Approved: June 15, 2005
School Committee meeting June 1, 2005
Under Report of the Secretary
Consideration and action to go into Executive
Session to discuss negotiations with the PAA. (1 M.R.S.A. § 405(6)(D)).
Members present: Ellen Alcorn, Jonathan Radtke, Stephen Spring, Tae Chong, Otis Thompson
Members not present: Jason Toothaker, Teri McRae, Benjamin Meiklejohn, James DiMillo
At 6:45 p.m. Mr. Spring moved, seconded Mr. Chong and voted unanimously to come out of Executive Session
7:00 p.m. Business Meeting
Members present: Jonathan Radtke-Chairperson, Ellen Alcorn, Stephen Spring, Ben Meiklejohn (arrived at 7:05pm), Jason Toothaker, Teri McRae (arrived at 7:15pm), Tae Chong, Otis Thompson, James DiMillo(arrived at 7:45pm), Michael Imbergamo
Sophia Njaa
Report of the Chair
Superintendent O’Connor:
Kathleen Casasa addressed the Committee regarding the New Mexico conference.
Effective August 31, 2005
Resignations: Effective 08/31/2005
John Merrifield West/Special Education 2 Years
Marguerite Musgnug Moore/Special Education 2 Years
Olga LaPlante Deering/French 2 Years
Marcia Miller Longfellow/Gifted & Talented .05 of .85
Ken Spinney Reiche/Special Education 12 Years
Mr. Chong moved, seconded Mr. Toothaker and voted unanimously to approve the meeting minutes of the May 25, 2005 meeting. (Students voted with majority)
Consent Items
Superintendent O’Connor reviewed donations and thanked the contributors.
Old Business - None
Mr. Spring reviewed policy for a first reading.
Mr. Meiklejohn moved, seconded Mr. Chong to accept the Finance Committee’s recommended list of reductions to the FY06 budget.
Ms. McRae, Finance Committee Chairperson, reviewed the recommended list of reductions to the FY06 budget.
Vote on motion: It was voted unanimously to accept the Finance Committee’s recommended list of reductions to the FY06 budget. (Students voted with majority)
Superintendent O’Connor acknowledged the work of Ms. McRae in the FY06 budget process.
Ms. McRae indicated that she would be meeting with the City Council Finance Chairperson on Monday to talk about the budget process.
Mr. Radtke – indicated that the June 8th workshop would be on board process and procedures.
Mr. Radtke read the Flyer Policy Resolution.
Mr. Toothaker moved, seconded Mr. Meiklejohn to adopt a Flyer Resolution
Policy.
Clarifying questions:
Mr. Spring – spoke to the resolution and
indicated that the Policy Committee has reviewed policies from other school districts
regarding this issue.
Ms. McRae – asked 1)what the cost would be if
adopted; 2) what does the Policy Committee want to happen; 3) does the Policy
Committee want to have the lawyers come back to the full Committee on this
item?
Mr. Thompson – asked what the lawyers
presented previously in January 2002.
Mr. Radtke –in January 2002 the lawyers
indicated that if one outside group was allowed to distribute flyers than all
groups must be allowed to do so.
Public Comment:
Fourteen citizens addressed the Committee
regarding the resolution.
Discussion/Debate:
Ms. Alcorn moved, seconded Mr. Chong to amend the first resolution adding the wording “if legally possible to
do so”.
Ms. Alcorn – spoke to the amendment and
meeting with legal counsel at the Policy Committee meeting.
Mr. Thompson – does not support
amendment. Need to look at what school
department’s responsibility is to provide a public forum for all groups or
possibly have a more limited forum.
Mr. Spring – Policy Committee meet with legal
counsel who indicates that this will be quite challenging.
Mr. Meiklejohn – supports amendment and feels
that the school department can legally do what it wants.
Mr. DiMillo – does not support.
Vote on amendment: It was voted
6-3 to amend the first resolution adding the wording “if legally possible to
do so”. (Ms. Njaa voted with majority; Mr. Imbergamo voted with minority)
Back to main motion as amended:
Ms. McRae – does not support open-ended
research by legal counsel. Would prefer
not to have the discussion again. Urged
Committee members to be sensitive to how others view discrimination.
Mr. Spring – supports community forum
addressed in resolution. Pushing back
on federal government. Supports sending
correspondence to groups that discriminate.
