| BSC Preliminary Minutes October 20, 2009 |
| PRELIMINARY MINUTES BOXFORD SCHOOL COMMITTEE (BSC) REGULAR MEETING BOXFORD TOWN HALL OCTOBER 20, 2009 Members Present: Rusty Chadwick, Cynthia Foster, Rebecca Lundrigan, Pam Messenger (Chairperson) and Cindy Murphy Others Present: Beth Yando, Christine Elliot and Candyce Wainwright (Cole / Spofford), Donna Eldwan, Jean Carosi and Elizabeth Scheld (Spofford), Claudette Bellia, Tiffany Stone, Ellen Nestervich and Margaret Costello (Cole School), Lisa Salisbury and Jane Bonaventura (Cole / BTA), Dr. Bernard Creeden (Tri Town Union (TTU) Superintendent), Kathryn Nikas (Cole School Principal), Lawrence Fliegelman (Spofford School Principal) and Ellen Gaskell (Recording Secretary) ROUTINES: 1. Call to Order: Chairperson Pam Messenger called the meeting to order at 7:34 p.m. 2. Remarks from the Public: None 3. Remarks from Other Committees: a. Tri Town Union and K-12 School Committees i. Dr. Creeden reported that last week’s Tri Town Union meeting was cancelled and rescheduled for October 29th at 7 p.m. at the Proctor School. The towns’ Finance Committees and Boards of Selectmen have been invited to attend. Topics to be covered include: the Regionalization Study results, Special Education (SPED) Director Sharon Lyons’ fall report and the impact of Curriculum Coordinator Deb Hale’s January, 2010 retirement. ii. He also said that the K-12 School Committee meeting will be tomorrow at 8 p.m. at the Masconomet Senior High School Library and should last an hour. A copy of the agenda was included in the packet. Topics to be covered include: the school calendar, the Regionalization Study, an H1N1 update, the Masconomet Superintendent search, Masco and elementary school budgets and the school transportation bidding process. iii. There was discussion as to which Committee members would attend the 2 meetings; the consensus was that they will be well-attended. REPORTS: 1. Report of the Building Principals: a. Kathryn Nikas, Cole School Principal i. Kathryn Nikas presented her report, a copy of which was included in the packet. ii. The Math On-Line League is being set up at Cole; Principal Nikas thanked Beth Yando for her efforts. iii. She also praised new Spanish teacher Terry Marcille and MaryLee Kennefick, the teacher who replaced Ms. Marcille in second grade. iv. Rebecca Lundrigan voiced concern over parents parking in the Fire Lane at Cole. b. Lawrence Fliegelman, Spofford School Principal i. Lawrence Fliegelman presented his report, a copy of which was included in the packet. ii. Principal Fliegelman remarked that there was good continuing participation in the On-Line Math League from Cole. iii. The Behavior Team will meet in a few days. iv. The School Improvement Plan now includes a section regarding the pre-Special Education referral process; Principal Fliegelman praised all the teachers involved. v. Cindy Murphy asked about the status of the Solar Panel Project; Principal Fliegelman responded that the data collection has been off-line since last Thursday, but the panels are working. The data collection problem will be fixed soon. He remarked that luckily the 5th graders aren’t on the Science section on Energy yet, which directly ties into the project. 2. Report of the Superintendent: a. Dr. Creeden presented his report, a copy of which was included in the packet. b. Disability Awareness Starts Here (DASH) training for Grade 4 starts today and for Grade 5, starts tomorrow. DASH has been used in Grades 2-5 since 1994. There is still time to be a DASH volunteer, especially for the 2nd and 3rd grade programs, which are in the spring. c. School picture day is at Cole tomorrow. d. Dr. Creeden surveyed Committee members to see if they had received Massachusetts Association of School Committee (MASC) documents. e. There will be a Technology Plan update at the 11/2 BSC meeting; the PTO and BEST have been invited to attend. f. H1N1 Planning Update i. This is still a “moving target”, due to shortages of H1N1 flu vaccine. There has been no distribution of the vaccine through public health clinics, only through private health practices. ii. The H1N1 Vaccine Clinic probably won’t happen until December; the clinic(s) will probably be school-based on a Saturday(s). iii. At the recent Seasonal Flu Clinics in Boxford and Topsfield, the seasonal flu vaccine supply ran out by mid-afternoon. iv. Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) updates are being sent weekly to parents via ConnectEd. ILI incidence is up this week. Rusty Chadwick worried weekly ILI updates “ratchet up” concern. g. Conflict of Interest Training for Municipal Employees i. The handout, Summary of the Conflict of Interest Law for Municipal Employees, was included in the packet. ii. The goal is to have the staff trained by Winter Vacation; the State Ethics Commission’s deadline is April, 2010. iii. The volunteers will be trained after the 1st of the year. At present, the definition of a volunteer is in question. Volunteers such as Committee members should be trained, but parents who volunteer in the classroom may not have to be. Right now, the Town Clerk is focusing on a “good faith” effort regarding the training of paid employees and elected officials. iv. Information regarding the training will be sent to staff this week. v. A sheet stating that Conflict of Interest Law information was received must be completed by Committee members and the Recording Secretary as soon as possible. h. Requirement for School Committee Member Disclosure of a Financial Interest in a General School Fee i. A handout regarding this was included in the packet. ii. The Committee makes financial decisions regarding these items: school lunch price, band fee and Preschool and Five-Day Kindergarten tuition. iii. Committee members asked Dr. Creeden if items such as 6th grade activity fees and building fees were subject to this ruling; Dr. Creeden said they were not. iv. Rusty Chadwick questioned Dr. Creeden about what would happen if the whole Committee had to recuse itself from voting on an item; he said that in that case, “the rule of necessity” applies. v. Pam Messenger stated that any fee-based activities that are participated in by at least 10% of the school district are acceptable for Committee members to vote upon. vi. Pam Messenger said that Preschool and Five Day Kindergarten tuition don’t meet the 10% participation threshold, so Committee members would have to recuse themselves from voting on these items if it affected them, but no Committee members have children in these programs. NEW BUSINESS: 1. MCAS Spring 2009 Analysis of Results: a. Dr. Creeden presented the PowerPoint presentation of the 2009 MCAS Results, a copy of which was included in the packet. This presentation will also be given at an after-school meeting on the early release day next week. The presentation will also be available on the school website. b. A Department of Elementary and Secondary Education handout regarding district growth distribution was also in the packet. c. The MCAS Growth Model Tutorial was also presented. Growth is measured in a two year comparison among academic peers. Academic peers are students that scored similarly the first year. Academic peers’ scored are compared for the second year to determine growth. d. Performance is defined as achievement plus growth. e. Student Growth Percentile is ranked in this order: very high, moderately high, moderate, moderately low and low. f. Curriculum Coordinator Deb Hale said (when comparing a school’s performance to Boxford’s) the focus should be on the outliers: (schools with both) high achievement and high growth. g. Christine Elliot spoke of the English Language Arts (ELA) MCAS results and plans for student improvement. i. Work will be done on open response and multiple choice questions; gaps that exist over time will be addressed. ii. The number of writing assessments at Cole will increase, especially in Kindergarten. iii. Developmental Reading Assessments (DRA) will be administered in Kindergarten. There will be a mid-year assessment in Reading. iv. At Spofford, “Reader’s Notebooks” have been ordered. v. She ran a “Readers’ Workshop for Tri Town teachers. The Balanced Reading Model was presented. vi. Deb Hale said that on the school website, the “Writing Across the Curriculum” link is available for parents to help their children with homework. vii. Cindy Murphy asked if there were gender differences in ELA MCAS performance; Christine Elliot said that would be explored. viii. Cynthia Foster inquired about student assessments; Christine Elliot said that formal and interim assessments are done. ix. There was a question regarding Response to Intervention (RTI); Cole School Principal Kathryn Nikas said that it was a tiered approach with specific goals and monitoring of progress (in and area of academic concern for a