Natick Public Schools
SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING
April 24, 2006
The School Committee held a meeting on Monday, April 24, 2006 at 7:30 p.m. in the School Committee Room, Third Floor, Town Hall. Chairman Haugland called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
Members Present: Karen Adelman Foster, Henry Haugland, Dirk Coburn, Stephen Meyler, David Murphy, Rick Wynn, Ted Wynne
Others present: James Connolly Superintendent
Karen LeDuc Assistant Superintendent
Audrey Seyffert Assistant Superintendent
Mary Ellen Dunn Director of Fiscal & Management Services
Sharon Reilly Recording Secretary
Staff, Parents & Press
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mr. Wynne moved for approval of the minutes of Aril 4, 2006. Mr. Meyler seconded. They were unanimously approved.
PUBLIC SPEAK
Chairman Haugland asked if anyone wished to come forward for Public Speak. No one came forward.
OUT OF STATE TRAVEL
Mrs. Ruth Evans requested the School Committee’s approval for 8th grade students to travel to Portland, Maine on June 1 from 8:00 – 5:00 to attend a baseball game between Portland Seadogs and the Trenton Thunders. The trip includes a daytime game, a tour of the stadium and a visit to “The Portland Head Light”, Portland’s oldest lighthouse. Mr. Coburn moved for approval of the trip. Mr. Haugland seconded. It was unanimously approved.
Mrs. Ruth Evans announced that Vice Principal Anna Nolin gave birth to her second child, daughter, Ava Corrine, at 12:34 Saturday morning, April 22. Ava weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces and was 20 inches long. Both mom and baby are doing well.
Mr. John Hughes requested the School Committee’s approval for fourteen NHS students to travel to London, England over the April 2007 vacation break. Ms. Simms and Ms. Napier, NHS English teachers, are the teacher chaperones for this London Theater Tour. Mr. Coburn moved for approval of this trip. Mr. Wynn seconded. It was unanimously approved.
Mr. John Hughes requested approval for the Natick High School Speech Team to travel to Chicago on May 25-29 to participate in the Grand National Speech Tournament. Mr. Coburn moved for approval of this trip. Ms. Adelman Foster seconded. It was unanimously approved.
FINANCE COMMITTEE RESERVE FUND TRANSFER
Mr. Connolly requested the School Committee’s approval to submit a request to the Finance Committee to transfer $44,575.63 from the emergency repairs reserve fund which would cover extraordinary boiler and domestic hot water repairs at Natick High School. Mr. Wynne moved for approval to request this transfer. Mr. Coburn seconded. It was unanimously approved.
REQUEST TO ENROLL NON-RESIDENT STUDENTS
Mr. Connolly reported that members of the Natick Public School’s professional staff have requested the School Committee’s permission to enroll their children in the Natick Public Schools, effective for the 2006/2007 school year. The children will be entering:
Natick High School Grade 11
Natick High School Grade 12
Memorial School Grade 3
Brown School Grade 2 (Two Students)
Brown School Kindergarten
These requests fall within the provisions of Chapter 76, Section 6. There is no conflict with the “choice law” since the Committee has not charged tuition in similar cases. Mr. Wynn moved for approval to allow these children to attend Natick Public Schools as outlined above for the 2006/2007 school year. Mr. Meyler seconded. It was unanimously approved.
