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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-04-11-SC-min Page 76 April 11, 1977 A meeting of the Lexington School Committee was held Monday evening, April 11, 1977, at the School Administration Building Conference Room, at 7:00 p.m. Those in attendance were: Swanson, Gaudet, Brown, Hoffman, and student representative Jonathan Miller. Also present were Lawson, Spiris, Pierson, Monderer, Maclnnes and Barnes. Prior to the Public Participation Period Mrs. Swanson, chairman SCHOOL of the school committee responded to the complaint presented by Mrs. COMMITTEE RE- Ruth Barton, 6 Abbot Road, at a prior school committee meeting. Mrs. SPONSE TO Barton had expressed her concern regarding the dissemination of items CITIZEN in the classroom at Diamond Junior High School, with commercial adver- tising on them. Mrs. Swanson responded that the superintendent had looked into the matter as requested and Mr. Barnes had called Mrs. Bar- ton the next day with a verbal response. Mrs. Swanson said the response from the school committee was consistent with the findings and that the materials were made available on a voluntary basis to students in the physical education classes in which they had discussed personal hygiene. Items with advertisements were items regarding personal hygiene, a sur- vey form, and discount coupons for magazines. Mrs. Swanson expressed some reservations about the discount magazine subscriptions and survey items, but felt that personal hygiene samples might be of some benefit. Mr. Brown supported the idea that there may be times that items might prove of great worth to students and a total rejection would be un- wise. Mrs. Swanson summarized by reading the present policy which had been interpreted as one that did not allow dissemination of commercial items. Dr. Lawson explained that he and Mr. Barnes were working or. the recommended policy that would include a statement regarding such items and would be recommended to the school committee at a later date. Mrs. Swanson thanked Mrs. Barton for her concern and said that this was the school committee' s official response to her inquiry. Mrs. Swanson began the budget discussion stating she would suggest 1976-77 that the school committee establish a goal of $100,000 return to the BUDGET Town E & D fund. Dr. Lawson said that the school committee had directed the administration to keep two major sections of the budget, Personal Services and Expense Budgets, as separate and not to over-expend one or the other, nor, if one were over-expended to take from the other account. He said that the estimate in the Fall was a projected balance of $220,000. He added that as the year transpired, the expense expenditures added tip to a deficit of $165,000 due to the uncontrollable increases in utilities, fuel and tuitions, etc. Mr. Maclnnes reviewed a memorandum that said it was estimated that approximately $50,000 should be a more realistic figure to consider for return to the Town. He also indicated that the figure could rise to $75,000 or $100,000 if some of the measures being taken realized savings. Dr. Lawson said that he would not recommend any cuts that would injure 1e quality of the educational program. The school committee agreed. He noted that the school department had already returned to the Town earlier in the year the sum of $26,454, some of which had been in escrow pending a court decision on maternity leave-sick leave and some obtained from a teacher who failed to complete the agreement of a sabbatical leave. He noted that an additional $25,000 to $30,000 saving in the new budget would be realized due to enrollment decline (-532 students) . Page 77 April 11, 1977 Mr. Maclnnes said that he had issued a memorandum to schools urging minimum purchases, reduction of electricity, and other utilities. At this point, Mrs. Gaudet asked if holding off purchases would only in- crease the size of next year's budget needs. He said not necessarily, because purchases not already made or obtained would be in the types of things that would not be needed for use this year. Mr. Brown commended the administration for successfully controlling the budget and noted that uncontrollable expenses were the major factors in this situation. Mrs. Swanson agreed with these remarks and said that the School Commit- tee's further attempt to reduce the budget was not a criticism of the administration. She asked everyone to make sacrifices and stated that the goal of $100,000 should be a reasonable target. She noted that Mr. Michelman who was not in attendance that evening was in agreement with the goal of $100,000. Mr. Hoffman made the point that the savings that were occuring were not in the decreased purchase of material, etc. , but the true savings occurred in personnel salaries. He said that he