SCHOOL COMMITTEE BUSINESS MEETING COVENTRY HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM 40 Reservoir Road May 11, 2010 The meeting was called to order by Chairman Patenaude at 5:35 p.m. Members present: Chairperson Katherine Patenaude, Member Thomas Hetherman, Member Lisa Tomasso, Superintendent Kenneth R. Di Pietro, Assistant Superintendents Michael Convery and James Erinakes, Finance Director Robin Reason. Vice-Chairperson Perra arrived at 8:30 p.m. Member Sprengelmeyer was absent. Recording Secretary: Donna A. McDonald Executive Session: Administrator contracts Motion No. 10-5-1 by Member Hetherman, seconded by Member Tomasso, that the Committee recess into executive session at 5:35 p.m. to consider matter(s) relating specifically to personnel, litigation and negotiations; said action being taken in accord with Open Meetings Act, Sections 42-46-5(a)(1)&(2). Roll Call Vote: Chairperson Patenaude AYE Member Hetherman AYE Member Tomasso AYE Motion No. 10-5-2 by Member Hetherman, seconded by Member Tomasso, to recess to the Open Meeting at 6:00 p.m. Roll Call Vote: Chairperson Patenaude AYE Member Hetherman AYE Member Tomasso AYE Motion No. 10-5-3 by Member Tomasso, seconded by Member Hetherman, that the records of the executive session be kept closed pursuant to Sections 42-46-4 and 42-46-5. Motion unanimously approved. Service Learning Recognition Awards: Annually, the School Committee has set aside a meeting agenda to include recognition of Service Learning projects performed in our schools. With reduced resources and late notification, Service Learning projects were established later this school year. As a result, the award and recognition ceremony was delayed until this May meeting. Service Learning coordinators have planned for faculty to present brief summaries of the Service Learning projects. There will be some student engagement and presentations, but the program is designed to be completed within the 90 minutes set aside (6:00-7:30). Business Agenda: The regular business meeting reconvened at 7:40 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a moment of silence for the pending school business. Member Tomasso read the Mission Statement. Consent Agenda: Minutes of the Open Meetings of 4/13/10. Bills, Warrants, Payroll: In the amount of $5,709,404.43 for the month of April, 2010. Monthly Municipal Reports: In the amount of $66,089,76 as of the month of April, 2010. Motion No. 10-5-4, by Member Tomasso, seconded by Member Hetherman, to approve the Consent Agenda as presented regarding the minutes of the open meetings of 4/13/10 and fiscal reports as presented. Motion unanimously approved.
Approval of Executive Session Minutes: Motion No. 10-5-5 by Member Hetherman, seconded by Member Tomasso, to affirm the minutes of the executive sessions of 4/13/10 and that the records of the meetings be kept closed pursuant to R.I.G.L. Sections 42-46-4 and 42-46-5. Motion unanimously approved. Personnel: Administrative Appointment: Motion No. 10-5-6 by Member Tomasso, seconded by Member Hetherman, to affirm the recommendation of the Superintendent to appoint Danny Smith to the position of Assistant Principal at ASFMS effective 7/1/10. (220-day position) Motion unanimously approved. Chairperson s Report/Executive Session Report: Superintendent Di Pietro reported that the district will be ending the school year within the budget. Chairperson Patenaude received the following correspondence: A thank you note from the CTA Scholarship Committee for the Committees donation of $250.00 to the scholarship fund A thank you from Superintendent Di Pietro for the flowers, cards and kind words expressed during the recent loss of his father. Chairperson Patenaude also reported on the presentations made to the Charter Review Commission last week which resulted in a 6-3 vote not to move forward a proposal to have the Town Council be authorized through the Town Charter to negotiate all contracts. Such a provision would be in violation of current State laws (R.I.G.L.) entrusting to local school committees the care, control and maintenance of all school matters and to enter into contracts. Authorization of one political body (Town Council) to negotiate labor contracts for another political body (School Committee) both limits the authority vested in the School Committee by State law and compromises the responsibility of the School Committee to operate a school system when it has no control over setting the work expectations. Open Meeting: Lifetouch Photos: Based on feedback from principals and parents, the rising cost of student photos has become a concern for many families. Through meetings with the present photographer, it was further learned that participation/purchases are down nearly 30%. The district administration