NEWTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE

MINUTES OF REGULAR & BUDGET MEETING, MARCH 14, 2005

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

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 – Newton North High School

ABSENT: student representative – Newton South High School

CALL TO ORDER

Chairperson Anne Larner called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. She outlined the budget schedule and noted that given the challenge of this year’s budget, in addition to public discussion this evening, the Committee will allow a half hour of public comment at the beginning of the special budget meeting Wednesday, which is not their usual practice.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Susan Warschauer, Waban, read a poem that she wrote entitled “School Budget,” that addressed the cuts they are facing.

Beth Gallaway, librarian in the Metrowest Massachusetts Regional Library System, talked about the services Newton could lose if there are not certified library media specialists in the schools. As a member of Metrowest, Newton has access to a myriad of services at no cost, such as professional development opportunities, supplies, and databases for student use. In addition, a 1988 study entitled Guidelines for Dropout Prevention at the Middle and Junior High School Levels indicates increased dropout rates resulting from a loss of personal attention and staff cuts. A more recent study from the Center for Prevention Research & Development showed that students who are alone after school from more than three hours a day have increased risk of drug and alcohol experimentation, teen pregnancy, and school failure. Having somewhere for students to go after school, such as the library, is a deterrent to these risks. Finally, a recent Alaska study discovered that the percentage of students who scored proficient or above on reading tests was higher for schools that had more hours per week of professional library staffing, more time spent on literacy instruction, more time for libraries to plan with teachers, and more libraries with internet connections that link to local public libraries. She hopes they will keep the librarians fully staffed.

George Abbot White, advisor of the Newton South High School newspaper Denebola, announced that they won three out of four 1^st place awards at the 35^th annual Greater Boston Journalism Contest in sports, editing and general excellence, as well as an honorable mention in news. He is very proud of the work of the 60 staff members of the newspaper. He then introduced the new co-editors Vanessa Friedman and Dan Loeterrman and managing Editor Becky Fortgang and asked them to stand with their awards for acknowledgement.

Ken Waldman, 5^th grade teacher at Ward Elementary School, spoke about the impact of the library cuts from a teacher’s perspective. Staff is concerned that they will not be able to implement the systemwide goals around technology under the proposed budget, particularly in the area of integrating it in the classroom for improved teaching and learning. The librarian has taught teachers how to use all of the hardware and software programs as effective tools. The librarian has also taught staff how to create standards-based report cards, use the First Class email program, and create web pages – all of which improve the school to home communication efforts. In addition, she has introduced a unit of study of immigration in the 4^th grade social studies curriculum, where she taught the students how to access appropriate media resources, retrieve information efficiently, and prepare a cohesive PowerPoint presentation. The entire staff recognizes the important of this position and the resources provided through her services and do not believe they will be able to maintain this level of support with the proposed cuts.

Brad Hammer, 3^rd grade teacher at Ward, is very disappointed in the potential cuts of teachers, aides and librarians – all positions which directly serve students. Given the emphasis on the literacy initiative and the fact that the system paid approximately $15,000 per school to automate the libraries, this decision seems counterintuitive. The librarian is also the media specialist and oversees the 24 computers, 15 I-books and 13 I-Macs in their school and assists staff in learning to utilize the technology for the classroom. Without this person, there would have been no progress reports this year.

Kathleen Jacobson, 4^th grade teacher at Ward, stated that as a first year teacher, she has spent a lot of time familiarizing herself with the grade level benchmarks. Without the support of the librarian, her goal to meet and exceed these benchmarks in her classroom would have been severely hampered. It is her expertise in the area of research and technology that is invaluable to staff and teachers cannot learn to integrate technology into the classroom without the librarian’s support. She mentioned several specific outcomes that could not have been reached without the support of the librarian.

Barbara Fahey, special education teacher at Ward, talked about how instrumental the librarian was to her, as she came from a PC environment to Macintosh. In addition to the support she offers teachers, she also teaches children directly and listed several of these curriculum initiatives. The library is the heart and soul of a school and the librarian knows each child’s interests.

Ben Miller, Day Middle School student, spoke about the potential cut to the Daytime newspaper, as a result of staffing cuts. The Daytime has been published since 1980 and is an 18-page, full color broadsheet publication, which has won numerous awards. Three-thousand copies are printed and widely distributed throughout the community every month except July. He has learned more about writing and working collaboratively serving as a reporter for this newspaper than in any English class he has ever taken.