was sure that this was accurate. Dr. Lawson said that it was true that savings had occurred in this area due to the differences in salaries for teachers, replacements, retirements, positions that were not filled and clerical consolidations. Mr. Hoffman asked if it were fair to say- that the only way to save money in the system occurs in the Personal Services Budget and Dr. Lawson responded saying this was true this year but with the implementation of the Program Budget next year, all areas would be reviewed. Mr. Hoffman then stated that he did not want it to appear that the saving of $50,000 would result from cut-backs in sup- plies. Upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools it was SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS VOTED: to accept the following Schedule of Payments. (Brown, Gaudet, Unanimous) SCHOOL DEPARTMENT BUDGETS Personal Services April 1, 1977 Classified Payroll #20 $72,557.36 Expenses April 8, 1977 Bill Schedules #147 2,401.96 April 8, 1977 #148 2,430.39 April 8, 1977 #149 7,729.02 April 8, 1977 #150 20,813 .50 Out-of-State Travel April 8, 1977 Bill Schedule #21 509.00 SPECIAL PROGRAMS NON-LEXINGTON FUNDS METCO Program April 1, 1977 Classified Payroll 1,546.56 LEADS April 1, 1977 Classified Payroll 1,345.20 Title III-Adm. Grant April 1, 1977 Classified Payroll 80.00 Page 78 April 11, 1977 ESEA LIBRARY - II April 8, 1977 Bill Schedule #10 $ 44.47 ESEA LIBRARY - IV April 8, 1977 Bill Schedule #7 252.61 Upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools it was PERSONNEL CHANGES VOTED: to accept the following personnel changes. (Brown, Gaudet, Unanimous) Leave of Absence The school committee and administration expressed its sympathy to NOTE OF the family of Paul R. Brown. Mr. Brown was a custodian at the senior SYMPATHY high school, and an employee of the Lexington Schools for nine years. Upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools it was RE-ELECTION OF STAFF VOTED: to accept the following staff for second and third elections, for the 1977-78 school year. (Brown, Gaudet, Unanimous) SECOND ELECTION Subject Step & School Name Grade Salary Level Page 79 April 11, 1977 THIRD ELECTION (Cont.) Subject Step & School Name Grade Salary Level PRINCIPALS TO COME UP FOR THIRD ELECTION Dr. Lawson commended Mr. Spiris for his very fine job in negotiat- CUSTODIANS' ing with the custodian's union (The National Association of Government CONTRACT Employees) on behalf of the school committee. The school committee ex- pressed its pleasure with the excellent job accomplished by Mr. Spiris. Upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools it was VOTED: to ratify the agreements reached by the NAGE negotiators and the school committee negotiators, and ratified by the NAGE membership. (Brown, Gaudet, Unanimous) AGREEMENTS REACHED BY NEGOTIATORS FOR NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AND THE LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE The following agreements to add, delete or change the present contract between the National Association of Government Employees, representing the custodians and maintenance staff of the Lexington Public Schools, and Mitchell J. Spiris, negotiator for the Lexington School Committee, are pre- sented to each body for ratification. 1. Change Paragraph I, page I, date to July, 1976 2. Change Article V, Paragraph E, page 5: effective July 1, 1976 - 5.5% increase for July 1, 1977 - 5.5% increase delete balance of paragraph 2 under E 3. Add to Article V, paragraph F (new) All persons covered by this agreement shall share equitably in any overtime after the completion of a 90 day probationary period. 4. Add to Article X, Friday immediately following Thanksgiving Day. (effective November, 1977) • 5. Add to Article XI, A Funeral Leave, grandchild, under "immediate family". 4 Page 80 April 11, 1977 6. Change Article XI, paragraph D - Personal Leave, to: • Covered employees may be absent for twc (2) days a year for such as, but not restricted to the following reasons: legal affairs, business or personal matters, adoption of a child, court appearances, real estate business, serious family illness, graduation from a place of higher learning, funerals. Reasons which are unusual, imperative, or emergency in nature at which their attendance is required and no other arrangement can be made are approved upon request. Written notification to the Superintendent for such personal leave will be made at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance, except in the case of an emergency, in which case, notification can be made by phone followed by written notification during or after the absence. The employee need only state that he/she needs a personal day for rea- sons consistent with the policy as stated above. Personal days shall not be taken immediately preceding or following a vacation or holiday except by special permission of the Superintendent. Permis- sion shall not be granted for travel purposes except when unforeseen travel emergencies such as an airplane strike make it impossible for the employee to return as scheduled. 