NEWTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE

MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING – MAY 14, 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, Mayor David Cohen,

Solomon Israel, student representative, Newton South High School

ABSENT: student representative, Newton North High School

OPEN SESSION

At 6:00 p.m., it was announced that the Committee will entertain a motion to convene in executive session.

MOTION: It was moved, by roll call vote, to convene in

executive session for the purpose of hearing a

grievance. If passed, the Committee will reconvene

in open session at 7:30 p.m.

(Larner - Heyman)

8 – 0 – 1

Absent for executive session: Mayor Cohen

ROLL CALL VOTE BY WARD:

Ward I, “yes” (Vizulis); Ward II, "yes" (Albright); Ward III, "yes" (Larner); Ward IV, "yes", (Levine); Ward V, “yes” (Heyman); Ward VI, "yes"; (Barker); Ward VII, "yes" (Vance); Ward VIII, “yes”, (Borg); Mayor David Cohen, absent for executive session

CALL TO ORDER

Chairperson Verne Vance called the meeting to order at 7:45 p.m. A moment of silence was held in memory of Alderman Dick McGrath, who recently passed away. Alderman McGrath deeply loved the City of Newton, worked tirelessly in serving the community, and was a great supporter of the Newton Public Schools.

PRESENTATION FROM TEACHERS' AND STUDENTS' VISIT TO NICARAGUA

Rodney Barker welcomed the most recent group to visit San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua, their sister city program that began in 1987: teachers Christopher

Jackson and Kathy Knight, and students Blake Harrington, Justin McCarthy, Nicki Lapidus, Sara Murdock, Parker Rice, Jessica Reif, Marta Zaharoff and Nuray Taygan.

The teachers and students expressed their gratitude to the system for being given this opportunity. They then presented a slide show of their experience. They talked of their work in building a school with very primitive tools. They spoke of the warmth and hospitality shown them by their host families. They spoke of the dedication of everyone in the community in building the school, most of who were working on a voluntary basis. They commented on how appreciative people were for the smallest items and supplies that they provided. They taught English in a classroom and were able to improve upon their Spanish. They talked about how the lives they lead in Newton are very different than the experiences of the teenagers in San Juan Del Sur. They spoke of the beauty of the country and its people and how they recorded all their experiences in a journal.

Andy Vizulis asked how many schools have been built by this group since its inceptions.

Rodney Barker responded that approximately 16 schools and two housing units for teachers have been built, as well as numerous repairs to structures.

Andy Vizulis asked if people from Nicaragua have visited Newton.

Rodney Barker replied that some teachers and the Superintendent have visited Newton.

Superintendent Jeffrey Young thanked the group for being ambassadors for the City and for their hard work and dedication to this program.

PUBLIC HEARING/VOTE ON SCHOOL CHOICE

Verne Vance explained that, by law, School Committees are required to hold a public hearing and vote annually on the State’s School Choice Program.

There were no members of the public who wished to address the Committee on the issue of school choice.

Jeff Young stated that once again he will recommend that the Committee vote not to participate in this program. In addition to Newton's space limitations, the school choice program drains resources from less affluent communities.

MOTION: It was moved not to participate in the School

Choice Program for the 2001/2002 school year.

(Heyman - Larner)

unanimous

PUBLIC COMMENT

Stuart Snyder, 30 Erie Ave., Newton Highlands, talked about next year's large kindergarten classes at Zervas Elementary School and the need for an additional teacher. He presented the Committee with a petition signed by concerned parents.

Abby Cohen, 30 Erie Ave., Newton Highlands, was a kindergarten teacher at Underwood Elementary School in 1994, with a class size of 26, which is the same number as her daughter's incoming kindergarten class this fall at Zervas. Having experienced firsthand the day-to-day life of a class of this size she can attest to the fact that it does not support children's learning. There is such a wide range of academic, social, and physical skills among kindergarten children. A child's first school experience must be a positive one.

Tony D'Agostino, 359 Cabot St., Cabot Elementary School parent, spoke of the uniqueness of the village concept in Newton and how each has its own identity and diversity. This creates a safe haven for children and connects them to a community. In terms of redistricting, adding more busing will only make bad traffic situations worse. Allowing children who walk to school to continue this tradition makes sense. He urged the Committee to vote for Option E-2.

