Mr. Radtke called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
Members present: Jonathan Radtke-Chairperson, Ellen Alcorn, Stephen Spring, Ben Meiklejohn, Otis Thompson, James DiMillo, Teri McRae, Jason Toothaker, Tae Chong, Sophia Njaa, Michael Imbergamo
Ms. McRae moved, seconded Mr. Chong to approve the superintendent’s revised FY06 budget in the amount of $78,552,682.
Ms. McRae reported that the Finance Committee met on Friday, April 22nd and the Committee recommends this budget with a caveat of possibly putting in a math position with the possible elimination of one sex ed teacher.
Public Comment:
Kathleen Casasa, Pam Meader, John Fenton, Steven Scharf and Catherine Peabody addressed the Committee regarding the budget.
Board discussion/debate:
Ms. Alcorn – supports budget
Ms. McRae – indicated that the City Council Finance Committee would be reviewing the School Committee’s budget on Thursday and that the School Committee Finance Committee would be meeting Monday, May 2nd .
Ms. McRae moved, seconded Mr. Spring to allocate $60,000 for additional math instruction.
Mr. Toothaker – asked for clarification of the amendment.
Ms. Alcorn – does not support amendment and asked Superintendent O’Connor to address the proposed amendment.
Superintendent O’Connor – indicated that work has been done at the K-5 level and that work with Ken Jones, USM, has taken place regarding best practices in math as well as work being done through Education Planning with the Content Area Liaison Teams in each content area. She would like to consider funding a math position using title monies.
Ms. McRae – asked the superintendent if she was opposed to $60,000 additional monies for math teachers. She also stated that approximately 80% of students were not meeting standards in math.
Superintendent O’Connor - indicated that literacy labs at the schools provide math assistance and that she felt very confident that any additional math instruction could be handled internally.
Mr. Meiklejohn – does not support amendment and asked for clarification on the budget amount if amendment were approved – new budget figure would be $78,612,682.
Mr. Thompson – asked if 80% figure of students not meeting standards is correct.
Mr. Lafavore, Director of Educational Planning, indicated that the figure is closer to 50% to 60% not 80%.
Mr. Radtke – does not support amendment.
Vote on amendment: It was voted 4-5 to allocate $60,000 for additional math instruction. (Students voted with majority). Motion fails.
Ms. Njaa – received approximately 100 – 110 letters from students voicing their concerns regarding teacher cuts at PHS. Ms. Njaa indicated that enrollment may go up and made a recommendation to reinstate some teaching positions at PHS.
Ms. McRae – shared her concerns regarding enrollment projects. She will ask the Finance Committee to review enrollment numbers more closely and to look at staffing.
Mr. Toothaker – concerned about enrollments and suggested shifting teachers from Deering to Portland High. Supports equity in class sizes. Suggested that superintendent bring staffing changes to School Committee.
Mr. Spring – asked if there was a process that community members could use if they would like to ask about enrollment numbers.
Superintendent O’Connor – community members can contact Mr. Allen for secondary enrollment information and Ms. Whynot-Vickers for elementary enrollment information.
Mr. Thompson – spoke regarding concerns brought forward by Ms. Njaa and mentioned that there is a process in place where administration would bring any enrollment concerns to the School Committee.
Superintendent O’Connor – explained process regarding any enrollment changes at the schools. She also explained that there is a process used for establishing staffing projections when building the budget.
Ms. McRae – mentioned that a key in enrollment projections this year is that approximately 100 students chose Deering over Portland High.
Mr. Radtke – supports proposed budget.
Vote on main motion: It was voted 7-2 to approve the superintendent’s revised FY06 budget in the amount of $78,552,682. (Students voted with majority)
Public Comment prior to 11 p.m.
Kathleen Casasa – addressed the Committee asking them to consider removing the tabled motion regarding Brenda Roy.
Steven Scharf – addressed the Committee regarding enrollment numbers.
Mr. Chong moved, seconded Mr. Spring and voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Jo O’Connor
Superintendent of Schools