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2006-06-28 BEVERLY PUBLIC SCHOOLS BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS June 28, 2006 A regular meeting of the Beverly School Committee was held on Wednesday, June 28, 2006, at the Beverly City Hall, Beverly, MA. Members Present: Ms. Brusil, Ms. Cesa, Mr. Manzi, Mr. Manzo, Ms. Decker, Mr. Latter, and Mayor Scanlon (arrived at 9:20pm) Also in Attendance: Dr. James Hayes, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marie Galinski, Assistant Superintendent of Schools Heidi Zimmerman, Administrator of Finance & Operations President Brusil called the meeting to order at 7:35pm. Recognitions - Such Other Matters (Kudos, Congratulations) Dr. Hayes and Ms. Brusil along with Ms. Pressman, Principal of the Cove Elementary School, took this time to recognize Sam Gause. Sam is a second grader at Cove School and was recognized for th his generous donation to the Beverly Education Foundation. In lieu of presents for his 7 birthday he asked friends and family to make a donation to the Beverly Education Foundation. Sam donated $310.00. Members of the Foundation, Anna Green and Doug Walker, were there on hand to present Sam with a certificate. Open Forum for Citizen Input into Non-Agenda-Related Items Kathy Whitehair complimented the School Committee on a great job and told them they should be “proud” and she said “I am proud of you, Dr. Hayes”. She said she believes in the Beverly Schools and that they should “fight back”. Tracey Armstrong echoed the same sentiments and said we need to learn from Sam Gause. Ms. Armstrong said you don’t get a second chance with these kids. You have to be bold to really create change. Opportunity for Citizen Input into Agenda-Related Items None Records of Meetings None Communications: ?? Briscoe student told at last minute she was unable to graduate. Ms. Cesa felt this was not done in a timely manner and could have been handled better. ?? Three person teams at Briscoe ?? Hannah School sign change ?? FY07 budget ?? Class sizes ?? Crossing guards – where will the reduced number be located; request from St. Mary’s for Federal and Chapman Streets ?? High school monitor situation ?? Computer proficiency test (did test change?) ?? Food Safety policy – question about the policy ?? Need for citywide school event calendar to avoid many conflicts that happened this year ?? City/school consolidation – process, timeline, possible areas Regular Meeting June 28, 2006 Page 2 SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT Northshore Recovery High School Dr. Hayes brought the Committee members up to date on the Recovery High School. He referenced the latest document “Frequently Asked Questions” included in their packet. Dr. Hayes reported that he had met with the newly selected principal, Michelle Lipinski. Ms. Lipinski reported that she had started interviewing people for some of the positions to be filled at the school. Naming of Briscoe Auditorium Dr. Hayes shared with the Committee a letter he had received from Jeffrey Goding, husband of the late Ginny Goding. In the letter Mr. Goding thanked the school committee for voting in favor of naming the Briscoe auditorium after Virginia. He said it was an “unexpected and wonderful surprise”. He also informed Dr. Hayes of his intent to put in place next spring the Virginia Goding Scholarship, to be awarded to a Beverly High School graduate who is pursuing a performing arts degree. NEASC Formal Letter Dr. Hayes stated everyone had been given a copy of the formal letter from the NEASC with regards to Hannah Schools’ recent accreditation. In the letter it outlined the next steps and specific goals. Summer Hours Dr. Hayes told the Committee that there was going to be a change in the work schedule for the summer. Starting July 3, 2006, and extending through August 18, 2006, Central Office, Briscoe Middle School and the Elementary Principals will work a four day work week with extended hours. The hours will be Tuesday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. By not opening on Mondays the hope is to save money on utilities costs – not running copy machines, computers, air conditioners, etc. The high school will remain on a five day workweek. It was noted that the hours should be posted on the web site. Ms. Cesa reported to the Committee that BevCam is going to be offering DVD’s of the 2006 Graduation for sale. The cost of these DVD’s will be $10.00 and they should be available soon. Approval of Superintendent’s Contract At this time Ms. Brusil reported that the Committee had come to an agreement on Dr. Hayes’ contract. The Contract will extend through June 30, 2010, an additional three years. For fiscal