MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING,
PRESENT: Chairperson Anne Larner, Vice-Chairperson Dori
Zaleznik, Gail Glick, Susan Heyman, Patricia Kellogg, Marc Laredo, Nancy
Levine, Reenie Murphy, Mayor David Cohen, Superintendent Jeffrey Young, Charlie
Heidlage – student representative –
CALL
TO ORDER
Chairperson Anne Larner called the meeting to order at
PUBLIC
COMMENT
Cheryl Turgel, President
of the Newton Teachers Association, noted that their membership is present this
evening in large numbers to express their dismay that the entire school
workforce is without a contract, which is unacceptable. Teachers continue to be asked to do more with
fewer resources and increasingly larger class sizes and they should not be
expected to bear the burden of maintaining the quality of education this
community expects while not being able to keep pace with increasing costs of
living. The Newton Public Schools are
one of the driving forces why people continue to move into this community. Members are frustrated with hearing how much
they are valued, while still waiting on a fair contract and they should not
have to accept a raise that is then eliminated through increased health care
costs. She urged the Committee to settle
negotiations quickly for all unions.
Anne Larner thanked Cheryl
and stated that the Committee is also anxious to come to an agreement and
settle on a contract that is fair and equitable.
Jonathan Yeo and Terry
Yoffie, Co-presidents of the PTO Council, introduced themselves and talked
about the critical role that PTOs play in raising funds for the schools, including
maintaining communication between staff and parents, helping to organize
events, and conducting health and safety checks. There are 49 co-presidents this year
systemwide representing every aspect of the school system. They are a diverse group with different
backgrounds and viewpoints. They act as
a clearinghouse for information and serve as a discussion and fact-finding body
to clarify issues related to the schools.
Finally, they are advocates for public education not only in
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES’
DISCUSSION
Charlie Heidlage asked
about the status of the Food Services management contractor.
Anne Larner explained that
Addie Lerner reported that
the regulation of the temperature in the classrooms at Newton South seems to be working.
RECOGNITIONS
The following students
were recognized for receiving letters of commendation from the National Merit
Scholarship Corporation:
Newton North High School - Jacob Aaron, Rachel Ackerman, Anna
Aufseeser, Bethania Bacigalupe, Jonathan Battat, Shayna Bauchner, Eric Beam,
Noah Beit-Aharon, Alison Bialecki, Lev Breydo, Brodeur, Robert Cant, Emily
Cobb, Ethan Cobb, Deborah Cohen, Emma Cohen, Voula Collins, Hana Dembe, Samuel
Duncan, Silas Ellison, Rachel Forman, Sarah Frank, William Friedman, Elizabeth
Fulton, Thomas Gonzalez, Danielle Grassian, Margaret Gross, Kathryn Harney,
Mark Harrold, Stephen Hazeltine, Alexander Jou, Marina Kreatsoulas, Benjamin
Landsberg, Rebecca Lebowitz, Adam Letvin, Young Lu, Rachel Lurie, Casey
Lynch, David Ma, Corinna Matlis, Vanessa Mitsialis,
Anna Schindler, Barbara Stokes, Charles Stuart, Edward Suzman,
Mitchell Vainshtein, Elzbieta Weyman,
Newton South High School - Nicole Abrahamson, David Amouyal, Elizabeth
Baker-Jennings, Deborah Bamel, Matthew Baum, Stephanie Bernhard,
Nicholas Bestor, Olivia Bordiuk, Christopher Coderre, Katherine
Crecelius, Benjamin Derogatis, Emily Feuerman, Robert Gens, Erik Gerstner, Omri
Geva
Jonathan Gillick, Nina Gold, Rachel Greenberg, Maxmime Guillaume,
Brendan Hadcock, Elena Helman, Connie Huang, Eric Jonash, Elena Kandror, Ron
Kendler, Gabriel Lefkowitz, Boris Lipchin, Jeremy Miller, David Mitchell,
Genevieve Moran, Marjon Moulai, Renee Pastel, Mikhail Pevzner, Michael Raybman,
David Ross, Anna Schapiro, Rachel Schlaff, Benjamin Sharton, Alison Shmerling,
Richard Speyer, Katherine Thomas, Ellen Tracy, Sarah Tucker
Jennifer Wieczner
APPROVAL
OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
MOTION: It
was moved to approve the School Committee
special meeting minutes and
executive session
meeting minutes of
(Heyman
– Zaleznik)
unanimous
REPORTS
REPORT ON PHYSICAL
EDUCATION, HEALTH & WELLNESS PROGRAMS
Carolyn Wyatt, Assistant
Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction, gave a brief
introduction. The area of physical
education is coming to the forefront in education as people begin to rethink
the tying in of physical education with health and wellness. Tonight they will see a PowerPoint
demonstration and hear from the coordinator in this area, as well as have an
opportunity to ask questions.