Michael Spitalls, 29 Eden Ave., West Newton, Franklin Elementary School parent representative to the Redistricting Task Force (RTF), spoke of the importance of maintaining the current diversity of the secondary schools and hopes the Committee will take this into consideration when making the redistricting decision. With respect to academic performance, he performed an analysis using last year's MCAS scores of the 15 elementary schools and compared the current and proposed feeder patterns for each option. The results indicated that the top and bottom four scoring schools currently feed into different middle schools, creating a well-balanced mix and promoting diversity among the populations. Several of the proposed options result in schools with mostly high or low scoring

students feeding into the same middle school. Therefore, he suggests that the Committee eliminate Options A and B from consideration.

Howard Greene, 26 Sargent Park, Ward Elementary School parent, talked about the issue of distance. His daughter currently walks to Bigelow Middle School, as do all of her friends. No buses are required. Many children in their community also walk to Newton North. Therefore, it would seem logical to continue the north feeder pattern for Ward.

Jeff Snider, 56 Park Ave., Ward parent, stated that the elementary school is the center of their community. He walks his child to school every day or drives her if it's raining. It would make no sense to bus her across the City when the school is at the bottom of their street.

Dan Ascher, Adam Markievicz, Hilary Lyme, and Daniel Eisenberg, Day Middle School students, spoke of the need for seatbelts on buses, particularly if more students are to be transported to school. They urged the Committee to incorporate a seatbelt requirement into the transportation contract or pay to outfit buses with this safety precaution. They presented research they have conducted around this issue to support their proposal, as well as a petition signed by 1,400 people, including organizations such as the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, National PTA, and National Transit Safety Board. In light of the recent Oak Hill bus tragedy, it is well worth the cost if it saves lives.

Lisa Greene, 58 Green Park, Ward parent, stated that one of the reasons her family purchased their home was its proximity to neighborhood schools. Options C and D would require busing her children across the city . This involves a significant amount of money that could be better spent on programs. She urged the Committee to support Option B or E-2.

Nelson Checkoway, 450 Waverley Ave., Ward parent, believes that sending Ward children south is unfair, as they live within walking distance to their current elementary and middle school. It would also increase the school budget, which is woefully underfunded, and would squander resources that would otherwise be available for all school children.

Jonathan Yeo, 152 Grove St., Copresident of the Williams Elementary School PTO, stated that it is difficult to predict bus eligibility and policies for the next five to ten years. Changes in transportation could significantly alter the cost calculations for these options. He urged them to study the geography because Auburndale is an isolated community. If the Committee chooses to send their school south, families in the Burr/Pierce/Williams choice districts will opt out of choosing Williams, thereby increasing class sizes at Burr and Pierce and under-

utilizing the work that is occurring to remodel their building under the Tier 1 improvements.

Sherry Klein, 124 Cabot St., Cabot parent, does not support splitting their school. Friendships are important to a child's development and self-esteem. Cabot is the only school being suggestion for a split in any of the options. She rejects both Options E1 & E2 for this reason.

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES' DISCUSSION

Solomon Israel commended Michael Welch, Principal of Newton South High School, for his handling of the Oak Hill tragedy and its impact on their school. He was compassionate, understanding, and displayed extraordinary leadership.

RECOGNITIONS

Day Middle School's Daytime newspaper, for receiving 16 awards,

including the All New England Award from the New England

Scholastic Press Association and the Gold crown Award from the

Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

The following students received National Merit Scholarships:

Newton North High School Newton South High School

Sarah Lewis Ilya Abyzov

Douglas North Tam Ngo

Lindsey Palmer Vivek Rao

APPROVAL OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

MOTION: It was moved to approve the School Committee

special budget meeting minutes of 3/19/01.

(Levine - Albright)

unanimous

REPORTS

SUPERINTENDENT'S PERSONNEL REPORT

There were no questions on the report.

SUPPORT SERVICES STATUS REPORT

Carol Bock, Director of Capital Planning & Operations, reported on the progress of the Tier I renovation projects. Williams School is on schedule and Memorial-Spaulding is moving along as well.

Rodney Barker commented on the steep costs of the custodial overtime, particularly the column titled "man out cleaning."

Carol Bock explained that this does not reflect only one person, but a number of people who are out ill or on long-term worker's compensation.

James Marini, Assistant Superintendent for High Schools & Operations, noted that the system is understaffed to begin with and this is the cost associated with providing for that coverage. They have requested additional custodial staff over the past few years, but given budget constraints that line item has continually been cut.

FY01 BUDGET UPDATE

Sandra Guryan, Assistant Superintendent for Business, Finance & Planning, confirmed that the $600,000 deficit remains the same as at the last reporting.

Tonight's report includes detailed information on the special education categories associated with the deficit, as well as utility costs.

