| MSC Preliminary Minutes July 22, 2009 |
| DRAFT PRELIMINARY MINUTES MIDDLETON SCHOOL COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING FULLER MEADOW NATHAN MEDIA CENTER JULY 22, 2009 The regular meeting of the Middleton School Committee was held on Thursday, July 22, 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: Bernard F. Creeden, Superintendent of Schools; Steven Greenberg, Director of Finance and Human Relations; Michelle Fitzpatrick, Principal; Sharon Lyons, Director of Special Education; Laura Glynn and Karen Clayberg, Co-Presidents, MPTO; Gail Kroll, Co-Chair, Howe-Manning School Council; and Mary Farley, Recording Secretary A. ROUTINES: 1. Call to Order: T. Buono called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. 2. Pledge of Allegiance: R. Harris led the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. Remarks from the Public: • MPTO Calendar of Events: K. Clayberg, L. Glynn of the MPTO presented the Calendar of Events for school year 2009/2010. This calendar will be pretty much the same as last year. They may schedule some “family photo days.” Families would be scheduled to come in to have the pictures taken. They may do a night out at “Giggles Comedy Club” on Rte 1. On 9/2, the PTO will sponsor a “welcome back” breakfast for teachers and staff. B. REPORTS: 1. Reports from Other Committees: The MSBC attempted to hold a meeting this past Monday night, but did not have a quorum. They did review some items with the designer. They will try to get the access road done as quickly as possible. The Board of Selectmen met last night. They assigned Vinnie Miller to fill the vacant position and named the other two candidates, Mindy Wogan and Al Rosner, as alternate members to the MSBC. This should ensure a quorum for future meetings. Bills must be signed so they can be processed for payment. The Design Development Subcommittee process is ongoing. They have met several times. They also met with the teachers and got their input. The Design Subcommittee will be going to the Conservation Commission on August 4 to discuss the access road. The next meeting of the Design Subcommittee will be Wednesday, July 29, at Town Hall to discuss the exterior of the building. They want it to flow with the work already done in the Central Street area. 2. Report of the Director of Special Education: Sharon Lyons reviewed her written report which was distributed. Twenty percent of the children in K-6 have been identified with special needs. We need to follow the state guidelines to be sure we are not over-evaluating students. We are working hand in hand with the general education program. We do not want to be too quick to push the panic button. We have not met all our requirements on the Corrective Action Plan. The only part we are still working on is ELL. We need to submit some actual translated documents. We have contracted to have them translated in five (5) different languages. S. Lyons reviewed the Municipal Medicaid Reimbursement Program; the Grant Programs; and the Summer Programs. Middleton has slightly more students than Boxford. 3. Report of the Superintendent: • Review of School Committee Organization 2009-2010: On the Organizational Design, T. Buono and R. Harris were voted as members of the MSBC. It should have been T. Buono and R. Mastrangelo. R. Harris moved to nominate R. Mastrangelo as the representative to the MSBC instead of R. Harris. Second by D. Donarumo. Motion carried 4-0-0. • Personnel Update: Dr. Creeden gave the Personnel update. The principals have been very busy recruiting new staff members. • Regionalization Study Grant Update: The final process of the review has been submitted to us. We expect to have a special meeting in early August or before the start of school. They have listened very carefully to all the parties and had an opportunity to meet with Superintendents of other districts who are going through the same process. • Revision of the School Calendar 2009-2010: The Committee needs to add an additional Teacher Professional Development Day to the 2009-2010 school calendar. At the last meeting it was suggested that we use the May election day for this. R. Harris moved to add May 17, 2010 as the additional Teacher Professional Development Day. Second by D. Donarumo. Motion carried 4-0-0. 4. Report of the Director of Finance: Steve Greenberg presented his FY 2009 Closeout. A written copy was distributed. He explained the cut in Chapter 70 funding of $168,000 and the supplanting with ARRA Stimulus money. This year, we will not have to take the offset originally planned in the FY 2009 budget preparation. He has already discussed this with the Finance Committee liaison. At this time, it is estimated that there will be a FY 2009 budget surplus of $205,132. C. NEW BUSINESS: 1. School Improvement Plan Presentations: Gail Kroll did a presentation of the Howe-Manning School Improvement Plan Goals for 2009-2010. The written copy was in the packet. 2. School Committee Planning: • School Handbook 2009-2010: T. Buono has reviewed the current version. Some of this will be removed from the hard copy and put on the website. Policies will remain in the handbook. The calendar will be in the handbook and a handout as well. She hopes to have this ready by the end of this week for review. There are some redundancies in here. T. Buono would like to go over this with Dr. Baxter. She would like to have the Discipline Policies applied to 3rd graders. • Standards Based Report Card Update: The Committee would like to devise a way to recognize academic achievement. There was much discussion and suggestions about this and how it should be done. Dr. Creeden suggested that the Committee come back to the next meeting with suggestions, using an approach that provides recognition for all student that reach academic achievement. There needs to be an explicit description. They should go back and look at what is currently said about student recognition. At 9:00 p.m., R. Harris left the meeting. 3. School Committee Policy Development: • Free and Reduced Price Guidelines 2009-2010: The new Income Eligibility Guidelines (Effective July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010) from the DESE were included in the packet. D. Donarumo moved to accept the Income Eligibility Guidelines (Effective July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010). Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 4-0-0. • Before/After School Program Fees 2009-2010: M. Fitzpatrick would like to add another option to the After School program based on the rates of the other options. D. Donarumo moved to allow the new 3 – 5:30 option be added to the After School Program. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 3-0-0. The rate sheet will be sent electronically to the members. No changes were requested in the rates. 4. Correspondence: D. CONSENT AGENDA: 1. Approval of Minutes: D. Donarumo moved to approve the Minutes of June 11, 2009 as submitted. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 3-0-0. 2. Approval of Bills and Payrolls: D. Donarumo moved to approve the following Bill and Payroll Warrants: Bill Warrant dated 7/22/09 in the amount of $18,107.47 Payroll Warrant dated 6/25/09 in the amount of $258,112.22 Payroll Warrant dated 6/25/09 (Lump Sum) in the amount of $359,752.56 Payroll Warrant dated 7/9/09 in the amount of $203,947.52 Payroll Warrant dated 7/9/09 in the amount of $26,235.24 Payroll Warrant dated 7/23/09 in the amount of $122,555.37 Bill Warrant dated 6/22/09 in the amount of $24,642.13 Bill Warrant dated 6/22/09 (cafe’) in the amount of $5,959.41 Bill Warrant dated 6/30/09 in the amount of $36,699.82 Bill Warrant dated 6/30/09 (cafe’ meal tax) in the amount of $10.67 Bill Warrant dated 7/13/09 in the amount of $8,109.74 Bill Warrant dated 7/13/09 in the amount of $21,884.53 Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 3-0-0. 3. Declaration of Surplus Equipment: D. Donarumo moved to accept the Howe-Manning Surplus Equipment List dated 7/21/09. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 3-0-0. 4. August Meeting Date: The next meeting will be held on August 27, 2009. E. EXECUTIVE SESSION: At 9:10 p.m., D. Donarumo moved to leave Regular Session and enter into Executive Session for the purpose of Preparation for Negotiations with Represented Personnel, and to return to Regular Session for the purpose of adjournment only. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 3-0-0 on a roll call vote (D. Donarumo – yes, R. Mastrangelo – yes, T. Buono – yes). F. ADJOURNMENT: At 9:18 p.m., the Committee returned to regular session for the purpose of adjournment only. R. Mastrangelo moved to adjourn. Second by D. Donarumo. Motion carried 3-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Mary Farley Recording Secretary |