Jamestown Schools: A School-Community Partnership
"SCAN," issued by the Superintendent’s Office in conjunction with the School Committee, is designed to inform staff members and interested others of matters discussed and actions taken by the Jamestown School Committee at its most recent meeting. SCAN does not represent meeting minutes.
Retreat Discussion Topics:
• School Committee Goals: The school committee and administrators reviewed the status/progress of the previous year’s goals; and agreed upon six goals for the upcoming year:
1. To support structure and programming that allows maximum flexibility for administrators, teachers, and students.
2. To improve student achievement at all levels, with particular emphasis on challenging all students to perform to their potential.
3. To continue to support and maintain district- and school-level administration.
4. To advocate for district interests locally, regionally, and at the state house.
5. To support and strengthen district technology initiatives.
6. To exercise fiscal responsibility and ensure efficient use of district resources.
• Town Council-School Committee Joint Meeting – Budget Expectations and Strategies: The town administrator responded to school committee questions about the town’s budget outlook and expectations for FY2011. Mr. Keiser talked about the potential impact of the loss of excise tax revenue and outlined his goals for upcoming contract negotiations. The two groups discussed the impact of a reduction in state aid; the need for union concessions to preserve jobs; and the need for alternative revenue sources. Councilman Murphy informed the school committee of an opportunity to secure a small wind turbine (for educational purposes and to generate electricity) through the U.S. Department of Education. Superintendent Lukon spoke about the challenge of creating a budget at a time when so many facts are as yet unknown (health care increases, contract terms, state aid allotments). She pointed to the lack of information about the number and grade levels of incoming military students; and she shared the financial impact of having 25 military students (students of military families living in Jamestown) at North Kingstown High School. While military students can be absorbed into the classrooms of Jamestown’s two schools at little additional cost (unless the students require special education services), each student enrolled at the high school costs the town nearly $10,000 in tuition costs. Hence, the annual bill for the 25 students is $250,000. To offset the costs of educating military students, the district received $11,000 (total) in impact aid from the federal government last year. Dr. Lukon also spoke about the need to strengthen the district’s technology capabilities; and she indicated that the administrative team would make strategic reductions (as possible) to help fund this priority. Finally, the superintendent pointed to a $30-35,000 cost to the town if on-island parking for school buses cannot be located. The two groups discussed blacktopping a grassy area on the Melrose property to accommodate five buses (if it can be established that the entering/exiting vehicles will not endanger children walking in the vicinity). Blacktopping at the lower level of the transfer station property was also discussed.
• Town Council-School Committee Communication. The committee will continue to email SCAN (School Committee Action Notes) regularly to council members to keep the council informed on school discussions, decisions and developments. The school committee invited the council to attend the school budget hearings and asked the council to email any budget questions in advance of the joint council-school committee budget hearings. Councilman Murphy asked the school committee to share its budget as far in advance of those hearings as possible to allow the council to generate pre-hearing questions.
The next business meeting of the Jamestown School Committee will be on January 21; budget workshops will be held on January 28, February 4 and 11. All meetings are held at 7 p.m. in the Lawn library.