Barbara Morton,
Coordinator of Physical Education, Health and Wellness, thanked the Committee
for the opportunity to discuss the consolidation of physical education, health
and wellness, which is in year two of a three-year plan.
In the past, the program
was under the Curriculum & Instruction Dept. and separated by grades K-8
and 9-12. She held the role of
coordinator in grades K-8, while two department heads at the high schools
oversaw their programs. In addition, a
comprehensive K-12 health curriculum fell under the auspices of the Pupil
Services Dept., along with the adaptive physical education program covering
pre-school through 12th grade.
While this was housed under Pupil Services, the actual program delivery
fell under her department.
The present program
bridges physical education, health and wellness and enables both subject areas
to interrelate and better meet the need of students around healthy living and
lifestyles. Rather than being a goal to
be attained, wellness is defined as an active process of being aware and making
choices towards healthier lifestyles. It
emphasizes individual responsibility, taking ownership for choices, and being
accountable for the consequences of those choices. There are six dimensions to the wellness
program: physical, intellectual,
emotional, social, spiritual, and career.
The physical aspect refers to nutrition, fitness and freedom from addictions,
which have been part of the program for many years. The intellectual component brings in the
knowledge base and integrating this with other curriculum units. The social aspect emphasizes how people
relate to one another and ties in the
They began their work with
the help of a consultant from
Next year they plan to
make better connections between community and schools by developing strategies
for connecting projects that have been initiated with the philosophy of the
total school community. Their goal is
for better outreach to parents. They
will do a full evaluation of the program and hope to sponsor a community-wide
event. She is also a member of Activate
Newton, which is a committee comprised of a number of health educators and
community leaders and they are looking at ways to tackle the problem of obesity
in children and other issues.
She then highlighted some
of the activities occurring in the schools.
Wellness tips are appearing in many of the school newsletters, on the
middle schools news programs, and posted in classrooms and on email. Some schools are taking 5-10 minutes out of
faculty meetings to conduct wellness activities. The physical education, health & wellness
staff at
Carolyn Wyatt commented
that this is a tremendous change from what the physical education program was
probably like for most people in the audience, which was a focus on
sports. Today’s philosophy is to help
students make appropriate choices, learn how to problem solve about health and
wellness issues, and make good lifelong decisions.
Anne Larner asked if the
amount of time spent in a physical activity in the structured learning time is
the same as in the old model.
Barbra Morton replied that
it depends on the lesson and curriculum that is being taught. When the anti-tobacco and nutrition programs
were added, they incorporated movement into the program to keep the students
motivated and engaged, but it is not the same amount of activity that would be
involved in a fundamental motor skills lesson.
While staff works hard to provide a maximum amount of activity time,
because they are building a broader knowledge base there is more discussion
involved. The hope is that they are
building a foundation for students to carry over into their lives outside of
school and this is one of the tradeoffs in making that choice.