Peggy Rothschild, kindergarten teacher at Countryside Elementary School, spoke about the fact that cuts are not new to the system and have been slowly compounding for years. The cut in librarians is particularly painful, as these people are of immense support to children. She had the opportunity today to see her teach a class, where the students were engaged, learning and not only turning into lovers of reading, but also learning the process of how literature gets printed and communicated. These services are an essential component of the integrated curriculum and the absence of a full-time librarian will compromise the quality of the academic program. It is so difficult to build such success and then so easy to take it down. She produced a petition signed by many Countryside staff members and parents urging the Committee to retain the current librarian services.

Gerry Zipser, Memorial-Spaulding Elementary School parent, stated that it is disturbing to see cuts that will negatively impact on the goals of literacy and their ability to deal with and analyze information. As a volunteer in the library, she has seen firsthand the miracles librarians perform in getting a reluctant reader excited about reading because they take the time to learn about the child’s interests. They are also the technology savvy professionals on the premises.

Jane Thompson, retired Underwood Elementary School teacher and Newton resident, noted that one of the most important resources available to her in her teaching career was the school librarian. She always looked forward to the half hour allotted to her classroom each week, when the librarian would come well-prepared to help children choose appropriate yet challenging books that were selected toward each particular child’s interest. There were so many ways that the librarian supported her role as a classroom teacher and she cannot imagine these services no longer being in place.

Susan Raskin Abrams, Supervisor of Children’s Services at the Newton Free Library, talked about how over the year she has seen that children are better trained in the use of library services as a result of full-time librarians in the public schools. She rarely sees many of the students except for in the summer because the school librarians are doing such a wonderful job.

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES’ DISCUSSION

Charlie Heidlage expressed concern about the cuts to the art, music and business department heads at Newton North, which will have a domino effect. If these people lose their voice in department meetings, it will become easier to take cuts from these areas in the future.

RECOGNITIONS

The following recognitions were acknowledged:

Lincoln-Eliot Elementary School, which was selected by the International Reading Association as the recipient of its Exemplary Reading Program Award, which grants only one award per state.

Lisa Mikus, 4^th grade teacher at Horace Mann Elementary School,

who participated in the Association of Teachers of Mathematics in Massachusetts conference at Boston College, where she presented Pushing Beyond One-Size-Fits-All.

The following National Merit Scholarship Finalists:

Newton North Newton South

Daniel Asher Max Adelman

Bethania Bacigalupe Chiraag Mundhe

Jonathan Bao Katherine Pape

Jessica Becker Sonia Step

Julie Caplow Stephen Trask

Matthew Dinger David Wittenberg

Thomas Foote

Zoe Paschkis

Semyon Tikh

Matthew Westman

Ane Xu

The following students who were selected to participate in the

All Eastern Music Festival in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the

2005 Music Educator National Conference – Eastern Convention:

Newton North Newton South

Jake Aaron Samantha Escher

Ernest Moy

Samantha McDonald

Anna Schapiro

APPROVAL OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

MOTION: It was moved to approve the minutes from the 12/13/04

School Committee caucus, 1/3/05 executive session

meeting, and 1/10/05 regular meeting.

(Heyman – Zaleznik)

unanimous

REPORTS

SUPERINTENDENT’S PERSONNEL REPORT

There were no questions on the report.

OPERATIONS STATUS REPORT

Michael Cronin, Chief of Operations, provided a brief update on the Operations Report. There were increased work orders this past month in the HVAC area, as indicated by tonight’s materials. As warmer weather comes, they will be able to get back to some of the smaller items that have been put on hold during the winter. The environmental team conducted some additional training sessions this month to get more buildings on line. Food Services offered a couple of new programs, such as introducing a veggie burger and a Sponge Bob Square Pants theme day at the elementary level, which seemed to appeal to the students. Some of the Food Services managers also attended a certification program offered by the Department of Education.

Reenie Murphy commented that with the bulk of the work going toward heating issues, she wondered how they are able to address the other items given the limited funding.

Mike Cronin stated that they do eventually get to some of the other items in the queue, but they have to wait until the winter season is over and even then they will not be able to address all of the requests.

