Draft: December 4, 2003

Approved: Dec. 17, 2003

School Committee meeting December 3, 2003

Under Report of the Secretary

Business Meeting

Mr. Radtke called the meeting to order at 7:00p.m.

Members Present: Jonathan Radtke-Chairperson, Walter Rumery, Stephen Spring, Teri McRae (arrived at 7:20), Kim Matthews, Ben Meiklejohn, Tae Chong (arrived at 7:30), James DiMillo, Otis Thompson

Report of the Chair

Mr. Radtke:

· Mentioned the Study Circles Action Forum held on Dec. 2^nd and thanked Ellen Alcorn for her organization of this process.

· Distributed a committee appointments form to Committee members and asked them to select committees they would like to serve on this year.

Report of the Superintendent

Superintendent O’Connor:

• Thanked Ellen Alcorn, Diana Friou, facilitators from ICL, and area businesses for their work with the Study Circles process. Four task forces have been formed as a result of this process and will begin meeting in January.
• Read a letter of congratulations to the Deering High School Football team on winning the Class A State Championship.

Superintendent O’Connor introduced Chuck Morrison, Jill Shaw, Margaret Hoyt instructors with the Family Living and Human Sexuality program. Mr. Morrison provided the School Committee with a brief overview of the Family Living program.

Reports of Committees

1. East End Area School Building Committee – Mr. Rumery reported that the Committee met last week and that three subcommittees have been formed – Site , Design and Technology. The next meeting of the EEAS Building Committee will be December 4^th, 5:30 at City Hall.
2. Policy Committee – Ms. Matthews indicated that the Committee would be considering a policy this evening.
3. Finance Committee – Ms. Matthews indicated that new members would be appointed this week. Mr. Radtke indicated that a public form on the budget would be held on Dec. 9^th, 6:30 p.m. at King Middle School.
4. Legislative Committee – Mr. Meiklejohn indicated that he has been corresponding with Senator Collins who will be forming a task force regarding the NCLB act. Mr. Meiklejohn suggested that the superintendent, school committee chairperson, and the chairperson of the Legislative Committee meet with Maine’s two senators in lieu of anyone attending the Federal Relations Network Conference.

Report of the Secretary

Ms. Matthews moved, seconded Mr. DiMillo and voted unanimously to approve the meeting minutes of the November 19, 2003 meeting.

Consent Items

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

Old Business

Ms. Matthews moved, seconded Mr. Spring and voted 2-5 to remove from the table policy JRE – Flyer Distribution. Motion fails.

Mr. Radtke indicated that policy JRE-Flyer Distribution still remains on the table and will be on the Dec. 17^th agenda to be considered for removal from the table for consideration by the Committee.

Committee members briefly discussed this issue and requested information from administrators regarding flyers that are being sent home through the schools as well as reviewing what is legal and not legal regarding NCLB.

New Business

1. Consideration and action to approve out of country field trips

A. Deering High School students to Peru April 15-25, 2004

Ms. Matthews moved, seconded Mr. Meiklejohn and voted unanimously to approve an out of country trip to Peru for Deering High School students April 15-25, 2004.

B. PATHS Early Childhood students to Salisbury College, Wiltshire, United

Kingdom, April 14-21, 2004.

Mr. Irv Williams, Early Childhood instructor, briefly spoke to the Committee regarding this trip.

The Committee voted unanimously to approve an out of country trip to Salisbury College, Wiltshire, United Kingdom for PATHS Early Childhood students April 14-21, 2004.

C. Lincoln Middle School 8^th graders to Montreal and Quebec City, Canada for

Feb. 7-10, 2004.

The Committee voted unanimously to approve an out of country trip to Montreal and Quebec City, Canada for Lincoln Middle School 8^th graders Feb. 7-10, 2004.

D. Deering High School French Club to Quebec City, Canada April 30,

2004, May 1 and 2, 2004.

The Committee voted unanimously to approve an out of country trip to Quebec City, Canada for the Deering High School French Club April 30, 2004, May 1 and 2, 2004 .

