies of the final , approved budget be
sent to Regional Finance Committee members and Town Managers
a •
DRIVER Dr Fitzgerald proposed that the on-the-road component of ,
ED Driver Ed be approved as most recently proposed He noted that
the type of arrangement set forth in the Rowe contract was a
standard one, that it had worked well in other areas, that
while alternative arrangements might have some advantages, they ACar
would also have disadvantages - One committee member
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restated his position that this was a wasteful way to provide, ", 'k',
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this education; another noted that the committee had a head ,.
�;)i;. , nt��<l:
voted that the program be thoroughly restudied before next year(i''lp ? at pry
It was MOVED by Mr Hall , SECONDED by Mr Heinrich, to proceeed` �,
with the Driver Ed program as recommended VOTED, 9 in favor, rw
1 opposed a , ;:. :•L
RESIGNATION Upon recommendation of the administration, it was MOVED by Mn,
AND Wales, SECONDED by Mr Merluzzo, and VOTED UNANIMOUSLY, to s
APPOINTMENT accept the resignation of Jean Rose, cashier-bookkeeper, and,
to approve the appointment to that position of Alice 'Newnan 1' fl
MINUTES It was MOVED by Mrs Wales, SECONDED by Mr Merluzzor and, VOTED
UNANIMOUSLY, to approve the minutes of the regular'ttmeeting• of
January 6, 1976, as submitted
TREASURER'S Mr Lombardo reported a balance in the Operating and Paroll
REPORT Account of $48,299 32, and in the Site and Constructi•on. Pccount
of $16,601 62
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OTHER SCHOOL COMMITTEE BUSINESS
THANKS Mr Bilodeau expressed his thanks to the recruiting team
that had visited Carlisle January 19; he commended the
team on a most excellent presentation, and predicted that
this program would attract many new students By consensus,
the thanks of the entire committee were extended to all
taking part in the recruiting campaign
GAS TANKS Mr Merluzzo REQUESTED that the administration report in the
near future on the status of the gasoline storage tank
modifications
BULLETIN Chairman Cron REQUESTED installation of an official
BOARD "principal bulletin board" for notices , as required under
the state legislation governing meetings of public bodies
QUESTIONS Questions from the audience included one concerning recourse
if tuition students do not pay, and another on negotiations
with the prime building contractor, White Construction to
Company A member asked if Mass Bus Co had provided a bond ,
centagehofe ritsyply feewas
for each monthno, but the oofadelay ny is forfeiting a per "WW,
It was MOVED by Mrs Smith, SECONDED by Mr Heinrich, and s ,,a
VOTED UNANIMOUSLY by ROLL CALL VOTE, to adjourn the meeting
to continue staff negotiations y4444
The meeting was adjourned at 9 5O p m u•
Respectfully Submitted,
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\Vim... G. ".44 :yc.p".^
Recording Secretary ve,
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App roved 3 R-t'Or( 1.ICI 7L
Ruth W Wales, Secretary
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