| MSC Preliminary Minutes October 8, 2009 |
| DRAFT PRELIMINARY MINUTES MIDDLETON SCHOOL COMMITTEE FULLER MEADOW NATHAN MEDIA CENTER REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 8, 2009 The regular meeting of the Middleton School Committee was held on Thursday, October 8, 2009 in the Fuller Meadow Nathan Media Center, 143 South Main Street, Middleton, MA. MEMBERS PRESENT: Teresa Buono, Chairperson; Deirdre Donarumo, Rock Mastrangelo and James Pearl Absent: Richard Harris OTHERS PRESENT: Dr. Bernard F. Creeden, Superintendent; Dr. Malvena Baxter and Michelle Fitzpatrick, Principals; and Mary Farley, Recording Secretary A. ROUTINES: 1. Pledge of Allegiance: Recited by everyone present. 2. Remarks from the Public: None 3. Reports from Other Committees: • School Building Committee: T. Buono reported on the Open Forum held on September 15, 2009. The purpose of this forum was to provide the community with an update on the project. The first part of the meeting was for abutters to ask questions. The Design Development Subcommittee met this morning. The drawings have progressed. The process is moving along. Decisions about elevation and site development must be ready because they will be going to the Planning Board and Board of Appeals for preliminary review. The subcommittee spent several hours looking at the interior and where the wiring will go for the technology. The full MSBC will be meeting next Tuesday night. Dr. Creeden will be meeting with the staff at How-Manning to review their response and input. They hope to make some decisions about where hardware will be mounted for ceiling projectors, interactive SmartBoard technology, and telephone technology. Location of these items is coming up for discussion next Tuesday. There will also be discussion on elimination of the playground and preserving the memorials that are already on the field. There was a meeting at 4:00 today with the low bidder for the road construction. We are waiting for a letter from Danvers Electric for permission to go under the power lines. The other piece is looking at the traffic pattern during arrival and departure from the Howe-Manning School. They discussed strategies about how best to do this. Coming out of today’s meeting were recommendations for some signage to help police this. The plan is to have cars come around Park Street for drop-off and pick-up by leaving the gate open. This will happen on November 24. J. Pearl moved to change the drop-off and pick-up procedure at Howe-Manning for a trial period from October 19 to November 25, by having the cars come around Park Street through the gat at the end. The gate will be left open for this. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 4-0-0. B. REPORTS: 1. Report of the Building Principals: M. Fitzpatrick gave an oral report. Dr. Baxter reviewed her written report. 2. Report of the Director of Finance and Human Resources: • DESE End of Year Financial Report: Dr. Creeden reviewed Steven Greenberg’s written report which was included in the packet. This report is designed to show income and expenditures. It done in a specific reporting format designed by the State. Department Heads in Middleton will be meeting next week to discuss potential reductions in local aid and how that will affect us at the local level. S. Greenberg continues to work with First Student on the transportation. It seems to be running smoothly. 3. Report of the Superintendent: • Mandatory Conflict of Interest and Ethics Training for Elected Officials and Municipal Employees: Town Clerks will have to certify that all employees have had training in Conflict of Interest Laws. It is a training module that was designed for State employees. There are 25 sections with 25 questions in it. At the completion of the questions, you print out a page to sign and return to the school. The Superintendent will see that it gets to the Town Clerk. • Official Enrollment – October 1, 2009: The October 1 Enrollment Report is included in the packet. Kindergarten enrollment is much smaller that what we had in previous years and less that what we expected. • MASS/MASC Fall Conference: This will be held on November19-21 in Hyannis. Anyone wishing to attend should contact Antonette Valcourt in the Superintendent’s Office. She will make reservations. • MCAS 2009 Local and Statewide Results: Dr. Creeden reviewed the MCAS results and where we placed. Dr. C. also did a DESE brief tutorial on measuring growth in student performance on MCAS. C. NEW BUSINESS: 1. H1N1 Flu Planning Update: Dr. Creeden reported that he has attended several planning meetings. We are very fortunate to have the nursing staff and the public officials for H1N1 planners, working with the three towns. There is another meeting tomorrow morning. They are planning to have a regular H1N1 vaccination clinic. In the meantime, hand