| MSC Preliminary Minutes November 9, 2009 |
| DRAFT PRELIMINARY MINUTES MIDDLETON SCHOOL COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING FULLER MEADOW NATHAN MEDIA CENTER NOVEMBER 9, 2009 The regular meeting of the Middleton School Committee was held on Monday, November 9, 2009 at the Fuller Meadow Nathan Media Center, 143 South Main Street, Middleton, MA . Members Present: Teresa Buono, Chairperson, Deirdre Donarumo, Richie Harris, Rock Mastrangelo and James Pearl. Others Present: Dr. Bernard F. Creeden, Superintendent; Dr. Malvena Baxter and Michelle Fitzpatrick, Principals; Diane Carreiro, Language Arts and Math Instructional Specialist; Charlene Malek, Special Education Services Coordinator; Wendy Ryder, Special Education Evaluation Team Leader; Debbie Hale, Director of Curriculum; and Mary Farley, Recording Secretary. CALL TO ORDER: T. Buono called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. 1. Pledge of Allegiance: Everyone present recited the Pledge of Allegiance. 2. Remarks from the Public: Dr. Creeden introduced Diane Carreiro who is here for the MCAS presentation at 8:00 p.m. 3. Reports from Other Committees: • The K-12 Joint Committee Meeting was held on October 21. This meeting is held once a year for the Committees to work on curriculum alignment, the school calendars, and agreement on a broad based calendar for next year; the break between Christmas and New Years; and the February and April vacations. As of right now, we will be starting on September 1 because of the lateness of Labor Day. Also discussed were some alternatives to the February and April breaks. All four committees will be talking to their Collective Bargaining units this year. Discussion about a pre-Labor Day start and the Commissioner’s advisory that made it very clear that we will have 180 days for students. • Tri-Town Union School Committee Meeting: The main focus was the result of the Regionalization Study, and the next step forward. We do have the Regionalization Study Subcommittee. We are looking at building efficiency into the Union. The result is to continue with the subcommittee and ask that each Town have a member from each board on this subcommittee. The Committee accepted the resignation of Debbie Hale. Sharon Lyons presented her Fall Special Education Report to the committee. They discussed the requirement from MDH that parents be notified on Body Mass Index which will begin in the 2010/2011 school year. Our nurses will be ready around the time of the March Report Card Conferences. The Union Committee authorized the nurses to go forward with this so they will be ready. • Middleton School Building Committee: T. Buono reported that work has started on the access roadway for the new school. They are still going through the prequalification process with the contractor. The contract will be going out to bid at the beginning of 2010. The designer met with the department heads again to respond to some of the suggestions the Design Review Committee had. Lighting will be reviewed at tomorrow night’s meeting. The full Building Committee will meet again on November 23, 2009. B. REPORTS: 1. Report of the Building Principals: • Dr. Baxter reviewed her written report. • Michelle Fitzpatrick reviewed her written report. She also stated that a staff member asked about having an express bus that would stop at the Flint Library for students attending programs or for students to go there to work on assignments during construction. 2. Report of the Director of Finance and Human Resources: • FY 2010 State and Local Budget Update: S. Greenberg gave an overview of this year’s budget which is positive on the Special Education, Health Insurance and Salary lines. We are going to be facing some challenges. At the Middleton Special Town Meeting, Warrant Article #1 is reducing the individual Town Board’s budgets by a total of $190,094. The School Dept. share is $91,200. With a 40% reduction ($36,000) in Circuit Breaker funds, we will have a $127,000 shortfall. S. Greenberg feels we will be able to persevere. He will pull money from the Sped budget, Health Insurance and Salary lines, and will be watching the budget closely as we go forward. J. Pearl moved to reduce the FY 2010 Budget by $91,200 should this be approved at Special Town Meeting. Second by R. Harris. Motion carried 5-0-0. 3. Report of the Superintendent: • North Shore Coalition for School Funding: Dr. Creeden explained the North Shore Coalition. School Committee must vote on joining this. Dr. Creeden will contact Susan Beckman who will be at meeting on the 10th. We can ask her directly for more information. • Howe-Manning Principal Search Process: Dr. Creeden met with the Howe-Manning School Council last week and explained to them how this works and the timeframe. He will finalize this for the December meeting. He has heard directly from some people who are interested in the Principalship. The committee may look for an interim. Some extra support may be needed in the building next year. This has been discussed with George Dow, Finance Committee Liaison; and Ira Singer, Town Administrator. • H1N1 Flu