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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-01-29-SC-min Page 24 January 29, 1977 On Saturday, January 29, 1977, a special meeting of the Lexington School Committee was held at the School Administration Building at 4" 9:00 a.m. Present were Mrs. Swanson, Messrs. Rotberg, Michelman, Brown, Wadsworth. Also present were Messrs. Lawson, Spirts, Maclnnes, Barnes, Monderer, Pierson. Dr. Lawson presented the Personal Services Budget to the School PERSONAL CoLunattee. In account 2200-1 Principals, he noted that there would be SERVICES a 2.37. increase for principals and their secretarial and clerical assist- BUDGET ants. Mr. Michelman asked the Superintendent if any -`'Thought had been given to having a shared or teaching principal at the smaller schools. ACCOUNT 2200-1 The principal could be one that would share two buildings or teach part- time. Dr. Lawson said that he had discussed this with the administrators, but there was no particular formula at the moment. He felt that if there were no school closings it would be bad management to continue operation is, due to cost implications. He added it was not as productive for ^t individual to serve several buildings. He would prefer that the teach- ing principal concept be considered. He felt it would be educationally appropriate to have teaching principals in the smaller schools next year, if the school committee so voted. Dr. Rotberg stated that minor redis- tricting could occur, allowing the smaller schools to gain in enroll- ment to justify full time principals to service the needs of those schools. He encouraged the administration to pursue the idea of minor redistrict- ing. Mrs . Swanson said she disagreed that minor redistricting would solve the problem at hand. She said the decision was made to go ahead with school closings by the vote of February, 1976. She said it would be unwise for the school committee to continue to postpone the school closing issue. In addition, she said it would be extremely helpful if each committee member would express himself at some meeting regarding equitable administration of the schools. She said the original vote in February, 1976, to start the processes for school closing had as its fo- cus equality for all students. Mr. Brown added that he would encourage a review of the concept of equitable administrative services for schools. It was VOTED: that the administration within a reasonable, convenient time sub- mit recommendations to the school committee respecting equitable Administration-supervisory staff in the schools. (Michelman, Brown, Unanimous) . Dr. Lawson reviewed the account containing secretarial-clerical help. ACCOUNT 2200-2 He said even though there were requests for additional assistance, there would be no additions this year. In some cases, he stated, reallocation of some individuals time and duties was planned. Mr. Spirts reviewed the account. He noted that there would be a ACCOUNT 2300-1 reduction of 19 teachers due to a decline in enrollment. It was also noted that an additional $28,000 would have to be added to this account for 2 specialists, language arts and social studies. Mr. Spirts noted that there would be a reduction of two kindergarten teachers in the 1977-78 school year. He said that if the September enrollment distri- buted as projected the committee would be asked to hire an additional kindergarten teacher. Mr. Michelman added that he had some concern about the large kindergarten classes at some schools and possibly Adams Page 25 January 29, 1977 and Bowman might share an added person. He felt they should have full time teachers but would wait until the entire budget was reviewed be- fore making a definite suggestion regarding the number of kindergarten teachers for the next school year. Dr. Lawson said he felt Lexington' s kindergarten expectations were not as high as other communities in his experience. He felt that the kindergarten program needed a review. He said the primary objective should be to have children in K-1 reading. He advocated smaller class sizes in the beginning school year and felt it might reap significant savings and pay off in later years. Dr. Rot- berg suggested that none of the K teachers be assigned, but place them in a personnel pool until definite assignments of students were known. Mr. Michelman said that this was a good suggestion, but perhaps we should use 92 for planning purposes rather than the 82 suggested. He then said that he would request a review of this issue later. Mr. Brown said that he would like to receive a proposal from the CLASS SIZE administration regarding a ceiling for class size in K-1 and 2, before deciding. The superintendent agreed to review this idea, and report to the committee at a later date. Mrs. Swanson asked if it would be pos- sible to have a listing of support staff in individual schools such as student teachers, special needs persons in each classroom, etc. The superintendent agreed to present this information to the committee. The superintendent reminded the committee that ceilings with lower and upper limits would have to be undertaken with the understanding that there would be transfers of pupils. Dr. Rotberg commented that there could be issues due to the busing problems in this case. In summary, Dr. Lawson agreed to give the details of the plans of the principals of Bridge, Adams, Bowman and Harrington Schools in solving the problem of large classes at the upper levels. It was noted that the specialists account would remain the same as SPECIALISTS last year. Even though there was an enrollment decline it was not sig- nificant enough to necessitate a reduction in specialists staff. Dr. Lawson noted that there would be increased travel time and expenses for staff as they move among the schools. Mr. Michelman said that he agreed that the decline in specialists would be erratic. He noted that some years the change would be zero and in other years it would be more promi- nent. Mr. Wadsworth felt that Lexington had a favorable position in com- munities having specialists. He felt that Lexington had more specialists than are needed. Dr. Pierson noted that other school systems did have similar help, but they had administrative titles and so it was hard to compare. Dr. Rotberg requested a copy of the recent per pupil expenditures PER PUPIL by communities distributed by the State Department. It was agreed to EXPENDITURE supply him with this. The substitute account was discussed. The increase of $40,000 was ACCOUNT 2300-1a projected due to expenditure experiences in the substitute account. Dr. Lawson said that absences were soaring. Causes were due to accumulated sick leave, personal days, and older staff. He noted that the average absence of staff had increased for all reasons to 6.8 days per year. The school committee expressed concern over the absentee rate and its impact on the substitute expenditures. Page 26 January 29, 1977 Mr. Michelman requested that some initiative be taken to keep the field house available for the summer co-op operation. He said the school couuuittee could be performing a tremendous service as well as a cost ef- fective operation. Dr. Lawson said that this was a possibility. Dr. Rotberg suggested a separate item in the town budget. Mrs. Swanson then suggested that the recreation committee be contacted immediately to dis- cuss plans. She was concerned about using the schoolbudget for a pro- gram which many felt was strictly recreation. Dr. Rotberg then suggested that Mr. Maclnnes and the superintendent put forth a report on cost of crating the facilities during the summer co-op. Hopefully, the opera- tion could be self-supporting. He also suggested that if the field house were provided that the cost of this service be noted for the pub- lic . It was agreed that the administration would talk with town of- ficials and the recreation department to discuss plans for the summer. Dr. Monderer reviewed the account, atypical education. He said there ACCOUNT 2300-lc had been some problems of control and was seeking ways to see what could be done about the over-expenditures. He noted a projected over-expen- diture of approximately $50,000 this year. He said he was working with the principals to see what could be done regarding the review of all tu- toring services. He said he had prepared materials for the principals and a survey was due at the end of January. He said that one immediate control put into effect was that principals were required to call him before any tutoring was added. Also, all Core evaluation plans would be reviewed by principals to determine if they could accommodate the needs within existing resources. Mr. Michelman asked if Lexington rates were lower than other communities, and if Lexington was having diffi- culty attracting tutors. Dr. Monderer responded that there was no dif- ficulty in attracting tutors, and our rates were lower than other com- munities. He felt that we may have lost some good tutors. Mr. Spiris noted that in some communities the tutors were organizing as a bargain- ing unit. It was agreed to discuss this topic at a future date. It was NEW PERSONNEL (PROFESSIONAL) VOTED: to accept the New Personnel (professional) (Brown, Rotberg, Unanimous) It was VOTED: to adjourn at 12:06 p.m. (Brown, Wadsworth, Unanimous) Repsectfully submitted, Richard H. Barnes /k Recording Secretary