2. Consideration and action to appoint Herb Adams as the School Committee appointee to formally complete the Veranda Street RFP and present the final RFP to the School Committee.

Mr. Radtke indicated that he would like to see this process completed before the holidays.

Ms. McRae moved, seconded Mr. Rumery and voted unanimously to appoint Herb Adams as the School Committee appointee to formally complete the Veranda Street RFP and present the final RFP to the School Committee.

3. Consideration and action to approve the closing of the Sherman Street facility and moving Multilingual Offices to Baxter School.

Superintendent O’Connor provided a brief history of the air quality issues at the Sherman Street building.

Committee members discussed the relocation of Multilingual to Baxter School:

• Inquired about the status of the RFP. Mr. Stewart indicated that the RFP process will close on December 15^th and that twelve packets have been sent out.
• Asked about s.f. of building and compatibility of renting out other portions of the building while having Multilingual located there. Mr. Stewart indicated that it is approximately 20,000 s.f. and that Multilingual would use approximately 8,000 s.f.
• Asked if the school department has tested all facilities for indoor air quality. Superintendent O’Connor indicated that an indoor air quality protocol is in place in each building
• Some members expressed concern about accessibility to Baxter School for people who use the Multilingual Center. Superintendent O’Connor indicated that Metro has a stop on Forest Ave. and Walton Street and that folks would need to walk a block to Baxter School. The possibility of also approaching Metro to work with the school department short term until Multilingual relocates to Adams School once the EEAS is completed is also being discussed.
• Some members inquired about the possibility of moving Multilingual at the conclusion of the Facilities Task Force report. Superintendent O’Connor indicated that the indoor air quality at the current building is such that they would like to move Multilingual to Baxter temporarily sooner instead of later.
• Asked if windows, etc. would be boarded up at the Sherman Street location after the move. Mr. Stewart indicated that the building would be turned back to the city. Mr. Meiklejohn reminded the Committee that the Parkside Neighborhood Association wanted to be involved with the decisions regarding disposition of this property.

Mr. Rumery moved, seconded Ms. McRae and voted unanimously to approve the closing of the Sherman Street facility and moving Multilingual Offices to Baxter School.

4. Consideration and action to create a Task Force on Facilities.

Mr. Radkte read a charge for the Facilities Task Force.

Charge for Facilities Task Force

The purpose of the Facilities Task Force is to review the current and anticipated facilities needs of the Portland Public Schools, to review current plans for meeting those needs and to recommend to the Portland School Committee such changes as might be deemed appropriate. The Facilities Task Force is to report their recommendations to the School Committee no later than March 1, 2004.

Committee members discussed the formation of a Task Force on Facilities.

• Could the work be completed by staff instead of establishing a Task Force, public input could be obtained and staff could report back to the School Committee with recommendations? Does this task force constitute the “stop sign” of Phase I? Mr. Radtke indicated that the task force is intended as the “stop sign” in Phase I and would review all facilities. Superintendent O’Connor indicated that a task force would be the right thing to do, it could be put together quickly, staff could look at buildings from a facilities point and the task force could do the “stop sign” work.
• Would this be an umbrella task force that would work in conjunction with Veranda St. subcommittee and Elementary Facilities? Mr. Radtke indicated that Veranda Street should be settled before March and that this task force would look at the Elementary Facilities Plan and other facilities needs of the district. He also mentioned that throughout the elementary facilities process discussions took place without a lot of public input on all facilities in the district. This task force would look at the entire big picture of facilities in the district as well as the Elementary Facilities Plan and offer recommendations to the School Committee.

Mr. Chong moved, seconded Mr. Meiklejohn and voted 8-0-1 to create a Task Force on Facilities.

Committee Focus on Educational Issues

Ms. McRae asked about an update on the Math program at King Middle School. Superintendent O’Connor indicated that she is meeting with Mr. McCarthy on Dec. 9^th and that assessment data on this topic would be on the Dec. 17^th agenda.

Public Comment Prior to 11:00 PM – No members of the public addressed the Committee.

Adjournment

Mr. Rumery moved, seconded Mr. DiMillo and voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:13 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Jo O’Connor

Superintendent of Schools