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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-04-25-SC-min Page 83 April 25, 1977 On Monday evening, April 25, 1977, the Lexington School Committee met at the School Administration Building at 8:00 p.m. Present were Swanson, Gaudet, Michelman, Hoffman and student representative Jonathan Miller. Also present were Lawson, Spiris, Monderer, Maclnnes, Pierson and Barnes. Upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools it was SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS VOTED: to accept the following Schedule of Payments. (Michelman, Gaudet, Unanimous) SCHOOL DEPARTMENT BUDGETS Personal Services April 15, 1977 Classified Payroll #21 $ 69,074.63 April 7, 1977 Professional Payrolls #22 428,056.93 April 22, 1977 #23 420,888.88 Expenses April 15, 1977 Bill Schedules #151 1,601.65 April 15, 1977 #152 2,549.89 April 15, 1977 #153 11,825.30 April 22, 1977 #154 6,174.62 April 22, 1977 #155 55,107.69 April 22, 1977 #156 3,508.63 April 22, 1977 #157 223.89 Expenses (Carryover) April 22, 1977 Bill Schedule #214 45.50 Out-of-State Travel April 22, 1977 Bill Schedule #23 1,445.71 Athletics April 15, 1977 Bill Schedule #30 976.21 April 22, 1977 #31 235.55 April 22, 1977 Payroll #18 709.00 Vocational Education April 15, 1977 Transportation #9V 299.92 April 22, 1977 #10V 181.47 SPECIAL PROGRAMS - Non-Lexington Funds Adult Education April 7, 1977 Professional Payrolls 1,485.40 April 22, 1977 372.40 April 22, 1977 Bill Schedule #11 5.99 Driver Education (Adult Education) April 7, 1977 Professional Payrolls 930.52 April 22, 1977 1,084.69 Page 84 April 25, 1977 METCO Program April 15, 1977 Classified Payroll $ 1,507.05 April 7, 1977 Professional Payrolls 5,171.06 April 22, 1977 5,694.81 April 22, 1977 Bill Schedule #15 13,627.20 LEADS Program April 15, 1977 Classified Payroll 1,455.83 April 7, 1977 Professional Payrolls 811.53 April 22, 1977 811.53 April 22, 1977 Bill Schedule #10 164.87 Title III-Administrative Grant April 15, 1977 Classified Payroll 320.00 MTA Southwick Salary April 7, 1977 Professional Payroll 745.38 April 22, 1977 745.38 Bus Ticket Account April 22, 1977 Bill Schedule #7 1,854.10 Upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools it was PERSONNEL CHANGES VOTED: to accept the following Personnel Changes (Professional) (PROFESSIONAL) (Michelman, Gaudet, Unanimous) Resignations Retirements Yrs. in Lex. Upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools it was PERSONNEL CHANGES VOTED: to accept the following Personnel Changes (classified) . (CLASSIFIED) (Michelman, Gaudet, Unanimous) Retirement Yrs. in Lex. Resignation Page 85 April 25, 1977 Upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools it was Vr)TED: that orders be placed with the following companies based upon BIDS - low unit prices, meeting specifications for the following ap- GENERAL & ART proximate totals and that items 7,44C, 65, 66 and 134 be rejec- SUPPLIES ted as being in the best interest of the Town of Lexington. (Michelman, Hoffman, Unanimous) American Cutlery & Hardware, Inc. $ 1,072.24 Dick Blick Co. 288.00 Brockton Potters, Inc. 496.10 Charrette Corp. 853.10 The Fibre Studio 11.00 J. L. Hammett Co. 16,536.20 Mainco School Supply Co. 4,454.52 New England School Supply 8,234.20 Newton Potters Supply Co. 734.48 Henry S. Wolkins Co. 14,602.74 $47,282.58 Upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools it was DUPLICATING SUPPLIES VOTED: that orders be placed with the following companies, based upon low unit prices meeting specifications in the following approxi- mate totals. (Michelman, Hoffman, Unanimous) . Vendor Item No. A^prox. Totals Audio-Visual Educ. Systems,Inc. 12,14,19,21a,b,c $ 1,027.92 Burroughs Corp. 2,3,4 2,252.77 Carter Rice Storrs & Bement 11A 899.00 Garrith Plastics Co., Inc. 17,18,20,22a,b 329.01 Mainco School Cupply Co. 1,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 23,138.15 Spaulding Company 13,16 1,366.30 Visual Impression Systems 15 298.76 $29,311.91 Dr. Lawson presented a copy of the calendar committee's proposal SCHOOL for the 1977-78 school year. He noted that the committee recommended CALENDAR two possible calendars. One calendar #2, was traditional and included 1977-78 the usual vacation periods. The other calendar #1, proposed to replace the February and April vacations with one vacation in March. This pro- posal (#1) would enable the schools to close earlier in June. Both pro- posals recommended scheduled "No School" days on Rosh Hoshana, Yom Kip- pur and Good Friday, and on five Thursdays secondary professional de- velopment time. Both calendars contained a total of 182 days for stu- dents and 184 for teachers. Dr. Lawson noted that it had become in- creasingly more difficult to obtain substitute teachers on Rosh Hoshana and Yam Kippur thus the instructional program was negatively affected. Dr. Lawson said that he would recommend calendar #2 because it included the traditional vacation periods. 1 Page 86 April 25, 1977 Mrs. Gaudet asked how many religious days the contract allowed staff. Dr. Lawson replied that the contract allowed for three religious holidays per person. He noted that any staff member could exercise his/ her right to take Good Friday as a religious holiday. Mrs. Gaudet then asked if it were true that staff could take three additional religious holidays beyond the scheduled calendar. Mrs. Swanson said that she had reservations regarding the calendar and would like to suggest that it be tabled until the next meeting; she said this action would provide school committee members with an opportunity to study the calendar re- commendations more thoroughly. It was the consensus of the committee to table the calendar discussion until the next meeting. Mr. Barnes, Compliance Officer for Chapter 622, gave his status re- ADMINISTRATIV port regarding Chapter 622 activities in each of the schools. He re- REPORTS viewed