NEWTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE

MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING – JANUARY 8, 2001

EDUCATION CENTER, FRAZIER ROOM, 7:30 P.M.

PRESENT: Chairperson Verne Vance, Vice-Chairperson Anne Borg, Susan Albright, Rodney Barker, Susan Heyman, Anne Larner, Nancy Levine, Andris Vizulis, James Tierney, student representative – Newton North High School, Sharone Gilon, student representative – Newton South High School

ABSENT: Mayor David Cohen

CALL TO ORDER

Chairperson Verne Vance called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m. He noted that the Committee is about to embark up0n a very busy six months working on the budget, high school renovation project, redistricting, conclusion of negotiations, and school visits.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Leonard Mead, 22 Camden Rd., Auburndale, praised the School Committee for their new web site, which provides the community with updated information on a variety of issues. While the majority of the community did not support the Newton Taxpayers Association’s referendum regarding the high school space project, they continue to object to the amount that is being spent on the plan. Newton spends more on the per pupil allocation than the national average, but this has not necessarily enhanced educational achievement. Given that the economy could soon be in a recession, bonding for this project will be difficult. Finally, he hopes that a representative of the Taxpayers Association can be included in the planning process.

Ross Donald, member of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Solar Roof Program, addressed the Committee regarding the importance of energy efficiency in renovating buildings. Studies of the environment show that natural light produces better learning. Given the increased costs of oil and gas and the upcoming high school space project, this is a good time to shift to natural energy sources. He encouraged any interested parties to contact the Building Department and ask about the Sunergy Project.

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES’ DISCUSSION

Sharone Gilon raised the issue of lack of textbooks in the library. Apparently, they were vandalized by students last year and not replaced.

James Marini, Assistant Superintendent for High Schools & Operations, will check into the matter.

RECOGNITIONS

None.

APPROVAL OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

MOTION: It was moved to approve the School Committee

regular meeting minutes of 11/27/00 and executive

session meeting minutes of 12/11/00.

(Larner – Heyman)

8 – 0 – 1

Absent: Mayor Cohen

INTRODUCTION OF CHINESE DELEGATION

Carolyn Henderson and Charlotte Mason, Co-chairpersons of the Newton/Jingshan Exchange Program, introduced the Chinese delegation from Beijing and the American group that will be leaving next month for China. She then exhibited photographs of the delegation in Washington meeting with the Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Education and China’s Minister of Education. The group was also invited to a dinner hosted by the Secretary of State. Obviously this program is receiving incredible recognition.

Wang Hong, teacher, and Li Ruoran, student, talked about their positive experiences in the exchange, which has given them the opportunity to learn about American culture and make new friends. The exchange has helped them improve their English language skills. Their host families have been very welcoming.

Nancy Bloom, teacher at Newton South High School, and Jared Glanz-Berger, Newton North High School student, talked about how excited the new group is about going to China and how much they are looking forward to this exchange. Leaving the comfort of what is familiar is difficult, but will open a new world of discovery. The Newton Public Schools should be very proud of this program.

REPORTS

SUPERINTENDENT’S PERSONNEL REPORT

The following retirees were acknowledged:

Edward Bassett, library/media specialist, Newton North High School

Marilyn Donlan, mathematics teachers, Newton North High School

Norman Hyett, Counselor, Newton South High School

Judy Kohn, Learning Center Teacher, Newton South High School

John McMackin, mathematics teachers, Day Middle School

Edward Rossiter, Social Studies Dept. Head, Newton North High School

Judith Rothenberg, Learning Center Teacher, Brown Middle School

Mark Rubel, mathematics teacher, Brown Middle School

Charlotte Seeley, English as a Second Language teacher, Newton North High School

George Wilwerth, Learning Center Teacher, Day Middle School

Linda Wolf, Counselor, Brown Middle School

Sarah Williams, Principal, Zervas Elementary School

Janet Goldrick, Deputy Superintendent

Roberta Dollase, Director of Human Resources, noted that due to the number of people taking advantage of the early retirement program this year, they plan to distribute the retirement statements that usually accompany their report as one packet later this year.