Mr. Toothaker – spoke to resolution and spirit
of 1992 city ordinance. Would like
scouting to be available to all students.
Mr. Thompson – discussed public forum versus
limited forum. Should consider limited
forum for flyer distribution to flyers relating to school, city and state
programs only and nothing from outside groups.
Mr. DiMillo – does not support. If
distribution is denied to one group then all groups need to be denied.
Mr. Chong – supports. Need to create a very open policy. Touches on civil liberties and civil rights.
Mr. Imbergamo – does not support resolution.
Mr. Meiklejohn – motions does not change flyer
distribution policy at this time.
Ms. Alcorn – supports resolution, which will
bring discussion back to Committee in 90 days.
Ms. McRae moved, seconded Mr. DiMillo to divide the resolutions into
three parts.
Vote on amendment: It was voted 3-5 to divide the resolutions
into three parts. (Students voted with majority). Motion fails.
Bake to main motion as amended:
Mr. DiMillo – 90 days with legal fees and
having attorneys at meetings could be quite costly.
Superintendent O’Connor – attorneys have
reviewed this over the last four years and this review quite probably would not
take 90 days. Attorney advises that
this type of language would be constitutionally illegal. No guarantees that counsel could develop a
new policy.
Mr. Spring – indicated that legal counsel was
going to review again.
Ms. Njaa – supports resolution.
Mr. Radtke – supports resolution. Law is always evolving.
Vote on motion as amended: It was voted 6-3 to adopt a Flyer Policy Resolution as amended. (Ms. Njaa voted in affirmative; Mr. Imbergamo voted in the negative)
WHEREAS: The City of Portland Maine's voter-approved Human Rights Ordinance
of 1992 forbids discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation and the
State of Maine's civil rights law LD1196
extends civil rights protection to
all people regardless of sexual orientation;
and
WHEREAS: The State of Maine's Human Rights
Act of 1971 outlaws
discrimination on the basis of religion,
thereby protecting the rights of
atheists, agnostics, and others; and
WHEREAS: Portland Public School Policy
AC states, "Discrimination against
and harassment of students because of race,
color, sex, religion, sexual
orientation, ancestry or national origin, or
disability are prohibited" and
Policy ACAA states "It is the policy of
the Portland Public Schools that all
of our employees and students should be able to enjoy a work and
educational environment free from all forms of
discrimination; and
WHEREAS: a broad coalition of community
organizations, civil leaders,
elected officials, and more than 100 Portland
residents have publicly
articulated concern that at least one group
that explicitly discriminates
against people protected by the city and state
law's cited above regularly
distributes flyers in children's homework
folders; and
WHEREAS: the Portland Public School
Committee does not endorse the views of
groups with discriminatory membership or
hiring policies;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the
Portland School Committee directs the superintendent to charge the School's
attorney with researching and
composing a new flyer policy, if legally
possible to do so, to be presented to the School Committee within 90 days
which meets the following goals: 1)
restricts flyering privileges to groups whose membership and hiring policies do
not discriminate against
members of any class protected by city and
state laws; and 2) continues to
allow equal and open access to all
youth-oriented groups with open
membership and hiring policies; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT: the
Portland School Committee directs the
School's attorney and superintendent make
themselves available for a public
meeting at which they will answer citizen
questions about relevant laws; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT: the
Portland School Committee send written
correspondence 1) to all organizations with
discriminatory membership and
hiring policies who recruit in our schools
urging these groups to open their
doors to all who may be interested; and 2) to
Maine Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, Congressmen Tom Allen and
Michael Michaud, US Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, and US Attorney
General Albert Gonzales requesting that provisions in No Child Left Behind
requiring schools to grant access to groups that discriminate be
repealed.
Personnel
Unpaid LOA: Effective 09/01/2005-08/31/2006
Ashley Boothby Moore/Foreign Language 1.0 Extended Childrearing
Elections: Effective 7/01/2005 (*Pending Negotiations)
Marcia Gendron Reiche/Principal Range 16 Step 4 $71,677*
BS/UMF
Mr. Chong moved, seconded Mr. Toothaker and voted 8-1 to approve Personnel items as listed. (Students voted with
majority)
Marcia Gendron – newly appointed principal at Reiche School, spoke briefly to the School Committee.
Mr. Meiklejohn moved, seconded Mr. Spring and voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:50 p.m. (Students voted with majority)
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Jo O’Connor
Superintendent of Schools