FY05 BUDGET UPDATE

Sandra Guryan, Assistant Superintendent for Business, Finance & Planning, explained that tonight’s report covers a two month period, since last month’s School Committee meeting was cancelled due to weather conditions. The current financial picture is tighter than what has been reported previously because of the increase in the number and cost of special education tuition placements. This area is approximately $200,000 over budget. At the same time, they have realized approximately $50,000 savings in other accounts and so are projecting a year-end shortfall of $155,000. They feel that they can manage this shortfall and she will provide more details in the next report.

SPECIAL EDUCATION UPDATE

There were no questions on the report.

REPORT ON PRIVATE SCHOOL ENROLLMENT

Sandy Guryan reported that the percentage of students from Newton attending private schools has remained steady over the years. This year it is 18.3%, which is a very slight decrease from last year (four students).

Reenie Murphy asked if these numbers include students placed in day and/or residential programs.

Sandy Guryan replied in the affirmative.

DISCUSSION ITEMS

FY06 BUDGET DISCUSSION: REGULAR INSTRUCTION

Elementary Schools

Judith Malone Neville, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, stated that this has been a difficult period, as they review the budget to determine what pieces are essential and where cuts can be made that will have the least impact on the classroom. At the elementary level, there will be some larger classes as a result of fewer classroom teachers. The specifics have yet to be determined despite the rumors circulating in the community.

Jeff Young reiterated Judy’s last comment with regard to the allocations. The allocation list from the class size report, which many people are citing, is only a model. His directive to staff was to produce an array of classrooms where none would exceed 25, in order to see what they would require to meet this goal. This year they run 244 classes in grades K-5 and would need an increase of five more classes to meet the goal. The recommended budget calls for 235 classes and they are still in the process of generating models of how to best distribute this number.

Judy Malone Neville added that they are currently working on kindergarten registrations and will have a clearer picture over the next several weeks. In addition to increased class sizes, there will also be a reduction in program at this level, including librarians, which will mean that libraries will not be staffed at the current rate and the literacy and technology support will be reduced.

David Castelline, Principal of Underwood Elementary School, provided an overview of what the librarian cut will look like in his school. Currently the librarian is staffed at 1.0 full-time equivalency (FTE). Under the proposed budget, the librarian will only be able to cover classroom instruction lessons. There will not be sufficient time for individual attention, where a librarian matches books to students’ interests and reading level. There will also be less support for teaching research skills and less time that the library will be open for students to hone these skills. The assistance for staff in technology-related projects for their classroom will be curtailed or lost. Librarians will not have the time for the overall management of keeping the library collections up to date to support the State Frameworks and Newton benchmarks. Finally, the efficiency of the library will be greatly reduced, as there will be less time to sort and file books in their appropriate places.

Eva Thompson, Principal of Peirce Elementary School, talked about the impact of the librarian cuts on the professional development of teachers. The librarian/media specialist provides tremendous support for teachers to develop and sustain their skills in the area of technology. With reduced time, they envision teachers using less of these tools in the classroom and less curriculum integration. The school web sites are a perfect example of the knowledge and skills that librarians have been able to provide teachers and she believes these will be impacted without that support. The librarians are instrumental in maintaining the mobile laptops that are being used in the schools, as well as helping people get up to speed on a variety of technology initiatives.

Joseph Russo, Principal of Horace Mann Elementary School, explained that the library/media specialists’ role is very different today than what existed when most people present were in school. A part-time person simply will not be able to continue the level of technology support and assistance for teachers that is currently in place. It will be very challenging when a teacher needs assistance on a computer or a particular piece of software and the librarian is not available The Information Technology (IT) support is only available once a week in each building. A lot of effort has occurred to obtain technology grants for laptops and computers in the classroom and to rev staff up so that they can utilize these tools. The librarians were instrumental in assisting staff with the new Progress Reports, which are about to go on-line. They have also been involved in the Thursday afternoon program around providing a technology and literacy-based plan that dovetails with the curriculum.

Marc Laredo asked how the work of the IT staff interplays with the librarians and whether there is any overlapping of services.

David Castelline stated that the library/media and IT specialists work hand-in-hand to facilitate the integration of technology projects into the curriculum, but the IT specialist is only available one day a week. The IT person brings experience from other schools and shares ideas, but the librarian is the one that supports the project the rest of the time.