Marc Laredo noticed large
variations among the middle and high schools in the amount of physical
education time students receive. He
asked if, in general, they are satisfied with the amount of time students are
active in school.
Barbra Morton explained
that scheduling drives some of the issues and this is part of the dialogue that
is occurring among coordinators and principals, because it is not only the area
of physical education that is impacted, but fine arts and other pieces of the
curriculum. She personally would like to
see some more consistency among the schools.
One of the most obvious differences is that there is no health educator
at Bigelow, although the family & consumer science teacher does a lot of
work around nutrition and alcohol and drug education. She does not believe children get enough
physical activity in general in or out of school. She feels that in order to change this they
need to build on the knowledge base around making healthy choices and they
cannot be successful in this area without parental support, which is the focus
of year three of the plan.
Patty Kellogg is excited
about the holistic direction they are taking in this area. She asked if there is any attempt at getting
students active throughout the day in classrooms.
Barbra Morton mentioned
that this has been Newton South’s philosophy long before they brought it on
board as a systemwide approach. Everyone
needs breaks and physical movement to deal with the stress and tension in
today’s society.
Carolyn Wyatt added that
even adult professional development training now often involves a variety of
movements and manipulatives, as a way to expose staff to a method of modeling
what should happen in the classroom.
Susie Heyman recalls many
of the wonderful programs that South has been offering for quite some time,
such as CPR, meditation, and stress reduction.
There comes a point in most people’s lives when they cease playing a
sport and what is being taught now is the life skills that will teach students
to carry on physical activity beyond the years of participating on teams.
Carolyn Wyatt mentioned
that they are working on a number of areas at the middle schools to bring some
consistency to the curriculum. Some of
the problem has to do with what existed in the past and the evolution of the
program. The goal is to be sure all
students have access to a benchmark of concepts and skills and to equalize that
as much as possible.
Susie Heyman stated that
there are always tradeoffs because of the uniqueness of each school.
Dori Zaleznik is pleased
to know that they are moving toward improving the overall health for students
and staff, at a time when many other systems are eliminating physical
education. She asked if there are any
plans to measure whether the change in the curriculum might reduce the overall
stress and improve school performance, as well as help with weight
control.
Carolyn Wyatt stated that
the wellness program attempts to help students better manage their feelings and
stress issues are discussed in the curriculum.
She is not sure about relating that to weight control.
Barbra Morton talked about
the Be-fit program as one area that might be a place to start some type of
research that Dori is suggesting.
Jeff Young is not sure he
can discern a causal relationship between the program and student
behaviors. However, the youth risk
behavior survey touches on a number of behaviors, some of which are connected
to nutrition, obesity, and drug use and other habits that are the antithesis to
the wellness program. It might be
interesting to watch that data over time to see what impact some of these
programs might have.
Nancy DiMella, Physical
Education Health & Wellness Specialist, stated that the youth risk behavior
survey does ask specific questions about physical activity and nutrition. For the first time this year they are
measuring the body mass index of fourth-graders and then again at
seventh-grade, so there will be correlated data.
Reenie Murphy asked how the questions are developed for the youth risk behavior
survey.
Nancy DiMella replied that
the original instrument is from the Centers for Disease Control, which is
revised by the State and then tailored at the city level in conjunction with
the Health Dept.
Reenie Murphy mentioned an
article in today’s Boston Globe
regarding State Representative Koutoujian’s bill around promoting good
nutrition. Included in the particulars
are changes in the hours of student participation in physical education. She wondered how that would impact
Barbra Morton responded
that the bill would require a minimum of 120 hours of combined physical activity,
which could include lunch and recess. At
the elementary level, she feels that would require another two hours of staff
time (or approximately eight additional staff members), which would be a huge
financial impact. However, the
legislation may include after-school programs, of which there are more
opportunities at the secondary level.
While she would be pleased to see physical education have more time in
the schools, she is also realistic and understands the constraints they
face. The wording of the law also talks
about a minimum of 50 hours of nutrition and wellness programs, which she
believes would be easier to meet.
