Draft: March 4, 2004

Approved: March 17, 2004

School Committee meeting March 3, 2004

Under Report of the Secretary

Executive Session

Members Present: Jonathan Radtke, Chairperson, Walter Rumery, Teri McRae (arrived at 6:03pm), Kim Matthews, Tae Chong, Otis Thompson (arrived at 6:02pm), Stephen Spring

Members not present: James DiMillo, Ben Meiklejohn

At 6:01pm Mr. Rumery moved, seconded Mr. Chong and voted unanimously to move into Executive Session to discuss a student disciplinary matter (Title I §405 6B).

At 7:57pm Mr. Thompson moved, seconded Mr. Rumery and voted unanimously to come out of Executive Session

Ms. McRae moved, seconded Mr. Thompson and voted unanimously to expel a student from school pursuant to 20-A M.R.S.A., Section 100(9) on the grounds that such expulsion is necessary for the peace and usefulness of the schools, and to direct the Superintendent to provide the student’s parents written notice of this action, the Committee’s findings and the conditions the administration will consider before recommending readmission of the student to school.

Business Meeting

Mr. Radtke called the meeting to order at 8:06 p.m. indicating that the Committee had been in Executive Session regarding a student disciplinary matter and the Committee had voted to expel a student.

Members Present: Jonathan Radtke, Chairperson, Walter Rumery, Teri McRae, Kim Matthews, Tae Chong, Otis Thompson, Stephen Spring, James DiMillo, Ben Meiklejohn

Report of the Chair

Mr. Radtke:

• Read a resolution commemorating the life of Jane M. McCormack
• Announced that on March 9^th there will be a roll out of the Study Circles Action Groups beginning at 5:30 p.m. in Room 250 at PATHS.

Report of the Superintendent

Superintendent O’Connor:

• Announced the resignation of Virginia Stelk, Spanish teacher/Lincoln Middle School, who has been with the Portland Public Schools, effective August 31, 2004.
• Introduced Jeanne Whynot-Vickers who briefly reviewed data regarding all day kindergarten

Report of Committees

1. East End Area School Building Committee – Mr. Rumery indicated that the Building committee had approved the budget and that currently the project is $1,000 under budget. Mentioned that due to the great work of Stephen Blatt Architects a cooling system will be added on the roof of the school that will include air conditioning. Demolition contract will be going out soon and by the end of April demolition should begin and will take approximately two months. Construction on the new building should begin in July.
2. Policy Committee – Mr. Meiklejohn reported on the meeting held on March 2^nd indicating that two policies are before the Committee tonight for a second reading - GBJ – Personnel Records and Files and FF – Naming Facilities. The next meeting is Tuesday, April 6^th, 4:30 p.m. at Central Office. The Policy Committee will discuss Student Education Records and Pest Management policies.
3. Finance Committee – Ms. Matthews indicated that public budget meetings would be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 4^th at the King Middle School Library and Monday, March 8^th at Moore Middle School Library. The next meeting of the Finance Committee will be Wednesday, March 10^th, 6 p.m. in Room 250.
4. Legislative Affairs Committee – No report.
5. Facilities Task Force – Ms. McRae indicated that the task force report would be discussed on March 17^th.

Report of the Secretary

Mr. Spring moved, seconded Mr. Meiklejohn and voted unanimously to approve the meeting minutes of the February 25, 2004 meeting.

Consent Items

Superintendent O’Connor reviewed the donation and thanked the contributor.

New Business

1. Consideration and action to receive the superintendent’s FY05 budget

Mr. Radtke indicated that the School Committee would hold a workshop on the FY05 budget on March 24^th.

Superintendent O’Connor began her presentation by introducing the Community Guide to Understanding the Portland Public School Budget, which is a publication that has been designed to help the community gain a better understanding of the school budget. This guide will be available at the public budget meetings, school committee meetings, as well as in the schools. Superintendent O’Connor then addressed the School Committee about doing school differently in the Portland Public School system providing a brief review of the FY05 budget starting with the Vision – A vision for an organizational culture committed to continuous improvement. A vision that has every learner – whether adult or child – thriving in an environment that supports and honors human potential as well as the prompts that she asked the school leaders to respond to: 1)Student population trends, 2)Leadership, 3)Student Reporting System, and 4)Student Support Services. She indicated that:

• the budget increase is 9.1% with a net increase of 6 new positions which is $237,000
• three new positions would be teacher leaders at the middle school and high schools
• any cuts are related to declining enrollment
• looking at regionalization opportunities with surrounding districts in the area of transportation
• looking at a shared calendar with other school systems

Superintendent O’Connor reviewed:

· page 5 of the budget indicating that definitions had been added to some cost centers

· pages 13 – 16 cost of programs and noted that the Multilingual Office now has its own cost center

The School Committee will hold a budget workshop on March 24^th. Public budget meetings are March 4^th, 6:30 p.m. at the King Middle School Library and March 8^th, 6:30 p.m. at Moore Middle School Library.