Joe Russo added that the IT specialist delivers the curriculum with the teachers and models it in the classroom and then releases that responsibility to the librarian, who is available to help support the initiative.

Nancy Levine worked in the library at her daughter’s school a number of years ago and can see how the role has drastically changed. She is very concerned about the impact of the cuts in terms of losing the amount of integration and support for the curriculum that is now in place. She would like to entertain the notion of adding back in at least a portion of these cuts and discuss where they might share some of this burden by reducing elsewhere in the budget.

Dori Zaleznik would like to better understand how librarians function in a small vs. large school and if the services differ.

David Castelline replied that in a smaller school the library is used less for classes but more for student groupings, which seem to occur at all times of the day. The librarian in a smaller school is in the classroom more frequently.

Marilynne Quarcoo, Principal of Cabot Elementary School, talked about some of the projects that librarians oversee with students outside of the structured program, such as the Massachusetts Children’s Book Awards. Since they were not able to implement the new 4^th grade social studies curriculum this year, the librarian was also instrumental in incorporating pieces of that through special projects. She worked with the literacy specialist in obtaining a grant from the Newton Schools Foundation to identify and procure books around the mathematics/ literacy initiative and conducted independent reading conferences with students. The school website highlights much of this work and she encouraged people to take a look. In her mind, the librarian is a teacher, because she is an integral part of the education of children.

Emily Ostrower, Principal of Countryside Elementary School, views the work that the librarians do with the literacy initiative as an integral piece rather than just a support component. Without the librarian, it would not be as rich and dynamic an educational program for children. Their librarian is a particularly effective grant writer, who has secured various grants for their school around the initiative of integrating technology into the curriculum as an effective teaching tool, which also builds a sense of team among staff. Another grant was coordinated by the librarian and literacy specialist in creating evening book discussion groups for 4^th and 5^th grade students and this year the librarian was handed over the job of organizing and overseeing the school book fair.

Susie Heyman asked if it would be easy to bring the program back to full-time in the future if it is cut and if it would be helpful if the Committee could restore some of the program incrementally.

Jeff Young commented that once something is reduced it is difficult, but not impossible, to restore. He will have the Director of Information Technology prepare some thoughts about incremental add-backs for the next meeting.

Dori Zaleznik asked about the impact of the cuts in teaching staff and aide positions on the school experience.

Jeff Young stated that in some cases they anticipate models of class sizes as high as 27 and 28 and one of the difficult decisions will be in trying to ascertain the best way to apportion staffing, i.e., should they spread the burden across all grades or attempt to keep the kindergarten and first grades lower. The fewer grades they have to work with, the more intense the increase will be felt at the upper grades. On the other hand, there is the consideration of the younger students to take into account.

Joe Russo mentioned that physically there will be less space for students to move around in larger classes. For teachers there are more papers to grade and more progress reports to manage. Issues with students on the fringe tend to escalate in larger classes. Students do not get as much individual attention. Having said all this, he admitted that teachers are talented, resilient, and rise to the occasion and do an outstanding job and children are probably even more flexible than adults. While he does not endorse large class sizes and admits that they are challenging, in these financial times they have become a reality.

Marilynn Quarcoo mentioned that they already feel the impact of the reductions of the last two years in terms of aide support. Not many are utilized anymore for a particular child or specific classroom except for situations involving safety or medical reasons. Teaching assistants now have multiple classroom assignments and the teachers have to organize the curriculum around these schedules. Next year they envision having to place certain numbers of students together in a classroom in order to best utilize the aide support. She is concerned about compromising the learning experience for children, as well as being in compliance in terms of legal mandates.

Emily Ostrower added that there will be less flexibility in terms of scheduling and organization of classrooms. As Marilynn mentioned, with fewer aides they will be forced to concentrate more children with special needs in a couple of classrooms. They will manage and will do it well, but it will mean everyone will be stretched and some things will get dropped in order to address priorities.

Marc Laredo asked how they plan to manage without any reserve positions in the budget.

Jeff Young replied that they felt that the cuts they are proposing are severe enough that they could not justify reserves, but rather used that funding towards teaching staff.

Marc Laredo wondered if it might make sense to hold off on making decisions around classroom organization until the summer, when they have a better idea of the final outcome of state funding.

Jeff Young responded that this is a possibility, but they have to weigh the flexibility factor against the anxiety involved on the part of staff, parents and children in not knowing class assignments until late in the summer.

