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Home My WebLink About1976-03-29-SC-min Page 67 March 29, 1976 On Monday evening March 29, 1976 the Lexington School Committee conducted a meeting at the School Administration Building. The meeting began at 7:00 p.m. Present were Mrs. Swanson, Messrs. Brown, Rotberg, Michelman, and Wadsworth. Also present were Miss Quinn, Messrs. Barnes, Spiris, Maclnnes, Monderer. Mr. Spiris on behalf of the central office administrators presented PRESENTATION TO an engraved Paul Revere bowl to Mrs. Berchtold for her service to the MRS. BERCHTOLD Lexington Public Schools from 1973-1976. Student Advisory Committee member David Kahne stated his reactions PUBLIC to the recent Max-Ed Report. He agreed that the report represented a PARTICIPATION lot of work and would encourage those writing the role desciption of the coordinator to preserve student contact as a prime responsibility. School Committee member Otis Brown read the following statement: BUDGET STATEMENT "I am normally unaccustomed to presenting long speeches, however, because of the unprecedented and shocking news from Beacon Hill with re- gard to School Assistance for the next fiscal year, I felt a re-review of our budget was mandated. The hard and painful facts are that, with a reduction of some $700,000 the State has forced onto the Lexington property taxes the equivalent of about $2.75 additional on our tax rate. One must realize that the cuts; $210,000 in Chapter 766, $371,000 in Chapter 70, and a 55%, or $136,000 reduction in school bus transporta- tion are far in excess of that which one might have expected because of declinin enrollments. 'Although I was personally satisfied that the Committee had care- fully scrutinized and finally approved a fiscally sound budget, it be- came clear that reconsideration was necessary and as a result I reluct- antly suggest the following: 1. That the new .6 High School Guidance Counselor salary of $7,800. be deleted. However, a transfer from within junior high or ele- mentary counseling should be made in order to staff the new high school guidance program. 2. Reduce from $21,000 to $5,000 the amount budgeted for the newly created positions of 4 female custodians at the high school. The $5,000 will allow an experimental pilot program for one year and give the committee an opportunity to consider its cost effec- tiveness. 3. Reduce tram $20,000 to $15,000 the requested salary for the Stu- dent Activities Advisor. I am not in a position to know for cer- tain if this is feasible, however, a $15,000 salary might be suf- ficient, if not I am sure the difference could be made up in the personal services budget. 4. Reduce the request for 2 new maintenance men @ $11,440 each to one for this year. Page 68 March 29, 1976 5. Reduce from $222,200 to $203,000 the amount of funds requested for maintenance of plant. This is a reduction of $19,200 but allows an increase of $25,000 over last year. 'Agreement on these changes by the School Committee would result in a savings of $59,440 an amount which some people might consider a token in view of the total budget. However, I wish to restate my po- sition and remind all concerned that this action is prompted only be- cause of the financial hardship forced upon us by the State. You will note that these changes will not directly affect the teaching staff and are not intended to do so since I am content with the staff changes al- ready approved by the school committee. I believe any further cuts in teaching staff at this time would only be detrimental to the educational process in Lexington. 'Once again my I say that I find it difficult to recommend these changes particularly since the original proposals received my enthusias- tic support. However, you will notice that the intent here is to cut back, but not entirely eliminate increases in personnel and maintenance of plant. 'Finally, because of the dreadful condition of the State finances it becomes increasingly clear that the cities and towns must turn to lo- cal real estate property taxes in an effort to be self-supporting in fund- ing local education and it is for this reason I ask committee support of these proposals, and to ask that we discuss these items at a future meet- ing prior to end of Town Meeting." Members agreed that there were areas that needed additional evalua- tion due to the release of the state reimbursement plan. Mr. Spiris asked members to call his office if there were items they would like to have included. Information would be gathered on these items and pre- sented to the school committee for assessment prior to their decisions. Mr. Spiris suggested members contact Rep. Lincoln Cole, member of the House Ways and Means Committee for up-to-date information and clari- fication about school assistance. Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools it was SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS VOTED: to accept the following Schedule of Payments. (Wadsworth, Brown, (Unanimous) SCHOOL DEPARTMENT PAYMENTS Personal Services March 19, 1976 Classified Payroll #19 $68,687.68 March 26, 1976 Professional Payroll #20 403,939.81 Expenses March 19, 1976 Bill Schedules #131 6,782.18 March 19, 1976 #132 2,419.33 March 19, 1976 #133 57,155.12 March 19, 1976 #134 62,782.48 March 26, 1976 #135 3,187.36 March 26, 1976 #136 4,957.74 March 26, 1976 #137 13,060.88 March 26, 1976 #138 300.00 Page 69 March 29, 1976 Vocational Education SCHEDULE OF March 19, 1976 Transportation #21 $ 131.00 PAYMENTS Athletics (CONT.) March 19, 1976 Bill Schedules #24 3,118.75 March 26, 1976 #25 484.20 March 26, 1976 Payroll #23 18.00 Out-of-State Travel March 19, 1976 Bill Schedules #12 164.02 March 26, 1976 #13 105.00 SPECIAL PROGRAMS (Non-Lexington Funds) Adult Education March 26, 1976 Professional Payroll 630.00 March 19, 1976 Bill Schedule #7 413.19 Driver Education (Adult Education) March 26, 1976 Professional Payroll 681.50 LABS Pre-K (Bedford) March 26, 1976 Professional Payroll 379.74 March 19, 1976 Bill Schedule #5 37.92 METCO Program March 19, 1976 Classified Payroll #13 1,368.00 March 26, 1976 Professional Payroll 3,868.75 March 19, 1976 Bill Schedule #7 141.32 Teacher Training Program II March 19, 1976 Classified Payroll #14 147.20 March 26, 1976 Professional Payroll 368.85 March 19, 1976 Bill Schedule #12 123.12 March 26, 1976 #13 165.88 Title III - Administrative Grant March 19, 1976 Classified Payroll #13 80.00 March 19, 1976 Bill Schedule #11 18.24 LAB Pre-Vocational Life Care Program March 19, 1976 Classified Payroll #15 1,182.75 March 26, 1976 Professional Payroll 875.46 March 19, 1976 Bill Schedule #11 46.27 LEADS Program March 19, 1976 Classified Payroll #14 464.63 March 26, 1976 Professional Payroll 1,403.87 March 26, 1976 Bill Schedule #13 71.76 Autistic Program (Lexington) March 19, 1976 Classified Payroll #14 294.00 March 26, 1976 Professional Payroll 717.96 Page 70 March 29, 1976 Autistic Program (Arlington) March 19, 1976 Classified Payroll #15 153.60 March 26, 1976 Professional Payroll 2,667.45 March 19, 1976 Bill Schedule #5 8.98 Pre-School (Burlington) March 19, 1976 Classified Payroll #13 480.00 March 26, 1976 Professional Payroll 1,475.78 March 19, 1976 Bill Schedule #14 93.29 Title I-PL89-313 March 26, 1976 Professional Payroll 102.89 ESEA Library March 19, 1976 Bill Schedule #5 528.50 ACE Program March 19, 1976 Bill Schedule #7 613.00 Pupil School Material Recoveries March 19, 1976 Bill Schedule #32 866.90 Bus Ticket March 26, 1976 Bill Schedule #6 1,294.50 Other March 19, 1976 ESEA Math Grant #1 516.17 March 19, 1976 Insurance Claim 304.00 The Financial Statement for July 1, 1975 through February 29, 1976 FINANCIAL was presented. STATEMENT Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools the follow- STAFF ing personnel were elected at the year; level, and step indicated for RE-ELECTIONS the 1976-1977 school year. These elections being subject to availabil- ity of suitable positions. (Brown, Michelman, Unanimous) School Name Level & Step Resignat ons Effective PERSONNEL CHANGES New Personnel Resignation Effective PERSONNEL CHANGES (PROFESSIONAL) Page 71 March 29, 1976 Medical Leave Effective PERSONNEL CHANGES (PROFESSIONAL) Maternity Leave (CONT'D.) Coaching Assigm.._nt Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools it was BIDS ELECTRICAL VOTED: to award the following items with the companies listed below EQUIPMENT based on their being the low bidders meeting specifications. Brown, Wadsworth, Unanimous) ITEM COMPANY TOTAL 1-2-3-4-5-6 Heathkit Electronics Center $2608.85 7-8-9-10-11 12-13-14-20 15-21 Wholesale Electronic Supply 347.76 16 Digital Equipment Corp. 750.00 17-18-19 Paxton/Patterson 141.32 $3847.93 Mr. Spiris reviewed the memo being sent to the Superintendent's PROFESSIONAL Cabinet outlining proposals submitted by staff. He asked the School DEVELOPMENT Committee to review all the suggestions and number them in order of priority. He would then use the School Committee Priorities as a guide- line in developing a master plan. A vandalism report from December 12 to March 19, was reviewed VANDALISM briefly by the School Committee. Dr. Rotberg requested a dollar fig- ure be assigned to each category. Mr. Maclnnes explained that he had implemented a new system three weeks ago at the request of the School Committee. Such information will be available in the next report. The School Committee announced that a professional consultation PROFESSIONAL would be held on Tuesday, April 6, on the topic of Chapter 766. CONSULTATION It was VOTED: to go into Executive Session at 7:36 p.m. for the purpose of dis- cussing negotiation and personnel matter (Brown, Wadsworth, Unan.) The Chairman announced that the Committee would not return to pub- lic session. Role of Vote - Brown - Yes Wadsworth - Yes Rotberg - Yes Michelman - Yes Swanson - Yes Respectfully submitted,// Richard H. Ba s /k - Recording S etary, Pro tem