After the budget presentation the School Committee briefly discussed different areas of the budget.

Mr. Thompson – asked about the prospect of a GPA cushion and local entitlements for Special Ed.

Superintendent O’Connor indicated that there is interest at the legislative level regarding a possible cushion. Benefits are projected to increase 17% at this time, however, that figure may come in lower than current projection.

Mr. Stewart spoke briefly to Mr. Thompson’s questions regarding local entitlements for Special Ed.

Ms. McRae – requested a 1-page summary of assumptions on the budget.

Ms. Matthews read the proposal of the Budget Advisory Task Force regarding items that will be considered by the Committee while building the school system budget:

• Cuts shall have the least possible impact on students
• All aspects of the budget shall stand up to the “all students” test (extra curricular, academics, transportation)
• All aspects of the budget shall demonstrate a commitment to educate students with a highly qualified teacher in a rigorous academic program
• All buildings shall be healthy and safe places to learn

2. Consideration and action to receive the report of the Facilities Task Force

This will be discussed at the March 17, 2004 meeting under Committee Focus on Educational Issues.

Ms. Matthews moved, seconded Mr. Meiklejohn and voted unanimously to receive the report of the Facilities Task Force.

Ms. McRae thanked everyone who participated on the Facilities Task Force.

Old Business

1. Consideration and action to approve the following policies:

A. GBJ – Personnel Records and Files

It was moved and seconded to approve policy GBJ – Personnel Records and Files

The Committee discussed policy GBJ:

• asking the definition of “family”
• some members felt that the policy is not clear and concise
• asked that the Policy Committee insure that all deleted sections are covered in the new language

Mr. Rumery moved, seconded Ms. Matthews and voted 4-5 to table the motion. Motion fails.

Committee returned to the main motion.

Mr. Meiklejohn, chairperson of the Policy Committee, asked that Committee members please review policies prior to their second reading. He extended an invitation to the public to provide input on this policy by either contacting him or other members of the Policy Committee.

Mr. Thompson moved, seconded Mr. Rumery and voted 5-3-1 to return policy GBJ to the Policy Committee to review the current policy to insure that all areas being removed are included in the new policy.

B. FF – Naming Facilities

Mr. Meiklejohn briefly reviewed policy FF – Naming Facilities.

Mr. Chong moved, seconded and voted unanimously to approve policy FF – Naming Facilities.

Personnel

Superintendent O’Connor reviewed personnel items for consideration.

Unpaid LOA: Effective 03/08/04-08/31/04

Keleher, Hope Reiche/Reading 1.0 Childrearing

Unpaid LOA: Effective 09/01/2004 – 08/31/2005

Dowdy, Kerrie Adams/Grade 1 .50 of 1.0 Extended Childrearing

Hanna, Ann Adams/Literacy Coordinator .40 of 1.0 Extended

Childrearing

Hess, Nancy Riverton/Grade 3 .50 of 1.0 Extended Childrearing

Jones, Deborah Reiche/Grade 5 1.0 Extended Childrearing

McGuiggin-Behen, Erin Adams/Grade 1 .50 of 1.0 Extended Childrearing

Miller, Marjorie Longfellow/Kindergarten .20 of 1.0 Personal

Parenteau, Jan Adams/Social Worker .40 of 1.0 Extended Childrearing

Payton, Robin Ivy Reiche/Project Exploration .30 of 1.0 Extended

Childrearing

Prince, Lisa Thomas Presumpscot/F. Language 1.0 Extended

Childrearing

Steinkeler, Susan Hall/Foreign Language .50 of 1.0 Personal

Winship, Elizabeth Hall/Migrant .40 of 1.0 Personal

Mr. Chong moved, seconded Mr. DiMillo and voted unanimously to approve Personnel items as listed.

Committee Focus on Educational Issues - None

Public Comment Prior to 11:00 PM - No members of the public were present to address the Committee.

Adjournment

Mr. DiMillo moved, seconded Ms. Matthews and voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 9:31 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Jo O’Connor

Superintendent of Schools