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Home My WebLink About1975-09-29-SC-min Page 196 September 29, 197` The regular meeting of the Lexington School Committee came to order at 8:00 p.m. in the auditorium of the Jonas Clarke Jr. High School. Present were Mesdames Berchtold, and Swanson, Messrs. Rotberg, Nachman and Wadsworth. Also present were Miss Quinn, Messrs. Barnes, Maclnnes, Dr. Monderer, Mr. Spiris and Mrs. Cummings. Mrs. Anna Herrington, representing the Professional Standards Committee of the LEA, presented Grievance PSC 75-76-1, Denial of Leadership, to the School Committee. LEA GRIEVANCE The LEA contended that the School Committee violated the contract by PSC 75-76-1 denying leadership to 46 teachers this year. Mrs. Merrington made general DENIAL OF comments on the following points: LEADERSHIP 1. Breach of contractual agreement 2. Adherence of applicants to contractual procedure 3. Candidates' expectations derived from past practice 4. Violation of the Preamble to Article XIV 5. Extended and unmerited punishment of candidates resulting from denial 6. Contract language regarding the role of the School Committee 7. School Committee's failure to act before July 14, 1975 meeting 8. Implications of previous delay - 1974-75 9. Objections raised in July 14 meeting 10. Appropriate means of handling objections 11. Effect of denial on morale Mrs. Merrington urged that the School Committee reconsider its July 14, 1975 vote and approve the list for leaderhsip as` originally presented. Mrs. Swanson pointed out that the committee had denied leadership because of costs of the program, the number of teachers involved and its ineffectiveness, adding that no individual judgements were made on individual teachers. She further stated that because of the possibility of the grievance going to arbitration, the School Committee could not comment on it in open session. This decision was based on the advice of the School Committee attorney, Mr. Miller Mrs. Neuman asked the School Committee to list the reasons for denial if a discussion is held in Executive Session. An unidentified teacher asked that other teachers in the audience be allowed to speak. Mrs. Swanson said the information would be taken underadvisement in Executive Session. The LEA will be notified as to the final decision. Mr. Rotberg complimented the LEA on the full and clear presentation. Upon the recommendation of the Interim Superintendent of Schools, it was VOTED: To accept the Schedule of Payments as presented. (Brown, Berchtold, Unanimous) see next page. SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS Page 197 September 29, 1975 Personal Services September 26, 1975 Professional Payroll #7-C 392.232.17 Expenses September 25, 1975 Bill Schedules #38 4,043.71 September 25, 197 #39 1,102.62 September 25, 1975 #40 5,589.37 September 25, 1975 #41 2,538.64 Expenses(Carryover) September 25, 1975 Bill Schedule #177 351.84 Out of State Travel September 18, 1975 Bill Schedule #1 200.00 • Athletics September 18, 1975 Bill Schedules #5 1,489.30 September 25, 1975 #6 583.25 October 10, 1975 Payroll #1 108.00 SPECIAL PROGRAMS Nan=Lexin=tan Funds Adult Education _ September 26, 1975 Professional Payroll 15.00 Driver Education (Adult Education) September 26, 1975 Professional Payroll 105.00 Metco September 26, 1975 Professional Pay_ull 2,837.80 September 25, 1975 Bill Schedule #22 84,184.50 Teacher Training Program II September 26, 1975 Professional Payroll 1,101.96 September 25, 1975 Bill Schedule #1 1,467.03 IAB Pre-Vocational Life Care Program September 26, 1975 Professional Payroll 580.46 LEADS September 26,1975 Professional Payroll 6,675.96 Teacher Training Program - Title III September 25, 1975 Bill Schedule #95 37.25 September 25, 1975 Bill Schedule #96 4,595.57 Administrative Grant - Title III . ,September 25, 1975 Bill Schedule 6.72 • Page 198 September 29, 1975 Low Income (Summer Reading) - September 25, 1975 Bill Schedule #3 $1,750.00 Autistic Prom (Lexington) September 26, 1975 Professional Payroll 717.96 Autistic Program (Arlington) September 26, 1975 Professional Payroll 2,667.45 Multi-Handicapped (Burlington) September 26, 1975 Professional Payroll 425.65 Pre-School Program (Burlington) September 26, 1975 Professional Payroll 1,475.78 Mr. Spirts recommended that the term"Non-certificated Personnel" PERSONNEL CHANGES be known in the future as "Classified Personnel". Mr. Rotberg suggested NON-CrRTIFICATED that the contract be checked to see which way it is listed before any changes are made. Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools, it was VOTED: To accept Personnel Changes, Non-Certificated, as presented. (Wadsworth, Brown, Unanimous) BOWMAN SCHOOL Mr. Spirts announced that the first learning center of the school year is scheduled for October 2, 1975 at 2:00 p.m. at the Bowman School. He encouraged the School Committee to visit the Center at that time. The minutes of September 22, 1975 were reviewed and, it was VOTED: To accept these minutes as amended (Brown, Rotberg, Unanimous) MINUTES 9/22/75 rt n'7 7Y LEX1 i av;U;v, Cv": Page 199 September 29, 1975 Dr. Charles Halbower of the Arthur D. Little Co. , Inc. was present to discuss the Management Study which was conducted during the summer and the MANAGEMENT resulting comments of this study by central office administrative staff. STUDY Dr. Halbower described the procedure which was used to gather the needed information. One hundred and one persons, including 92 staff, 5 school committee members and 4 town management members were asked to support the majority of the eight recommendations listed in the study. He then disclosed that Dr. Fobert's March 20, 1974 memo, in which he outlined plans to reorganize the work assignments for the six central office staff, was not received by him and therefore, was not used as a reference point while the study was being conducted. Some reference material which had been used included some information dated 1969 and the recent Citizens Committee report on Guidance. Mr. Spiris said he was shocked that Dr. Halbower hadn't seen the memo. Mrs. Swanson asked Dr. Halbower how he tested issues which were raised. He said, after interviewing staff he discussed the issues with Dr. Fobert, Dr. Monderer and Mr. .Maclnnes. Mr. Spirts followed with a review of various areas of the study which, in his opinion, needed back-up data to confirm Dr. Halbower's findings. Some of the questions which were asked by the committee were as follows: Mr. Rotberg asked how specifically can the School Committee improve staff morale. He was told that the development of data base programs which could redistribute resources and improve programs would help. ..He said it would not eliminate the conflict but would start off with the kind of information that the School Committee did not have available previously. Mr. Rotberg then asked how we can build credi- bility on the establishment of the data and was told that LEAD and LIRSP could be used as good examples. Mrs. Berchtold noted that Dr. Halbower had spoken to Chairpersons and Department Heads and asked if he could shed some light on what he found in these conversations. She was told that there were discussions at the high school level with the staff regarding availability of secretaries, telephones, the degrees to which department heads could be more effective throughout the high school, and curriculum planning. Asking if he made any recommendations on staffing at the high school level, Dr. Halbower replied that none were made that would have any significant impact. Mr. Wadsworth asked how Lexington supervisory personnel compared to other towns. He was told that Lexington staffing was quite "lush" compared to other towns in the United States but not so when compared to communities similar in wealth and size. Mr. Brown made a MOTION which was seconded by Iir. Wadsworth to ask Dr. Halbower to review Dr. Fobert's March 20, 1974 memo and report back to the School Committee. This would be done at no extra charge. Dr. Halbower agreed to review this information and respond without any additional fee. Page 200 September 29, 1975 Mr. Rotberg said he would vote against the MOTION. He had hoped for a more incisive and systematic report with fewer banalities and more development of hard data into programmatic recommendations. He feared that it represented feedback from members of the School Committee more than it should have and was based on a thin overview. Mrs. Swanson felt that the other four members thought it was a good report. A vote was called on Mr. Brown's MOTION mentioned above. Brown, Berchtold, Wadsworth, Swanson, YES, Rotberg, NO. It was VOTED: To appoint Otis Brown as the representative of the School Committee at the Massachusetts Association of School Committees meeting in Hyannis. MASC REPRESENTATION The School Committee voted to hold an Executive Session at 10:15 p.m. to discuss personnel and business matters. (Berchtold, Wadsworth, Unanimous) The Committee came out of Executive Session at 11:45 p.m. to take the following action. It was VOTED: That the school committee would not take steps to remove a sign which now stands in front of the Hancock School (Wadsworth, Brown, Swanson YES, Rotberg, Berchtold, NO) . The meeting adjourned at 11:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Isabelle•a ings Recording SeF etary