Mt. Everett Regional School

Sheffield, MA

July 13, 2006

School Committee Meeting #1,345

 

School Committee Members: Mr. Pollitt, Dr. Savage, Mr. Twing, Ms. Mielke, Ms. Silvestri, Mr. Ronan, Ms. Miller, Mr. Tillett, Dr. Zorn, Mr. Abelow

 

Administrators: Ms. Spriggs, Ms. Regan

 

Press: CTSB

 

Student Representatives:

 

Others: Ms. Ellen Maggio; Ms. Mary Edwards; Ms. Linda Higgins

 

 

1.      Superintendent Spriggs called the meeting to order at 6:06 p.m.  She welcomed all and offered special congratulations to Ms. Edwards for being named to the Interim Elementary Principal position.

 

2.      Reorganization:

2A.    Ms. Spriggs then opened the floor for nominations of chairman for the 2006-2007 year.  Mr. Tillett nominated Ms. Miller.  Mr. Ronan seconded the motion.  As no other nominations were offered, Supt. Spriggs called a vote, and Ms. Miller was elected Chairman, 10-0.

 

2B.    Superintendent Spriggs then turned the meeting over to Ms. Miller.  Ms. Miller thanked the Committee members and asked for nominations for vice chairman.  Mr. Twing nominated Mr. Abelow.  The nomination was seconded by Dr. Savage.  Mr. Ronan nominated Dr. Savage.  The nomination was seconded by Ms. Silvestri.  Hearing no other nominations, Chairman Miller called a vote, which resulted in the election of Mr. Abelow, by a 5-4 vote, with Dr. Zorn abstaining..

 

2C.    Mr. Tillett moved the nomination of Ms. Spriggs as Secretary.  Ms. Mielke seconded the motion, and it was so voted, unanimously.

 

Mr. Pollitt arrived at 6:27 p.m.

 

2D.    Subcommittee Members: Following much discussion, Subcommittees were proposed as follows:

Finance: Mr. Tillett, Co-Chair; Dr. Savage, Co-Chair, Mr. Abelow, Mr. Pollitt

Negotiations: Mr. Abelow, Mr. Tillett, Dr. Savage, Ms. Mielke, Mr. Ronan

Buildings & Grounds: Ms. Mielke, Mr. Twing

Warrant: Mr. Ronan, Ms. Silvestri, Dr. Savage, Primary Members; Mr. Twing and Ms. Miller, Alternates

Executive Evaluation: Dr. Savage, Ms. Silvestri

Audit: Mr. Ronan, Dr. Zorn

Policy: Mr. Ronan, Dr. Savage, Dr. Zorn

Technology: Eliminated

South Berkshire Educational Collaborative Representative: Mr. Ronan; Mr. Abelow, Alternate

eagle fund Representatives: Dr. Zorn, Ms. Mielke

Undermountain/Mt. Everett Youth Athletic Association Liaison: Mr. Twing

Southern Berkshire Child Care Program Representative: Ms. Silvestri

Elementary School Council Liaison: Dr. Zorn, Mr. Twing

Mt. Everett School Council Liaisons: Mr. Tillett; Ms. Mielke

Massachusetts Association of School Committees Representative: Mr. Abelow

 

Mr. Abelow moved, seconded by Mr. Ronan to accept subcommittees as designated.  It was so voted.  (Mr. Pollitt abstained.)

 

Mr. Pollitt noted that a subcommittee should also be formed in the near future to discuss teacher evaluations.

 

Chairman Miller emphasized that with the Committee trying a once a month schedule, it would be very important for the subcommittees to do their work.

 

2E.    Mr. Twing moved, seconded by Mr. Ronan, to reappoint Dr. Richard Heck as school physician for 2006-07.  It was so voted, unanimously.

 

3.      Ms. Silvestri moved, seconded by Mr. Twing, to approve the minutes of School Committee meeting #1,344.  It was so voted.  (Mr. Abelow and Dr. Zorn abstained.)

 

   Mr. Twing moved, seconded by Mr. Tillett, to approve the minutes of the Executive Session of School Committee meeting #1,344.  It was so voted.  (Mr. Abelow and Dr. Zorn abstained.)

 

   Mr. Abelow moved, seconded by Mr. Ronan, to approve the minutes of the special School Committee Meeting of June 30, 2006.  It was so voted.  (Dr. Zorn abstained.)

 

4A.   Chairman Miller, Superintendent Spriggs, and Members of the Committee offered a special thank you to Ms. Maggio for her five years of service on the School Committee and many years of service to the District.  Ms. Miller also offered a special word of thanks to Mr. Pollitt for serving as the Chair during 2005-06.  She stated that in honor of Ms. Maggio and Mr. Pollitt and the Negotiations Team, she had baked a cake.  A break was taken at 6:39 p.m. to enjoy the cake in their honor.