APPROVAL OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE
The School Committee was presented with a schedule of meetings for the 2006/2007 school year. Ms. Karen Adelman moved to approve the calendar with one change - change the meeting of December 18 to December 11 as it is the fourth night of Hanukkah. Mr. Coburn seconded. It was unanimously approved with the change. The schedule is as follows:
2006
August Monday August 28
September Monday September 11
Monday September 25
October Wednesday October 4
Monday October 16
(October 2 is Yom Kippur – October 9 is Columbus Day)
November Monday November 6
Monday November 20 Student Advisory Board
December Monday December 4
Monday December 11
2007
January Monday January 8 Budget Session
Wednesday January 17 Budget Session
Monday January 22 Budget Session
Monday January 29 Student Advisory Board/Budget
February Monday February 5 Public Hearing on FY2008 Budget
Monday February 26
March Monday March 5
Monday March 19 Student Advisory Board
April Monday April 2
Monday April 23
May Monday May 7
Monday May 21 Student Advisory Board
June Monday June 4
Monday June 18
TO ADOPT A RESOLUTION REGARDING SCHOOL CHOICE
Mr. Connolly indicated that the School Committee needs to take a vote regarding School Choice. In accordance with the provisions of the School Choice Law, a school committee must annually vote to not participate in school choice. If the committee does not vote, then the district automatically becomes a school choice district. Mr. Connolly recommended that the School Committee adopt the resolution submitted to the Committee to not participate in School Choice. Mr. Coburn moved for approval to adopt the resolution that states that the Natick School Committee declines to participate in the School Choice program. Mr. Wynne seconded. It was unanimously approved. Mr. Coburn suggested that we may want to explore taking a different posture in the future.
APPROVAL OF FINAL DAY OF SCHOOL FOR 2005/2006 SCHOOL YEAR
Mr. Connolly requested the School Committee’s approval to adjust the date for the last day of school for the 2005/2006 school year. Since the system lost two days as a result of inclement weather as of this date, the last day of school for students and professional staff will be Monday, June 19, 2006 (early release). This date provides for the completion of the required 180-day school year for students and the 182-day year for the professional staff. Mr. Meyler moved for approval of this date. Mr. Wynne seconded. It was unanimously approved. Mr. Connolly reported that a one-day waiver for the 180-day school year requirement was approved by the Department of Education for Kennedy Middle School which lost one day on January 19 due to an electrical outage.
Approval of this waiver has allowed for all schools to close on the same day.
TO SUPPORT AMENDMENT TO CHARTER FINANCE RECOMMENDATION
Mr. Connolly asked for the School Committee’s approval to send a letter to State Legislators in support of Representative Blumer’s amendment to support the charter finance recommendation made by the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents. Mr. Coburn moved for approval to send a letter endorsing the School Committee’s support on this amendment. Mr. Wynne seconded. It was unanimously approved.
UPDATE ON TRANSPORTATION BID
Mrs. Mary Ellen Dunn discussed the results of the Transportation Bid. The results showed a 36% increase in the cost of the transportation program. The increase was mainly due to an increase in prevailing wage for the drivers, an increase in insurance requirements, additional equipment needed to comply with federal emission standards, fuel prices and training for the bus drivers for threats, medical responses and a variety of other tasks. Mrs. Dunn also reviewed various fee scenarios. A discussion continued. This item will be revisited next week.
CONTINUED DISCUSSION OF THE LONG RANGE PLANNING STUDY COMMITTEE
Mr. Craig Ross was present to have further discussion with the School Committee on the Long Range Planning Study Committee and to get its support for Town Meeting Article 15, which is a request for $150,000 to conduct this study.
Mr. Ross reported that support has been given by the Board of Selectmen, Planning Board, Finance Committee and Conservation Committee. Mr. Ross introduced Mr. David Parish, a member of the Long Range Planning Study Committee who provided his input on the Committee. A discussion continued. A motion was on the table from the last School Committee meeting which was made by Mr. Coburn and seconded by Mr. Meyler for the School Committee to endorse the Natick 360 Strategic Planning Process. Chairman Haugland called for a vote. It was unanimously approved.
APPROVAL OF SUBCOMMITEE ASSIGNMENTS
Chairman Haugland reviewed the listing of Subcommittee assignments which he distributed. He indicated that Mr. Coburn is the liaison to the Parent Coordinating Council and although it is not a School Committee subcommittee, Mr. Coburn would like to continue serving on this Committee. In addition, Chairman Haugland discussed the need for a Communication Subcommittee which he suggested Mr. Murphy, Ms. Adelman Foster and Mr. Wynn serve on. The first course of action for this Committee would be to come back to the first meeting in May with the charge for this subcommittee. Mr. Wynne moved for approval to form this subcommittee. Mr. Coburn seconded. It was unanimously approved.
