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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-02-27-SC-min Page 20 February 27, 1979 A meeting of the Lexington School Committee was held on February 27, 1979, at 4:30 p.m. , at the School Administration Building. Those in at- tendance were: Brown, Michelman, Gaudet, Hoffman. Also present were: Lawson, Pierson, DiGiammarino, Barnes. Mr. Brown announced that the Appropriations Committee had released HIGH SCHOOL $10,000 for repair to the bleachers. He added that it was the hope of BLEACHERS the Town to have the bleachers completed for graduation in 1979. Mr. Maclnnes announced that the Lexington Public Schools would parti- ENERGY AUDIT cipate in an energy audit of the High School conducted by the Tenneco Cor- poration through the sponsorship of EdCo. He said students (approximately 85 in number) would participate in the audit on March 5 and 6. Part of the audit would include a luncheon for invited guests, energy seminars, and a public meeting on the evening of March 5. He said that due to the conflict with Town elections, he requested the School Committee consider meeting the evening of March 6. The School Committee agreedthat they would schedule a meeting for 7:00 p.m. at the High. School on March 6, and adjourn at 8:00 p.m. for the energy audit meeting. Mr. Brown summarized a meeting he and Geoff Pierson attended regard- 1979-80 ing possible actions Governor King might take in capping school expenditures. BUDGET He said he felt the governor would continue his present stance. He high- lighted several points of the meeting: 1. The governor would leave it up to the Lesiglature to amend his bill. 2. The message via his aides was that there were no tools to work with in order to be responsive to the public. 3. Commissioner of Education Anrig supported the thrust of the bill, but not the bill as presented. 4. It was the opinion of everyone to try to avoid the con- flict of town versus school programs. 5. The chairman of the Ways and Means Committee made it clear that changes to the governor's proposal would be made. • 6. It was stated that a recommendation might be made to al- low town meetings to schedule a recess until final state action was taken. 7. The governor might reduce collective bargaining agree- ments regarding increases. Mr. Brown said he felt it was necessary to protect the credibility and autonomy of the School Committee and suggested that options be con- sidered so the School Committee would be prepared. He said he felt it was necessary to deal with the problem of options in case of capping. Mr. Michelman said he agreed with Mr. Brown that the situation was extremely fluid and required the attention of the School Committee. How- ever, he felt it was wise to continue to present the budget as offered, Page 21 February 27, 1979 as in the best interest of the town. He noted that there would probably be some State control developed but modifications at this time were un- known. He added that since the details of the final proposal were not available, as to whether it would be zero per cent or some modest allow- ance for inflation, etc. , the 2.17 increase as developed by the School Committee should be supported. He said it was in the best interest of the schools and the town not to react prematurally or excessively. He agreed that direct conflicts between the general town government and schools should be avoided. He added that he did not agree entirely with the viewpoint to ask the town meeting to go slow. He suggested that the School Committee needed to know the Selectmen's view regarding their par- ticular budget, and felt that the tentative school budget was in the best interest of all but, as always, the School Coumiittee should be willing to reconsider any item. Mrs. Gaudet stated she had assumed the governor's proposal was a one-year program, but felt that a multi-year capping would be detri- mental and would hesitate on proposing options that might curtain pro- grams. Mr. Hoffman said he agreed with Mr. Michelman and felt that reaction too soon would give credibility to undesirable legislation. He said the posture taken by the School Committee would be very important and suggested that the School Committee continue to present the budget as developed in the best interest of the Town of Lexington. Mr. Michelman suggested the Superintendent give guidance as to what direction the School Committee might take, i.e. , non-program items or the postponement of some supportive items. The Superintendnet stated that currently there were twelve bills in the Lesiglature which addressed the issue of capping or school autonomy, etc. He noted that fiscal autonomy still existed until it was changed. He said it would be necessary to approach the problem in a variety of ways depending upon what is voted. (Example: a one-year short-term prob- lem would be treated differently than a long term problem.) He added it would be necessary to screen through every item and find the ones that would have least impact but felt it was not possible to avoid adversely affecting students by cutting $346,000. He stated that with program budgeting, it would require reversing of the accepted procedures. He said it might be possible to consider the use of the balance of this year's budget to ease the pain of capping if it did come rather than decide to return the money to the Town. He noted that the administration and staff had been frugal, and it had been looking at a long-term planning concept. He suggested that it would be wise to look at the short-term problem pro- cess at this particular time. Mr. Michelman said anyone who had any particular items should bring them forth and asked Mr. Brown if he would like to share his particular suggestions and thoughts. Mr. Brown said reconsideration of the budget might suggest a figure somewhere between and make it clear it was the best judgment of the School Committee and request approval under whatever terms prevailed at the time. Mr. Brown then suggested the following cuts be considered: Page 22 February 27 , 1979 1. Substitutes, $10,000 2. Personnel Services, $50,000 (ins and outs) - 3. Administration, $30,000 4. Materials and Equipment, $9,000 5. Operations and Plant, $1,000 6. Crossing Guards, $3,000 7. Maintenance of Plant, $5,000 8. Sabbaticals, $90,000 9. Towels, $16,000 For.a total of $214,000 After the presentation of Mr. Brown' s items, the Superintendent and other members agreed to consider those suggestions and react to them in the near future. It was VOTED: to adjourn at 5:38 p.m. (Michelman, Gaudet, Unanimous) Respect-fully submitted, C\ , /' / ti —Richard H. Barnes Recording Secretary /c