 

The meeting resumed at 6:46 p.m.

 

5A.   Subcommittee/Representative Reports

 

         1.   Mr. Abelow read the minutes of the Policy Subcommittee meeting (on file with these minutes).

 

The Committee observed the first reading of Policy File ADF, School District Wellness Program; Policy File KBB, Non-Custodial Parents’ Rights; and Policy File IHBEA, English Language Learners. 

 

Supt. Spriggs noted that further work will be done on the Wellness Policy, following initial approval, and it will be brought back to the Committee for an update by January of 2007. 

 

            Regarding File KBB, Members supported leaving the cross reference in red ink. 

 

            It was noted that a policy regarding Administering Medications to Students, will be brought to the Committee at a later date.

 

Regarding the Attendance Policy, Superintendent Spriggs explained that it had been approved last year with the understanding it would be revisited this year.  She noted that some minor tweaking had been done at the middle/high school level to make it more “user friendly”.

 

Mr. Pollitt stated that he believed that although the changes may seem minor, the Committee would technically need to do a second reading prior to voting approval of the Attendance Policy. 

 

Committee members brought up questions regarding the changes proposed for the middle/high school and requested that Mr. Devoti be present to answer their questions prior to a vote.

 

Supt. Spriggs asked if the Committee could vote to renew the elementary portion of the policy in order to allow Ms. Edwards to have the student handbooks printed.

 

Following discussion as to whether the two pieces of the policy could be separated, Mr. Tillett moved to keep it as one policy and not separate into two sections (for voting purposes).  It was so voted.  (Ms. Silvestri and Ms. Mielke voted in opposition.)

 

Mr. Pollitt then moved to separate the Policy into two sections when it is brought back for a vote.  Mr. Tillett seconded the motion, and it was so voted.  (Mr. Ronan voted in opposition.)

 

Ms. Silvestri asked whether a special meeting might be possible in order to vote an attendance policy for inclusion in the student handbooks.  Superintendent Spriggs agreed to call the printer to see if the printing could be accomplished after August 17 and in time for the first day of school.  If not, she will contact Chairman Miller to request a special meeting.

 

Dr. Savage requested that the question of how the Subcommittees will do their work be put on an upcoming agenda for discussion.

 

5A2.    Negotiations Subcommittee: Mr. Abelow stated that executive session would be requested at the end of the meeting.

 

5B.       Financials: Ms. Regan explained a request for transfers. 

 

Mr. Pollitt voiced concern that one of the items in need of a transfer was the transportation line, given that transportation was an item for which contracts were set ahead of time.  He questioned how such an item could be underfunded.  Ms. Regan responded that she did not know.  Dr. Savage added that Ms. Regan should not be expected to know, but she said that the Finance Committee had discussed the problem in their meeting and asked that it not happen again.

 

Ms. Regan noted that the transfers were, hopefully, the end of the requests for 2005-06; however, there may be a stray invoice or two to come in yet.

 

            Ms. Silvestri moved to accept the transfers, as requested by Ms. Regan.

Committee members debated whether it would be better to accept the transfer to cover the underbudgeted transportation amount, or go through a potentially lengthy process to discover what happened to cause the underfunding. 

 

            Mr. Ronan asked to move the question.  It was voted to do so, unanimously.

 

The motion to approve the transfers was defeated, with 3 members voting in favor, 5 voting in opposition, and Dr. Zorn abstaining.

 

            Mr. Tillett moved to vote each line of the transfers separately.

 

Following further discussion, Mr. Abelow moved, seconded by Dr. Savage, to vote the transfers, line by line.  It was so voted.  (Mr. Ronan voted in opposition.)

 

Mr. Tillett moved to approve a transfer from Program 520, Employee Benefits, to Line 110, Administration, PreK-6, in the amount of $28,000.  Mr. Ronan seconded the motion, and it was so voted.

 

Mr. Tillett moved to approve a transfer from Program 520, Employee Benefits, to Line 113, Administration 7-12, in the amount of $11,000.  Mr. Abelow seconded the motion, and it was so voted.

 

Mr. Tillett moved to approve a transfer from Program 520, Employee Benefits, to Line 128, Grade 4, in the amount of $29.50.  Mr. Abelow seconded the motion, and it was so voted.

 

Mr. Tillett moved to approve a transfer from Program 520, Employee Benefits, to Line 155, Physical Education, in the amount of $10.15.  Mr. Abelow seconded the motion, and it was so voted.

 

Mr. Tillett moved to approve a transfer from Program 520, Employee Benefits, to Line 107, Technology Education, in the amount of $2,200.  Mr. Abelow seconded the motion, and it was so voted.

 

Mr. Tillett moved to approve a transfer from Program 520, Employee Benefits, to Line 217, ESL, in the amount of $1,500.  Mr. Abelow seconded the motion, and it was so voted.