Gail Glick asked if there
was any opportunity for exploring linkages with health clubs and other
community organizations that might be able to provide children with more
physical activity.
Barbra Morton replied that
the YMCA in Newton Corner has recently been renovated and they have had some
connections to the organization in the past, but they need to be
strengthened. They have also done some
work with health clubs donating old equipment to the schools. This is an area on which they will focus next
year.
Susie Heyman commented
that there is no funding associated with the bill. While she thinks that some of the pieces are
excellent, there is no holistic approach to the program at each level or
explanation as to what they can do less of if more is added in this area. It appears that the bill is going to be
revised, so hopefully there will be opportunities for school systems to have
sufficient input.
Anne Larner noted that
Representative Koutoujian is very accessible and she suggested they have
conversations with him in order to provide some support and feedback from a
practical level.
Nancy Levine is very
supportive of the program because it seems it will engage students who in the
past might not have been interested in the traditional sports activities. What it does not yet address in terms of nutrition
is the vending machine options in the school and she wondered if that would be
part of their discussions.
Carolyn Wyatt stated that
the Chief of Operations is monitoring the vending machines and has done some
replacement of items with more nutritional offerings. He can probably brief the Committee in more
detail at another date.
Marc Laredo would like to
see students receive the maximum amount of time devoted to physical activity as
possible. Perhaps some exploration of
before and after school activities could be considered. They need to think in more creative ways
about how to broaden the number of students who participate in athletics.
UPDATE ON SAFETY &
SECURITY
Jeff Young began the presentation
by noting that the update is designed to be a broad understanding of safety,
which will include environmental issues, fire drills, communications
procedures, etc.
Judith Malone Neville,
Assistant Superintendent of Schools, agreed that this topic is viewed from a
multi-perspective, both in terms of the immediate safety and security of everyone
in the buildings, as well as a long-term approach to a safe environment and
issues associated with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
compliance. The focus has been both preventative
and maintenance. There are environmental
teams in each building who have been trained to respond to emergencies, as well
as heading off possible problems. These
teams consist of both school and city staff and they work from checklists and
protocols that have been put in place.
Michael Cronin, Chief of
Operations, noted that the police, fire and health department are key players
in this area, as they are often the primary responders to some of these
issues. He wanted to take this
opportunity to publicly thank them for their participation in developing these
universal protocols that can be applied in every city building.
Charlie Heidlage was
taught how to use the Automatic Electro Defibrillator (ADE)in his lifeguard training
last year and he feels the more people that can be on the team of responders
the better the chances for a person in need.
Dori Zaleznik asked about
the pilot speed pass program.
Mike Cronin explained that
it is similar to the Mobil gasoline speed pass, for those familiar with that
technology. Some facilities use them on
the reverse side of an ID badge. A person waves a small device in front of an
electronic reader, which will allow entrance into certain parts of the building
in which the person should have access during pre-designated times. Each person’s code # is different so that if lost
the number can be immediately pulled from the system thereby maintaining a
secure environment. The idea is to keep
the school a welcoming environment by retaining the open door policy at the
main entrance, but to lock perimeter doors and allow certain staff who need to
access those entrances that ability.
Jeff Young noted that they
are testing this pilot in a few schools and should they wish to pursue this
effort they will be presenting a recommendation in the next budget to expand it
more broadly.
Mike Cronin added that the
recommendation would be for 19 schools.
The two high schools would not be included since they operate on an
open-campus style model, so it would not be practical. They are also in the process of reviewing a
technology that would allow principals to know who is accessing the building
and their exact location at any given time.
The equipment is all fairly easy to install and should not be too
expensive.
Patty Kellogg asked about
training staff in the use of the equipment.
Mike Cronin stated that it
is fairly simple to use. They will be
training core people that need access to certain buildings on a regular basis,
such as physical education teachers, coaches, trainers, etc., who would be
needing to access areas such as the gym.
