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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1975-05-27-SC-min May 2?, 1975 Page 134 • The regular meeting of the Lexington School Committee came to order at 8:00 p.m. at Jonas Clarke Jr. High School. Present were Messrs. Rotberg, slachman, iladsworth, 1Iesdames Berchtold and Swanson. Also Present were Messrs. Barnes, Naclnnes, ")iris, Dr. Nonderer, Dr. Fobert and .its. Cummings. The -ll?UT.9_ of 5/12/75 ware e ev_". i', hy 'the school corn'' L1.9•J. The aacordin Secretary was asked to expa-'?d the subject matter in two areas and resubmit these . minutes for approval at the next meeting. Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools, it was VOTED: To accept the Schedule of Payments as presented. SCHEDULE OF (Berchtold, Rotberg, Unanimous) (See next page) • PAYMENTS Upon the recommendation of the Superintedent of Schools, it was 'Reelections for 1975-1976 (positions now available) Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools, it was VOTED: to accept leave of absences noted above and the reelections noted below. (Rotberg, Berchtold, Unanimous) Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools, it was VOTED: The vote on Mew Personnel was delayed until later in the evening. Page 135 Nay 27, 1975 SCHEDULE OF PAYMENT Personal Services May 23, 1975 Professional Payroll #260 #380,502.38 Ifay 22, 1975 ;ill Schedule /1146 5,769.09 May 22, 1975 #147 3,110.19 Nay 22, 1975 #148 10,698.77 Out of State Travel May 22, 1975 Bill Schedule #32 929.20 Athletics May 22, 1975 Bill Schedule #28 319.82 Vocational Education May 22, 1975 Tuition #16-V 45.00 Driver. Education May 23, 1975 Professional Payroll 781,00 • SPECIAL PROGRAMS (_ion-Lexington Funds) Title III Learning Disabilities Training Film Project May 23, 1975 Professional Payroll 1,025.0E May 22, 1975 Bill Schedule #86 1,353.81 LAB-Pre-Vocational Life Care Prot:_o-m Nay 23, 1975 Professional Payroll 794.54 May 22, 1975 Bill Schedule #20 82.46 MT',TCO Nay 23, 1975 Professional Payroll 2,266.89 May 22, 1975 Bill Schedule ff16 16.80 AUTISTIC Program (Lexington) Day 23, 1975 Professional Payroll 729.54 AUTISTIC Program (Arlington) • May 23, 1975 Professional Payroll 1,898.82 Multi-Handicapped (Burlington) May 23, 1975 Professional Payroll 925.96 Page 136 hay 27, 1975 Hr. Rotberg_ asked. the committee to use the $28,600 remaining in the Summer Tdorkshon budget for a Curriculum Retource Center. He recommended. that the administration submit a proposal for this purpose at the next Mrs. Swanson thought the money should be held for an in-service training program. CURRICULUM RESOURCE CENTER Mrs. Berchtold thought the committee should. discuss Mr. Rotberg's suggestion and then vote on it. Mr. Rotberg replied that the committee had already voted for a resource center and that funds were still needed. The money mentioned above could be used for this purpose. • Dr. Fobert told the committee that if they can vote to spend the money for a center, the proposal will be developed. Mr. Rotberg suggested placing this subject on the agenda for a future meeting. A letter from Mrs. Nancy Madden, A Hstings parent, was discussed by the CLASS SIZE school committee. Mrs. Madden complained about class size for next year's HASTINGS SCHOOL second graders as being too large (27-28) . She asked that the school committee support a Hastings request for a combined second-third grade class which would restore the second grades to a manageable size (22-23) . Dr. Fobert said that we have used a rough guide that classes would not go over 29 and added that if the school committee wished to set a policy lowering that limit, the administration would abide by it. He also felt the letter was based on premature information. Replying to a question from Mrs. Berchtold about enrollment projections information, Dr. Fobert said the final subcommittee will meet next week and. that the information will be available shortly after. ENROLLMENT PROJ .CTIONS The Committee to Study Guidance at the High School presented its final report to the school committee this evening. Present were Paul Marshall, Chairman Rene Cochin, David Durand, Bruce Gordon, Marjorie Middleton, Elizabeth Zelesnick and Richard Zeoli. Robert Dentler, an original member of the committee, was not present due to other commitments. GUIDANCE REPORT Mr. Marshall read a prepared statement which summarized the report. He said. that eight months after the organizational meeting was held, the committee concluded that it was impossible