HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-03-04-SC-min Page 58
March 4, 1977
A special meeting of the Lexington School Committee was held on
Friday, March 4, 1977, at 4:00 p.m. , in the School Administration Build-
ing. Those in attendance were Mrs. Swanson, Messrs. Brown, Michelman,
Rotberg, Wadsworth. Also present were Messrs. Lawson, Spiris, Pierson,
Monderer, Maclnnes, Barnes.
Mrs. Swanson read a letter that she suggested be sent to the Board HANCOCK SCHOOL
of Selectmen informing them that the school department had no further
use of the Hancock School and land site. Mr. Michelman said that it was
certainly appropriate to submit the letter to accomplish the legal work
in shifting custody of any land and building to a Town and would also
give the present board notification and permit the Town Meeting to un-
derstand the position of the School Committee. He added that it would
be a confusion of record, however, for him to vote in the affirmative
on this matter due to his position on Hancock School closing. Dr. Rot-
berg said that the language of the letter did not reflect an accurate
record of the school committee. He felt that the letter indicated that
all four schools listed in the superintendent' s report of school clos-
ings would be given to the Town, rather than the Hancock School. Mrs.
Swanson noted that the letter referred specifically to the high school.
A vote was called. It was
VOTED: to authorize the chairman of the school committee to send a let-
ter to the Board of Selectmen informing them that the school
committee had no further use of the Hancock School and the land
site.
Mrs. Swanson requested the school committee to ratify the action ARTICLE 33
of the chairman that the board of selectmen place Article 33 in the Town RATIFICATION
Warrant. She said that she had informed the board of selectmen approx-
imately two months ago, due to the deadline for warrant submission, re-
garding the placement of language for the Town Warrant. Dr. Rotberg
voiced surprise that such language had been inserted. He said that he
would have agreed if he had known but questioned the procedure. Mr.
Michelman also stated that the exact language placement in the Warrant
had been unknown to him even though he would consider the inclusion of
such language as appropriate for legal action required for Town Meeting.
A vote was called. It was
VOTED: to ratify the action of the chairman of the school committee to
request that the Selectmen place Article 33 in the Town Warrant.
(Wadsworth, Brown, Unanimous)
Mr. Wadsworth read a statement regarding what he felt was the need SCHOOL CLOSING
for a policy on school closings. Mr. Wadsworth said that schools with POLICIES
enrollments under 200 pupils except for special circumstances would be
closed as planned. Dr. Rotberg and Mr. Michelman said that they were
not comfortable with the assumption of Mr. Wadsworth' s proposal. Mr.
Michelman then introduced a plan that he felt was appropriate if there
were to be a small school closing policy. He emphasized that it was
very important to have a general policy. He felt that such a policy
should include criteria for identification of schools for closure, a
cut-off number, redis::ricting plan, documentation for proper use of the
building, and minimum-maximum ceiling of staff. He said that the de-
velopment of a policy should be the first step in closing or consoli-
dating a school.
Page 59
March 4, ' 977
It was
VOTED: that the present school coimuittee requeL _ the new s;"`;Yool co&itt ;,
as an early order of business to develop a policy -, els" :tary
schools closings. (Rotberg, Michelman, Unanimous)
It was
VOTED: toFaccept both reports with a request that, the administration
give reaction to the recommendations in the future on a policy
of school closings. (Brown, Michelman, Unanimous)
Dr. Lawson stated that it would be his recommendation that the com- POLICY MAKING
mittee approve a motion to have him draft a policy statement on policy
making. He felt that confusion had reaulted in the lack of formal pol-
icy strategies. It:was
VOTED: to ask the administration to develop a policy on how the school
committee would adopt policies„ (Brown, Michelman, Unanimous)
Mrs Swanson asked for authority to send citizens a letter from the SCHOOL
school committee regarding the school closings position of the school COMMITILE
committee'members. She said that the school committee had received a COMMUNICATION:
great number of letters from citizens and felt that it was appropriate
to respond. Mr. Michelman, after reviewing the proposed letter, felt
that a sentence should be inserted, stating that it was the majority of
the school committee' s position, rather than a unanimous position. This
suggestion was accepted. It was
VOTED: to authorize the chairman of the school committee to send such
a letter from the school committee regarding the school closing
position of a majority of the members. (Wadsworth, Brown, Swan-
son; Yes; Abstain, Rotberg, Michelman) .
Dr. Lawson presented a copy of the 1977-78 Budget as revised on BUDGET 1977-7
March 4, 1977. He said that there was a clerical error in the budget
and the budget was lower due to the error. He noted that it would be
the smallest % budget increase in 25 years, and the smallest dollar
amount increase since 1964. Mrs. Swanson commended the superintendent
and administration for the work done on the 1977-78 budget. It was
VOTED: to accept the budget as revised in the amount of $15,746,245.
(Wadsworth, Brown, Unanimous) .
It was ADJOURNMENT
EXECUTIVE
VOTED: to adjourn to Executive Session to discuss the character and SESSION
reputation of an individual and negotiation matters. It was
announced that the school committee would be coming out of
Executive Session later in the e^ening. Voted at 5:05 p.m.
(Brown, yes; Michelman, yes; Swanson, yes; Wadsworth, yes;
Rotberg, yes)
Respectfully submitted,
Richard H. Barnes
/k Recording Secretary