7. Change Article XII, paragraph A, Notice of Vacant Positions, by sub- stituting for "suitable notice" the following, "at least three (3) days notice". 8. Change Article XIII, Group Insurance and Medical Coverage, by substi- tuting for "50%" in line 5, paragraph 2, the figure "75%", and in line 6, paragraph 2, substitute "25%" for "50%". 9. Add new paragraph - Safety Shoes: Each covered employee will be paid a total of forty (40) dollars in two (2) payments of twenty ($20) dollars each, (July and Jan.) , sub- ject to the following stipulations: 1. Each covered employee must present the Administrative Assistant with satisfactory proof of purchase of shoes meeting current OSHA specifications. 2. Each employee will be responsible for maintaining the same in good condition and will be required to wear such safety shoes at all times. 3 . Employees will be responsible for the replacement of all safety shoes as needed. 4. Employees will be subject to disciplinary action for failure to comply with any of the foregoing stipulations. The first payment under this provision shall be made in July, 1977, and each July and January thereafter under the stipulations above. 10. Change Article XX, lines 1 and 2 as follows: 1 Page 81 April 11, 1977 "The provisions of this agreement shall be effective as of July 1, 1976, and will continue and remain in full force and effect until June 30, 1978 and 11. Change Schedule A, effective July 1, 1976, by increasing each step by 5.57.. 12. Add Schedule B, effective July 1, 1977, and increase each step of Schedule A by 5.5%. 13. Add to Schedules A & B, a new covered classification: Regular Custodian/Parking Lot Monitor - Classification #18. 14. Add to Schedules A & B, a new covered classification: Custodian (School Year) - Classification #1. Note: this classifi- cation will be 5% less than classification #18 at Step 1. 15. Change Schedule A and add to Schedule B, Late Shift Differential, the following: "10:00 a.m. - 7 :00 p.m. - 2.5. 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. - 3.5. 12:00 noon - 9:00 p.m. - 4.0% 1:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. - 5.0% 2:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. - 6.0% 3:00 p.m. - 12:00 midnight 7 .0%" The Late Shift Differential shall be added to the regular weekly salary in the appropriate percentages indicated above. Late Shift Differential for a two week pay period will be paid to an employee who works at least six late shifts during that pay per- iod. Dr. Lawson presented the recommendations for sabbatical leaves for SABBATICAL the school year 1977-78. He noted that the Lexington Schools had no LEAVES formal process for the awarding of sabbaticals. He said that even though 1977-78 the contract provided for sabbatical leaves for staff there were no writ- ten procedures. Therefore, the following procedures were followed: each applicant's proposal was read and reacted to by the superintendent and the two assistant superintendents. Proposals were discussed at least three times among the administrators. Conferences were scheduled and held with each candidate. Department heads and principals were asked for their opinions on the proposals. A final agreement was reached fol- lowing more discussionbetween the superintendent and the two assistant superintendents. Major emphasis on the advantages of the sabbatical leave to the school system and its impact of the instructional program were the main criteria. Dr. Lawson said there were 21 proposals con- sidered and he was recommending three for a full year/full pay, six for a half year/full pay or full year/half pay. Upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools it was VOTED: to accept the following sabbatical leaves for the period indicated fox the school year 1977-78. (Brown, Hoffman, Unanimous) Page 82 April 11, 1977 Full year/full pay SABBATICAL LEAVES Half year/full pay Full year/half pay After the vote it was agreed that in future years copies of the preliminary plans of those requesting sabbatical leaves be sent to the school committee prior to vote. Dr. Lawson also said that measures would be taken to provide communication between the school committee and those being granted sabbatical leaves. He added that grantees would be required to submit quarterly reports and after the sabbatical leave has been completed they would share their program with the school com- mittee via an oral and/or written report. It was VOTED: to adjourn at 8:01 p.m. (Brown, Gaudet, Unanimous) . ADJOURNMENT Respectfully submitted, Richard H. Barnes /k r Recording Secretary