year 2007 the salary will be $138,700, an increase of 4.76%. A motion was made by Mr. Latter and So voted. seconded by Ms. Cesa to accept the Superintendent’s contract. A suggestion was made that next year when they begin this process that they set up time to talk with administrative staff. Committee Reports Standing Committee on Curriculum, Instruction, and Student Life: Annemarie Cesa Chairperson The Standing Committee on Curriculum, Instruction and Student Life was bringing forward the policy regarding “Food Safety” for approval. There were questions from Committee members as to the policy and regulations. After some questions and discussion a motion was made by Ms. Cesa and So voted. seconded by Ms. Decker to approve the “Food Safety” Policy. Report from School Committee President Nancy Brusil Ms. Brusil, School Committee members, and Dr. Hayes took this time to discuss the budget to be voted on. Dr. Hayes said that there was one variation on the budget handed out tonight - $35,000 was moved out of the health insurance line to the crossing guard line. He then said that based on school days if each crossing guard worked 45 minutes both in the morning and afternoon the $35,000 would cover 11 crossing guard position. Dr. Hayes said that he would be meeting with the crossing Regular Meeting June 28, 2006 Page 3 guards in the morning to see who is interested in continuing in that position. Dr. Hayes also noted that two additional crossing guards are paid by Landmark. There were questions and comments from Committee members – type of crossing, some are 4 way, 3 way; parent need to teach their child(ren) how to cross; time frame to identify the 11 locations. Another recommendation Dr. Hayes made was to consider a flat fee of $185/per sport Athletic fee at the high school level, changing the proposed 3-tier system. He went on to say that our revenue projected for next year can still be achieved with that flat fee. At this point in the meeting the members went back and forth with ideas and comments; pros and cons; three tiers, scholarships; high end vs. low end of tier. A motion was made by Mr. Manzo and seconded by Ms. Cesa to change high school Athletic fees to Motion fails a flat fee of $180/per sport. 3 voted in favor – 3 opposed. . A motion was made by Mr. Manzi and seconded by Ms. Cesa to change the high school athletic fees So voted to a flat fee of $185/per sport Vote taken 4 in favor, 2 opposed. . There was some discussion about utility costs Mr. Manzo stated that we had included a 15% increase for 06-07 utilities and after some reviewing of numbers he felt this could be reduced to a 10% increase using actual costs from 05-06 instead of the projected costs from 06-07. Ms. Zimmerman said she would hesitate to do that given that this was a particularly warm winter, it would be a risk. Another question raised was the process for hiring teachers, if numbers continue to rise in elementary th classrooms (example: No. Beverly 5 grade). Historically Dr. Hayes has made the final decision should it remain that way or should Committee members be included and/or have a voice in that decision? It was felt that they would certainly be kept up to date and aware of any new hires but that they would trust Dr. Hayes’s judgment to make that decision. A motion was made by Mr. Latter and seconded by Ms. Cesa to empower Dr. Hayes to do any classroom hires to help maintain class size parameters (25 students in K-2, and 30 students in 3-5), and that he keep the committee apprised of any situation that requires changes in staffing. Vote So voted. taken 6 in favor, 1 opposed. Recess (Meeting Adjourned 9:10pm) Called back to order 9:15pm. At this time Mayor Scanlon announced that the school budget had been approved by City Council. It was now time for School Committee members to vote. Ms. Zimmerman noted that on page one of the revenue page the $490,500 (FY06 surplus carried forward) needed to be subtracted from the final budget number of $42,599,005 in order to balance. The actual final budget number to be approved would be $42,068,505.00. A motion was made by Mr. Manzo and seconded by Mr. Latter to approve the FY07 Budget in the So voted. amount of $42,068,505.00. Vote taken six approved; 1 opposed. New Business None Opportunity for Questions from the Press Martina Brendal, Salem News asked that if the City Offices, located in the Memorial Building are to work their regular five day work week and if they were where would the saving be? Dr. Hayes replied Regular Meeting June 28, 2006 Page 4 that the city hall offices have their own separate air conditioners, lights, photocopiers, etc. than the school offices. Meeting adjourned 9:30pm. Maria Decker Secretary