Minutes
Quincy, Massachusetts - June 18, 2008
Regular Meeting of the Quincy School Committee
Regular Meeting
A regular meeting of the Quincy School Committee was held on Wednesday,
June 18, 2008 at City Council Chambers, City Hall. Present were Mr. Kevin
Mulvey, Mr. Nick Puleo, Mrs. Elaine Dwyer, Mrs. Jo-Ann Bragg, Mrs. Anne
Mahoney, Mr. Dave McCarthy and Mayor Tom Koch, Chairman. `
This meeting began at 6:00 p.m.
Chairman Presiding
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Executive Session
On a motion by Mr. Mulvey, seconded by Mrs. Bragg, the Committee voted
to go into Executive Session at 6:04 p.m. for the purpose of Strategies with
Respect to Litigation. On a roll call vote, the motion passed unanimously 7-0.
Regular Meeting
The Committee returned to Open Session at 7:00 p.m. A moment of silence
was observed for former Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Carmen Mariano’s father
who recently passed away.
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At 7:00 p.m. the Superintendent called the roll and all members were present.
Also present were: Dr. Richard DeCristofaro, Secretary, Mrs. Tefta Burrelli,
Clerk. Messrs. O’Brien, Mullaney, Ms. Powell, Todd, Hughes, and Roberts.
Ms. Tracey Christello represented Citywide, and Mr. Paul Phillips, QEA President,
was present.
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Reg.&Exec. Session Mins. Approved 6/4/2008
On a motion by Mrs. Dwyer, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, the Committee
approved the revised regular and executive session minutes for June 4, 2008.
The ayes have it.
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Staff Retirements
The Committee recognized principals, Laura Bogan, Don Houghton, Dr. Alan
Osborne, and Personnel Director, Thomas Walsh. The four employees are
retiring this year after many years of service to the Quincy Public Schools.
The Committee also recognized Mr. Ken McPhee, Director of Security and
Transportation, also retiring after many years of service.
Staff Appointment
The Superintendent announced that he has appointed Nicholas Ahearn as
the Assistant Principal for Sterling Middle School.
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Supts. Report
Special Olympics was held on June 9 and was a huge success. At least
150 students participated. The All City Elementary Band Concert was
held and 50 plus students participated. The Robotics Team participated
in the Bean Town Blitz at North Eastern. There were 39 teams that
participated. Quincy was teamed up with Norwell and they took top
honors. There were 32 Quincy students participating.
Summer Programs
Ms. Janice Erler, spoke to the summer programs for this year. Mary
Ann Palmer highlighted offerings at the elementary level; Nick Ahern,
middle school enrichment and remedial programs at Sterling; Amy Lichfield,
Serve and Learn Quincy at Coddington Hall; and Jeff Britch highlighted
Summer School for grades 6-12 at North Quincy High School. They are
ready, set and on target for June 30. Ms. Erler invited the Committee to
drop in any time.
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Open Forum
Mr. Paul Kennedy, President of P. J. Kennedy and Sons, spoke to the
June 4th meeting whereby P.J. Kennedy was mentioned. He told the
members about the work they did at the Marshall School. Mr. Kennedy
said his company has a stellar record. He asked them to refrain from
destruction of his reputation. He was ready to answer any questions
with regard to Marshall and the new Quincy High School.
Mr. Chris Chelton spoke to the proposed track. It has been four years
since Quincy has had a track. He asked that the State make the City
rescind the vote taken not to build the track on Pageant Field. It was
his feeling that the City cannot rescind a vote because of the $106,000
the City has already spent with SMMA.
Ms. Tracey Christello, Citywide, thanked the School Committee,
Dr. DeCristofaro, and Mayor Koch for listening to Citywide parents’
concerns this year. The parents at North appreciate the help with the
traffic situation.
