REDDING BOARD OF EDUCATION
Regular Meeting Minutes Budget Workshop
John Read Middle School Community Room
January 16, 2020
ATTENDANCE
Board of Education: Parkin, Hoffman, Oulton, Pilato, Reilly, Whaley
Administration: McMorran, Ugol, Reiss, Amori, Hankla
Members of the Public: Approximately 7
CALL TO ORDER
C. Parkin called the meeting to order at 7:32 p.m.
PUBLIC COMMENT
M. D’Agostino, Glen Hill Road, In the past, once budget deliberations begin, the budget has been posted online, but he was unable to find it. He thinks it would be beneficial if it was made available.
BOARD MEMBER COMMENT
M. Hoffman spoke about L. Hoeing’s resignation from the Board, explained how she was an ideal board member and said she will be missed. He is also concerned about the impact from the upcoming re-evaluation in 21-22 and what that will do to the house-value to tax ratio.
C. Pilato thanked L. Hoeing for her service.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: VACANCY
C. Parkin gave an update on the status of filling the vacancy and suggested the board might need to meet in advance of the next Regular Meeting to interview the candidates. Discussion followed.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: 2020-2021 OPERATING BUDGET
C. Parkin and Dr. McMorran explained that D. Wallin was not in attendance because of a personal emergency, and N. Hammond was not in attendance because she was out of the district.
Dr. Amori presented information regarding class size at JRMS. Some of the class sizes show an imbalance due to the last minute cancellation of the Grade 6 & 7 Latin Program offering at the start of the year. The Board requested to see model schedules and class-sizes based upon the proposed sections for the 20-21 school year and also models if each section were reduced. Discussion followed.
C. Parkin then walked the Board through the budget book, Sections 3 Operations & Section 4 Administration, to address concerns and hear answers to question .C. Parkin asked the Board to continue to submit questions to him, and explained he will route them to the Administration for answers.
PUBLIC COMMENT
S. Rhodes, 5 Arches Lane: He asked how many of the classes have two certified teachers per class?
J. Hankla answered 8.
M. D’Agostino, Glen Hill Rd: He appreciates the walk through the budget and the class-size presentation, but now he has questions regarding the rationale behind scheduling and the last minute cancellation of the Latin program. He also thought there might be grants made available to replace the phone system, so perhaps it makes sense to hold off on funding that project as discussed. He also asked why we wouldn’t consider adding tuition paying students for elementary and middle school.
BOARD MEMBER COMMENT
M. Hoffman: Asked if JRMS class-sizes were current.
Dr. Amori: Answered yes.
C. Parkin: Thanked the group.
Dr. McMorran: Clarified that the Latin Program was cut last minute because the teacher reported in August that she would need to go on leave in October and a satisfactory substitute could not be found to cover grade 6, 7 and 8. Instead, the teacher from Barlow comes to the school to teach grade 8 and D. Wallin made changes to the Master Schedule for grades 6 & 7 moving those students into Spanish and French.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion: move to adjourn the meeting. (Hoffman, Reilly). Unanimous
The meeting adjourned at 9:41 p.m.
Recorded and Submitted by Colleen Pilato,
Redding Board of Education Secretary