Draft: February 27, 2008

Approved: March 5, 2008

School Committee meeting February 27, 2008

Under Report of the Secretary

At 7:12 pm Mr. Coyne called the meeting to order.

Members present: Robert O’Brien, John Coyne, Jaimey Caron, Susan Hopkins, Sarah Thompson, Lori Gramlich, Kate Snyder, Jules Szanton, Joel Daley, Joshua Tingley, Peter Eglinton

Not present: Rebecca Minnick

Report of the Chair

Mr. Coyne:

• Requested that cell phones be turned off.
• Announced members of building, which will be chaired by Cheryl Leeman. Councilor John Anton, School Committee members Jaimey Caron and Sarah Thompson, Melissa Bourque, Linda Braley, Ken Farber, Terri Gilpatrick, Carlos Gomez, Elizabeth Holton, Naomi Mermin, and Steven Morgenstein. The committee met on Feb. 26^th and will meet again on Thurs., Feb. 28th.
• Announced that on March3, 6:30 pm straw poll will be held at East End Community School to obtain approval of the concept design for the new building. Extended an invitation to community members to attend this event to learn more about the new school.
• Congratulated Deering High Schools’ Girls basketball team who will compete in state finals Saturday at 3pm at the Civic Center.

Report of the Superintendent

• Announced national merit finalists – Christine Boucher, Deering High School, and Gavin Bauer, Portland High School
• DOE has accepted and finalized an MOU for transportation software for districts in the state, which was prepared by Kevin Mallory and a few other transportation directors.
• Announced that on February 14^th James Bouchard, development director of Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital visited with the PATHS carpentry students to express thanks for a $500 donation from their program. Students built a playhouse and raffled it to raise money to donate to this program on behalf of one of their fellow classmates.
• Spoke about budget development. On March 5^th she will present the fy09 budget and turn over to the finance committee who will work on the budget through March, with a vote by the School Committee in April. At that time the budget will be turned over to the city council. The city council will now be considering a referendum date, which will probably be for some time in May.

• Indicated that the Boundary Ad Hoc committee’s report will be just prior to vote.

• Mentioned that many factors that play into building a budget and briefly reviewed debt service charts and ten-year capital improvement plan.

Mr. Caron – spoke about debt service charts and capital costs involved with projects in the school system.

• Introduced Scott Wyman, Michael Clifford, and Dana Allen who spoke briefly about school preparedness, safety and security in the school system.

Ms. Thompson – asked how crisis plans might work with co-curricular activities. Asked what precipitates having police officers at various co-curricular activities.

Mr. Allen – at co-curricular activities students are under code of conduct. Coaches all have cell phones in case of emergencies. At times, depending on the situation, there are police officers at various co-curricular activities.

Mr. O’Brien – asked about disciplinary actions taken from time to time. Is there any required plan when a student is returned to school? Mr. Allen – there is a process where a meeting would be held with parents, students, administrators before the student returns to classes.

Ms. Whynot-Vickers – indicated that if a special education student has been suspended, etc, then a risk assessment is done before a special education student is allowed to return to school.

Mr. Szanton – asked about better communication with student body regarding bomb threats and indicated how frustrating this happening can be for students. Mr. Allen indicated that the process is in all student handbooks.

• Announced Resignations:

Effective Feb, 28, 2008 - Alice Gruba Psychological Examiners/Special Services

Report of the Secretary

1. Consideration and action to approve the meeting minutes of January 23, 2008 meeting

Mr. O’Brien moved, seconded Mr. Eglinton and voted unanimously to approve the meeting minutes of January 23, 2008. (Students voted with majority)

Report of Committees

1. Policy Committee/Legislative Affairs – Ms. Snyder indicated that the committee met prior to evening meeting to review various policies. They then met with the finance committee and Ellen Sanborn to discuss finance policies. All policies will be brought to the committee for first reading. Next meeting will be on. March 12^th at 5:30pm in Room 250.