Susie Heyman thanked Ms. Guryan for her daily monitoring of this problem.

Susan Albright thanked the staff systemwide who have had to live with some very difficult hardships as a result of the budget freeze and the community organizations who have donated funds and supplies during this period.

Rodney Barker asked if any of the special education costs are reimbursable.

Sandy Guryan replied that they participate in the Medicaid Reimbursement program, which reimburses the system for medical services provided to students. They are working with staff on a collection process to improve and increase collections. However, these funds go directly into the City's general account.

Rodney Barker questioned why this money is not returned to the school system.

Mayor Cohen explained that the allocations to the school system are based on the projections of total City revenue, which include the amount in the general fund.

Rodney Barker commented that from an accounting point of view he understands the Mayor's response. However, from a political point of view it is unfortunate that publicly the deficit appears to be larger than reality since they are being reimbursed for some of the items.

Andy Vizulis asked what the greatest needs are in terms of supplies and if the system was meeting any of these requests.

Sandy Guryan explained that people have worked very hard to share resources and find different ways to make do, which is no small undertaking. The main items of need are supplies for copy machines and postage, of which they anticipate having to honor some of the requests.

DISCUSSION ITEMS

CONTINUED DISCUSSION RE: REDISTRICTING OPTIONS

The School Committee had discussion with regard to how they would move forward with the process of eliminating options.

Nancy Levine requested that the Committee focus tonight on all the criteria except the issue of busing costs. She would like that to be taken out of the equation until they have had a chance to review the data and have further discussion about all the issues surrounding the subject.

Rodney Barker respectfully disagreed because busing costs are relevant to their discussions.

Susan Albright fears that if they separate the discussion of buses from the options they might box themselves in and not leave any choices.

Anne Larner would like to be able to include busing in the context of the discussion in a general sense; understanding that the data is not absolutely precise at this point.

Susie Heyman commented that their decisions will be based on all the criteria and the weight each Committee member associates to each criterion. She does not believe they should zero in on any one criterion, rather they should take a holistic approach. They also need the opportunity to ask questions of the Director of Transportation.

Jeff Young noted that transportation issues will be looked at in much greater detail over the next few weeks and the administration will be pleased to supply

the Committee with any and all requested information on the final selection of options.

Susie Heyman asked if they could talk about some of the basics of transportation, i.e., the contract, the fleet, and the capacity.

Ken Temkin, Director of Purchasing & Transportation, stated that he has been serving in this role for 25 years. In terms of the contract, they are currently in the fourth year of a five-year contract with Laidlaw Transportation. This year's fleet consists of 30 buses, each costing $53,460. They have budgeted the same number of buses for next year, at a cost of $55,080 each, which includes an inflationary factor. In September they will begin working on a new transportation bid, which he expects will be more costly given increased gas prices and inflation.

Each bus runs a morning and afternoon route and scheduling is extremely complicated given the number of schools and various opening/closing times. However, the staggered times at the middle schools helps immensely and without that schedule he would have to provide additional buses. In addition, they transport to 11 private schools, by state mandate. The bus fleet is also used for field trips, but that is paid for separately and in addition to the contract.

In terms of capacity, they utilize the Geographic Information System (GIS) to determine the location of students. His years of experience help in terms of predicting eligibility in developing the routes, as well as an understanding of the traffic patterns.

In terms of ridership, federal regulations mandate a maximum of 77 per bus. In Newton, they seat a maximum of three to a bus at the elementary level and less as students get older. This results in a maximum ridership at 77 for elementary, 65 for middle school, and 52 for high school.

Susie Heyman asked if he could talk about walk-back routes.

Ken Temkin explained that walk-back routes began approximately 20 years ago, in an to attempt to address some of the issues surrounding the change from the one-and-a-half to the two-mile distance at the secondary level. Students less than two miles from the school can walk back for transportation if buses are available and at no extra cost to the system. Over the years the number of routes have been reduced to the remaining three or four.

Susan Albright asked why the School Committee moved the distance to two miles.

Ken Temkin stated that, at that time it might have allowed them to realize a cost savings.

Verne Vance asked how many vendors bid on the last contract.

Ken Temkin replied that there were three bids. Two bid on both the regular and METCO busing, while the third only bid the METCO routes. Laidlaw is the largest transportation vendor in the country.

Andy Vizulis asked if the bus drivers have the flexibility to change their driving routes.

