Minutes for the Regional School Committee Meeting of February 9, 2010

 

 

Farshid Hajir, Chair

Andy Churchill

Irv Rhodes

Catherine Sanderson

Kathleen Anderson

Steve Rivkin

Debbie Gould

Tracy Farnham

Kristen Luschen

 

Alberto Rodriguez, Superintendent

Maria Geryk, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services

Marta Guevara, Interim ELE Director

JoAnn Smith, Special Education Interim Director

Kathy Mazur, Human Resources Director

Jerry Champagne, Information Systems Director

Rob Detweiler, Director of Finance and Operations

Mark Jackson, ARHS/ARMS Principal

Mike Hayes, ARMS Senior Assistant Principal

Annie Leonard, ARHS Assistant Principal

Doug Slaughter, Data Analyst

Press

Public

Rachel Bowen, Recorder

 

 

A.-B. Call to Order and Agenda Review—Mr. Hajir called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. He noted that this meeting was posted as a joint meeting of the Amherst and Regional School Committees. Since the agenda is primarily focused on Regional business, Mr. Hajir made a motion to suspend the Amherst meeting. Ms. Anderson seconded and the motion was approved unanimously.

 

C. Teacher/Student Spotlight—Mr. Hajir noted that members of the Student Advisory Committee are present for this meeting and that their non-voting representative to the Regional School Committee is AHRS student Hailey Andler. Mr. Hayes, ARMS Senior Assistant Principal, then shared information about the exciting new uses of technology at ARMS. He noted that through the use of Skype, ARMS students have been able to work directly with literary authors from across the country.

 

 

A. Amherst Education Foundation (AEF)—AEF Board members Kate Zobel, Alison Curphey and Erika Zekos were in attendance. Ms. Zobel announced that AEF has made a commitment to award $40,000 in grants to the Amherst Schools to support two primary education efforts: 1) differentiated instruction/ vertical alignment and 2) professional development for teachers provided by nationally-recognized providers.  Ms. Zobel noted that 2/3 of the funds have already been raised. Ms. Curphey spoke regarding the initiatives planned around differentiated instruction and Ms. Zekos spoke about vertical curricula alignment in the areas of math, science and language arts.   They noted that the work in these areas will be completed over the summer so it is ready to roll out in Fall 2010.  Dr. Rodriguez spoke about the important role AEF plays as a non-supplanting, supportive organization and thanked AEF for their support of the schools. Mr. Hajir also thanked AEF for their support on behalf of the School Committee.

B. Other Public Comments—Kathy Carey, ARMS PE teacher, spoke about the Middle School Physical Education curriculum, noting the integration of science, math and other subject areas in PE instruction as part of the development of the “whole child.” Vincent O’Connor, Amherst resident, encouraged the School Committee to support use of a menu-style override. He noted that he believes the voters would be more supportive of an override if they understand that the Region is using reserves as part of the FY11 budget and Amherst is not. Emma Ayres, ARHS student, spoke in support of keeping electives based on their academic excellence. She presented a document to the School Committee that outlines students’ views with regard to elective offerings and invited the members to attend an elective class in order to experience for themselves what they offer.

 

Mr. Hajir made a motion to solicit feedback from the public on the Superintendent’s performance as part of the evaluation process. He distributed a letter outlining the process that would be posted on the ARPS website. Mr. Churchill seconded and the motion was approved unanimously.

 

A. High School Math/Science Review Update—Dr. Rodriguez noted that he will have an update on the High School Math/Science Review as part of his evaluation portfolio that will be presented to the School Committee on March 2, 2010. Mr. Hajir invited the Superintendent to share his plans for the review; however, Dr. Rodriguez said he would prefer to devote the meeting time to other agenda items. The Committee agreed by consensus that he should not take time to give an update at tonight’s meeting. Dr. Moore presented information regarding a literacy initiative the district will be implementing called The Family Story Power Project, which includes a parent component. District teachers will be trained in the project and will, in turn, train parents.   Dr. Moore also noted that the district plans to submit an application for a Teaching American History grant in partnership with many local districts and a local history museum.  

 

B. Calendar Review for February, March and April—Mr. Hajir requested an update from the Superintendent on Dr. Beers’ report on the Middle School. Dr. Rodriguez reported that Dr. Beers is expected to be in the district on February 25 and 26 to meet with Mark Jackson. Dr. Beers will present his findings to the Regional School Committee at their meeting on March 9^th.   Mr. Hajir made a motion to move the April Regional School Committee meeting to April 6^th instead of April 13^th so that Dr. Rodriguez can participate in a professional development opportunity at Harvard. Mr. Rivkin seconded and the motion was approved unanimously. Mr. Hajir then entered into the record a memo from Dr. Rodriguez outlining his attendance record, including anticipated times he will be out of the office until the end of the school year.

 

 

 

A. Budget Philosophy Statement—Mr. Hajir read a prepared statement summarizing his understanding of the School Committee’s budget philosophy. The statement noted that the School Committee considers elective courses to be part of the core curriculum at the high school and would, therefore, support a modest increase in class sizes in order to save electives.  Mr. Hajir did not ask the School Committee to endorse his statement, but suggested that they utilize a written philosophy statement as a guiding tool during future budgeting processes. Mr. Detweiler distributed and reviewed a document entitled “Budget Support Assumptions,” noting the importance of maintaining adequate reserve funds in order to protect the bond rating of the Region.

