| MSC Permanent Minutes November 15, 2010 |
| PERMANENT MINUTES MIDDLETON SCHOOLCOMMITTEE FULLER MEADOW NATHAN MEDIA CENTER REGULAR MEETING NOVEMBER 15, 2010 The regular meeting of the Middleton School Committee was held on November 15, 2010 in the Fuller Meadow Nathan Media Center, 143 South Main Street, Middleton, MA. At 7:55 p.m., on a 4-0-0 roll call vote, the School Committee moved from Executive Session to Regular Session. Members Present: Teresa Buono, Chairperson, Mindy Wogan, Maria Scarpa, Deirdre Donarumo Tasha Cooper arrived later. Others Present: Dr. Bernard Creeden, Superintendent; Steven Greenberg, Director of Finance and Human Resources; Sharon Lyons, Director of Special Education; Betsy Boulanger and Diane Carreiro, Principals; Charlene Malek, Melissa Shoer, ELL Specialist; and Mary Farley, Recording Secretary Teresa Buono called the meeting to order at 7:58 p.m. A. EXECUTIVE SESSION: This was held prior to the Regular Meeting. B. ROUTINES: 1. Pledge of Allegiance: Everyone present recited the Pledge of Allegiance. 2. Remarks from the Public: None C. REPORTS: 1. Reports from Other Committees: • School Building Committee: T. Buono reported that everything is still on schedule. Members of the Building Committee visited the Paul Revere School last week. Our ultimate goal is to be ready to go to bid in December for furniture for the Library, office suite and gym. • M. Wogan reported that the next MSBC meeting will be next Monday, November 22. The Donate-a-Brick program will end on November 19. To date, we have 64 forms. We must let the architect know where we are with this. We would like to get 500 bricks. Forms are available online. T. Buono will send out a Connect Ed message on Wednesday. • Wellness Committee (Update): The Wellness Committee met last Tuesday. M. Scarpa reported that they had a good showing. They discussed school celebration ideas. The school nurses were there. N. Jones will look into switching the school lunch and recess program. This group is looking to getting things done. T. Buono stated the next Wellness Committee Coalition meeting will be at the beginning of December. • Anti-Bullying Advisory Committee (Update): • Holiday Hero Program: This program is going to launch soon. Children can bring in $1.00 of their own earned money, and parents can donate a toy. • Power of One Performance: This is an international theatre troop. The program focuses on bystanders. Our thought is to use the money donated by Ross Pergament to bring this to our schools. It is not that expensive; under $800 to do both schools. We will try to get them in at the beginning of the new year. 2. Report of the Building Principals: Diane Carreiro, Acting Principal of Fuller Meadow, and Betsy Boulanger, Principal of Howe-Manning, reviewed their written reports which were in the packet. 3. Report of the Superintendent: • Dr. Creeden reported that Tom Sawchuk, Head Custodian at Howe-Manning is out on a medical leave for at least three weeks. • We are working on A. Torosian’s return from Maternity Leave. We have request from A. Libby and A. Torosian to job share. This would be ideal. The alternative would be to have an abrupt change mid-year. 4. Report of the Director of Finance: S. Greenberg had to leave to attend to something at home. He was going to speak on the number of requests for financial aid this year from families with children in our programs. We are trying to come up with a consistent approach to respond to families due to the economic situation. Previously, we looked at it on a case by case basis. We are asking for a standardized approach. There is a Child Care Circuit program, but they can only help if it is a five day program. Another resource, “Invest in People” is offering help to people on a short term basis. We did put families in touch with this organization. Dr. Creeden would like feedback on this. He will put together a list of available resources to give to families in need. 5. Report of the Director of Facilities: S. Clifford’s written report was distributed tonight. D. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Preschool Program Options for 2011-2012: S. Lyons stated that there will be new preschool options for school year 2011/2012. The market has changed and the needs of families have gone in a different direction. S. Lyons is looking for School Committee approval for a “lunch buddies” program. Her written report on the options and rates for Preschool 2011/2012 was included in the packet. If enough Middleton families do not sign up for the Preschool Program next year, we would look to opening it up to some staff members. The Topsfield School Committee opted to do that this year. T. Cooper moved to approve all five (5) of S. Lyons’ requests for the 2011/2012 Preschool Program and to approve her to inform parents of the extended day options. Second by M. Wogan. Motion carried 5-0-0. 