2. Finance Committee – Mr. Eglinton thanked Ms. Whynot-Vickers, cost center managers and union representatives for their hard work on the fy08 and fy09 budgets. As of Feb. 12^th the fy08 budget projection was about $96,000 over budget. Finance Committee has met frequently over the past few weeks and there will be two meetings per week beginning in March to review the fy09 budget as well as meeting jointly with the city council finance committee. Mr. Eglinton indicated that a dedicated email address has been set up for the public to submit questions, etc regarding the fy09 budget process Budget@portlandschools.org the plan for sustainable education in Portland needs to be reviewed with the Finance Committee so the motion on tonight’s agenda will be tabled.
3. Personnel Committee – Ms. Gramlich – Committee met prior to the evening’s meeting to discuss the committee’s work – will be looking at policies in conjunction with the Policy Committee. Will look at an evaluation system for the superintendent and administrative staff. Will craft timeline for superintendent’s search. A workshop will be held on April 9^th to discuss this. Next meeting March 5^th at 4:30pm, Room 250.
4. Portland Education Partnership – Ms. Thompson – donorschoose.org - 55 teachers received funding. Mentioned the top three schools that received funding. $2,000 grants to fund the Reach Out program. The Partnership Developer at Deering High School indicated that approximately $39,000 has been raised toward auditorium renovation.
5. Building Committee – Mr. Caron – first meeting was held on Feb. 26^th. Committee is on a very tight timeline. Next meeting will be Thursday, 2/28. Straw poll is on Monday, March 3rd. Budget for new building project is currently about $19.7million. Ms. Thompson – meetings on March 6th, 5:30 and March 13^th at 5:30 will be held in the Merrill Auditorium Rehearsal Hall. The Committee will be holding a parent community meeting to gather input.
6. Other Committees and/or member concerns – Ms. Hopkins – ribbon cutting was held today, Feb. 27^th, at PHS for the new energy efficient doors that were installed courtesy of Fred Padula. Spoke about the various projects that the Portland High School Environmental Club has undertaken.

Ms. Thompson – requested that the Chair and Committee allow public comment prior to continuing with the business meeting.

Mr. Eglinton– acknowledged Mr. Caron’s suggestion of multi-year budgeting. Would like to know what the cost of the Ocean Ave. project would be beyond state approved bonding. Costs associated with moving staff from Baxter School and Adult Ed. What transportation costs would be? Staffing needs? Annual operating costs/revenue associated with Nathan Clifford.

Mr. Caron – some of these very questions came up at the first building committee meeting.

Ms. Whynot-Vickers – Building Committee will make decisions for anything in addition to what the state will fund.

Ms. Gramlich – made numerous requests to be appointed to the building committee, as the new school would be in district 4, which is her district.

Ms. Snyder – attended building committee meeting. Requested that information on possible costs of new facility be provided sooner versus later.

Public comment:

Grace Pappi and Marilyn Levi spoke on safety and security presentation and assault of her son at a Deering High School football game in Oct. 2007.

Consent Items -None

Old Business

1. Consideration and action to remove an item from the table.

Ms. Thompson moved, seconded Ms. Snyder and voted unanimously to remove an item from the table. (Students voted with majority)

2. Consideration and action to authorize a site plan for the Nathan Clifford Project for State Board of Education contingent upon cost approval by City Council

Ms. Thompson moved, seconded Ms. Snyder to authorize a site plan for the Nathan Clifford Project for State Board of Education contingent upon cost approval by City

Council.

Debate:

Ms. Snyder - given the March deadline setting a dual track is unrealistic. Shared various thoughts on the process with the Committee.

Ms. Hopkins– concurs with Ms. Snyder’s comments. Felt there was a need to discuss the dual track process.

Mr. Eglinton – appreciates Ms. Snyder’s comments.

Motion by substitution:

Ms. Snyder moved seconded Ms. Hopkins that the Portland School Committee resolves to prioritize the renovation of existing school facilities, especially those with historic significance, where possible.

Public Comment: Steven Scharf spoke to Ms. Snyder’s motion.

Mr. Caron – needs more specifics on the motion.

Ms. Snyder - motion by substitution addresses the process that the school committee has gone through over the past few months. Rationale in proposing this was to take a motion and turn it into something constructive, positive, responsive and communicates an attempt to acknowledge the work of many people.

Mr. Eglinton – benefit of motion is to insure that renovation is prioritized in future discussions.

Mr. Szanton – what does this amendment do? If not passed would we have to put forward a dual track process to the DOE? Ms. Snyder - original motion would go away if substitution motion is passed.