 

Mr. Tillett moved to approve a transfer from Program 520, Employee Benefits, to Line 305, School Committee, in the amount of $9,500.  Ms. Silvestri seconded the motion, and it was so voted.

 

Mr. Tillett moved to approve a transfer from Program 520, Employee Benefits, to Line 335, Guidance/Counseling, in the amount of $400.00.  Mr. Ronan seconded the motion, and it was so voted.

 

Mr. Tillett moved to approve a transfer from Program 520, Employee Benefits, to Line 340, Health Services, in the amount of $670.00.  Mr. Twing seconded the motion, and it was so voted.

 

Mr. Tillett moved to approve a transfer from Program 520, Employee Benefits, to Line 450, Energy, in the amount of $22,000.  Mr. Twing seconded the motion.  It was so voted.  (Mr. Tillett and Mr. Abelow voted in opposition.)

              

Mr. Tillett moved to approve a transfer from Program 306, Contingency, to Line 115, PreK, in the amount of $317.81.  Mr. Abelow seconded the motion, and it was so voted.

 

Mr. Tillett moved to approve a transfer from Program 306, Contingency, to Line 315, SPED Administration, in the amount of $330.  Mr. Twing seconded the motion, and it was so voted.

 

Mr. Tillett moved to approve a transfer from Program 306, Contingency, to Line 512, Transportation, in the amount of $20,660.  The motion was seconded by Mr. Ronan.  The motion was defeated, with Mr. Ronan, Dr. Savage, Dr. Zorn, and Ms. Silvestri voting to approve, and Mr. Pollitt, Mr. Twing, Mr. Abelow, Mr. Tillett, and Ms. Mielke voting in opposition.

 

Mr. Tillett moved to approve a transfer from Program 306, Contingency, to Line 525, Substitutes, in the amount of $13,700.  The motion was seconded by Mr. Twing, and it was so voted.

 

Mr. Tillett moved to approve a transfer from Fund 27030, Health Insurance Settlement, to Fund 28061, Arboretum Project, in the amount of $3,000.  Mr. Twing seconded the motion, and it was so voted.

 

Chairman Miller and Dr. Savage requested that Mr. Tillett and Mr. Abelow meet with Ms. Regan and give her direction as to what they would find acceptable for an explanation as to why the transportation budget was underfunded.  Ms. Regan agreed to do further research and call Mr. Tillett to set a meeting when she had answers.

           

Ms. Regan explained that the Student Services Department was considering accepting students on a tuition basis for the upcoming year.  She explained a recommendation to deposit receipts from the tuition into a revolving account, so that the funds may be expended.  Such fund would be called the “Student Services Tuition Revolving Fund.”

 

Mr. Tillett moved, seconded by Mr. Abelow, to create a revolving fund titled “Student Services Tuition Revolving Fund.”  Ms. Silvestri questioned whether the tuition funds would be enough to offset expenses of taking the students in.  Ms. Regan responded that Ms. Sands is sensitive to making sure all expenses were covered, and that a contract is being set up to have the home districts provide transportation and paraprofessional support.  The motion was then approved, unanimously.

 

            Ms. Regan notified the School Committee of the possibility of a request to raise lunch prices at the next meeting.

 

5C.       Mr. Abelow moved, seconded by Ms. Mielke, to approve the proposed School Committee meeting dates for 2006-07. 

 

Mr. Pollitt stated that he felt that meeting only once a month would be problematic and would not allow sufficient time to present the school to the public.  Mr. Twing agreed with Mr. Pollitt. 

 

Mr. Abelow said that he believed that having more extensive subcommittee meetings would save time and give everyone more information.  Ms. Mielke added that she wished to try the new schedule, but if it does not work, she was willing to go back to the twice a month schedule.  Superintendent Spriggs requested that the Chair and Vice Chair would meet with her on the Tuesday before each meeting. 

 

            The proposed schedule was then approved, with Mr. Pollitt and Mr. Twing voting in opposition.

 

            Mr. Pollitt suggested beginning future meetings at 6:00 p.m.  The suggestion was approved by acclamation.

 

5A2.    Ms. Miller announced the need for executive session for the purpose of contract negotiations.  She stated that no further business would be conducted following executive session.  She then asked for a roll call vote to enter into executive session.  The vote:

 

            Mr. Abelow                  Yes                              Ms. Miller                     Yes

            Ms. Mielke                   Yes                              Mr. Pollitt                     Yes

            Mr. Ronan                    Yes                              Dr. Savage                   Yes

            Ms. Silvestri                  Yes                              Mr. Tillett                     Yes

            Mr. Twing                    Yes                              Dr. Zorn                       Yes

 

            The Committee moved to the Superintendent’s Office and entered into executive session at 8:05 p.m.

 

            The Committee came out of executive session at 9:07 p.m.

 

            The meeting adjourned at 9:08 p.m.