considered bidding the value added service for school/student photos. There have been no concerns with Lifetouch Photography studio other than the possibility that bidding might secure lower costs for families. Superintendent Di Pietro met with a representative from Lifetouch and asked whether or not a best cost package could be provided and accented in the program literature to provide families with a standard package of 1-8X10, 2 5X7 and 12 wallet photos as well as the class picture for approximately $20.00. Lifetouch has provided such an option which has been reviewed by all school leaders as a reasonable option for families. The additional benefits and services of Lifetouch include reliability, quality, efficiency and value-added services such as smile safety photo cards for parents and a commission for schools. End-of-Year Financials: Finance Director Reasor provided the Committee with an update on the end-of-year projections for selected programs such as the School Lunch program and WB Health. These programs operate on a restricted financial system. In the matter of WB Health, the status of self insurance provides a fund balance reserve which has in
the past served to offset any deficit. In the matter of School Lunch, two prior companies resulted in a deficit to the restricted program of nearly $300,000. The move to Aramark and the increased supervision and monitoring of the program, as well as company efficiencies, has resulted in achieving some offset to the deficit. All year-end financial reports are within the budget. This would have been a good year if it weren t for the lack of state aid. State Aid Update: The last reported State Aid reduction approximated a $540,000 loss to the FY2010 (current) budget. A controlled spending freeze initiated in December, 2009 and the non-replacement of three custodial vacancies as well as savings in heat and utilities approximates over $250,000. It was requested of the Committee to release the hold on the Feinstein funding set aside ($75,000) for a new student information system) to apply those funds towards the loss of State Aid. Additionally, in regards to the WB Health Insurance reserves, it may be required to access the remaining Feinstein reserve funds to end FY2010 as close to the reduced appropriation as possible so as not to further jeopardize the FY2011 budget. It was agreed by all to hold the Feinstein money in reserve. Bus Monitor Variance Request: For the past three years, Coventry Public Schools has petitioned RIDE for a variance to the bus monitor regulations/mandate seeking to meet the requirement through an electronic surveillance system. While such a model still should be investigated, the time required to achieve such a variance is extensive. As an alternative, RIDE has two standard/continuing variances entitled door to door and zone monitors which are being recommended by the administrative team. A recommendation to access these standing variances requires School Committee public notice and School Committee request to RIDE. Presently, Kindergarten/Pre-K mid-day runs are door-to-door. By requesting the variance on these runs to eliminate bus monitors, the district can save funding and still retain monitors on selected runs where additional services are deemed appropriate. Some bus runs, such as in the Western Coventry area, are door-to-door due to the distance between homes and the lack of sidewalks. In selected cases where door-to-door service is provided or offset by zone monitors, the same variance would allow the elimination of monitors on such runs. Monitors can and will be provided where necessary for control, service or if same-side-drop off and pick-up cannot be provide and safety is a factor. Coventry has initiated investigation into parent volunteers as zone monitors as all bus stops for a subset of bus runs for selected schools. In approximately seven cases it appears possible to train and coordinate parent monitoring of the bus stops (zones) where students wait for the bus or are dropped off. The RIDE variance provided specific requirements for zone monitor duties and in the event of absence. These variances are already being accessed by other districts and comply with RIGL and RIDE requirements. The cost savings if these variances are awarded and applied to a subset of approximately fifteen busses approximates more than $150,000. Due to provisions in the current transportation contract, the elimination of bus monitors is a disaggregated cost which can yield a savings to the district. Bus monitors who are reduced from Coventry runs should be able to find work on other runs in or out of the district as there is a constant advertisement for needed bus drivers and monitors in the state. Motion No. 10-5-7, by Member Tomasso, seconded