Middle Schools

Judy Malone Neville stated that in reviewing the middle school program, they tried to maintain team size as their priority, as well as balancing that with keeping breadth of program where possible.

John Jordan, Principal of Brown Middle School, emphasized their belief in the middle school model. This means keeping the team sizes at an optimal level so that students can make a connection with the teacher, as well as retaining the notion of “highly qualified” staff, meaning people teaching in a subject in which they are certified. At this level, they want to provide students with as many opportunities as possible, because it is a time when they are experimenting with different interests and experiences. Next year at Brown they are faced with having to limit the number of sections of French that can be offered. Another area that they are forced to look at is the possible elimination of media drama. The one cut that will impact all the middle schools is the literacy specialists, which he feels will hit the most fragile readers as they make their transition from the elementary to the secondary level. This is one of the few regular education interventions they have in place at the middle schools and it is done in different ways in each building. For instance, at Day it might involve students working on The Daytime newspaper, which results in additional reading support. There will be more MCAS testing in reading next year in grades six and eight.

Jeff Young interceded that if the reduction of the specialists at the middle schools occurs, they will have to consider different ways to utilize resources within the district because the needs of these students must be met. He then asked if they could describe the impact of the possibility of moving from a four-person team to a three, which is under consideration in some cases.

Judy Malone Neville mentioned that Oak Hill has successfully used a two-teacher team model for some time and there have been a variety of different team configurations at various times in the schools depending on enrollment at a particular grade level. The drawback of some of these team configurations is that it requires the teachers to teach a common subject, usually social studies, and they are not necessarily certified in that field. It is also more difficult on staff when the model changes from year-to-year.

Marc Laredo asked if there is any thought to standardizing the team configurations and/or electives at the middle schools and whether that would achieve any budgetary savings.

John Jordan explained that there have been many discussions around finding commonalties and realizing economies so that students have similar experiences no matter which middle school they attend, while still retaining the individuality of the buildings.

Marc Laredo asked if there is any savings associated with using the two-teacher team model.

Judy Malone Neville replied that there is no cost savings involved. However, they may be able to realize some cost savings in offering a program where staff could share teaching at Brown and Oak Hill, given their proximity. Another thought would be a decision to teach certain languages at each school and allow a form of school choice where students would attend the school where the language was that they wanted to study. They have a fairly consistent athletic program at all the middle schools and are trying to move in that direction in music and art.

Dori Zaleznik asked wanted to know the impact of allowing team sizes to creep up to the vicinity of 95.

Judy Malone Neville acknowledged that they have actually had teams of this size in the past and were able to manage, although it is not optimal.

Anne Larner asked about extra curricular activities.

Judy Malone Neville stated that they will continue to offer the Enrichment, Excellence & Exploration (EEE) program, but they may have to curtail some of the offerings so that they do not run the entire year and there may be fewer opportunities for new clubs to form. They have also been discussing the possible elimination of some sports but have not made any concrete decisions at this point.

Marc Laredo is confused by talks about cuts to the athletic program when the line item indicates an increase.

Sandy Guryan replied that there is more than one line item that encompasses this and she believes it has to do with step increases in the coaches salaries, but she will provide more specific materials for the next meeting.

Jeff Young added that there will be a full analysis of athletics at both the middle and high schools for the next meeting in terms of cuts and/or increased fees.

Susie Heyman asked what percentage of the EEE/athletics line item is devoted to each area.

Judy Malone Neville replied that it is probably 75% athletics and 25% EEE, because the athletics includes salaries of coaches and transportation.

Gail Glick asked how prevalent it will be to have staff teaching a subject for which they are not certified and if they will have supports for those teachers in place.

Judy Malone Neville responded that the recommendations call for a reduction of a team teacher at the 6^th grade level at Bigelow, Brown and Day dictated by the enrollment figures. The curriculum coordinators have been very responsive in providing support for teachers who are picking up a new assignment on Thursday afternoon early release days and in summer preparation work.

Todd Harrison stated that with the right amount of support, it can be successful because it can allow for greater interdisciplinary activity if teachers are dual certified. However, to some staff it is an unpopular assignment and can be difficult finding teachers who are willing to take on this task. The greatest detriment is the instability that arises from year to year, which makes it hard to staff and plan. The program becomes more solidified as teachers work together for a period of time and it can take several years to develop solid curriculum. They make every attempt to give these people sufficient curriculum development time because they have to do double preparation and he hopes to provide even more of that in the future.