Vote on substitution: It was voted 7-1 that the Portland School Committee resolves to prioritize the renovation of existing school facilities, especially those with historic significance, where possible. (Students voted with majority)

Main motion: That the Portland School Committee resolves to prioritize the renovation of existing school facilities, especially those with historic significance, where possible.

Vote on main motion: It was voted 7-1 that the Portland School Committee resolves to prioritize the renovation of existing school facilities, especially those with historic significance, where possible. (Students with majority)

New Business

1. Consideration and action to accept the Sustainable Educational Quality Proposal.

Mr. Eglinton moved, seconded Mr. Caron to accept the Sustainable Educational Quality Proposal.

Debate:

Mr. Eglinton moved, seconded Ms. Gramlich to table motion until the March 19, 2008 business meeting(Students voted with majority)

2. Consideration and action to approve the Ocean Avenue Elementary School Site Neighborhood Boundary Ad Hoc Committee’s recommendation.

Ms. Thompson moved, seconded Ms. Hopkins to approve the Ocean Avenue Elementary School Site Neighborhood Boundary Ad Hoc Committee’s recommendation.

Ms. Blackwood spoke to the motion. Members of the Ad Hoc Committee included Sarah Thompson, Ken Giaquinto, Janice William, Marysue Morrison, Grace Valenzuela, Kevin Mallory and Jill Blackwood. Ms. Blackwood acknowledged Mr. Mallory’s work on data provided to the committee. She indicated that the data could be reviewed again as it gets closer to the opening of the new school in 2011. Reviewed the charges of the committee as well as the neighborhood boundary map for the new school. State has student population for the new facility at 441.

Clarifying questions:

Ms. Gramlich - asked for clarification of information on bus route map in the Presumpscot neighborhood. Mr. Mallory indicated that those would be ELL students.

Public Comment:

Ken Giaquinto, Barry Hosmer, Chuck Lurch, Mary Gross, and Steven Scharf - spoke to motion

Kevin Mallory – service is provided to Clifford as well as former Baxter neighborhood students currently going to Longfellow, Reiche, and Riverton. There could be three buses with a possible fourth. Specifics on this will not be known for some time.

Ms. Blackwood – indicated that there might be the need for two crossing guards for the two busy major arteries and another possibility might be to allow bus exceptions to allow students in these areas

Debate:

Ms. Gramlich – implications about other elementary schools is a concern. Not comfortable with boundaries. Does not want to compromise losing funding from state. Strongly supports having transparency in all processes. If this is approved how does it bind the committee? Ms. Whynot-Vickers – this shows the state that Portland Public Schools has the numbers to support a new school.

Mr. O’Brien – asked Mr. Mallory why kindergarten students get door to door service. Mr Mallory indicated that they do go to collection points as other students, but if bus goes directly past a home they will pick up.

Ms. Snyder– school for 441 students (current day numbers), but if school would have 434 there will only be 7 open seats. Concerned about filling school up. Requested that source data be cited in reports. Acutely aware of the time line. Feels it is her responsibility to look at things closely.

Ms. Hopkins– asked Ms. Blackwood to speak to the concerns raised by Ms. Snyder. Indicated that she served on 3x3 comm. time is of the essence. This motion is just assuring the state that Portland has enough students to support the building project.

Ms Blackwood and Ms. Whynot-Vickers spoke to Ms. Snyder’s concerns.

Mr. Caron – supports motion. Possibly could have as condition of approval that document be corrected.

Ms. Blackwood - spoke about numerical differences.

Mr. Mallory - spoke about numbers in report. Process started in Nov. and continued through January.

Mr. Tingley – commended work of Ad Hoc committee.

Mr. Eglinton – asked if a corrected copy could be provided to be voted on at the March 5^th meeting. He reviewed a few areas within the document and asked if central office could be prepared to address capacity in each of the schools.

Mr. Szanton – clear advantage on demographic page indicates that elementary schools will be closer to the average.

Ms. Snyder – concurs with Mr. Caron’s comments on debt service, etc. Supports passage, but wants information in report fixed.

Mr. Caron – anxious for comprehensive plan process to begin.

Call the vote:

Ms. Gramlich moved seconded Mr. O’Brien to call the vote.