by Member Hetherman, to authorize the School Committee chairperson to request RIDE variances to the requirement for bus monitors based on a plan to provide door-todoor bus service and zone monitors for selected bus runs. Motion unanimously approved. FY2011 Budget Reconciliation Priorities: Notification by members of the Town Council of its intent to level fund the School Department for the 2010/2011 school year (a reduction of $540,000 from the request) as well as a requirement to begin a payback of a line of credit awarded in 2005 (an added cost of $75,000 for the next five years) and the pending reduction of State Aid (in excess of $500,000) required that the district administration develop a proposed budget reconciliation plan in
advance of the Financial Town Meeting. A detailed prioritized list is under development. Advanced notice of the potential cuts to programs and services is being provided as part of the request for School Committee endorsement of the proposed budget reconciliation. The proposed cuts to programs and services have been designed to be shared across all areas. 1. Reduction to the cost for bus monitors by seeking RIDE variances. $ 200,000 2. Additional reductions to central office administration clerical. $ 30,000 3. Additional reductions to certified staff based on enrollment changes. $ 120,000 4. Service reduction in custodial services (consolidation). $ 300,000 5. Service reduction to clerical services. $ 40,000 6. Reductions to teaching assistants based on program and service needs. $ 100,000 7. Additional position reductions or service-time reductions (contract 2 hr. limit). $ 200,000 8. School budget resource reduction to include teacher supply reimbursement. $ 100,000 9. Athletic and co-curricula reductions to include middle school intramurals. $ 150,000 10 Remaining program and service cuts to address potential shortfall. $ 60,000 TOTAL ESTIMATED CUTS TO RECONCILE BUDGET ALLOCATION $1,300,000 If State Aid is reduced by $540,000 and Town level funds reducing request by $525,000 for a total of $1,065,000 and Coventry Public Schools must implement debt reduction plan of $75,000 per year for five years the net shortfall for FY2011 is $1,140,000. Should State Aid be further reduced or if Coventry Schools cannot end FY2010 (current) balanced, the reconciliation would require an additional $100,000 to $150,000 of additional cuts. Motion No. 10-5-8, by Member Hetherman, seconded by Member Tomasso, to endorse the recommended reductions to cost centers as presented. Motion unanimously approved. Motion No. 10-5-9 by Member Tomasso, seconded by Member Hetherman, to extend the meeting 30 minutes beyond 10:00 p.m. Motion unanimously approved. Race to the Top MOU: RIDE has requested that School Committees, Superintendents and district unions sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the new Race to the Top application. The new requirements of RTTT and State Plan will demand that annually we move students who had an ineffective teacher to an effective teacher but does not address the justification or process for then assigning another subset of students to the ineffective teacher as long as the teacher is not assigned to a low performing or high need school and that no teacher may continue employment in the district for more than two years if evaluated as ineffective and certification will be denied to any teacher evaluated ineffective three years of the five years of certification. To implement these changes RIDE requires leadership teams to attend five days of summer training and three days of sustained training. The move to annual evaluations would increase the time commitment for 14 school administrators who currently evaluate 200 teachers per year at 10 hours per evaluation to 500 teachers per year for a total of 5,000 work hours. This number divided by 14 school administrators by a six-hour instructional day would result in 60 administrator work days dedicated to evaluation. Motion No. 10-5-10, by Member Hetherman, seconded by Member Perra, not to support the Memorandum of Understanding for the Race to the Top application. The vote was 2/2 with only 4 School Committee members present. Superintendent s Report: This agenda item was tabled due to time.
Committee Liaison Reports: This agenda item was tabled due to time. Citizens Comments: There were no citizens comments. Scheduling of Next Meeting: Motion No. 10-5-10 by Member Hetherman, supported by Member Tomasso, that the next meeting of the School Committee be scheduled for Tuesday, May 25, 2010. Motion unanimously approved. Adjournment: Motion No. 10-5-11 by Member Tomasso, supported by Vice-Chairman Perra, that the meeting be adjourned at 11:00 p.m. Motion unanimously approved. /dam Approved by School Committee 6/22/10