Mr. Meyler moved for approval for the School Committee to establish two additional subcommittees:
1. Financial Reporting/Budget Subcommittee
2. Goals and Objectives Subcommittee
Mr. Wynne seconded. It was unanimously approved.
Some minor modifications were made to the Subcommittee list distributed. The School Committee unanimously approved the modified subcommittee list for 2006-2007 as follows:
SUBCOMMITTEE |
SC REP/DESIGNEE FOR 4/2006-3/2007 |
Suburban Coalition Rep |
Dirk Coburn
This is an open meeting – all members are invited to attend if available |
TEC Board of Directors
|
Rick Wynn Karen Adelman Foster Jim Connolly Steve Meyler, Alternate This is an open meeting – all members may attend if available |
Natick Education Foundation |
Dave Murphy (Appointed by NEF) |
Policy Subcommittee |
Steve Meyler Dave Murphy Jim Connolly
|
Safety Committee |
Mary Ellen Dunn |
Senior Center Liaison |
Karen Adelman Foster Steve Meyler
|
Curriculum Subcommittee |
Dirk Coburn Karen Adelman Foster Rick Wynn
|
Technology Subcommittee Established November 4, 2002 |
Jeffrey Bram Richard Savoia Ken Goldman Ann Sager Brent Koepel Jim Connolly
Dennis Roche
Suggest dissolving and establishing a Technology Infrastructure and Applications subcommittee |
High School Building Committee |
1 Member appointed by Selectmen – John Ciccariello 1 Member appointed by Town Moderator –John O’Neil 1 Member appointed by Fin Com – Bruce Wright 1 member appointed by Plng Board – Jonathan Freedman 5 Members appointed by the School Committee – TBD – Joseph Naughton – Mark Raider – Mysore Ravindra – Mark Sereda Steve Meyler – SC Liaison |
CPA Study |
Disband |
Long Range Strategic Planning Committee
|
1 Member Board of Selectmen 1 Member Planning Board 1 Member of the School Committee – Dirk Coburn 1 Member of the Finance Committee 3 Citizens-at-large |
Transportation Subcommittee |
Dirk Coburn Henry Haugland |
Fiscal Steering Committee |
2 Members from each of the following boards: Selectmen Finance Committee School Committee – Chair & Vice Chair Phil Lemnios, James Connolly |
Communications Subcommittee |
Dave Murphy Karen Adelman Foster Rick Wynn |
PCC |
Dirk Coburn (Liaison) |
Financial Reporting Budget |
TBD |
Goals & Objectives |
TBD |
NEGOTIATION TEAM |
SC REPRESENTATIVE 4/2005-3/2006 |
Maintenance & Custodians
|
Dirk Coburn Henry Haugland |
Cafeteria
|
Henry Haugland Steve Meyler |
Teachers, Nurses & Administrators (EAN Units A,B,C)
|
Henry Haugland Rick Wynn Steve Meyler Dave Murphy (Alternate) |
Secretaries & Clerks |
Dirk Coburn Ted Wynne |
Teacher Assistants |
Dirk Coburn Dave Murphy Karen Adelman Foster (Alternate) |
Title 1
|
Rick Wynn Dave Murphy |
Non- Represented Personnel |
Henry Haugland Rick Wynn Ted Wynne |
All of the collective bargaining sub-committees have the same mission and function. We use a collaborative model with Marianne Davis, our Director of Human Resources and a skilled negotiator and union representatives. There is one exception in that the cafeteria workers use a more traditional model.
There will be few if any sessions for the coming year as contracts are expected to be settled. However, people should be assigned to these sub-committees in order to deal with any issues that may arise in the interim.
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At 9:30 p.m., Mr. Wynn moved to adjourn Mr. Meyler seconded. It was unanimously approved.
James Connolly
Superintendent
Secretary to the School Committee
Attest:_____________________________ Sharon Reilly
Recording Secretary
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