Mr. Ronan arrived at 7:05 p.m.

3A. Communications:

• Mr. Pollitt informed the School Committee that Mr. Eric Carlson had called him to offer his help in support of the vocational building program. Mr. Pollitt noted that Mr. Carlson was a graduate of the original house building program at Mt. Everett.
• Mr. Pollitt also informed the Committee that the town of Sheffield is planning to re-pave Berkshire School Road in the spring. He suggested asking the bus contractors to stay in touch with the town for alternate routes, when the time approaches.
• The Committee received a letter from Charles McSpiritt, former School Committee chairman and member from New Marlborough, in appreciation of gifts and recognition which he received at his last meeting.

4A. Superintendent Spriggs told the Committee that Mr. Turner would be coming to the meeting later than expected, and requested that the Committee postpone Item 4A until he arrived. Mr. Ronan moved to reorder the agenda to accommodate her request; Ms. Tomich seconded the motion, and it was so voted, unanimously.

4B. Ms. Brown reported that, as previously voted by the School Committee, the additional Chapter 71 funds would be allocated to the restoration of personnel and programs. She then distributed a breakdown of items which the District administrators had chosen to fund (copy on file with these minutes). A question and answer session followed.

Superintendent Spriggs explained that $15,000 of the additional funds given to the District by the towns of Monterey and Egremont would be used for supervision and academic support during the winter time, during the months which students often stay after school and have a period of time between the end of the school day and the time of their sports practice or event. Ms. Spriggs said that last year, three teachers had run such a program, and it had worked out very well. Unfortunately, the District did not receive the grant that paid for the program for 2004-05.

Mr. Pollitt questioned the expenditure of funds for the rental of vans, which belong to the Adult Education Program. Ms. Brown explained that the District has had use of those vans in previous years, but had not appropriated funding for this year. Supt. Spriggs added that the vans would be needed, as the athletic accounts had taken another cut this year. Mr. Mielke complimented the coaches and thanked them for their willingness to drive the vans, rather than incurring the expense of hiring a bus and driver for various events.

Superintendent Spriggs also informed the Committee that she would be bringing administrative assistants' job classifications, titles, and duties to the policy subcommittee for discussion.

Ms. Brown then explained a request for transfers totaling $87,500:

• $11,000 to fund custodial overtime ($5,000 in anticipation of needs, based on last year's usage; $6,000 to bring in an extra person on Saturdays to accomplish specific tasks);

• $44,500 to hire a teacher for non-English speaking students. It was explained that in 2003-04 the District had 3 non-English speaking students. Because they had all been at the high school level, and Spanish was the native language of all three, the District had received permission to provide them with a translator/tutor, and the arrangement had worked out well. However, this year, the District has seven such students, ranging in age level from elementary up through high school, and they are of different nationalities. Therefore, in order to comply with the law, it was necessary for the District to hire a full-time teacher to provide an English emersion experience.

In the discussion regarding this item, Ms. Spriggs explained that if the teacher had time available beyond that needed to provide an emersion program, it would be applied toward the FLES program. Ms. Maggio noted the importance of teaching foreign language to all the children and to non-English speaking children. Mr. Mielke stated that he supports the ESOL program wholeheartedly; however, he stressed that he believed that if the District is willing to expend $44,000 to teach seven children to speak English, there should likewise be a willingness to spend a similar amount to teach all of the children to speak Spanish.

Ms. Brown reiterated that providing the program is mandatory. She said that the only real choice was where to transfer the funds from. She explained that it now appears that the District will have fewer out-of-district placements than they had originally thought, so she was recommending that the expense be taken from that line item.

• $12,600 to increase the .6 English/language arts teacher to full time. This would allow the administrative assistant, who has been teaching English/language arts, to assist the Special Education Director for the .4 FTE.



• $19,400 to the Special Education Account to provide for the .4 FTE administrative assistant position.

It was again noted that it may be prudent to look into changing the administrative assistant positions to assistant principal positions. Following additional discussion, Mr. Mielke moved to approve the transfers, as presented. Ms. Maggio seconded the motion, and it was so voted, unanimously.

4C. School Committee subcommittees were confirmed for 2004-05 (see attached listing). Mr. Stevens noted that any of the members can attend any of the meetings, whether or not they are a member of the subcommittee. Committee members received a listing of tentative meeting dates for the Buildings & Grounds Subcommittee and the Policy Subcommittee.

There was no negotiations report.

5A. Communications:

• Ms. Spriggs reviewed the Superintendent's Eagle Feathers & Updates notes (copy on file with these minutes).
• Committee members agreed to invite Mr. Glenn Koocher, Executive Director, Massachusetts Association of School Committees, to give a presentation on School Committee roles and responsibilities at the October 7 meeting. It was agreed to arrange video taping of the presentation for any members who are unable to attend.
• Mr. Ronan requested a copy of Dr. Daggett's presentation.
• Supt. Spriggs reported that the member town select board chairs had chosen Ms. Barbara Marchione from New Marlborough as municipal representative for 2004-05. If Ms. Marchione is unable to serve, Mr. Robert Weitz has agreed to fill the role. She thanked Mr. Bruce Turner for his service during 2003-04.

4A. Mr. Bruce Turner, Treasurer, reported that the refunding of the District's bonds had taken place, as scheduled. He requested School Committee support for the re-certification of the FY'05 Capital Budget to the towns to reflect the savings gained. Ms. Brown thanked Mr. Turner for all of his work in this regard. Following additional discussion, Mr. Pollitt moved to re-certify the FY'05 Capital Budget at $967,961. Mr. Ronan seconded the motion, and it was so voted, unanimously. Mr. Stevens offered recognition of the hard work that had gone into the refunding process. He noted that the idea had not been as well received as intended, but stated he was glad that the District was able to provide a premium for their member towns.

Mr. Pollitt moved, seconded by Mr. Ronan, to adjourn the meeting. It was so voted, and the meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.