| MSC Permanent Minutes April 9, 2012 |
| PERMANENT MINUTES MIDDLETON SCHOOL COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING FULLER MEADOW NATHAN MEDIA CENTER APRIL 9, 2012 The regular meeting of the Middleton School Committee was held on Monday, April 9, 2012 in the Fuller Meadow Nathan Media Center, 143 South Main Street, Middleton, MA. Members Present: Mindy Wogan, Chairperson; Teresa Buono, Tasha Cooper, and Lisa Saxonis Absent: Maria Scarpa Others Present: Bernard Creeden, Superintendent; Steven Greenberg; Director of Finance and Human Resources; Betsy Boulanger and Diane Carreiro, Principals; Dan Michaud, Parent; Jeanne Bentley, Teacher; Mary Farley, Recording Secretary M. Wogan called the meeting to order at 7:23 p.m. A. ROUTINES: 1. Pledge of Allegiance: Everyone present stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. 2. Remarks from the Public: None 3. Reports from Other Committees: • School Building Committee: Dr. Creeden reported that the MSBC talked about the punch list items. Seasonal transition will be made outdoors. They also had a discussion about the Little League fields and how they will be done. Fields will become available for games only on April 24, 2012. The landscaper is re-commissioning the irrigation system. The interior/exterior signage will be completed during vacation week. • Mathematics Curriculum Committee: The Math Committee is moving forward with the planning of the professional development. They are getting the final funding in place for each of the three communities in order to be able to purchase the materials. Funding in Boxford and Topsfield will be a combination of two payments; one in FY 2012 and the second payment at the end of next year. There will be a Math Committee meeting tomorrow. Teachers will be talking about pacing. All grades will be staying with the Math in Focus, except Grade 6 students who will revert back to what they were doing before so they will match up with Grade 7. B. REPORTS: 1. Report of the Building Principals: The Building Principals reviewed their written reports which were included in the packet. They also reported that it was “Color Week” last week and it was great fun. Author Yoka Watkins visited Grade 6. Kid2Kid is happening and they are excited about that. DASH for Grade 2 is wrapping up on the Friday after vacation. 2. Report of the Superintendent: • Location of Election Update. Dr. Creeden is working with the Town Clerk and the Chief of Police. The Annual Town Election in May will be held in the Fuller Meadow gymnasium. There is more space there. They will put matting on the floor to protect it. The only piece that will be affected will be the Physical Education program. In May, the children may be able to go outdoors. • On Good Friday, Middleton was the only district open in the Tri-Town. 25 children were absent from Fuller Meadow 119 children were absent from Howe-Manning 25 children were dismissed part way through the day Dr. Creeden had a call from one parent asking why we were not closed and the other districts were. He told the parent that the last day of school will be Friday, June 15. If we closed on Friday, we will have to come back on Monday, June 18. Also, Middleton did start late because of the opening of the new school. • Preschool Hours: There is still some discussion going on about what the preschool hours will be next year. T. Buono did the regular dismissal time pick-up the other day and there were six preschool parents in the back-up line. Dr. Creeden stated that sometime this spring, there will be a fire lane painted there. There was discussion about the traffic flow. T. Buono talked to Mike Karas at Mass. DOT to have the timing of the light changed in the center of town during the hours of 8:20 to 8:40 and 3:00 to 3:30. The light should last a little longer to keep the traffic flowing. This past Friday, there was an engineer there working on the lights and this week we should see a change in the timing. If anyone sees it this week, please notify T. Buono or B. Boulanger. Hopefully, by the end of this month, we will have more time for the buses to get through the light. Thank you to T. Buono. • Last Day of School: June 15, 2012. • Annual Report – Final Draft: The one item omitted is T. Buono leaving the School Committee. This will not take place until after the elections; we will acknowledge her departure next year. Thank you to T. Buono for all her work and taking this on. • Academic Recognition Program Update: In the packet are samples of recognition from different sources. After this, it will go to the teachers for review. In Boxford and Topsfield, they recognize 6th graders as they are moving on. We need to recognize children who work well academically. Children in sports get lots of recognition. Academics achievement is for all students. Dr. Creeden explained how the Honor Roll is created and ways of achieving this. T. Buono moved to adopt the President’s Education Awards Program and the criteria set forth as discussed by Dr. Creeden for Grade 6 this year. Second by T. Cooper. Motion carried 4-0-0. C. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Development: • Advertised Public Hearing on the FY 2012 Budget: T. Buono moved to open the Public Hearing on the FY 2013 Middleton Elementary School Budget. Second by L. Saxonis. Motion carried 4-0-0. S. Greenberg took the audience through the power-point presentation and opened it session up to any questions. This will be put on the TTU and Elementary School website tomorrow morning. T. Cooper moved to close the Public Hearing on the FY 2013 Middleton Elementary School Budget. Second by L. Saxonis. Motion carried 4-0-0. • Annual Public Hearing on School Choice: T. Buono moved to open the Public Hearing on School Choice for school year 2012/2013. Second by L. Saxonis. Motion carried 4-0-0. Dr. Creeden explained the law on School Choice. The law allows districts to “opt” out on School Choice. We have never participated in School Choice because we did not have seats available. This would be the same for this year. We are looking at 80-90 new homes being built in town. This does not leave us in a position to accept “Choice”. T. Cooper moved to opt out of participation in School Choice for school year 2012/2013. Second by L. Saxonis. Motion carried 4-0-0. L. Saxonis moved to close the Public hearing on School Choice. Second by T. Cooper. Motion carried 4-0-0. • Preparation for Town Meeting: If we are going to have someone speak on Town Meeting floor, this should be requested through the Town Moderator. M. Wogan will contact the Town Moderator. We must be prepared to speak about the Math Warrant Article. 