Nancy Levine asked where they stand around the decision with regard to the elimination of the Daytime.

Jeff Young stated that the decision has not yet been made and they are all in agreement about the excellent of this newspaper and their desire to preserve it, if possible.

Dori Zaleznik would appreciate seeing some more specifics about the cuts because it is difficult to make decisions without understanding the ramifications.

High Schools

Judy Malone Neville explained that they are only at the beginning stages of the scheduling process at the high schools, so the cuts are somewhat vague and where they are specific they should be considered potentials vs. actuals.

Susie Heyman asked if they could explain the scheduling process and how they decide which courses will be offered.

Michael Welch, Principal of Newton South High School, explained that the course offering booklet is distributed and students are encouraged to select their first choice, as well as alternatives. The accumulated data then determines how the numbers fall and what courses will be offered. Sometimes they will offer courses in a rotation schedule every other year. He expects they will be making these decisions mid to late April.

Susie Heyman asked how they balance allowing students to self-select courses of interest with what educators feel constitutes a proper high school education, i.e., graduation requirements.

Jennifer Huntington, Principal of Newton North High School, stated that they will have some serious challenges next year around attempting to keep the breathe of program that allows students to feel connected to the school given the cuts they will be facing. However, there is a lot of input from the guidance counselors and teachers to help students make these decisions.

Michael Welch added that they try to look at the individual choices of a student. If they cannot give them the specific course they want, they attempt to fit them into something similar, although that sometimes means the class will be larger.

Susie Heyman commented that this is the third year in a row that they are experiencing cuts at this level and the results were quite dramatic when they saw how many classes had over 25 students.

Mike Welch agreed. While the high schools are fare more efficient than they have ever been in the past, they can only go so far before they tip the scales. He believes the majority of the honors and curriculum 1 level courses next year will have large sections because there are no other variables available to manipulate.

Jennifer Huntington stated that they are slated to lose 11.1 FTEs, part of which is the transfer of staff to South as part of the equalization of the high school population. She asked the five major departments to consider the impact of a 2.0 FTE on their budget. The responses to date have been that there will be a loss of electives, class sizes for honors and curriculum 1 classes will be in the high 20s, and there will be more advanced placements classes taught in lecture format, with reduced writing assignments. Overall there will be far less flexibility and the school environment will feel very different.

Dori Zaleznik noted that math and science classes at both high schools continue to be areas in which the core classes are quite large and she wondered if there is any way of redistributing those numbers. She also wondered if the high schools could share some of the electives via video conferencing.

Mike Welch stated that they will be taking away some of the electives in order to keep the class sizes down as much as possible. He reminded people that there is a contractual cap in place in the English Dept. Newton South is gaining 115 students and only adding 2.0 FTEs, so they are not even close to the current class size with that allocation. Seventy-five percent of that allocation will go to the English Dept. He explained that they have made previous attempts at tele-videoing courses, which has proven difficult because of scheduling and other issues. The number of instances where they can accomplish this is fairly minimal. However, there are 25 slots available in the fall and spring for students to participate in a virtual high school project, which allows for them to offer some of these type of opportunities.

Anne Larner asked about other areas that might be impacted by this budget, such as drama.

Jennifer Huntington explained that drama is a revolving fund and is not impacted by the cuts. In terms of athletics, while they will be discussing this at the next meeting, she wanted to state that the notion of raising the athletic fees by $25 to eliminate any loss of program has her unequivocal support. A survey of 29 communities in eastern Massachusetts indicated that Brookline, Newton and Wellesley have the lowest fee at $125, while others range from $150 - $300.

Susie Heyman asked about the impact of the cuts in the number of aides.

Mike Welch admitted that they have not even begun discussion around this area and actually do not have many aides in their buildings other than those assigned for special education. He did, however, want to address the department head reorganization in case people were not clear. Each of the small departments at Newton South – art, music, family & consumer science, career & tech ed – have a person who teaches 90% of the time and heads the department the other 10%. Their role is to oversee the interests of the department in terms of negotiations, budget, and assist with decision-making around deployment in the best manner in their area. Eliminating this piece means the oversight will be in the hands of people who are not specialists in the area, such as the assistant principals and housemasters, so it would be administered from a distance and would not carry the level of advocacy for the department that is currently in place.