Patty Kellogg asked if
they would consider training students.
Mike Cronin replied that
he would defer to the Health Department in this regard.
Mayor Cohen brought up the
security issue with regard to Election Day, which is the first national
election since September 11th, so people are rightfully
concerned. There will be more direct
patrols at the schools that are polling places, in order to have a greater
physical presence. While it will not be
intruding, it is intended as a precautionary measure in case anything
unexpected occurs and all officers will have direct radio contact to headquarters. They also continue to monitor reports from
the Division of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Jeff Young added that they
will maintain the one door open policy for all schools on Election Day. However, rather than being the front door, it
will be the one that leads directly to the polls. Once the doors close at
Anne Larner asked if there
is any type of surveillance of the one
door that is opened in the school throughout the day.
Mike Cronin stated that
currently there is no standard as the buildings are so different. In some cases the door is right next to the
main office, but in others it is not.
They are investigating several options in this area. One would be a locked door and doorbell
method, which might not be practical.
Another method might be a video option.
Marc Laredo noted that
given the age and differences in design and function of the buildings, it is
harder to have uniform standards, but minimum ones are important. Cost will also be a factor, as well as the
need to balance security and freedom.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
CONTINUED DISCUSSION/VOTE ON
2005-2006 SCHOOL CALENDAR
Dori Zaleznik reported on
the one phone call she received from a member of the public on this subject
since their last meeting. This person
suggested setting September 1st as a uniform starting date for teachers. She feels they should not do anything to next
year’s calendar but that they should begin discussions sooner around possible
changes to the calendar for future years.
MOTION: It was moved to approve the 2005-2006 school
calendar -- teachers return on 9/6 and students
on 9/8.
(Zaleznik
– Levine)
Discussion:
Marc
Laredo would have preferred to start students the day after Labor Day, so as to
avoid the possibility of going so late at the end of the year.
Reenie
Murphy was disappointed that she did not hear from more members of the public
around this issue. She spoke with one
teacher who felt that it would be a late start.
She agrees that it might be worthwhile returning to this at another
time.
Anne
Larner stated that the calendar is brought forward at the beginning of the
school year for the following year, which is too late to make major changes to
it because many people have already made vacation plans. It is easy to forget about it once it has
passed, so if there is a will to do something different they need to address
this within the next few months to develop a process for involving the various
constituencies.
Patty
Kellogg stated that the contract allows for teachers to start on 9/1, so they
could technically change that piece of it for this calendar.
Susie
Heyman talked about serving on the School Committee the year they made a change
in the calendar that did not provide sufficient advance notice and suggested
they not attempt that again.
Dori
Zaleznik mentioned that even changing the teacher starting date does not
accomplish the goal of ending the prior week.
Patty
Kellogg stated that students could start on the 6th. While historically teachers have always
started after Labor Day, she wonders why they would expect them to have made
plans given that contractually they have to be available on the 1st.
Vote on motion to approve calendar: 7 – 0 – 2
Opposed: Kellogg,
CONTINUED DISCSUSSION/VOTE
ON
Patty
Kellogg announced that the full text of the resolutions can be found on the
MASC website. Tonight she will briefly
review each resolution, as well as the sentiments expressed by the Committee at
the last meeting, so that she can obtain direction with regard to casting votes
at the conference.
The first resolution deals with an initiative to
reinstate the power to hire and fire school principals to school committees vs.
superintendents. Committee members felt
that this power should remain under the privy of the superintendent and,
therefore, she will vote against this resolution.
Resolution #2 calls upon Congress to fully fund the
Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); ensures the rights of
disabled students; and imposes a moratorium on the requirements and sanctions
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The Committee felt that this resolution dealt
with a series of complex issues that should be separated. She asked if members would like her to vote
against the resolution or abstain.