 

B. Regional Detailed Cuts List—Mr.Hajir noted that the School Committee needs to agree on the amount of funds they will request for the Regional schools in the override. Mr. Rivkin stated that he was already prepared to make such a motion. Dr. Rodriguez requested that the School Committee review the latest cuts/restorations list that the administration prepared based on the School Committee’s direction at their last meeting. Mr. Jackson distributed the latest restorations document and Ms. Leonard reviewed the changes to the High School list. Mr. Hayes then reviewed the changes to the Middle School restorations list. Mr. Detweiler noted that there is a budget gap of $1.2 million. Mr. Rivkin made a motion to identify that there is an $800K budget shortfall/ budget gap and the Regional School Committee supports all efforts of the duly elected officials in each of the four member towns to increase financial support in order to fill the budget short fall.   Discussion followed regarding the motion, specifically the dollar amount requested. Ms. Luschen stated that she is not comfortable supporting the amount of $800,000, which is reduced from the amount requested by district administration.  She noted that she believes the School Committee has to trust the administration to guide them in how much is needed to adequately operate the Regional Schools, and therefore should be voting for a request at the high end of the funding gap. Ms. Anderson agreed, noting that the School Committee needs to support the request of the school administrators. Ms. Sanderson stated that she does not think there has not been enough time to discuss the cuts because of the artificial date set by the Select Board, and she is not ready to vote.   Ms. Gould agreed that it is difficult to work within the compressed time frame because there are so many unknowns, but she stated that she is confident the number proposed by Mr. Rivkin is too low.  Mr. Rivkin stated that he believes the School Committee is a Board of Trustees and it is their role not to trust any school administrator. He questioned the Middle School enrollment numbers that have been presented. Mr. Hayes spoke to Mr. Rivkin’s questions, noting that he would like the opportunity to go into detail about the cuts, in light of the importance of the vote. Mr. Jackson noted that he appreciates that Mr. Rivkin does not trust him. He stated his concerns about increasing class sizes, noting that we cannot lose sight of academics. Mr. Jackson noted that it is more accurate to talk about scheduling in terms of instructional blocks rather than in terms of trimesters and semesters. Ms. Mazur stated that she does not appreciate that Mr. Rivkin does not trust her, noting that if he has an issue with an administrator’s performance he should bring it to the attention of the Superintendent. She stated that the enrollment numbers Mr. Rivkin presented in his earlier statement were not accurate. Mr. Rivkin clarified his remark, noting that he meant that as a School Committee member he has an obligation to exercise his best fiduciary responsibility.   Mr. Churchill stated that he does not want to ask for less than the $1.1 million the school administrators think that they can work with. Ms. Anderson stated that $800,000 is too low and not a reasonable number to request. Dr. Rodriguez noted that he believes that Mr. Rivkin’s comments came out a little rough and his intention was to state that the School Committee’s role is to ask questions. However, he noted that the issue of a trimester schedule versus a semester schedule is a discussion for FY12, not FY 11. Dr. Rodriguez stated that he cannot support the request for only $800,000. Ms. Luschen clarified that her definition of trust in the administration differs from blind trust. She noted that she agrees the School Committee must ask the hard questions, but they should then trust the answers they get from the administration.   Mr. Hajir said he believes this is a one time opportunity for an override and said he believes a request for $1.4 or $1.1 million is too high, but $800,000 is too low. He suggested that $900,000 is a number that all members can support. Mr. Churchill called for a vote on Mr. Rivkin’s motion for $800,000.  The motion failed six to three. Mr. Churchill amended the motion to request $1.1 million in funding on the override. Ms. Anderson seconded. Mr. Rivkin stated that the schools need to operate in a leaner mode and he cannot support this number. Ms. Sanderson said that she could support a budget that makes a serious attempt to move from two required study halls to one at ARHS; however, she does not support the current cuts/restorations list. Mr. Rhodes noted that it is not acceptable to ask people who are already struggling to go deeper into their pockets. Mr. Churchill noted that education is the Amherst brand, and he believes that $1.1 million is a lean amount. After further discussion, Mr. Churchill agreed to amend his motion to request $950,000 instead of $1.1 million. Mr. Hajir seconded and, after brief discussion, the motion passed unanimously with Ms. Sanderson abstaining. Mr. Rhodes then made a motion that the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee not approve COLA raises for any members of the districts’ non-union personnel. Ms. Sanderson seconded. After brief discussion, Ms. Farnham asked that this question be tabled and Mr. Rhodes withdrew the motion.

 

C. Four Town Meeting Update—Mr. Hajir gave a brief overview of the Four Towns meeting from last Saturday, noting that there was strong support from the small towns for Amherst to include the override question on the March 23^rd ballot so they can plan accordingly.  He reported that the Regional budget gap would require extra support in Leverett.  Shutesbury representatives indicated that the town would not need to have an override, and Pelham representatives stated that the town can come up with $40,000 of the required $100,000. Dr. Rodriguez noted that there had been concern on the part of the Amherst School Committee that the other towns would not be able to fund their increased assessments if the override passes. He commended the smaller towns’ commitment to the Regional Schools’ needs.

 

A.  2010-2011 School Calendar—Mr. Jackson noted that the High School administration has a great deal of feedback on the two calendar drafts. After brief discussion, it was agreed that the issue will be included on the March 9^th agenda. Dr. Rodriguez stated that he wants to post the calendar drafts on the district website for public feedback.

 

A. Exit Survey Policy Second Reading (New Policy)—Ms. Sanderson made a motion to approve the Exit Survey Policy as written. Mr. Rhodes seconded and the motion passed unanimously.  

 

Mr. Hajir announced that the committee would enter Executive Session for the purpose of contract negotiations and would not be returning to open session. By roll call vote, the committee adjourned open session and entered Executive Session at 10:13 p.m.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Rachel Bowen

 

 Approved 3/9/10