student). x. Cindy Murphy expressed concern that support is given with sensitivity to students. Lawrence Fliegelman said children being pulled out of the classroom has become a norm; (the other children hardly notice). Christine Elliot responded that initial support is provided in the classroom. xi. Cindy Murphy asked if there were parent updates; Christine Elliot said there were. xii. Deb Hale said that passing MCAS is a goal for all schools, but it’s only the beginning. The (ultimate) goal is for students to be creative and critical thinkers and develop “habits of mind”. h. Beth Yando spoke of the Math MCAS results and plans for student improvement. i. She spoke of the On-Line Math League and Math Olympiad. Any student can join the On-Line Math League, but the students must be selected to join the Math Olympiad. ii. Morning Math is also another resource; Beth Yando thanked Donna Eichman for running this program. iii. There are assessments 3 times / year. iv. Deb Hale said that there is a Math test given to students when they enter the next grade. i. Dr. Creeden said that due to budget constraints, the state is releasing fewer prior year MCAS questions for review, opting instead to reuse the questions for the next year’s test. 2. District Strategic Plan 2009-2012 Update: a. The Tri Town Union Readiness Evaluation Report was included in the packet. b. Due to the late hour, Chairperson Pam Messenger said this item should be tabled. 3. Special Town Meeting – October 27, 2009: a. There are no Committee warrant articles for this Town Meeting. b. At the K-12 Meeting tomorrow, Dr. Creeden said the ratification of Masconomet’s budget will be discussed. Masconomet’s budget will be up for ratification at the Special Town Meeting, but there is concern when it will be ratified by the other 2 towns in the Tri Town and if it will be done by the deadline. Middleton has a Special Town Meeting on December 1st; Topsfield doesn’t have Town Meeting until next May. 4. Correspondence: a. Chairperson Pam Messenger received MASC information. 5. Other: None CONSENT AGENDA: 1. Approval of Minutes of Previous Meetings: a. October 6, 2009 – Regular Meeting i. In the heading, correct the spelling of OCTOBER. A motion was made by Chairperson Pam Messenger to approve the October 6, 2009 Regular Meeting minutes, seconded by Rusty Chadwick. Motion passed 5-0-0. b. October 6, 2009 – Executive Session i. No changes needed. A motion was made by Chairperson Pam Messenger to approve the 10/6/09 Executive Session minutes, seconded by Rusty Chadwick. Motion passed 5-0-0. 2. Bills and Payrolls: a. Bill Warrants i. A handout with the Bill Warrants and Payrolls was included in the packet. A motion was made by Chairperson Pam Messenger to approve BW#10-18, BW#10-19 and BW#10-20 CF, totaling $52,568.39, seconded by Rebecca Lundrigan. Motion passed 5-0-0. b. Payroll A motion was made by Chairperson Pam Messenger to pay the payroll, weeks ending 10/2/09 and 10/09/09, totaling $286, 391.66, seconded by Rusty Chadwick. Motion passed 5-0-0. 3. Home Schooling Requests: a. The 10/5/09 Home Schooling Request from Cole School and the 10/16/09 Home Schooling Request from Spofford School were included in the packet. b. Cindy Murphy asked how home schooled students are accounted for; Cole School Principal Kathryn Nikas said by law, schools must be notified of these students. Dr. Creeden said that there is also data collection of students enrolled elsewhere and at present, there are about 12-15 home schooled students. A motion was made by Chairperson Pam Messenger to approve the nine student home school requests in the 10/16/09 Spofford School memo and the two student home school requests in the 10/5/09 Cole School memo, seconded by Cindy Murphy. Motion passed 5-0-0. EXECUTIVE SESSION: At 10 p.m., a motion was made by Chairperson Pam Messenger to close the Regular Meeting and enter into Executive Session for the preparation for negotiations with represented and non-represented personnel, returning to Regular Meeting for the purpose of adjournment only, seconded by Cynthia Foster. Motion passed 5-0-0 by roll call vote (in favor: Rusty Chadwick, Cynthia Foster, Rebecca Lundrigan, Pam Messenger and Cindy Murphy). ADJOURNMENT: At 10:06 p.m., on a roll call vote, Chairperson Pam Messenger moved to adjourn, seconded by Cynthia Foster. Motion passed 5-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Ellen Gaskell Recording Secretary |
