Approved: April 5, 2006
School Committee meeting March 8, 2006
Under Report of the Secretary
Ms. Alcorn called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.
Members present: Ellen Alcorn-Chairperson, John Coyne, Jonathan Radtke, Susan Hopkins, Benjamin Meiklejohn (arrived 7:05pm), Stephen Spring (arrived 7:05pm), Otis Thompson, Jason Toothaker (arrived 7:05pm), Joshua Waxman, Sarah Muzzy
Members not present: Lori Gramlich
Report of the Chair
Ms. Alcorn:
Report of the Superintendent
Superintendent O’Connor:
· Read letters from Commissioner Gendron recognizing Peaks Island and Longfellow Schools as schools achieving consistently high performance in Reading and Math.
· Congratulated Jean McCabe, 8th grade at Lincoln Middle School, for winning the Cumberland County Spelling Bee and will now be participating at the state level on March 25th.
· Announced - March 22 – budget workshop and March 29 – School Committee meeting on the budget with opportunity for public comment
· Introduced Doug Sherwood who provided an update on facilities consolidation discussions between the school department and city.
· Introduced Carol Dayn, Ann Hanna, and Judy Shank who updated the committee on the progress at the East End Community School. Building dedication will be Friday, May 12, 2 p.m.
· Presented the FY07 budget to the committee and recognized and thanked Mr. Paulson for the new format with information on each school – number of classrooms, students, free/reduced lunch, percentage of ELL and SpEd students, date building constructed, included as part of the budget
Consent Items - None
Report of the Secretary
Mr. Toothaker moved, seconded Mr. Radtke and voted unanimously to approve the meeting minutes of the March 1, 2006 meeting. (Students voted with majority)
Mr. Radtke moved, seconded Mr. Spring to accept the recommendation of the ELOB High School’s Naming Committee to name the school Casco Bay High School.
Mr. Radtke – asked what role the students played in choosing the name.
Will Nelligan, student at Casco Bay High School, indicated there were 7 students on the Naming Committee, 2 parents, and the school principal. Students had the largest vote and all agreed on the name.
Vote on motion: It was voted unanimously to accept the recommendation of the ELOB High School’s Naming Committee to name the school Casco Bay High School. (Students voted with majority)
Mr. Radtke moved, seconded Mr. Coyne to accept the proposed General Advisory Constitution dated January 24, 2006.
Superintendent O’Connor reviewed the rationale for the changes. Mr. Lafavore briefly reviewed the changes.
Vote on motion: It was voted unanimously to accept the proposed General Advisory Constitution dated January 24, 2006. (Students voted with majority)
Mr. Spring moved, seconded Mr. Toothaker to approve the lottery system for the East End Community School.
Ms. Whynot-Vickers reviewed the process. Received 186 applications and the school will be opening with 450 students. Lottery will take place on Wed., March 15th, 4:30 p.m. in Room 250.
Public Comment – Steven Scharf addressed the Committee on this item.
Mr. Meiklejohn – referenced School Committee norms and asked if a press release would be used to celebrate this accomplishment.
Mr. Toothaker – asked if this type of opportunity could be better advertised. Superintendent O’Connor indicated information regarding openings at the school and the lottery system were placed in school newsletters, the newspaper, on the school department web site, and three public meetings were held.
4. Consideration and action to adopt
the following process for negotiations with
bargaining units:
Consensus reached on Steps and
Norms of PSC in Collective Bargaining Process (those steps in italicized,
bold print shall be in public session, all others in
executive session):
1.
Discuss considerations for designating
negotiating team members
2. Designate PSC negotiating team
3. Team to review contract and look for issues
4. Discuss contract with Administrators
5. Collect pertinent data—may be broad enough to capture community issues
6. Obtain guidance (negotiating authority) from entire PSC
7. Prepare proposal or list of issues
8. Report back to PSC during negotiating process as necessary; may seek change in guidance (step 6)
9. Arrive at Tentative Agreement
10. Explain Tentative Agreement to PSC
11.
Up or down vote by PSC to ratify (not to modify)
12.
Educate public agreement has been voted upon,
explaining changes to the agreement and any data used; use appropriate tone and
manner
Mr. Radtke moved, seconded Mr. Thompson to adopt the process for negotiations with bargaining units.
Ms. Alcorn reviewed the norms for collective bargaining.
Clarifying questions:
Mr. Meiklejohn – what information can be provided to the public – information the committee receives in public and/or also in Executive Session? Would final TA be a first and second reading?
Ms. Alcorn – if information provided in Executive Session is already public then referring/providing that to the public would not be a problem.
Ms. Hart – legal counsel has advised not to hold a first and second reading of the TA.
Mr. Thompson – indicated that during bargaining process an explanation of changes to contracts, etc. is brought forward in public. Regarding information provided to committee in Executive Session that is already public – if a member writes information/notes pertaining to negotiations on this public information then that would not be something that could be shared with the public.
Public Comment – Steven Scharf addressed the Committee on this item.
Mr. Spring – indicated that he felt some wording in norms was judgmental.
Mr. Spring moved, seconded Mr. Toothaker and voted 3-4-1 to remove the wording use appropriate tone and manner (Students voted with majority) – Motion fails
Committee returned to discussion of the main motion.
Mr. Thompson – steps in process are in negotiation law. Does not envision negotiations being done in public. Does not want to do anything as a board to jeopardize negotiations and have the process become adversarial.
Mr. Radtke – any public document is a public document.
Mr. Meiklejohn - would like to reach a point where all negotiations are done in public. Acknowledged fundamental difference in philosophy.
Mr. Waxman – does not see bargaining in public being a complete success.
Ms. Muzzy – legal counsel make it very clear about difficulties of bargaining in public.
Mr. Radtke called for a vote.
Vote on motion: It was voted 8-1 to adopt the process for negotiations with bargaining units. (Students voted with majority)
Personnel
a. Consideration and action to renew the contracts of Principals for the 2006-2007 school year who have been employed two years or less, pursuant to M.R.S.A . Title 20-A, Chapter 504, Section §13301, Employment of Principals.
Derek Pierce
Kelly Hasson
Sarah Ayesha Farag-Davis
b. Consideration and action to approve the following sabbatical leaves:
Sabbatical leaves for the 2006-07 school year.
Name School/Position Leave Request
Ericka Lee-Winship Portland/Social Studies Tchr Full Year
T.B.N. District/Possible Shinagwa Full Year Teacher Exchange
Suzette Olafsen Portland/Teacher Full Year(half time)
Thomas Talarico Portland/ESL -Outward Bound Full Year
Roberta Toothaker Moore/Science Teacher Second Semeser
Margot Downs Lincoln/ESL Instructor Full Year
Claire Olson-Crocker Lincoln/6th grade Teacher `Full Year
Mr. Radtke moved, seconded Mr. Meiklejohn and voted unanimously to approve the Personnel items listed. (Students voted with majority)
Mr. Meiklejohn moved, seconded Mr. Toothaker and voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Jo O’Connor
Superintendent of Schools