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Bldg. Update
Mr. Cunniff reported that the North Quincy High School PA System is
scheduled for replacement on June 19 and should be completed by
July 3. Atlantic and Board Meadows will have roof replacements. The
money will come from the bond money. A bid package will go out the
middle of July and work should be completed by September. At Broad
Meadows, Honeywell has begun work on abatement issues. There will
be one administrator and one custodian in the elementary and middle schools
trained on the Honeywell controls. There will be one administrator and
two custodians trained at the high schools. Honeywell will do all the
training. The DPW equipment was used to take off the graffiti at the
Marshall School. There is an extensive list of graffiti. Mr. Cunniff is
ordering replacement parts for the power washer at Maintenance. The
fire alarm system at Beechwood Knoll has a problem. The Maintenance
Department has had 1,100 work orders for the 2008 school year. A
majority for school issues. Eighty-eight percent of them have been
completed.
Mrs. Bragg and Mr. Mulvey asked that every maintenance staff and
custodian be trained by Honeywell.
CORI Checks
There was discussion with the CORI checks done on out-of-state workers
at the new Quincy High School site. Mr. Cunniff said that Gilbane and
the City Solicitor are working on this. However, there is some resistance
on the part of Gilbane and sub contractors. Mr. Mulvey made a motion,
seconded by Mrs. Bragg, that Gilbane be ordered to do a greater degree
of due diligence and check with out-of-state contractors and present a
letter to the Committee assuring that this greater due diligence will be
done on their part in order to protect the students who will be attending
Quincy High School.
Mrs. Dwyer said she supported the motion, however, she thought Gilbane
was reluctant because of the cost. This cost wasn’t built into the high
school budget. Mr. Cunniff added that CORI checks can’t be done on
people who live out of state. Mr. Mulvey added that they can check up on
references to see make sure they’re coming from the state they say they
are coming from. Any conviction of a sexual nature on individuals
coming from out of state should be preclude them from working on the site.
Mr. Cunniff added that Gilbane does randomly take the name of every
worker that goes through the gates. Only workers going into the old
Quincy High School have a CORI check, not everyone.
Mr. McCarthy would like CORI checks placed into Subcommittee.
Mrs. Bragg moved the motion. On a roll call vote, the motion to move
the motion passed unanimously 7-0. On the main motion, the motion
passed unanimously 7-0.
New PA System @ NQ
The PA system at North Quincy High has 130 new call stations, a new
base in the office, four phones, and every classroom will have a call switch.
Mrs. Mahoney inquired about the fire alarms at Beechwood Knoll and
Central. Mr. Cunniff said the Fire Alarm Department needs to check
it out. He will contact them. It is up to the principals to let Mr. Cunniff
know if there is something wrong with their alarms.
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New QHS Report by Mrs. Dwyer
Mrs. Dwyer reported that a Quincy High School Building meeting is
scheduled for Friday. There was a meeting on June 6 and only she and
SMMA showed up. They rescheduled it to June 12. Decisions need to
be made about the back side of the old high school. She can’t make those
decisions herself. They asked SMMA and Tishman to come up with a
basic clean up – take old pipes off, fix some broken windows, etc. The
Committee needs to begin talking about what they’re going to do with
the old building. The Mayor said to button it up, seal it up, and decide later.
Mr. Cunniff added that they discussed a number of options with the
façade and the court yard. They have a proposal from the architect to
look at a variety of options. This part is not covered in their contract.
Work needs to be done to address the court yard area. There are some old
openings in the walls that were temporarily sealed. We have a long list
of issues and SMMA has given us a fee proposal. We have to define what
we want to see.
Mr. Puleo inquired about Quincy High Building Committee minutes
for December 2007, January/February 2008 and March 2008. Mr. Cunniff
will forward them to the Committee.