Nancy Levine would prefer an abstention since there
is nothing in the resolution that she disagrees with, but just feels it is too
broad.
Anne Larner noted that should the resolution become
simplified on the floor in the debate process, Patty could use her judgment on
whether to support the change.
Resolution #3 deals with student assessment and accountability
and involves ten recommendations regarding issues such as tracking progress,
frequency of testing, new methods of analyzing and disseminating date, and assessment
modifications, to name a few. It was not
clear from the last meeting whether Committee members wanted to discuss the
items in this resolution individually or treat this like #2 and abstain because
it is too broad.
The Committee agreed that she should abstain on
this vote unless it can be simplified.
Resolution #4 deals with value added
accountability, which calls for more frequent testing and better
assessment. The Committee tabled
discussion on this item at their last meeting pending additional backup
material, which has since been provided.
Dori Zaleznik suggested abstaining on this
resolution. While the general goal is laudable,
there are a number of areas that are still in the trial and error phase.
Susie Heyman agreed. There are parts of this that are well thought
out, but it would be difficult to support the package as a whole.
Resolution #5 calls for delaying the Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam as a graduation requirement until
adequate public school education is provided to every child. Since the Committee has discussed this issue numerous
times, most people have a firm opinion and it might be best to simply take a
count. Gail, Marc, Nancy and Dori
favored supporting the resolution, while Susie, Patty, Anne and Reenie were
opposed. The Mayor had left the
meeting. It was agreed to abstain on the
resolution at the conference, but to speak to the split in that forum.
Resolution #6 is in support for and funding of the
METCO program at a rate commensurate with other school choice programs and was
clearly supported by the Committee at the last meeting, so she will vote in
favor.
Resolution #7 reaffirms support for several
resolutions that were adopted last year by MASC/MASS, in which
Nancy Levine suggested they send a letter to the
MASC resolutions committee recommending that for the future they not present
broad resolutions, but attempt to separate items.
Patty Kellogg agreed and added that they should
also request backup material along with the resolutions.
CONTINUED
DISCUSSION OF FY06 BUDGET GUIDELINES
Susie Heyman presented the first draft of the
Budget Guidelines following initial discussion at the last meeting. The subcommittee met with the Superintendent,
who discussed this with the Administrative Council and shared their comments
and priorities, which helped in the drafting of this material.
Anne Larner suggested rephrasing the sentence in
the third to last paragraph that asked the Superintendent to evaluate the
impact of the cuts made last year to the per pupil allocation and make an
appropriate increase. Asking him to make
an increase predisposes his evaluation.
She is also concerned that they are moving toward the natural
inclination of adding items and the Superintendent was clear in his warning
that they need to be realistic because they cannot meet all the needs that have
been raised with the anticipated revenue.
She suggested that some sort of prioritizing needs to be considered.
Reenie Murphy suggested separating security and
maintenance, as she sees them as two separate items.
Gail Glick suggested rewording the second to last
paragraph about technology, textbooks, instructional materials and professional
development, in a similar fashion to the wording for the per pupil allocation,
in that they would ask the Superintendent to evaluate these areas and make
recommendations.
Susie Heyman stated that feedback from the
principals indicated that the textbook and instructional materials account was
in fairly good standing and would only need adequate annual commitments vs. a
large increase.
Jeff Young suggested treating the textbook and
instructional materials in a manner similar to evaluating the impact of the cuts
in the per pupil allocation.
Dori Zaleznik believes that they need to highlight
priorities because they cannot do all that they want. However, this does not preclude developing
plans for the future in certain areas.
Nancy Levine mentioned that eliminating the bus fee
will cost approximately $70,000, which is not a lot of money, but could fund a
teacher and an aide. While they are
attempting to better fund building maintenance, she would want to see the
evaluation of the cuts taken in the per pupil area first. If there was a substantial impact, she might
recommend level-funding maintenance in order to increase the per pupil
allocation. She might also place
security above some other areas if they find this is important to address.