Ken Temkin explained that his office develops the order of the bus stops and Laidlaw then trains the drivers prior to the opening of school. As long as they do

the stops in the order provided they can take whatever route they feel is best. Traffic patterns can change on a daily basis given road construction, backups, etc., so they have to leave that up to the discretion of the drivers. Their timing accuracy overall is excellent and usually any glitches are worked out by the end of the first week of school.

Some discussion was had about the possibility of future changes in the eligibility policy.

Ken Temkin explained that even if they eliminated high school transportation, the same number of buses would still be required for the second tier and would just be sitting idle being paid for anyway.

Anne Borg commented that if they eliminated high school transportation and had elementary and middle schools transported as together in two tiers, they could do this with fewer than 30 buses. While she is not advocating this position, it is a possibility.

Verne Vance asked if the four-hour requirement in the bus contract is standard in other communities.

Ken Temkin replied in the affirmative.

Susie Heyman asked about transportation reimbursement by the state.

Ken Temkin responded that they are reimbursed by the state for everything over 1.5 miles.

Susan Albright asked about crowded buses.

Ken Temkin explained that he conducts several surveys a year and will ride bus routes personally, if necessary. If there are problems, he works with the school to check the readership list for a particular route. Students who are not eligible for a

particular bus route are not supposed to ride that bus, but this can be difficult to monitor as they do not utilize a pass system.

The Committee began by discussing Option A:

Option A

Option A proposes the following changes in school feeder patterns for middle and high school:

1. Lincoln-Eliot students will attend Day Middle School instead of Bigelow Middle School beginning in September 2002 with the 6^th grade. In September 2003, the new 6^th grade will enter Day, as will the 6^th graders in September 2004. The transition of all middle school students will be complete in September 2004. These students will continue to attend Newton North High School after they complete middle school at Day.

2. Mason-Rice students will continue to attend Brown Middle School. These students will attend Newton South High School beginning in September 2003 with the 9^th grade. Ninth graders will continue to attend South in September 2004, 2005, 2006. The transition of all high school students will be complete in September 2006.

Mason-Rice students who live within 1 mile of North will have the option of attending North. The accompanying map displays the one-mile radius for those students.

3. Williams students will attend Day instead of Brown beginning in September 2002 with the 6^th grade. In September 2003, the new 6^th grade will enter Day, as will the 6^th graders in September 2004. The transition of all middle school students will be complete in September 2004. These students will continue to attend North after they complete middle school at Day.

4. Cabot students will attend Bigelow instead of Day beginning in September 2002 with the 6^th grade. In September 2003, the new 6^th grade will enter Bigelow, as will the 6^th graders in September 2004. The transition of all middle school students will be complete in September 2004. These students will continue to attend North after they complete middle school at Bigelow.

5. Peirce students will attend Brown instead of Day beginning in September 2002 with the 6^th grade. In September 2003, the new 6^th grade will enter Brown, as will the 6^th graders in September 2004. The transition of all middle school students will be complete in September 2004. Students from the Peirce district will attend South beginning in September 2003 with the 9^th grade (current 6^th graders at Day.). Ninth

graders will continue to attend South in September 2004, 2005, 2006. The transition of all high school students will be complete in September 2006.

Peirce students who live within 1 mile of North will have the option of attending North. The accompanying map displays the one-mile radius for those students.

Option A Feeder Patterns
Elementary	Middle	High	Elementary	Middle	High
Cabot	Bigelow	North	Angier	Brown	South
Underwood	Bigelow	North	Countryside	Brown	South
Ward	Bigelow	North	Mason-Rice	Brown	South
Burr	Day	North	Peirce	Brown	South
Franklin	Day	North	Bowen	Oak Hill	South
Horace Mann	Day	North	Memorial-Spaulding	Oak Hill	South
Lincoln-Eliot	Day	North	Zervas	Oak Hill	South
Williams	Day	North

Jeff Young mentioned that their original assumptions in this option were that families in the Mason-Rice optional district would choose equally (50%) north/ south. They have since heard from Mason Rice's RTF member that this could be incorrect. They will conduct some different scenarios around this on the final options selected by the Committee. In addition, several RTF representatives have requested that the administration look more carefully at the one mile choice zones and rather than using an exact compass measurement, they be more sensitive to the idiosyncrasies of the neighborhoods and fine tune that data.

Nancy Levine does not like the movement of Lincoln-Eliot to Day in this option, nor in Option B. The population of Lincoln-Eliot is best served in a smaller middle school. Bigelow staff has worked very hard over the past several years to develop an excellent transition program and she would hate to see that change. In addition, Peirce would be isolated going south. On the other hand, the option works well in terms of the numbers.