SUPPORT SERVICES STATUS REPORT

Carol Bock, Director of Capital Planning & Operations, highlighted the expenditures to date in the charter maintenance budget - $918,363, with a $419,735 remaining balance. Their challenge over the next few months is to be prudent about how money is spent and to prioritize items, so that they do not end up in a deficit at year’s end.

Susie Heyman commented on the need for timely renovations at Angier Elementary School to accommodate a child in a wheelchair who will be entering that school next year.

Anne Borg hopes that they take a lesson from the Bowen renovations. In future projects, care needs to be taken to include items that are integral to the project in the capital vs. operating budget.

Andy Vizulis mentioned several items that were noted in the Committee’s recent tours of Angier and Bowen Elementary Schools and asked that they be reviewed:

1.) poor lighting in the basement at Angier; 2.) hook-up of the Internet connection in Bowen’s library; 3.) non-working ventilation system in Bowen’s auditorium.

Rodney Barker asked about the large amount in the custodial overtime account and wondered if they would be better served by hiring additional staff.

Superintendent Jeffrey Young noted that one of the Committee’s budget guidelines requests that he review the custodial and secretarial support staff. He will have a proposal for budget deliberations.

Anne Larner requested that they conduct an analysis on the custodial overtime issue that will address the time distribution, because there could be a peak load issue that might not be solved by simply adding additional staff.

DISCUSSION ITEMS

DISCUSSION OF CHINA STUDIES PARTNERSHIP

Carolyn Wyatt, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction, Jody Klein, K-8 World Language Coordinator, and Jie Gao, Chinese World Language teacher, conducted the presentation using interactive technology. The study of China in Newton is integrated into the curriculum K-12 (examples were provided). Currently 485 elementary, 56 middle, and 125 high school students are involved in the Chinese programs. Illustrations of the different forms of assessments used in these programs were shown, including performance, art, and oral presentations. Professional development is offered to staff through four major sources (the Newton-Beijing Jinghsan Exchange, Newton’s Early Language Learning Initiative, China Studies Partnership, and Primary Source). Over 60 teachers and administrators have traveled to China through these various opportunities. Four elementary and two middle schools currently have Chinese bilingual programs. In addition, Newton is home to the Greater Boston Chinese

Culture Association, three Chinese community schools, and two Chinese after-school programs. They completed the presentation by talking about the importance of China as a world power in this century and the fact that it was

granted “most favored nation” status; that 963 million people speak Mandarin Chinese; and that the study of the language and culture supports Newton’s core value of respect for human differences.

Susan Albright asked about the possibility of utilizing distance learning at the high schools for this program.

Jody Klein does not favor distance learning because she believes part of developing the language skills involves interpersonal connections. It might be

something to use as a reinforcement or enrichment of the curriculum vs. the sole method of teaching.

Carolyn Wyatt noted that they will be visiting the Needham Public Schools, which utilized distance learning for foreign language at the elementary level.

Roseli Weiss, Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education, commented that the distance learning piece of Needham’s program was not one of its strengths. They found it did not hold the attention of younger children.

FY01 BUDGET UPDATE AND DISCUSSION

Sandra Guryan, Assistant Superintendent for Business, Finance & Planning,

mentioned that the deficit continues to get slightly worse. They have been able to complete the process of analyzing the data on the staffing of special education aides and have 21.4 beyond what was budgeted, for an addition to the deficit of $121,000. There were other pluses and minuses in various accounts, which are outlined in the report, and which brings them to a bottom line deficit of $573,683.

Anne Larner believes the items can be broken down into two categories – extraordinary vs. under-budgeted costs. The extraordinary costs, such as special education, fuel, etc., are items that they do not have control over and which she believes they should approach the City for assistance through the budget reserve account.

Susie Heyman agrees that the Committee needs to take responsibility for some of the areas, to make up the deficit, but that the City’s reserve should be used for these unanticipated increases, similarly to it being used for snowplowing following a blizzard.