Marc Laredo expressed concern that building
maintenance is one of the items that continually gets cut in difficult times
and it does not have the same constituency supporting it as in some other
areas. This is why the buildings are in
such deplorable condition.
Gail Glick believes that class size and program have to take priority over all
other items and given the financial situation they face, these discussions
about prioritizing other areas may be moot.
Reenie Murphy agreed with Marc that building
maintenance often suffers the most during difficult budget times. This is a bad habit to get into because in
the long run they end up paying more to fix items on an emergency basis than if
they had a long-term plan in place.
Anne Larner views security as an important issue,
but if they choose to spend money in this area, she wants it to be done for the
right purposes, i.e., enhancing security vs. convenience, and it will have to
be carefully weighed along with all the other areas as a possible tradeoff.
Dori Zaleznik understands that deferring
maintenance can end up costing the system more in the end. However, last year they did not touch this
area when cutting, but did cut teachers.
She is also concerned that they may have taken too large an amount out
of the per pupil allocation, so she will be interested in hearing the
Superintendent’s findings in this area.
She is worried that teachers are being hit with the added expense of
purchasing classroom supplies out-of-
pocket.
While she is not advocating cutting building maintenance, she would
prioritize other areas before giving any increases in that account.
Marc Laredo noted that level funding essentially is
a cut because there are inflationary factors involved, so by definition it
means less services.
Susie Heyman added that if their aim is to reach the 2% mark, continual
level-funding is just going to bring them further from that goal.
Jeff Young added that the inflationary factor
applies also to technology, textbooks and supplies & materials.
Dori Zaleznik stated that while there is a natural
inclination to want to eliminate the elementary bus fee, she is concerned that
ridership may increase when fees are dropped and they may end up having to add
a bus, which will cost considerably more than $70,000.
Patty Kellogg would like to eliminate the fee but
does not believe they can afford it at this time.
Anne Larner does not see this as a fiscal issue,
but rather as a fee vs. tax. This is not
an equitable policy and the conditions do not meet the definition of a fee in
her mind.
Marc Laredo supports the notion of eliminating the
fee.
Jeff Young asked that the wording be changed in
paragraph #4, where it refers to the Superintendent providing a proposal for
fair and equitable wages and benefits for staff. This is the role of the School Committee and
not the Superintendent. He also noted
that he hopes that the contract is settled long before the budget process
commences. In conclusion, he reiterated
his remarks from the last meeting, that they will need to think about what they
are willing to sacrifice because they cannot meet all these needs with the
anticipated revenue.
Marc Laredo asked that the Superintendent attempt
to share some of his preliminary thinking with Committee members early on in
the process as he thinks about different ways that services might be offered
that will retain the integrity of the program but at less cost.
Anne Larner agreed and mentioned that they will
need to keep these type of conversations ongoing.
ACTION
ITEMS
VOTE
TO ACCEPT DONATIONS
MOTION: It was moved to accept the donation of
$2,300.00 from the friends and colleagues of Dr. Carol
Daynard, to establish a gift
account in her honor, for the purpose of establishing a professional development
fund for Pupil Services personnel.
(Levine
– Glick)
8 – 0 – 1
Absent
for vote: Mayor Cohen
VOTE
TO ACCEPT GRANT
MOTION: It was moved
to accept the $25,000 Foundation Reserve Program Grant from the Massachusetts
Department of Education,
as outlined in the memorandum of 10/20/04.
(Zaleznik – Murphy)
8 – 0 – 1
Absent for vote: Mayor Cohen
COMMUNICATIONS
Superintendent Young congratulated the cast, crew
and teachers of Newton South High School’s production of To Kill a Mockingbird, which he had the pleasure of seeing three
times this past weekend, as his daughter was in the play. Each production was successively better.
PUBLIC
COMMENT
There were no members of the public who wished to
address the Committee at this time.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 10:05 p.m.