the many activities conducted in the schools, the State mandated CHAPTER 622 in-service meeting planned for May by the Chapter 622 Committee and ac- tivities for possible future involvement. He briefly reviewed the types of activities at each level; elemen- tary, junior high, and senior high school. He also stated that three grievances had been filed in response to the Law, one had been resolved and the other two were waiting resolution. He said it was projected that these two cases would be resolved within a week. He noted that the attendance had been poor at the voluntary workshops held earlier in the year. He felt that it was due to the quality of the presentation rather than the commitment to the Law by the staff. He also mentioned that the Chapter 622 sub-committee had some internal problems, and that these were being worked on. One problem that the committee was exper- iencing was with the small number of people on the committees. It was impossible to cover all the Continuing Curriculum Committees in the way they felt would be beneficial. Another problem was that the committee members felt this position should be an advisors rather than facilita- tors of the law. They feel the role put them into a difficult relation- ship with staff. Dr. Hoffman expressed concern that the system search for materials complied with the law. It was noted that a great lag was evident due to the development of materials available but the book publishers were improving. Mrs. Gaudet said two junior high school girls had complained about mandatory wrestling in the gym classes and wanted to know why this policy was in effect. Ralph Lord who was in attendance stated that an experiment program at the junior high school had been attempted as a pi- lot program and was being offered to all students. He said that anyone who did not wish to participate would not have to do so. Mr. Michelman felt that in planning for activities Chapter 622 allowed the system to give careful consideration when deciding whether activities should be mandatory or voluntary by sex. Mrs.Swanson cautioned that over reac- tion to the law could be detrimental. She emphasized that the law stat- ed that schools should provide equal opportunities for all sexes, race, etc. She said she supported that yet felt that some issues raised by some citizens were over reactions to the law. The committee expressed appreciation for the report. The committee asked that information be made available regarding the internal evalua- tion, especially in the area of guidance. Mr. Barnes said the annual evaluation report would be presented as soon as possible after the close of the school year. Page 87 April 25, 1977 Science specialists, Towne Conover, Larry Costanzo and Science SCIENCE Program manager, Ed Jacobus, presented a framework for the reorganiza- CURRICULUM tion of the elementary science program. A brief outline of the develop- ment and review of the new guide was given by the specialists. Dr. Pier- son, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction noted in addition to the newly developed science curriculum there would be additional services available to staff via science centers, such as in-service courses, storage of materials, distribution of kits. Following the presentation Mr. Michelman expressed the hope that Messrs. Conover, Costanzo, Jacobus and Pierson would in due course of- fer an evaluation of the effects of the reduction in science special- ists. Mrs. Swanson stated her belief that the school committee had been vindicated in its vote to consolidate the program under the coordination of two science specialists. She felt that the new framework offered a tremendous improvement and articulation of the curriculum throughout the grades. Dr. Hoffman said that the specialists had performed a very fine service but stated the program as presented could not be judged finally by the school committee until the means for an evalua- tion of the program was completed. This he said had yet to be accom- plished. Mr. Michelman noted that the materials seemed ideally suited for possible computerization making it easier for teachers to utilize the information. Dr. Hoffman replied that he had concern for the human element and would stress that the focus not be on the computerization program. The revised physical education guides were presented by Ralph Lord, PHYSICAL Director of Physical Education, Charles Hunt and Sherrard Arch of the EDUCATION lysical education staff. He noted that in-service meetings and oppor- GUIDE tunities for improving the physical education program were now in effect. He said that the focus was to provide students with a range of activities and experiences rather than a specialization activity. Dr. Hoffman said his concern was that emphasis was placed on attendance/academic perform- ance and so little on athletics. He noted that a student who attended gym class would automatically get an 807 while performance would account for up to 107. of the grade. He felt that this kind of system should be reviewed. He noted that it was certainly not a criterion but a philo- sophical point, and hopefully would stimulate committee review. Mr. Michelman noted that several statements in the guide seemed to make un- necessary reference to the sex of students. Mr. Lord said that when the guides were revised, these sections would be removed. Mr. Lord said that there had been some reaction to the cover of the physical ed- ucation guides. Some members of the committee felt that the covers seemed fine. Dr. Pierson mentioned that the school system was under- taking a review of all curriculum guide formats, covers and a more standardized form would be used. The committee expressed its apprec- iation to the science and physical education for the fine presentation. It was VOTED: to adjourn at 11:16 p.m. (Michelman, Hoffman, Unanimous) Respectfully submitted, Richard H. Barnes /k Recording Secretary