HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-02-03-MMTECH-min.pdf (116)
MINUTES OF THE MINUTEMAN REGIONAL VOCATIONAL DISTRICT SCHOOL COMMITTEE
February 3, 1976, at the Minuteman School
PRESENT Cormier, Courtright, Cron, Hall , Heinrich, Shimkus, Smith,
Wales, Zeoli
Lombardo
ABSENT Bilodeau, Kelsey, Merluzzo
STAFF Fitzgerald, Resnick, Whitney, Mayer, Szpila, Lydiard, Essman,
Mar, DellaPenna
VISITORS Mr Isenberg of the Parents Organization, several parents ,
a representative of the press
The meeting was called to order at 7 45 p.m e ;44
ELECTRONICS Mr Ronald Szpila presented an overview of the electronics
program A'detailed survey, made with the help of individuals
in the electronics industry, showed the projected number of jobs s
.
in that field, with the education needed , and the pay scale ex-
pected, for each category The New England area alone would need
10,000 more technicians by 1980
,y,
To help frill this need, to produce top-notch technicians , Mr '^'`^;?'- t °.4`
Szpila suggested that the electronics department should have.
a) more resource personnel , with expertise in both academic and7, y;
technical areas; b) a wide range of specialized equipment forii ',
hands-on training; c) more time for instruction in theory, "'"j7, fir'
d) students better equipped with basic skills to start with, '�; 'fft%
especially mathematics This last might be achieved -by only ^ , '
permitting students with a certain level of skills to enroll "{,t�'g.
in electronics, or by requiring participation in a preliminary-`,, ,,. .< : .
summer program.
Other points covered in Mr Szpila 's presentation andlthe :'en l'i,1gr1�F ,�* -
discussion included a) the contribution that could, be. me`cld',ab•0'4=,� ) +^,��•;,
employer-based cooperative programs (for instance, prOv,idln9r�yh(��'y; ','*.,
specialized training equipment) ; b) the conflict betwden`,'��.9
.
need for four full years of specialization and the; sch9051 s.bas,i'c''''
philosophy of exposing all students to all fields' .tie'fore�.'asklrg
them to choose one (it was suggested that perhaps "g onjeth'ing: C ul
be done in the eighth grade towards solving this probl&m) ;. 4) the
question of whether the primary function of academic instruction
is to support the vocational skills or to prepare the student for
"living" - making decisions and choices necessary in daily life
Mr Szpila said that the department 's Advisory Council had been
of great assistance He stated that he had chosen the members
of the committee himself (from industry and related:sfields) ,
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(117)
that he draws up an agenda for each meeting, and sends out a
newsletter report afterwards -- Eventually each vocational n
department will have an Advisory Committee; a staff meeting 1#
February 11 would begin action in this direction Nominations
were REQUESTED, for all advisory committees, especially for y
persons on the non-executive level , since most nominations so
far have been for executives ¢
I!
Regarding the problem of weakness in basic skills among students
entering Minuteman, Dr Fitzgerald noted that this problem is
common to all vocational areas He believed the solution must
I.
be in testing, tracking, and programming for each student on an
individual basis A new testing program will begin this spring,
plans for that will be reported at another .meeti.ng
a
Committee members thanked Mr Szpila for a thorough and illumina-
ting presentation
i
VOCATIONAL Dr Resnick presented the results of a survey of students' interest "944
9
INTEREST in vocational areas He noted that 60% of the students are sure
SURVEY of what specific field of study they wish to pursue next year, and
those who are undecided have at least settled on a general area
Though all subjects are open to all students, sex stereotyping still
exists more girls go onto health, more boys into building trade's'''
(The latter is perhaps to be expected, since there are more boys
than girls in the school) — 44
Exploratory programs do seem to assist in decision-making; the; ;`''',
logical conclusion seems to be that students should be cycled °`1"
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through all possible clusters in the 9th grade, unless they a'�•4, ,
irrevocably committed to a particular field of study already ,' 4
Questions raised by the survey findings included If nobody she,` ,s' "' :r,:. '
preliminary interest in a program, should it be offehed anyway. .0.-,,,v,: ‘,-
Should
} >Should an effort be made to attract students from other school's` qr
special programs? If a large number of students want the. sai Vie, ;;;; "'!
program, should the number of classes (and of teachers) .be expaiid `y
Vocational and academic teachers would meet on FridayaLFebrua�i'y,, '��,
to consider these and related questions 3 hl „r 2, �,,
One member asked about the effect on eighth graders 'gf' pUk-tic `t r ” 4Ac:t 4
about Minuteman Another noted that publicityr,,, '` '" '`,, '
er^
about the Autorama prizes) is often about rogramshat' a'r,.,e;'.