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Report by Mrs. Bragg Central Middle School
The Central Building Committee met on June 6. Jim Timmins is the Chair
He gave an update on the plans. They received a handout on the new SBA
rules. Jim Timmins will be responsible for the minutes. The next
meeting is July 15 at 4:30 p.m. They gave the Mayor permission to begin
discussion with the property owners in the area being considered. On
the board are Anne Mahoney, Jo-Ann Bragg, Gary Cunniff, Rick DeCristofaro,
Jennifer Fay-Beers, Chris Walker, Theresa Scuzzarella, Jack Nigro and
Mayor Koch.
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Budget
Mr. Mulvey reviewed again the list of cuts made to meet the $1.5 million
dollar reduction in the FY09 Budget. They have been able to identify
$170,000 of outside sources including grants and will be apply it toward
the gap with regard to the four custodians. They cut natural gas, electricity,
the gasoline line, which will cover the secretarial cuts. There will be no
cuts in staff. A number of retirements helped in this line. The So Shore
Mental Health line will be restored. With this additional revenue fund,
the Teacher Resource Library will be funded.
FY09 Budget Approved
Mr. Mulvey made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Bragg, that the FY 09 budget
be passed with the changes as stated tonight. On a roll call vote, the motion
passed 5-2. Mrs. Mahoney and Mr. McCarthy voted NO.
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Mass Energy
Mrs. Maura Chretian gave a presentation on the Solar Challenge (Mass Energy)
which asks Quincy residents to sign up for the New England Wind Fun. Quincy
Public Schools can win a 2-kilowatt solar panel. The cost is $5 per month. A
one time donation of $100 or more also qualifies Quincy for the solar plant.
She asked everyone to help support this program to get these panels. She
encouraged the Committee to become involved.
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Goals Set Goals Met
Mr. O’Brien, Mrs. Powell, Mrs. Roberts, Ms. Todd, Mr. Keith Segella,
and Mrs. Hughes spoke to Goals Set and Goals Met for the 2007-2008
school years. There are over 80 teams established. Standards and benchmarks
have been created so that each team can set goals for improvements. Teams
establish agendas, as well as record and distribute meeting notes for
communication and accountability. The teams reflected on their accomplishments
and goals for this year and have begun to set and submit their goals for next year.
Mrs. Bragg asked about The Print Production Team’s goal was to produce
a print cost list for principals. Mr. O’Brien said that the Print Shop does a
great job on brochures, but that comes at a cost. He wanted to give people
a heads up that in order to buy the stock of paper outside money is needed.
The Print Shop has produced the list for principals. Outside agencies
around the City have contacted him. Some print requests are exceeding the
capacity of our budget. Mrs. Bragg asked Mr. O’Brien to get back to
the Committee on the price list. Mrs. Mahoney asked that the schools get the
price list this year so that they won’t be surprised. Mr. Puleo thanked the
Superintendent and his team. He was happy to see the music program
improvement plan.
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Budget Transfers Approved
On a motion by Mr. Mulvey, seconded by Mrs. Bragg, the Committee approved
the following transfers:
Natural Gas 70,000
Electricity 160,000
Fuel Oil 10,000
Repairs (various accounts) 6,000
Staff Development (various accounts) 10,000
Screening & Medical 26,000
Testing 6,000
Course Approval 5,000
Rentals 5,000
Transportation – Rentals/SPED 120,000
Professional Rehab Services 10,000
Gasoline 32,000
Total 230,000 230,000
Transfers to Address SPED Tuitions and Technology Purchases (Circuit Breaker)
SPED/Acq. of Instructional Equip-CB
Instructional Equip CB 85,200
Gasoline 28,000
Travel 6,000
Dues 5,000
Travel 5,000
Ins. 30,000
Various Expenses 11.200
Total 85,200 85,200
On a roll call vote, the motion passed unanimously 7-0.
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Gift Medical Equip.
On a motion by Mr. McCarthy, seconded by Mr. Puleo, the Committee
approved the gift of $49,991.42 donated by the Masons Rural Lodge
A.F.&A.N. for the purchase of a new wheelchair equipped school
bus. The ayes have it.