Jennifer Huntington agreed with Mike’s comments, but mentioned that one positive piece is that these people would return to full-time teaching status, so it would slightly increase opportunities for students.

Marc Laredo noted that the budget book indicates a reduction of aides at the secondary level of 4.0 FTEs, but they have been discussing much higher numbers and he asked for an explanation.

Jeff Young stated that this is another line item issue and will be clarified in the materials for the next meeting.

Anne Larner asked if there is anything else the principals would like to add to the discussion this evening that may not have been addressed.

Jennifer Huntington commented that what makes Newton’s high schools so special is the incredible breadth of offerings that allow all students to find their niche and connect to an adult. As they know from their research and work around smaller learning communities, this is what makes the difference in students having a successful experience in school. This is going to be diminished under this budget. There will be larger classes, less connections with teachers, and fewer opportunities for students to connect in smaller groups around a common interest.

Mike Welch added that they are boxed in because the only variable remaining is class size. If the budget remains as is, the large AP classes will be taught in a college-like format. They have been overloading their teachers to the point where their total student load has grown every year since he has been Principal at Newton South. This wears staff down and they are less enthusiastic about taking on advisory roles for clubs after school because they are tired and simply do not have the time. The block set aside daily for students to meet with teachers for extra help is seeing lines growing and it is becoming increasingly difficult for students to get the attention they need.

Susie Heyman asked if there was any way they could enhance summer offerings to compensate for some of this loss.

Mike Welch replied in the affirmative, but it is not the same experience for students. A very small increment of staffing at the high school level can make a great deal of difference. For example, a .25 FTE can impact approximately 350 students.

OPEN DISCUSSION

Suzanne Freidberg, Newton Centre, Bowen Elementary School parent, stated that the potential loss of another teacher at their school will be devastating. They are in a fluid community, with a lot of rental properties and affordable housing and it is difficult to get an accurate count of the numbers, but they are keeping as close track as possible. At this point in time, they are looking at 390 students in the fall, with up to 80 in kindergarten. If they keep the current 18 classrooms, six would be over 25. They need at least two more teachers.

Neil Silverston, Newton Centre, commented that the school system definitely needs more money, but no amount of overrides is going to sustain the growth that the Superintendent says is needed to maintain program every year. They need to face this fact now and address the class size issue. He suggested they attack the utilities accounts and address the inefficient boilers, air-conditioners and heating systems, which will result in savings fairly quickly. Another area they could address would be special education. While he feels Newton has an excellent program and dollars are not being wasted in this area, the fact remains that it is almost 30% of the budget and is slated to be increased by 10.7%, while regular instruction is being cut by 1.9%. Perhaps they can explore opportunities with the Newton Schools Foundation or fundraising at the national level.

Lisa Davis, Newton Highlands, Copresident of Countryside PTSO, talked about the importance of the librarians, which she considers true partners with teachers, as they work together on curriculum related projects. They are also skilled technology specialists and a critical piece to its integration into the classroom. They are the most knowledgeable about children’s literature and literacy. The librarian at Countryside knows all the children by name and their personal interests and is able to match the right books for each student. This is not an easy task in a school of their size. The librarian personally expanded her daughter’s non-fiction only passion into a fiction fanatic. The proposed cuts would mean fewer library visits, less time to browse, less access to use of technology, and less schoolwide support. She urged the Committee to do all they can to stave off these cuts.

Susan Flicop, Chestnut Hill, Bowen parent, stated that her daughter is currently in a kindergarten class with 25 students and she is concerned that this is going to be an ongoing situation. The numbers indicate that there will be too many unacceptable situations at their school. While the class size reports 58 students next year for kindergarten, they are counting 76, with 20 families that have not yet responded. In terms of the libraries, she fully supports their cause, but not at the expense of cuts in the arts. They need to find another solution. Perhaps less technology for students in the early grades would be a better option.

Andrew Gottleib, Newton Centre, mentioned that the model for projecting class size has not worked well for their school and he urged them to conduct their analysis by using the numbers their community has prepared, which are the most accurate. He is also concerned that the issue of class size at the elementary level did not merit more discussion this evening. They need to have some blunt discussions about other areas that can be reduced because they are headed in a bad direction.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 p.m.