Vote: It was voted 3 –5 to call the vote. (Students - 1 yea, 2 nay)

Ms. Thompson– requested report be corrected and made available for tomorrow night’s Building Committee meeting.

Mr. Caron moved, seconded Ms. Gramlich to have conditional approval of the recommendation contingent on staff correcting and amending the report.

Vote: It was voted unanimously to have conditional approval of the recommendation contingent on staff correcting and amending the report. (Students with majority)

Back to main motion as amended.

Vote: It was voted unanimously to have conditional approval of the Ocean Avenue Elementary School Site Neighborhood Boundary Ad Hoc Committee’s recommendation contingent on staff correcting and amending the report. (Students voted with majority)

3. Consideration and action to authorize the hiring process to begin for the vacancies listed:

Position	FTE	Location	Annual Salary (pro-rated)	Funding Source	Rationale
Payroll Coordinator	1.0	Human Resources	$13,253.33	Local	Position required to assure compliance with state and federal regulations and labor laws. One of three positions who process payroll for 2000 employees.
Psych Examiner	.5	Special Services	$6,191.00	Local	Imperative due to the large numbers of psych evaluations that need to be completed in order to meet compliance mandates. We are behind on completing evals., mostly due to the influx of private school and parental requests for testing.
Building Custodian 2	1.00	Deering	$8,390	Local	clean and maintain building

*All listed positions are currently in the FY 08 budget

Ms. Whynot-Vickers spoke to vacancies.

Mr. Caron moved, seconded Ms. Gramlich and voted unanimously to authorize the hiring process to begin for the vacancies listed.(Students voted with majority)

Personnel

Addendum:

1. Consideration and action to approve the Personnel items listed below:

Consideration and action to renew the contracts of Principals for the 2008-2009 school year who have been employed more than two years, pursuant to M.R.S.A . Title 20-A, Chapter 504, Section §13301, Employment of Principals.

Christine Bearce	Kelly Hasson	Marysue Morrison
Jill Blackwood	Karen James	Stephen Nolan
Kathleen Bouchard	Shelia Jepson	Derek Pierce
Brian Britting	Michael Johnson	Stephen Rogers
Dawn Carrigan	Nancy Kopack	Kathleen Rossi
Carole Clark	Ken Kunin	Gail Senese
Lee Crocker	Cynthia Loring	J. David Shapiro
Carol Dayn	Michael McCarthy	David Turner
Marcia Gendron	J. Peter McCormack	Robert Wood

Ms. Hopkins moved, seconded Ms. Gramlich to renew the contracts of the Principals listed for the 2008-2009 school year who have been employed more than two years, pursuant to M.R.S.A . Title 20-A, Chapter 504, Section §13301, Employment of Principals.

Clarifying question:

Mr. Caron - asked for more information concerning this motion. Ms. Whynot-Vickers – indicated that by statue there is a need to renew contracts by March 1^st of each year.

Ms. Thompson – asked about a position on the list.

At 10:28 pm Committee took a 5 minute recess. Mr. Coyne called meeting back to order at 10:33pm.

Ms. Whynot-Vickers - spoke to contractual rights of individuals in this group.

Vote: It was voted 6-1 to renew the contracts of the Principals listed for the 2008-2009 school year who have been employed more than two years, pursuant to M.R.S.A . Title 20-A, Chapter 504, Section §13301, Employment of Principals.

(Ms. Gramlich not present when vote taken) (Students abstained)

Mr. Coyne indicated that Chris Pulsoni,CBHS School Committee representative had resigned his position. Welcomed Joel Daley to committee.

Committee Focus on Educational Issues - None.

Public Comment Prior to 11:00 PM on any items not on the evening’s agenda

Martha Shiels spoke to committee about Talking Points sent home with students.

Barry Hosmer, Mary Gross and Chuck Lurch – spoke about new school project.

Kathleen Casasa–mentioned an article in Time about teachers and also mentioned that the compensation package in PEA contract is mentioned in the new NEA magazine.

Adjournment

Mr. Caron moved, seconded Mr. O’Brien and voted unanimously to adjourn the business meeting at 10:47pm.

Due to the lateness of the meeting the workshop was not held.

Workshop

1. How we do business

· Protocols/Rules

· Open discussion

Respectfully submitted,

Jeanne Whynot-Vickers

Interim Superintendent of Schools