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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1975-01-06-SC-min Page 1 January 6, 1975 The Student Advisory Board met with the Lexington School Committee at 7:40 p. m. at the school administration building before the start of the regular meeting. Alan Wachman and Chris Anderson, representing the students for a second term, introduced Steve Engelberg and Mary Rockwood. Due to a previous commitment, Melinda Ballou did not appear until later in the evening. STUDENT. ADVISOR=' BOARD Alan Wachman made the following comments: (1) He thanked•the school committee for efforts made which resulted in the installation of the new sidewalks at the high school. (2) He said the students would like to see the smoking problem resolved this year. (3) His board will continue efforts to educate 5th, 6h, and 7th graders with an anti-smoking campaign. Questioned by Mrs. Davison about the. project, he said an effort was made during the summer to obtain material from organizations which she had recommended. He was unable to reach anyone who could advise him but he will try again. (4) He asked the School Committee to provide a meeting schedule for his Board. Mrs: Berchtold suggested the first meeting of each month could be set aside as a definite time to meet with the students. She said a schedule will be provided. She added that an exchange of ideas on agenda items would be useful prior to each meeting. Mrs. Swanson said she would like to get student reaction to arena sched=uling. Steve Engelberg offered to do a student survey to get the information. The regular meeting of the Lexington School Committee commenced at 7: 30 p. m. resent were Messrs. Currier, Rotberg, Wadsworth, Berchtold, 'Davison and:. )wanson. Also present were Messrs. Barnes, Maclnnes, Spiris, Dr. Monderer, Dr. Fobert and Mrs. Cummings. William Welch, President of the LEA, invited the school committee .PUBLIC to attend a series of workships for CH 766 which will be held on PARTICIPATION January 14 and 21, 1975. Schedule is as follows: 2:30 p. m. Science Lecture Hall for high school teachers; 3:30 p. m. for elementary and jr, high teachers- auditorium. This announcement was followed by questions concerning an appro- priate time for the public to participate in the budget process. At this point, Mrs. Berchtold made the following clarifying statement concerning budget meetings. "We haven't set up separate budget meetings:. All meetings in January and February will concern the budget. The public cannot really stand up and make comments at the time of discussion but they can communicate during public participation,. or by telephone or letter. I encourage you to make inquiries in this manner concerning budget issues". The committee discussed the budget process briefly. Mr. Rotberg suggested holding two public meetings this year togive the public ample opportunity to ask questions. Donald White spoke about the preliminary budget estimate of $15, 000, 000 Filch had been submitted to the Town Manager. Mr. White said the figure .'as totally unrealistic and then went on to discuss various ways to reduce this figure. Page 2 January 6, 1975 At a previous meeting, Mrs. Ruth Barton had asked that a Level 1 PUBLIC course in American History be offered at the high school . She appeared this PARTICIP. evening to discuss the history courses now being offered. She stressed the need for a Level 1 course and asked that a public discussion be held on this matter. Mr. Rotberg said that it was conceivable that there was a need to thrash out the problem with a small committee. He said he was prepared to listen to recommendations from such a committee which could, perhaps, include Mr. Gibson, Mrs. Barton and 2 professors of American History. Mrs. Barton said she would be happy to serve on such a committee. John Deutch spoke about the building survey. He recommended that the School Committee appoint a committee to review financial savings in the event schools are closed in the future. Mr. Rotberg agreed with the idea. He said the study had been deficient in estimating the financial consequences if schools are closed. Dr. Fobert did not object to having the figures verified. A discussion followed concerning declining enrollments. Mr. Rotberg made references to an enrollment study by the Newton public schools and read • the concluding statement from the study which was written by the Director of Research and Planning. The minutes of December 9, 1974 were discussed and it was MINUTES 12/9/74 OTED: To accept these minutes as amended. (Rotberg, Swanson, Unanimous) The minutes of December 16, 1974 were amended, and it was MINUTES 12/16/74 VOTED: To accept these minutes as amended. (Rotberg, Swanson, Unanimous At this point Mrs. Swanson said the report of 12/16/74 on the special needs program was not an evaluation of the program which is what she had requested. She asked Dr. Fobert for such an evaluation. Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools, it was VOTED: To accept the Schedule of Payments as presented. (Swanson, Davison, Unan. ) SCHEDULE OF Autistic Program (Arlington PAYMENTS December 20, 1974 Professional Payrolls 1,535.46 January 3, 1975 1,535.46 December 13, 1974 Non-Certificated Payrolls #4 146.40 December 27, 1974 #5 146.40 December 26, 1974 Bill Schedules #7 29.64 January 2, 1975 #8 77.76 t Autistic Program (Lexington) December 20, 1974 Professional Payrolls 654.54 January 3, 1974 654.54 January 2, 1975 Bill Schedule #2 8.21 • Page 3 January 6, 1975 Personal Services December 20, 1974 Professional Payrolls #14-C $382,707.93 January 3, 1975 #15-C 373.465.48 December 13, 1974 Non-Certificated Pay. #12-NC 64,228,10 SCHEDULE OF December 27, 1974 #13-NC 53,280.30 PAYMENTS Expenses (1974 Budget Carryover) continued December 19, 1974 Bill Schedules #112 21.06 December 26, 1974 #113 142.56 January 2, 1974 #114 297.94 Expenses (1975 Budget) December 19, 1974 Bill Schedules #76 2,513.51 December 19, 1974 #77 26,150.87 December 26, 1974 #78 9,511.81 December 26, 1974 #79 33,638.22 January 2, 1975 #80 3,474.70 January 2, 1975 #81 6,863.16 January 2, 1975 #82 13,698.86 Out of State Travel December 19, 1974 Bill Schedules #15 837 .71 December 26, 1974 #16 221.00 January 2, 1975 #17 205.14 Athletics December 19, 1974 Bill Schedule #13 1,389.25 January 3, 1974 Payrolls #11 1,125.00 January 3, 1975 #12 40.00 January 17, 1975 #13 112.00 Vocational Education December 19, 1974 Transportation #3-11 216.00 January 2, 1975 Tuition #4-V 69.00 Adult Education December 20, 1974 Professional Payrolls 1,303.20 Driver Education December 20, 1974 Professional Payrolls 771.00 January 3, 1975 507.00 SPECIAL PROGRAMS (Non-Lexington Funds) Title III-Learning Disabilities Training Film Project December 20, 1974 Professional Payrolls 1,025.08 January 3, 1975 1,025.08 December 13, 1974 Non-Certificated Payrolls #12 NC 321.75 December 27, 1974 #13 NC 321.75 December 26, 1974 Bill Schedules .#72 2,049.42 '' January 2, 1975 #73 66.01 i t t C i gflk' t Page 4 t January 6, 1975 Title III-Administrative Grant December 13, 1974 Non-Certificated Payrolls #12NC 343.84 December 27, 1974 #13NC 343.84 LAB Pre-Vocational Life Care Program December 20, 1974 Professional Payrolls 519.54 January 3, 1974 519.54 SCHEDULE OF December 13, 1974 Non-Certificated Payrolls #8NC 1,047.78 PAYMENTS December 27, 1974 #9NC 523.90 December 19, 1974 Bill Schedule #11 31.26 continued Metco Program ; December 20, 1974 Professional Payrolls 4,266.80 ' January 3, 1975 4,501.77 January 2, 1975 Bill Schedule #8 12,144.00 Multi-Handicapped (Burlington) December 20, 1974 Professional Paryolls 877.65 January 3, 1975 901.65 December 13, 1974 Non-Certificated Payrolls #7NC 216.00 December 27, 1974 #8NC 240.00 i January 2, 1975 Bill Schedule #5 41.65 i The School Committee examined a chart entitled 'Minimum Operating s Costs" for Adams, Hancock, Munroe, Parker elementary schools and Muzzey Jr. High School. The costs were divided into two area: Personnel Services BUILDING and Expenses. The combined totals were $467, 743 which did not include COSTS additional costs of busing or reduced costs due to special area teachers such as home economics, industrial arts, music, art, physical education. The committee discussed various ways to use empty buildings, how older buildings affect educational programs, level of satisfaction in terms of teaching in older a schools. Mrs. Davison said the operating costs should be put into the proper E context. She suggested getting the opinion of teachers as to how the older buildings affect the education process. This was a major concern to her. She felt the study committee could be most helpful in this area. Mr. Wadsworth asked whether Dr. Fobert can obtain an estimate on how much the property is worth in case the town is approached to sell it. He said we should be prepared to look at the town's point of view in the event this should happen. I I Mrs. Swanson noted that there is no agrement which says we are going to t give up services. Mr. Rotberg remarked that there might be people who think we 1 are giving up services, but Mrs. Swanson's answer to that was that it wasn't I necessarily so. When Mr. Rotberg asked why figures for Franklin were not included, Dr. Fobert told him that he considers Franklin a "safety valve" in terms of the number of students it can house. He added that he had a personal bias in terms 6 of the number of schools rather than which schools would remain open. Page 5 January 6, 1975 Mr. Walter Koetke appeared this evening to give a report on the work DATA being done at the data processing center at the high school. Students use the PROCESSING computer from 7:30 a. m. until 3:00 p. m. at which time most administrative CENTER projects are run off until midnight. The biggest problem at the moment is that they are so saturated with work, it is impossible to consider any new applications. Mr. Koetke discussed the many different applications which are being used at this time. He mentioned that he had already investigated buying time on a computer in Palo Alto but the costs were prohibitive. He told the committee about the proposal which is being negotiated with the State Department of Education to set up a model special needs progam. If it is accepted it is hoped that the state will pay for 1007 of the cost of new equipment. Final decision on this proposal will be made by the Department of Education on Friday, January 10. As a point of information, Mr. Koetke told the committee that 10 out of 96 finalists who took part in the Level 1 Olympiad Exams given by the Mass. Association of Mathematics Leagues were students from Lexington. Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools, it was PERSONNEL CHANGES VOTED: To accept Personnel Changes (certificated) as presented. (certificated) (Davison, Swanson, Unanimous) ) VOTED: To accept Personnel Changes, (non-certificated) as presented. (Davison, Wadsworth, Unanimous) - ( Page 6 January 6, 1975 Discussion of the list of temporary long term substitutes was deferred until_Executive Session. LONG TERM SUBSTITUTE` Mr. Barnes,presented to committee members a Statement of School Committee Policy concerning school information (1964), along with a package of related material. A suggestion was made to appoint a committee to come SCHOOL up with suggestions as to how we can best get school information to the public. COMMUNITY Next, the question was raised as to how the committee should do the budget pro-RELATIONS jections for the Schools in Action bulletin. Mrs. Berchtold read excerpts from a public information bulletin from Montgomery County, Maryland. Its purpose, policy and procedure was discussed briefly. Mrs. Davison said she would like to see examples of bulletins from other communities. It was agreed that there was a need for all kinds of informationto help us decide how school information should be presented. At the meeting of December 16, 1974, the committee held a discussion on Personnel Needs for 1975-76. This evening Mrs. Berchtold discussed PERSONNEL additional information showing staff needs for 1969 and 1974. The year 1969 NEEDS was chosen as a comparison year because at that time Grades 1-6 were at peak enrollment as was the system as a whole (K-12-9609). Mrs. Davison again asked Dr. Fobert to bring in Math and Science specialists to describe their roles and how they serve the teachers. She also suggested obtaining information from other communities which use math and science specialists. • fr k C 4 Page 7 January 6, 1975 The committee reviewed a draft proposal written by Mrs. Swanson MANAGEMENT and Mr. Wadsworth relative to the management study. Mr. Rotberg STUDY said the proposal was too "broad" and should be rewritten so our needs could be more sharply defined. He suggested that we not pursue the matter until this can be accomplished. Mrs. Swanson objected to any further delay =' and asked that the proposal be sent out immediately. Mr. Wadsworth agreed that the proposal, with a dollar figure named, should be sent to the consultants to find out what they can offer us. As a point of information, Mr. Rotberg told the committee that a Lexington resident, who is a consultant, has volunteered to advise the committee con- cerning the study. PROPOSAL FROM RMrs. Berchtold read a proposal from the Jr. High English Teachers HIGH ENGLIS- asking the committee to provide work time during school hours so that TEE ACHERS they can work on curriculum revisions in Jr. High English. They requested that substitutes be hired to free them for this work when necessary. Dr. Fobert didn't think it appropriate to hire substitutes for this purpose. The reason for this was that teacher pupil contact time should not be lessened if it can be avoided. He said that if the committee is willing to establish policy in terms of releasing teachers on school days, he will implement it. Several members agreed that there was a need for this work. Mrs. Berchtold told those present that the proposal was received some time ago but not discussed until now because we were waiting for the administration to act on it. Complaints have been received about students smoking on the buses. SMOKING ON Mr. Barnes said efforts have been made in the past to enforce the policy SCHOOL BUSES but admitted that it is difficult for the drivers to watch the students and the road simultaneously. Dr. Fobert will write a letter to the bus company owners asking them to instruct the drivers to make every effort to enforce the rules. Mr. Rotberg asked if we are getting any input from teachers regarding evaluation. of principals. He said that Concord has a form which teachers are using for this purpose. The committee agreed with Mr. Rotberg that this input should be obtained. The would like to find out the way Concord's system works. Dr. Fobert said he would get a copy of the form to examine. EVALUATION OF PRINCIPALS Dr. Fobert clarified a statement which appeared in the newspaper relative to state reimbursement figures. He said that a great deal of the credit for increases was due to a different method of computing these figures. Responsibility for the improvement can be credited to the efforts of Bob Scott, Mr. Wadsworth, Mr. Maclnnes and Dr. Monderer. REIMBURSEMENT FIGURES Page 8 January 6, 1975 Mr. Rotberg asked the committee if it wished to appoint a committee to discuss the American History courses which Mrs. Barton questioned earlier in the evening. Mr. Wadsworth suggested that they speak to Mr. Gibson before taking any further action. It was VOTED: To move to Executive Session at 12:10 to discuss personnel matters. (Swanson, Wadsworth, Unanimous) The meeting adjourned at 1: 30 a. m. • Respectfully submitted, Isabelle J. ✓Cummings Recording Secretary