Susan Albright agreed with Ms. Levine's comments. In addition, more students are moved under this option than in any other.

Anne Borg also concurred and mentioned that in the School Committee's tour of Lincoln-Eliot, one of the things the principal spoke strongly about was the work between her school and Bigelow on transitioning children to the middle school.

Andy Vizulis mentioned that he received several phone calls from Lincoln-Eliot parents in favor of staying at Bigelow. When that community first was moved from Day to Bigelow there was some resistance. However, due to the hard work and

commitment on the part of staff to make it work it has been extremely successful to the point where people now with to remain in that feeder pattern.

Option B

Option B proposes the following changes in school feeder patterns for middle and high school:

6. Lincoln-Eliot students will attend Day Middle School instead of Bigelow Middle School beginning in September 2002 with the 6^th grade. In September 2003, the new 6^th grade will enter Day, as will the 6^th graders in September 2004. The transition of all middle school students will be complete in September 2004. These students will continue to attend Newton North High School after they complete middle school at Day.

7. Mason-Rice students will continue to attend Brown Middle School. These students will attend Newton South High School beginning in September 2003 with the 9^th grade. Ninth graders will continue to attend South in September 2004, 2005, 2006. The transition of all high school students will be complete in September 2006.

Mason-Rice students who live within 1 mile of North will have the option of attending North. The accompanying map displays the one-mile radius for those students.

8. Williams students will continue to attend Brown. These students will attend South beginning in September 2003 with the 9^th grade. Ninth graders will continue to attend South in September 2004, 2005, 2006. The transition of all high school students will be complete in September 2006.

9. Cabot students will attend Bigelow instead of Day beginning in September 2002 with the 6^th grade. In September 2003, the new 6^th grade will enter Bigelow, as will the 6^th graders in September 2004. The transition of all middle school students will be complete in September 2004. These students will continue to attend North after they complete middle school at Bigelow.

Option B Feeder Patterns
Elementary	Middle	High	Elementary	Middle	High
Cabot	Bigelow	North	Angier	Brown	South
Underwood	Bigelow	North	Countryside	Brown	South
Ward	Bigelow	North	Mason-Rice	Brown	South
Burr	Day	North	Williams	Brown	South
Franklin	Day	North	Bowen	Oak Hill	South
Horace Mann	Day	North	Memorial-Spaulding	Oak Hill	South
Lincoln-Eliot	Day	North	Zervas	Oak Hill	South
Peirce	Day	North

Anne Larner stated that the numbers do not work as well in this Option.

Susan Albright mentioned that geography by itself is not an issue to her because when they decided to equalize the high schools they knew that a north side school would have to go south.

Susie Heyman agreed and noted that the closing of Warren eliminated a west side middle school and, therefore, they have to make the best of the current locations of their buildings. Strict geographic solutions do not work without splitting many schools in some very strange configurations.

Anne Larner noted that even a west side middle school would not help in this situation because the issue has to do with limiting the size of the largest high school, which has an impact on the number of students that can feed into that school. She hopes that the quality of the program at both schools eventually satisfies everyone.

Option C

Option C proposes the following changes in school feeder patterns for middle and high school:

10. Ward students will attend Brown Middle School instead of Bigelow Middle School beginning in September 2002 with the 6^th grade. In September 2003, the new 6^th grade will enter Brown, as will the 6^th graders in September 2004. The transition of all middle school students will be complete in September 2004. Students from the Ward district will attend Newton South High School beginning in September 2003 with the 9^th grade (current 6^th graders at Bigelow). Ninth graders will continue to attend South in September 2004, 2005, 2006. The transition of all high school students will be complete in September 2006.

11. Mason-Rice students will continue to attend Brown. These students will attend South beginning in September 2003 with the 9^th grade. Ninth graders will continue to attend South in September 2004, 2005, 2006. The transition of all high school students will be complete in September 2006.

Mason-Rice students who live within 1 mile of North will have the option of attending North. The accompanying map displays the one-mile radius for those students.

12. Williams students will attend Day Middle School instead of Brown beginning in September 2002 with the 6^th grade. In September 2003, the new 6^th grade will enter Day, as will the 6^th graders in September 2004. The transition of all middle school students will be complete in September 2004. These students will continue to attend Newton North High School after they complete middle school at Day.

13. Cabot students will attend Bigelow instead of Day beginning in September 2002 with the 6^th grade. In September 2003, the new 6^th grade will enter Bigelow, as will the 6^th graders in September 2004. The transition of all middle school students will be complete in September 2004. These students will continue to attend North after they complete middle school at Bigelow.