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Gift Reading Text
On a motion by Mrs. Mahoney, seconded by Mr. Puleo, the Committee
accepted a gift of over $100,000 worth of Trophies Reading text and
learning materials from Houghton Harcourt Educational Publishers. The
ayes have it.
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Gift Homeless
On a motion by Mrs. Mahoney, seconded by Mr. Puleo, the Committee
accepted a gift of $1,000 from the Beechwood Knoll School’s “Read-A-
Thon” to be used for homeless students in Quincy. The ayes have it.
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Homeless Policy to Subcommittee
On a motion by Mrs. Bragg, seconded by Mr. Mulvey, the Committee
put into the Policy Subcommittee a need for a Homeless Policy. The
ayes have it.
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Quincy Ed. Fund
Mrs. Bragg announced that there is $12,305 in the Quincy Education Fund.
She is calling a meeting in the summer and hopes to use some of this
money to fill gaps in the school budget.
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Faxon Field
At this time, Mr. McCarthy said that he was asked by the Park and
Recreation Department what the status was on the vote to put the track
on Faxon Field. Mr. McCarthy made a motion to move that out
of the subcommittee for discussion. He asked to hear the Committee’s
thoughts and any information on the work.
The Mayor said that Gale has been engaged and there have been two
meetings. They are doing their due diligence and will report in late
August as to the feasibility. The Mayor asked that the Committee wait
until the September meeting to vote.
Mrs. Bragg said she was opened to Faxon Field, but would wait for
a report on the borings. Mrs. Dwyer agreed. Her concern is that it
could open up the appeal process and jeopardize the high school project.
The Mayor said that Gale’s report will include all the permitting issues.
A full presentation will be made.
Mr. Puleo would like more information. His concern is it has been too
long since the City has had a track. If the Committee says no to Faxon
Field, it would lengthen the time for a track.
Mr. Mulvey said there are flooding issues, safety issues, the appeals issue
and the actual location. He doesn’t believe in putting the track in an
inferior location.
Mrs. Mahoney inquired about the legality. Money was spent on Pageant
Field and we can’t get it back. Is it legal to rescind a vote when money has
been spent on Pageant Field. We should be looking at a legality issue.
She has a concern with flooding in that area.
The Mayor said he has engaged a company that has made many tracks.
Not a stitch of work was done in Pageant Field, only planning and design.
There was money in that line, and he took the money for Faxon Field. He
asked the members to hold their opinions until Gale makes a presentation.
Faxon Field Vote Tabled
Mr. McCarthy made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Dwyer to vote on the
Faxon Field. Mrs. Bragg tabled the motion.
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Mrs. Mahoney explained why she voted “no” on the budget. While she is
happy with the additional money for custodians and the secretarial positions,
she has a problem funding the line for South Shore Mental Health and
the Teacher Resource Library line as these two line items do not assist
all our students. We are losing money for technology and curriculum
books. Next year, the Committee was told not to be surprised at how much
money it would receive. She could not support those two lines.
Mr. Puleo answered that Quincy has a long standing contract with the
South Shore Mental Health which serves 27 students this year. Having
this affordable and accessible for our students is critical.
Mrs. Mahoney said she was talking about the equitable distribution of
money. We are talking about 27 students compared to 9,000 students.
While she is not suggesting that this was an easy decision, she feels the
Committee needs to be careful about the way it spends money.
Mrs. Bragg said she has spent many hours trying to find more money.
The money for the Teacher Resource Library will provide the 300 new
teachers with material to bring into the classroom. She felt this was
beneficial to every school.
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Maintenance Dept. School Facilities Subcommittee
Mrs. Dwyer made a motion, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, that the Maintenance
workers remain in the school budget and continue to report to the Superintendent
or his designee.
Mr. Puleo would like to see more cooperation on both sides. It is the School
Committee’s understanding that the work order system is not being utilized.