Planning Update: Parent Information Session: The Planning goes on. Earlier this evening at Fuller Meadow, the three Public Health Departments combined to have a clinic for pregnant women and care givers for pregnant women. There will be more vaccine coming soon and we may be able to extend this to more people. Next week, an informational meeting for parents in Boxford will be held. In the report from October 30, over 261 cases of ILI were reported among staff and students. This week, Nov. 6, the number dropped from 261 to 153. This will be ongoing. C. NEW BUSINESS: 1. MCAS 2009 Local Results Analysis and Improvement Plan: Diane Carreiro, Debbie Hale, Charlene Malek and Wendy Ryder appeared before the Committee for this Middleton MCAS Growth Model Power-Point Slide Presentation. D. Carreiro explained the Data as it was shown. This power-point presentation will be put up on the website. 2. Creation of a Committee to Advise the Superintendent on the Operation of the Howe-Manning School During Construction: M. Fitzpatrick reported that Mary Saunders has taken every student from Howe-Manning to the Flint Library at least one time this year. By building that connection, it will allow us certain opportunities. We will have to look at a variety of impacts. Dr. Creeden explained that we will need an Advisory Committee to the Superintendent. R. Harris moved to establish an Advisory Committee for Dr. Creeden on the operation of Howe-Manning during construction. Second by J. Pearl. Motion carried 4-0-0. 3. MSC Strategic Plan - Communication Using the New Town Web Page and Revised School Web Page, Channel 22 and Constant Contact: Dr. Creeden explained about the teacher’s web pages. When we make the transfer over, posting will be easily approached. Training will be held next week on how to manage web presence. The virtual Town Hall will have the capacity and the capability to control what we have on channel 22 from a local point. Constant Contact: A survey will be going to the staff. We will be able to have data by demographic distinction that will be very effective. Newsletter format: Email marketing will ultimately include the two school newsletters. Eventually, we will be able to make that transition. Strategic Plan for Communications: We have also updated Blackboard Connect. We now have all teachers’ email addresses on it. 4. Correspondence: Every public employee of the Commonwealth is required by the new State Conflict of Interest Laws to go to their website and take a test. There are twenty-five scenarios they must respond to. This will have to be done every two years. This is disclosure by elected School Committee members. The test must be completed and the form provided must be returned to the Town Clerk. 5. Policy Review - Naming New Facilities (FF): The written policy is in the packet. This will be discussed at the Board of Selectmen meeting tomorrow night to see if they have a policy on naming schools; the authority and responsibility of; and the process of. There may be something the Town’s By-Laws that may determine this also. This is something that we must have determined. Dr. Creeden explained the School Committee process. The school has always been referred to as Howe-Manning. That should be affirmed. We must determine the appropriate process. J. Pearl moved that it is the consensus of the School Committee to go on record and to follow Policy for keeping the name of Howe-Manning for the new school. If there are different or competing policies for this, the issue must be reconciled. Second by R. Harris. Motion carried 5-0-0. 6. Other: None D. CONSENT AGENDA: 1. Approval of Minutes: J. Pearl moved to approve the Minutes of October 8, 2009 as amended. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Page 1, under #3, first bullet, sixth sentence: change “How-Manning” to “Howe-Manning”. In the next paragraph, last sentence, change last sentence to read, “This will happen until November 24”. Next paragraph, first sentence: change the word “gat” to “gate”. Page 2, Item B, #2, first bullet, third sentence: add the word “was” after the word “it”. Next paragraph, first sentence: add the word “service” after the word “transportation”. Item #3, second bullet, first sentence, change the word “that” to “than”. Item C, #1, second sentence, change the word “planners” to “planning”. Page 3, item #3, first bullet: remove the whole sentence. Motion carried 4-0-1 (R. Harris abstained). E. EXECUTIVE SESSION: At 9:45 p.m., R. Harris moved to enter executive Session for the Purpose of Preparation for Negotiations with Represented Personnel and to return to open session for the purpose of adjournment only. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 5-0-0 on a roll call vote (D. Donarumo – yes, J. Pearl – yes, R. Harris – yes, R. Mastrangelo – yes, T. Buono – yes). F. ADJOURNMENT: At 10:25 p.m., on a 5-0-0 roll call vote, the Committee returned to open session for the purpose of adjournment only. J. Pearl moved to adjourn. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 5-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Mary Farley Recording Secretary |