2. Policy Development: Bullying Prevention and Intervention Policy - JICFB: The following changes have been made: Page 1, Item 1 Bullying, add the words, “severe or” before the words “repeated use”. Page 1, the last paragraph on Cyber-bullying has been added. Page 4, Item B. Investigations: the following have been added (ii) and (vii). T. Buono stated that the Advisory Group put together an Instant Report Form which will be attached to the Bullying Prevention Policy. T. Cooper moved to change the definition of bullying to “severe or repeated” use, and to approve the other changes that were made. Second by M. Scarpa. Motion carried 5-0-0. This will be put up on the website for people to comment on. Bullying and Intervention Plan: This format follows the model plan the DESE sent out. The Superintendents agreed to share their documents. We will send the Advisory Committee Report along with the Plan. M. Scarpa moved to accept the Middleton Public Schools Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan - Public Comment Draft dated 11/15/10 as the draft for public comment. Second by M. Wogan. Motion carried 5-0-0. 3. Policy Review: • Policies ACE and ADF should be excluded from this section. M. Scarpa moved to state that on 11/15/10 the Middleton School Committee reviewed and made no changes to the following policies: AA, AB, ACE, ADA, ADDA, ADDA-1, ADC, and AE. Second by M. Wogan. Motion carried 5-0-0. Dr. Creeden will ask the Wellness Committee to come back with their recommendations on the Wellness Policy. When reviewing Policy ACAB, hazing will be added. • Fuller Meadow Report Card Revisions: A copy of the K-3 Report Card was included in the packet. Christine Elliott and the Report Card Committee put this together. The School Committee recommended making some changes to the report card, eliminating specific units, making the report card more consistent K-3. The intermediate level report card will be reviewed at another time. There was discussion about the changes to the Grade 2 Report Card. The track changes are shown on the Report Card for Committee review. There was more discussion about the Report Cards. M. Wogan moved to accept the revisions to the Grade 2 Report Card. Second by D. Donarumo. Motion carried 5-0-0. • Grade Four Homework Policy Language: B. Boulanger would like to make changes to the Homework Policy for Grade 4. This revision would provide consistency in homework expectations across the grade level. Currently, each team of three teachers has a different policy. The homework recommendation is follows: Monday and Wednesday: Literacy – 25 minutes and Math – 20 minutes. Tuesday and Thursday: Literacy – 15 minutes, Math – 20 minutes and Sci/SS – 10 minutes. M. Scarpa moved to accept the proposed Homework Policy Changes as presented by B. Boulanger. Second by T. Cooper. Motion carried 5-0-0 4. MCAS 2010 and NCLB AYP Results Analysis (Part Two): This was a collaborative effort presented by Christine Elliot. This PowerPoint presentation showed the Middleton Student Achievement and MCAS Improvement Plan dated November 15, 2010. A printed copy of this is in the packet. 5. M. Shoer, ELL Specialist, spoke on English Language Learners and her program for these students. 6. School Committee Annual Review; • District Goals 2010-2011- Final Action D. Donarumo moved to accept the District Goals for 2010-1022 as presented. Second by M. Wogan. Motion carried 5-0-0. 7. Correspondence: Dr. Creeden reported that a letter was received from the U.S. Office of Civil Rights with their description of Bullying Prevention and Intervention. Dr. Creeden reported that Masconomet has adopted a hotline for anonymous bullying reporting. Cost is 82 cents per student. They looked at several other options, but they all had some way that people could figure out who made the report. E. CONSENT AGENDA: 1. Approval of Minutes: M. Scarpa moved to approve the Minutes of October 14, 2010 as amended. Second by T. Cooper. Page 1, under Others Present, put an upper case M on Mary (Farley). Under A, #2, change the last words “Registration Act” to “program”. In the third paragraph, remove the words “Katherine and”. Page 2, under the first bullet, change the word “monumental” to “Monument”. Under the second bullet, fourth sentence, change “He” to “Diane Carreiro”. Motion carried 5-0-0. 2. Approval of Bill and Payroll Warrants: M. Scarpa moved to approve the following Payroll and Bill Warrants: Payroll dated 11/24/10 in the amount of $252,820.83 Bill Warrant #1114 dated 11/15/10 in the amount of $43,258.42 Bill Warrant #1114A dated 11/15/10 in the amount of $8,523.29 Bill Warrant #1114 Café dated 11/15/10 in the amount of $8,176.57 Bill Warrant #1114 Café Meal Tax in the amount of $6.25 Bill Warrant #TTU 1105 in the amount of $1,667.17 Motion carried 5-0-0. M. Scarpa moved to accept the following Bill and Payroll Warrants: Payroll Warrant dated 10/28/10 in the amount of $256,326.79 Payroll Warrant dated 11/11/10 in the amount of $259,458.08 Bill Warrant #BW1112 dated 10/21/10 in the amount of 17,742.27 Bill Warrant #BW1112A dated 10/21/10 in the amount of $1,100.00 Bill Warrant #BW1112 Café dated 10/21/10 in the amount of $6,886.45 Bill Warrant #BW1113 dated 11/1/10 in the amount of 43,878.91 Bill Warrant #TTU1104 dated 10/21/10 in the amount of $1,162.51 Motion carried 5-0-0. F. ADJOURNMENT: At 10:40 p.m., there being no further business, M. Wogan moved to adjourn. Second by M. Scarpa. Motion carried 5-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Mary Farley Recording Secretary |