| MSC Preliminary Minutes April 9, 2009 |
| DRAFT PRELIMINARY MINUTES MIDDLETONS CHOOL COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING FULLER MEADOW NATHAN MEDIA CENTER APRIL 9, 2009 The regular meeting of the Middleton School Committee was held on Thursday, April 9, 2009 in the Fuller Meadow Nathan Media Center, 143 South Main Street, Middleton, MA. Members Present: Teresa Buono, Chairperson; Deirdre Donarumo, Richard Harris and Rock Mastrangelo. Absent: James Pearl Others Present: Dr. Bernard Creeden, Superintendent; Steven Greenberg, Director of Finance and H.R., Michelle Fitzpatrick, Principal; Debra Hale, Director of Curriculum; and Mary Farley, Recording Secretary. Absent: Dr. Malvena Baxter T. Buono called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. A. ROUTINES: 1. Pledge of Allegiance: The Pledge of Allegiance was led by R. Harris and recited by everyone present. 2. Remarks from the Public: None 3. Reports from Other Committees: • Middleton School Building Committee (MSBC): T. Buono reported that a lot has been going on since the School Committee last met. People within the community started a pilot committee of the official committee registered with the Town Clerk under the name of the NOW Committee. They have been distributing flyers. One member wrote a letter to the editor which should be published on a flyer. The town has been selected to receive $15.5 million towards the cost of building the new school. The MSBC needs to have an informational meeting with the community. The funding needs to be explained. The $15.5 million is almost half of the total cost of the project. Members of the MSBC met with the Finance Committee. They will recommend the Warrant Article at Town Meeting. The Board of Selectmen will also recommend the Warrant Article. Members of the MSBC will be meeting with the Master Plan Committee and the Conservation Commission in the near future. The MSC needs to take action this evening on making a recommendation as well. R. Harris moved that the Middleton School Committee approve Article #15 of the 2009 Annual Town Meeting Warrant for the new school building project and to approve the funding from MSBA. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 4-0-0. The open informational meeting will be held on May 4 in the Howe-Manning School Gym at 7:30 p.m. There will be a ten minute presentation and the remainder of the time will be to respond to questions from the community. The MSBC would like to video this meeting so it can be shown again on cable. The MSBC will invite a staff member from MSBA to the May 4 meeting to explain how the Board and the funding works. • Report on the Regionalization Study Grant: S. Greenberg conducted interviews with Future Management and NESDEC. Future Management was awarded the contract. There will be a meeting with them in May to go over the needs of the study. Dr. Creeden explained what the study will entail. • Senator Tarr will be holding a forum on regionalization on Monday afternoon at the Lawrence Eagle office. Dr. Creeden and S. Greenberg will be attending that forum. B. REPORTS: 1. Report of the Building Principals: M. Fitzpatrick reviewed her written report which was included in the packet. She also presented the data from the surveys on the new report card. She reported on Nature’s Classroom for 2009/2010. In Dr. Baxter’s absence, Dr. Creeden spoke to her written report which was also included in the packet. 2. New Mandate: Dr. Creeden reported to the Committee that the next mandate coming forth is reporting on the body mass index for students in Grades 1, 4, 7 and 10. Parents will have the right to opt their children out of this. 3. Report of the Superintendent: Data on the NCLB report card has just been released. The 18 pages for our district will be posed on the web page. Some hard copies will be available in the school offices. There will be an addendum to the newsletter next week. Dr. Creeden will post last years results for people who may want to look at prior years. 4. There will be no action on the last day of school which should be June 24. This will be voted at the meeting on May 7. C. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Report Card Revision Update: The second term report cards have gone out. The surveys were done and we have the results. D. Hale reported that the Report Card Committee and the School Councils will meet and decide whether to go forward as a joint committee or as two separate committees. There was a 20% parent response to the survey. General survey results are neutral. Item #19 had the strongest reaction – 3.4 of the parents. Parents are in favor of more time and additional conferences. There was a little bit of difference in the results between Howe-Manning and Fuller Meadow. Parent comments show that the Committee has more work to do. It has taken more than a year to get this much done. M. Fitzpatrick stated that the honor roll is incredibly important to the children. How can they tell who made honor roll with number grades? The Report Card Committee will review the comments on these surveys. We need to look more at learner qualities. The Report Card Committee will report back to the School Committee after their review. There was discussion about Progress Reports. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of children and parents feel that the honor roll is important. This is something we should try to enhance. Grades and numbers need to be clearly defined so that children and parents understand them. D. Hale and M. Fitzpatrick will go back to the Report Card Committee with this. 2. Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Development: • Advertised Public Hearing on FY 2010 Budget: R. Harris moved to open the Public Hearing on the Middleton Elementary School’s FY 2010 Operating Budget. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 4-0-0. Dr. Creeden presented the Power Point presentation of the FY 2010 budget and explained all the details of how the School Committee got to this point. He explained that we have not heard from MSBA on funding for Maintenance of Buildings. We need a 2/3 vote for the funding of the new school at the Annual Town Meeting and a simple majority at the annual election on May 18. The FY 2010 budget is a level funded budget at this point in time. There were no questions from the Committee and there was no one present from the community. R. Harris moved to close the Public Hearing on the Middleton Elementary School’s Fiscal Year 2010 Operating Budget. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 4-0-0. • Advertised Public Hearing on School Choice for school year 2009/2010. R. Harris moved to open the Public Hearing on School Choice for school year 2009/2010. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 4-0-0. The School Committee must make a decision on whether or not they want to be a School Choice community and open up seating to children who are not residents of the town. Looking at the present enrollment we have and the number of students with disabilities and those on IEP’s, Dr. Creeden recommended that Middleton not be a School Choice community. We do not have the space. There were no questions from the Committee and there was no one present from the community. R. Harris moved that Middleton Elementary Schools not be a School Choice community because we do not have the space. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 4-0-0. R. Harris moved to close the Public Hearing on School Choice. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 4-0-0. • Preparation for Town Meeting: Dr. Creeden explained that Town Meeting is on May 12, and the first Thursday in May is May 7. This may be the one opportunity to meet before Town Meeting. We will prepare some talking points for School Committee members to address questions from the audience. S. Greenberg will put this together and sent it out electronically. After Article 15 has been voted on, T. Buono will speak to Article 16, and R. Harris will address Articles 17 and 18. • ARRA Stimulus Funds: In the packet, there is a copy of the AARA Stimulus Fund slides. We will be getting the money in two different rounds. School Committee will have the say on how we apply those funds. In May, a team of two to five people from DESE will come to visit us. Dr. Creeden will set this up. 4. Organizational Design for 2009-2010: The tentative organizational design will be posted on Monday due to the Holiday. There are five open positions. 5. Policy Development: KBB – NCLB Title I Parent/Guardian Involvement Policy: All communities that accept Title I funds must have a policy. Most of this comes largely from the state based on what the federal guidelines are. It is mostly a description of what we are already doing. R. Harris moved to approve Policy KBB – NCLB Title I District Wide Parent/Guardian Involvement Policy. Second by D. Donarumo. Motion carried 4-0-0. 6. T. Buono stated that the Annual Report FAQ’s were finalized and approved by the Office of Campaign and Political Finance and will be distributed with the Town Warrant. The Annual Report will also include the Three Year District Goals. This will all be sent via email and will also go out with the Annual Town Report. R. Harris moved to distribute the Annual Report, the Three Year District Goals and the FAQ’s to the school community. Second by D. Donarumo. Motion carried 4-0-0. 7. Correspondence: None 8. Other: None D. CONSENT AGENDA: 1. Approval of Minutes: D. Donarumo moved to approve the Minutes of March 12, 2009 as amended. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Page 2, under item C, #1, first sentence, change the word Site Council to School Council. Motion carried 3-0-1 (R. Harris abstained). 2. Approval of Bills and Payroll: R. Harris moved to approve Payroll Warrant dated 4/16/09 in the amount of $245,842.23. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 3-0-1 (R. Harris abstained). R. Harris moved to approve the following Bill Warrants. Second by D. Donarumo. Bill Warrant #0919 dated 4/0/09 in the amount of $97,228.53 Bill Warrant #0919A dated 4/9/09 in the amount of $2,176.30 Bill Warrant #0919 Café Meal Tax dated 3/25/09 in the amount of $16.35. Motion carried 4-0-0. E. EXECUTIVE SESSION: At 9:00 pm, R. Harris moved to enter into Executive Session for the purpose of Preparation for Negotiations with Represented and Non-Represented Personnel. Second by R. Mastrangelo. On a roll call vote, motion carried 4-0-0 (D. Donarumo – yes, R. Harris – yes, R. Mastrangelo – yes, and T. Buono – yes). F. ADJOURNMENT: At 9:35 pm, on a 4-0-0 roll call vote, the Committee returned from Executive Session for the purpose of adjournment. R. Harris moved to adjourn. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 4-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Mary Farley Recording Secretary |