already oversubscribed ° „ ' ( Yo. a,9•
The question of admissions screening was rAtised again shoUtd'
students be selected on the basis of their ;levels of essential
skills, and their interest in courses the school is planning to
offer, rather than having an open admissions policy? Dr
Fitzgerald emphasized that he wants to be able to: say to every
applicant, "Yes, we can help you!" r ,
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k
The committee expressed its appreciation 3p Dr Re, ick for his
findings and presentation
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(118)
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FISCAL Dr Fitzgerald presented bids from four fiscal management
MANAGEMENT consulting firms, and outlined the reasons for proposing this
PROJECT project 1 ) to clarify the total financial picture, and k
increase accountability; 2) to develop a budget program around
the scedules of incoming and outgoing funds; 3) to incorporate
the construction accounts into the overall accounting system;
4) to establish systematic methods for handling accounts that
are becoming more extensive and complex, such as revolving
accounts; 5) to obtain advice on more efficient and economical
methods for business operation
During the discussion, the use of the computer was referred to
would it be available as an educational resource, or would it
be needed full time by the business department? Dr Fitzgerald
gave assurance that teachers would be using the computer for
instruction, that it could do much more than handle accounting
and payrolls, that Minuteman has more computer programs on hand
than any other school
It was noted that successful business firms often hire fiscal
management consultants , especially when reorganizing or under-
going a phase of sudden growth; that towns and school systems
are hiring them more and more; that the public should expect
this service; that sufficient funds are available, and the
project will probably result in future savings for the district
It was MOVED by Mr Hall , SECONDED by Mr Zeoii , and VOTED
UNANIMOUSLY, to accept the proposal of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell 's ,f
and Co , dated February 2, 1976, for fiscal management consult 4 4t
tion services as recommended by the Superintendent-Director,.oa "f `'
and to award the contract for a sum not to exceed $22,404 _;
A
DRIVER Dr Fitzgerald proposed that the Driver Ed program for 1976-77! :
ED including on-the-road instruction, be included again as parStit
of the school 's own program, rather than contracted through D t
thi; `
outside firm Dr Fitzgerald stated that in his view +� ' k
'
would make it possible to a) control the quality of to,strucfio0$, * , 4
b) provide individualized instruction in keepi,ng ;w•i.tifrthe, "sc)140 •s ,c, 7 ',
philosophy, c) provide adequate instruction time ,(outside.'firO ,z; �v ` k
sometimes charge for anytime beyond six hours of-on-the=. •t3atyv st*v'
9 Y of - �•a
instruction) He also emphasized that driving it ,an esserif%'a ;5 ' ^°
skill , therefore providing adequate instruction is :all,esseht"kat ',/,.
service, and that it should be available to all rath'i;.r •than',oci.,%'
to those who can afford it J
Committee members questioning the proposal noted that the budget
is always held -to the minimum by taxpayers, and it would be unfor-
tunate to have to sacrifice another program in favor of driver
ed; that whereas students are able to obtain driving instruction
through other channels, they must depend on Minuteman .to provide
education in, say, drafting or mechanics Also, the coMMittee
had already agreed to investigate this question thoroug*'l;nefore
next year However, since staffing must be planned by theend
(120)
Chairman Cron suggested that special commendations such as
these should be given to the superintendent-director to be
forwarded to the appropriate staff members and students
I
RECRUITING Mr Heinrich, Mr Shimkus, Mr Courtright and Mrs Wales
commented on the excellence of the recruiting teams' presentation
in Wayland, Acton, Boxborough, and Lincoln However, in spite of
enthusiasm among audiences present, the audiences were small ,
and so far the results of the recruiting effort were not as
high as hoped It was suggested a) that parents do more to help
spread the word; b) that letters to the editor would probably
be printed - and read - in the local papers
EVALUATION Mrs Smith commented on a staff seminar she and Mrs Wales had
PROCEDURES attended, where Dr Fitzgerald had outlined the personnel
evaluation procedures to be used at Minuteman Both members
were very impressed by the presentation and by the procedures
themselves -- "a far step forward"
POLICY The Policy Manual will be reviewed in April with reference to
MANUAL the teachers' contract (which presumably will have been signed
by that time)
It was MOVED by Mrs Smith, SECONDED by Mrs Wales, and VOTED- ss- a,
UNANIMOUSLY, to adjourn the meeting to reconvene in executive 4, -
session to discuss strategy wtth respect to litigatiorl',and, '
collective bargaining
The meeting was adjourned at II 30 p.m ''r 1< ,
d l�f Fly'-1 1,
Respectfully submitted, ,��r. lr , t
Recording Secretary 1/4;
t'7 *tQ3 76
Approved }' ..
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Ruth W Wales Sec
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