washing, sanitizing and not touching your face will be stressed. The vaccination program will be two-fold this year. The seasonal flu vaccination clinic will be held on October 24. This is for residents only, not staff. If you or you child has a fever of 100.4 and a cough or sore throat, you should stay home. Return to work or school only after you are free from fever for 24 hours after you have stopped taking medicine or fever reducers. Continuity of Operation: It is expected that we will continue to move on regardless of the number of absences. Information on this is on the Superintendent’s blog. Connect Ed technology is used for weekly reporting on every Monday. H1N1 School Setting Clinic will be held at Masconomet on a weekend so parents can come with minor children. This is contingent on the availability of the vaccine. Right now, it looks like it will not be until November. 2. Planning for K-12 and Tri-Town Union Meetings: Possible agenda topics are on the table tonight. 3. School Committee Strategic Plan Update 2009-2012: The version with track changes has been sent to everyone. • The method of recognizing student academic achievement has been added to the handbook. • Regionalization Study Recommendations will be discussed at the Tri-Town Union meeting. • It is important to have another Open Forum on the new building project and to talk about Regionalization and see what their feelings on this are. This is not to say that we are going forward with this, but to let people know what the study found. • We need to focus on instituting an Advisory Committee as we go forward with the new building to look at the impact on both campuses. At the next meeting, we will put together a charge for the Advisory Committee. • We should discuss Goal #12 again and talk about things we might like or want to do. 4. Student Handbook: The Student Handbook is finished. T. Buono will send this on to Dr. Creeden to post on the webpage and send to families. The sign-off sheets will be printed separately. Several copies of the handbook will be printed for families who want hard copies. We will send the sign-off sheets home via backpack. 5. Correspondence: A letter was received from the Teachers’ Association with an invitation to enter into negotiations for a successor agreement. 6. Other: None D: CONSENT AGENDA: 1. Approval of Minutes: R. Mastrangelo moved to approve the Minutes of September 10, 2009 as amended. Second by J. Pearl. On page 2, first bullet, seventh line down, change the word “being” to “be”. Fourth bullet, in second from the last sentence, change “Brad Jones” to “Board of Selectmen”. Motion passed 4-0-0. R. Mastrangelo moved to approve the Executive Session Minutes of September 10, 2009 as amended. Second by J. Pearl. Motion carried 4-0-0. On the recommendation of R. Harris, J. Pearl moved to release the selected Executive Session Minutes from February 6, 1992 through November 24, 2008 to Open Minutes. Second by D. Donarumo. Motion carried 4-0-0. A copy of the list is attached and will be considered part of these Minutes. 2. J. Pearl moved to approve the following Payroll and Bill Warrants. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Payroll Warrant dated 10/15/09 in the amount of $245,504.64 Bill Warrant # Sch1010 dated 10/8/09 in the amount of $93,149.18 Bill Warrant # Sch1010A dated 10/8/09 in the amount of $9,323.43 Bill Warrant # Sch1010B dated 10/8/09 in the amount of $14,614.85 Bill Warrant # Sch1010 Café dated 10/8/09 in the amount of $7,945.83 Payroll Warrant dated 10/1/09 in the amount of $250,057.42 Bill Warrant # Sch1009 dated 9/21/09 in the amount of $26,460.82 Motion carried 4-0-0. 3. Home Schooling Request: D. Donarumo moved to approve the request of the Gil family to home school their first grade child. Second by J. Pearl. Motion carried 4-0-0. Dr. Baxter has reviewed the curriculum and approved. 4. Dr. Creeden reported that we have received the last issue of the Village Reporter. This newspaper was unique in the three communities. 5. Next Meeting: There will not be a meeting on the fourth Monday of October. Dr. Creeden has a conflict on November 12, the scheduled date of the next meeting. The Committee agreed to meet on Monday, November 9. E. EXECUTIVE SESSION: At 9:30 p.m., J. Pearl moved to leave regular session and enter into Executive Session for the purpose of Preparations for Negotiations with Represented Personnel and to return to regular session for the purpose of adjournment only. Motion passed 4-0-0 on a roll call vote (J. Pearl – yes, R. Mastrangelo – yes, D. Donarumo – yes, T. Buono – yes). F. ADJOURNMENT: At 9:55 p.m. on a roll call vote, the Committee returned from Executive Session. R. Mastrangelo moved to adjourn. Second by J. Pearl. Motion carried 4-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Mary Farley Recording Secretary |