Draft: June 3, 2004

                                                                                    Approved:June 16, 2004                                                                               

 

School Committee meeting June 2, 2004

Under Report of the Secretary

 

Executive Session

Members present:  Jonathan Radtke-Chairperson, Walter Rumery, Stephen Spring, Kim Matthews, Ben Meiklejohn, Tae Chong, Teri McRae

 

Members not present:  Otis Thompson, James DiMillo

 

At 6:10 p.m. Mr. Chong moved, seconded  Mr. Meiklejohn and voted  unanimously to move into Executive Session to discuss negotiations.

 

At 7:00 p.m. Mr. Chong moved, seconded  Mr. Meiklejohn and voted  unanimously to come out of Executive Session.

 

Business Meeting

Mr. Radtke called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m.

 

Members Present: Jonathan Radtke-Chairperson, Walter Rumery, Stephen Spring, Kim Matthews, Ben Meiklejohn, Tae Chong

 

Members not present:  Otis Thompson, James DiMillo, Teri McRae

 

 Mr. Radtke requested unanimous consent to take agenda items out of order and to set aside 30 minutes to allow members of the public to address the Committee on any educational issues not on the agenda.

 

Ted Musgrave – addressed the Committee regarding the Pledge of Allegiance

 

Jennifer Pease, Sonia Tonelli and Kathleen Casasa addressed the Committee regarding the after-prom party.

 

Report of the Chair

Mr. Radtke:

 

Superintendent’s Report

Superintendent O’Connor recognized and thanks Sherman Kendall and Kathi Porensky, Art teachers at Hall School, for providing the student artwork that adorns the walls at Central Office.

 

Reports of Committees

  1. East End Area School Building Committee – No report.
  2. Policy Committee – No report.  The next meeting will be Tuesday, June 8th, 4:30 p.m. at Central Office.
  3. Finance Committee – No report.
  4. Legislative Affairs Committee – No report.    Mr. Meiklejohn indicated that the Portland Legislative Delegation is scheduled to meet with the School Committee on June 16th at 6 p.m. in Room 250 at PATHS.
  5. Other Committees and/or member concerns – Mr. Meiklejohn acknowledged that he had received calls regarding the after-prom party indicating that no extra money went towards the event and that funds were taken from the contingency fund.  He challenged the media to be move informed about their coverage of the work of the School Committee.

 

Mr. Rumery indicated that he had received many calls about the after-prom party with the majority of callers being against spending money for the after-prom event.

 

Mr. Spring indicated that he recently visited Portland High School where students were handing out voter registration cards to 18 year olds.

 

Mr. Chong mentioned the collaboration of 5th graders at Presumpscot School with Washington Gardens.  Students cleaned up the neighborhood, planted flowers and had a BBQ with the residents.  He also mentioned that he and Superintendent O’Connor met with individuals in Cape Elizabeth to discuss their Education Foundation, which is in the form of an endowment.  Superintendent O’Connor indicated that this type of foundation could build off of the strong structure of the Portland Partnership.

 

Report of the Secretary

Mr. Spring moved, seconded  Mr. Chong and voted  unanimously to approve the meeting minutes of the May 26, 2004 meeting.

 

Mr. Radtke requested unanimous consent to take New Business agenda item #2 out of order.

 

  1. Consideration and action to amend policy BBAB – Student Representation to the School Committee to coincide with School Committee election and inauguration.

 

Mr. Spring moved, seconded  Mr. Chong to amend policy BBAB – Student Representation to the School Committee to coincide with School Committee election and inauguration.

 

Mr. Spring reviewed his suggestions regarding revisions to policy BBAB.

 

Public Comment:

Jason Toothaker, Tyler Anderson, Ainsley Wallace, Beth Ryder-Kenna, Charlotte Royer and Jason Alfond spoke to the Committee regarding the recommended revisions to policy BBAB.

 

Committee members discussed the proposed amendment:

Mr. Meiklejohn – concerned that policy was developed with the time line after discussing with students earlier in the year.  Disappointed with proposed amendment – would lose six months of student representation.

 

Mr. Chong – first student meeting was not as diverse a group as the second meeting.

 

Mr. Meiklejohn moved  to have one student from each of the two city high schools be elected by their respective student body populations on Election Day in November, and will serve a one year term.  The election results will be forwarded through the principals to the Superintendent for submission to the School Committee to be approved on the Committee’s day of inauguration.

Motion fails for lack of a second.

 

Committee returned to original proposed amendment.

 

Mr. Spring moved, seconded  Mr. Meiklejohn to amend the proposed amendment to have interim student representation on the School Committee until elections are held in November.

 

Mr. Rumery, Mr. Chong, and Ms. Matthews – unable to support amendment to proposed amendment.

 

Mr. Meiklejohn – supports amendment to proposed amendment.  Still gives student reps six months until November elections.

 

Mr. Radtke – in favor of amendment to proposed amendment.

 

Vote on amendment to proposed amendment:  It was voted 2-3-1 to amend the proposed amendment to have interim student representation on the School Committee until elections are held in November.  Motion fails.

 

Committee returned to original proposed amendment.

 

Mr. Radtke - against election in November.  If moved to November will be out of sync with student elections in the schools.

 

Mr. Meiklejohn – will abstain from voting on proposed amendment.

 

Mr. Rumery – students need to realize that stress and situations happen and they need to be able to work under pressure.

 

Vote on original proposed amendment:  It was voted 4-1-1 to amend policy BBAB – Student Representation to the School Committee to coincide with School Committee election and inauguration.

 

Consent Items

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

 

Old Business

  1. Consideration and action to remove from the table the motion to close the Veranda Street building at 331 Veranda Street effective September 1, 2004 and transfer the property to the city for proper disposition with the understanding that any proceeds from the disposition are to be used first to offset the cost of the move from Central Office to the new location and the remaining funds to be used in support of the Elementary Facilities Master Plan in accordance with the report of the 3x3 Committee’s agreement from the table.

 

Motion_______  Second_______ Action_______ to remove the motion from the table.

 

No motion was made on this item.   Item remains tabled.

 

New Business

  1. Consideration and action to approve applying for No Child Left Behind Funds for 2004-2005.

 

Mr. Chong moved, seconded Ms. Matthews to approve applying for No Child Left Behind Funds for 2004-2005.

 

Mr. Radtke called at 5-minute recess at 8:30 p.m.

 

At 8:35 p.m. Mr. Radtke called the meeting back to order.

 

Superintendent O’Connor  indicated that school systems are required to vote annually to make application for NCLB funds.

 

Mr. Rumery – another unfunded mandate that takes much time and energy out of school districts.

 

Mr. Spring – spoke briefly regarding Dr. Hickok’s visit to Nathan Clifford.  In favor of NCLB, however, needs to be revised.

 

Vote on motion: It was voted unanimously to approve applying for No Child Left Behind Funds for 2004-2005.

 

Personnel  - No items for consideration

 

Committee Focus on Educational Issues  - No items for consideration

 

Public Comment  - No members of the public were present to address the Committee.

 

Mr. Chong moved, seconded  Mr. Meiklejohn and voted  unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:38 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Mary Jo O’Connor

Superintendent of Schools