2. Tentative Organizational Design: The Tentative Organizational Design went to the teachers on Friday. They have until next week to respond on any changes. Dr. Sayer is retiring. Mrs. Butler is retiring from her Sped position. Dr. Creeden will meet with all non-professional teachers on Tuesday after vacation. 3. Policy Development: • Head Lice: It is recommended to not have a policy; this subject should be listed under procedures. Dr. Creeden explained that School Committee is still free to make their own determination about prevention and treatment. This is the first reading. T. Cooper agrees with getting rid of pinnies in gym. There should be something a little more forceful than children “may” be picked up from school. Treatment should be more explicit – there should be a proper procedure. M. Wogan feels children should be checked before they come back to school. Children’s heads should be treated and combed out. They do not want to re-infect or infect children who may not be affected. This should go back to the school nurses for discussion. Some of this may need to be presented to a larger community. This could go out in a Connect Ed message. There are a lot of differences between the two schools and parents of children in both schools. Our goal is to keep this under control. Changes should be made by the Wellness Committee. L. Saxonis suggested starting this off by having students put their jackets in their backpacks as a preventative measure. 4. Safe Routes Program: We have enrolled in the Safe Routes Program. The first “walk to school” will take place on May 2. Dr. Creeden is looking at ways to implement this at Fuller Meadow. He spoke with Dale Marshall and they decided to have the children walk out the back, into Brigadoon and then walk back to the school. Dr. Creeden has drafted a permission slip to go home to the parents. There will be two adults with every classroom. We now need to register for the event. They will send some bookmarks and balloons. The rain date will be May 9. B. Boulanger reported that M. Perkins and G. Marques have taken the lead at Howe-Manning. She is looking for a location. She is leaning toward Town Hall, but she must ask for permission to drop the students off there. They are looking at all the issues. 5. Tennis Program: M. Wogan would like to add tennis to the P.E., Exploration Station or After-School programs. The USTA offers a school program that is fantastic. If we bring it into two programs, we will get lots of stuff. Northeast Tennis will work with the town on this. USTA also offers a program where they will come out and line the black top and court areas. M. Wogan is asking for School Committee support to bring the initial program to the school. T. Cooper moved to support this initiative for tennis to be brought to the school. Second by L. Saxonis. Motion carried 4-0-0. Dr. Creeden and M. Wogan will talk to Mr. Husson about bringing this program to the schools. 6. Correspondence: Dr. Creeden informed the Committee that the “Vegetable Garden” project at Fuller Meadow has had some volunteers. Gretchen has been working hard on this. We have a gift from Family Medicine Associates. A couple of locations have been identified at Howe-Manning but they are still looking. They have a staff member at Howe-Manning who is willing to work on this. 7. Other: Steve Clifford is out on medical leave. He had successful surgery on Friday. Dr. Creeden and S. Greenberg will be filling in for him. MASC Charting the Course for new members will be held on April 28 at the Greater Lawrence Technical School in No. Andover. M. Wogan reported on the Hero Program. They did not do much this year because of the Olweus program. If anyone wants to do something at the end of the year, we have a full credit of $360 to come up with something. Middleton’s “Get Moving” Frisbees were part of the credit. The Principals should let M. Wogan know their thoughts. T. Cooper asked if we should have a review of Olweus before the end of the year to be sure things are working. D. CONSENT AGENDA: 1. Approval of Minutes: T. Buono moved to approve the Minutes of March 26, 2012 as amended. Second by T. Cooper. Page 3; second paragraph, remove the last two sentences and replace with: “It is a School Committee responsibility to make the decision that is safest for the children given our circumstances. Under the second bullet: Add the following at the end of the first paragraph: Factors that contributed to the challenges this year include: (Move items 1, 2 and 3 up to this paragraph). Move the second paragraph into the third paragraph after the second sentence and remove the last sentence: “Some suggestions were”. Page 4: item #1, second sentence, add the words “on learning” after the word “time”. Motion carried 4-0-0. 2. Approval of Payroll and Bill Warrants: T. Buono moved to approve the following Payroll and Bill Warrants: Second by T. Cooper. Payroll Warrant dated 4/12/12 in the amount of $266,090.15 Bill Warrant #BW 1225 dated 4/9/12 in the amount of $37,174.34 Bill Warrant #BW 1225A dated 4/9/12 in the amount of $3,727.34 Bill Warrant #BW 1225 Café dated 4/9/12 in the amount of $7,325.92 Bill Warrant #BW 1225 Café Meal Tax dated 4/9/12 in the amount of $9.49 Bill Warrant #TTU1215 dated 4/3/12 in the amount of $629.46 Motion carried 4-0-0. T. Buono moved to accept a $200 gift check from Family Medicine Assoc. for the Fuller Meadow Vegetable Garden. Second by L. Saxonis. Motion carried 4-0-0. E. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, T. Buono moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:18 p.m. Second by L. Saxonis. Motion carried 4-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Mary Farley Recording Secretary As per the new Open Meeting Law, listed below are the documents that were either distributed to the MSC before the meeting in a packet, or at the meeting: 1. Agenda 2. Minutes of March 26, 2012 3. Superintendent’s Report 4. Copy of Memo from M. Wogan - Re: New Wellness Initiative 5. M.G.L Chapter 76 on School Attendance 6. Tentative Classroom Organizational Design for 2012/2013 7. Copy of Memo from T. Buono to M. Karas at DOT 8. School Committee Annual Report 9. Middleton Elementary Schools FY 2013 Operating Budget Public Hearing PowerPoint Presentation Report 10. Samples of Academic Achievement Recognition Programs 11. Bill Warrant Approval Sheet |