Mrs. Bragg agreed with Mr. Puleo. The Maintenance Department was not being
called to work after 4:00 p.m.
Maintenance Dept to remain in school dept
On a roll call vote, the motion passed 6-1. Mayor .
Koch voted NO.
School Facilities Mgt. Report by Mrs. Dwyer
A Subcommittee meeting was held on June 12 whereby they heard an update
from Mr. Cunniff. They discussed main items --the PA system at North, the
roofs for Atlantic and Broad Meadows. The concern is that they get done
before September. They discussed vehicles. The City will repair our trucks
and the City side will pick up two snow plowing jobs --Coddington Hall and the
back side of Quincy High School, an update on the emergency generator over
hall -- the security systems, a list of phone lines going off on the alarm panels.
Maintenance will check out the alarm panels this summer. Site work at the
underground tank at Coddington is tabled. They discussed graffiti, computer
labs repairs at Atlantic and Sterling. Someone will be hired to coordinate
the entire Quincy High move. The Superintendent has come with a job
description and has somebody in mind. We need to come up with a figure
to pay that person. Food Services is going to Broad Meadows.
The Maintenance Dept. needs a location quickly. They need 12,000 ft. Mr.
Fatseas will work on space and prices within the City. We need new radios.
We asked the Mayor for money to help with small items to get done this summer.
Mrs. Mahoney inquired about the lighting—where it is working, -- this is an
ongoing problem.
The Mayor told the Committee that the City received a bill from SMMA
for $49,000 for interest in 2005-2007 because the City didn’t pay in a timely
fashion. When the Mayor finds the solution he will let them know.
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Policy Subcommittee Report by Mrs. Bragg
Mrs. Bragg reported that the Policy Subcommittee met and Mr. Walsh
gave an overview of the entire evaluation process including State regulation
603 CMR-35. The Superintendent will meet with Paul Phillips on this
issue. The Committee discussed movies in school. Mrs. Roberts has come up
with a form for principals and will get back to the Committee this fall with an
update. The Committee began Section 10 of the Policy Manual. Another meeting
is scheduled for July 23 at 4:30 p.m. in the Superintendent’s Conference Room.
Mr. McCarthy commended Bob Burke who was featured in the Patriot
Ledger on how he has worked and turned the carpentry shop around at
North Quincy High School.
Mrs. Dwyer took off the School Facility Management Subcommittee Fire
Extinguishers and Building Plan for Quincy High School.
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Resignations
The Committee noted the following resignations:
Teachers: David Buckley, Kevin Doherty, Stephanie Fortuna, Christine Kane, Robert LaRaia, Dr. Marina Rozenberg
Leaves of Absence
The Committee noted the following leave of absence.
Speech Pathologist: Emily Gude
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Executive Session
On a motion by Mrs. Bragg, seconded by Mr. Mulvey, the Committee
voted to go back into Executive Session at 10:40 p.m. for the purpose
of negotiations. On a roll call vote, the motion passed unanimously
7-0.
Return to Open Session
The Committee returned to Open Session at 11:06 p.m.
Security Guards Contract Approved
On a motion by Mr. Puleo, seconded by Mrs. Bragg, the Committee
approved the contract with the Security Guards. On a roll call vote,
the motion passed unanimously 7-0.
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Bus Drivers Contract Approved
On a motion by Mr. McCarthy, seconded by Mr. Mulvey, the Committee
approved the contract with the Bus Drivers. On a roll call vote, the motion
passed unanimously 7-0.
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Bus Monitors Contract Approved
On a motion by Mr. McCarthy, seconded by Mr. Mulvey, the Committee
approved the contract with the Bus Monitors. The ayes have it. On a roll
call vote, the motion passed unanimously 7-0.
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Adjournment
On a motion by Mrs. Bragg, seconded by Mr. Mulvey, the Committee
adjourned for the evening at 11:09 p.m. The ayes have it.