to review the guidance program in isolation from the rest of the high school environment and the rest of the school environment. This job, it was felt, was beyond. the charge of his committee. The members concluded that success or failure of the guidance activity was not solely under the control of the guidance counselors and their director. It was also felt that some of the criticism directed at the guidance program was a manifestation of general dissatisfaction with the educational experience at the high school. The major conclusion in the report was that the high school guidance program is not well defined. Such a program should: (1) provide a set of goals and. objectives with some sens of priority among them; (2) provide a statement of how- school-wide ho-school-wide resources will be utilized to accomplish these goals including an organization plan; (3) develop a plan for measuring performance in terms of these goals and determine how effectively the resources have been used. Page 137 May 27, 1975 • The committee believed that the Director of Pupil Personnel Services should prepare the program statement since he is in a position to coordinate the interests of the high school adminstration and the director of counseling at the high school. He is 7,1s0 in a position. to 'ono:•? the _3nract of Ch 766 on theguidance program th-=ghou the c'hool eystea, includinz tte bigh school. GUIDANCE The committee recommended that the following issues be resolved in POST organizing the guidance grogram: (1) integration of guidance with the rest of the high school resources; (2) specialization of counselors; (3) centralization of guidance resources; and (L) professional development and evaluation of counselors. A general discussion followed the presentation of the report. Mrs. Zelesnick told the committee that Lexington has the personnel to do all kinds of things but it was her feeling that nobody seemed to be getting together. Coordination is very important to the prow.d.m. IL. Marshall was asked if he had any figures on "crossovers" to other counselors. He said indications were that there are no crossovers but the work load of some counselors who are "good" is heavier than those who are "not so good". Mrs. Berchtold asked Dr. Fobert to react to a statement on Page 6 of the report regarding the integration of the guidance resources with Ch 766 staff. He replied that work has begun to integrate people in the office of 766. Dr. Monderer added that he has been meeting with the high school administration to work out a system of better integration of services. He said we will find that we have a better system of integration and coordination at the lower level than we do at the high school. He recognized. the deficit but said there will be a plan by the end of the year. Mr. Thurlow, commenting on the space allocation of the Career Center,hoped that a larger area could be provided in the near future. Speaking of specialization and generalization, he said there is merit in both areas, but the generalist who is a high quality person will provide the best services. Specialization would recuire the addition of a tremendous number of staff. Alan Nachman said the guidance counselor is like a "family doctor" and unless the student can confide in him/her, his role is useless. He noted that if he can find one counselor with whom he can communicate, it makes things easier for him. Mrs. Swanson remarked that all counselors are not trained to cope with personal problems. Mr. Rotberg asked Dr. Fobert to prepare a program statement as suggested in the recommendations of the report by September. . The members of the advisory committee will be available to review the material. Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools, it was VOT: D: ?Ars. Srianson noted that although Otis Brown was not present to vote on the a-mcintrn'en-t of Dr. Clune, he did support the action, • _age 133 IJay 27, 1975 The school committee voted to go into iinecutive Session at 10:00 p.m. to hear two sciovances of the L. A . (:Jadsworth, Swanson, Berth^^told, YES, .o '7 O) NT. Rotbe= flet :hay these grievances shouldbe heard in on-en The School committee moved to omen session at 11:15 p.m. to cast the following votes. It was VOTED: To deny Grievance #13, (Staff Cuts at Muzzey) (Swanson, Wadsworth, Unanimous) . It was VOTED: To deny Grievance #14 (Elimination of Science Specialists) (Swanson, Wadsworth, Berchtold YES, Rotberg NO. The meeting adjourned at 11:30 p.m. Res ctfully submittr n� SS Isabelle J. C, -ri, ings.