Rodney Barker asked about the Medicare issue.

Sandy Guryan reiterated that they did not correctly calculate the number of employees subject to this tax last year and, therefore, it was inadvertently under-budgeted. This account will be fully funded in the FY02 budget.

Susie Heyman noted that this will be one of the areas that the school system will have to address rather than the City.

Anne Larner commented that compared to other communities, Newton has been able to control special education tuition costs for three years. The increase this year was unpredictable and something that eventually was expected.

Carol Daynard, Assistant Superintendent for Pupil Services, mentioned that one of the ways they were able to control costs was by developing in-house programs that would not require students being tuitioned out of the system, thereby increasing tuition and transportation costs.

Susie Heyman mentioned that the Education Collaborative (EdCo) is going to request relief from legislators specifically for early childhood special education and transportation costs in preschools.

ENROLLMENT ANALYSIS REPORT

Sandy Guryan provided an overview of the Enrollment Analysis Report. The official October 1 enrollment is 11, 246, nearly equal to last year’s. At the elementary level there are 115 fewer students this year, 32 more at the middle schools, and 81 more at the high schools. She then talked about the enrollment history and peak year enrollments at each level and the method used in producing these projections. Finally, she talked about some trends and population projections.

Carol Bock talked about possible future housing developments and the need to keep a careful watch on these units, as well as shifting demographics.

CONTINUED DISCUSSION RE: REDISTRICTING

Jeff Young would like to discuss the issues of redistricting criteria and building capacity , in general, although he suggested they leave specifics about capacity for another meeting, so that the administration has more time to rework that data.

Anne Larner mentioned the need to think about future program changes when talking about capacity, because that may have an impact on space. Also, in looking at long-term projections and the error rate, she believes they need to incorporate a flexibility factor to accommodate fluctuations, particularly at the elementary level, which have much smaller populations. In terms of criteria, she mentioned several items: the need to maximize the use of facilities; provide stability for a reasonable period of time; minimize operating costs; respect community values and traditions, where possible; design a process that it is fair, credible, and in the long-term best interest of students.

Andy Vizulis mentioned the consideration of transportation time and distance.

Susie Heyman noted that the end product should be coherent and credible.

Anne Larner stated that some of the other criteria that has been mentioned, such as keeping cohorts together and maximizing diversity, would not necessarily be at the top of her list as a high priority. However, she first wants to listen to the community, as to the importance of these items, so that she can factor them into the mix and weigh them appropriately. Also, there was some perception from the public after the last redistricting process that options were removed from the table and the ultimate decision came down to the cost of a bus. Rather than eliminating options in this fashion, so that it comes down to something such as one bus, they should focus on key priorities and matches.

Susan Albright mentioned the issue of orphan schools, i.e., where several elementary schools feed to one middle school and the possibility of one of those schools feeding to a different high school alone.

Susie Heyman added that they have to discuss the issue of coherence throughout all three levels and the notion of “grandfathering” or not changing schools mid-stream.

Nancy Levine believes community cohesiveness is very important, not only from a specific elementary school, but from the perspective of villages and other activities, such as churches, synagogues, sports teams, etc. This can be viewed both positively and negatively, i.e., dividing or broadening communities, depending upon one’s perspective.

Anne Borg would like to hear from the Brown Middle School principal regarding the impact on students who split between the two high schools.

Jeff Young mentioned that the Brown principal will be serving on the redistricting task force and will bring that perspective to the discussions.

ACTION ITEMS

VOTE TO ACCEPT DONATIONS

MOTION: It was moved to accept the donation of 50

classroom chairs to Newton North High

School and $300 to the Early Childhood

Programs, as outlined in Attachment G.

(Larner – Heyman)

7 – 0 – 2

Absent for vote: Barker

Absent: Mayor Cohen

COMMUNICATIONS

None.

PUBLIC COMMENT

There were no members of the public who wished to address the Committee at this time.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:20 p.m.