| TSC Preliminary Minutes June 3, 2009
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Preliminary Minutes
Topsfield School Committee
Proctor School Library
June 3, 2009
7:30 P.M.
Members Present: Susan Archer, Rosemarie Lucey, Rebecca. Brockelman and Jeanine Cunniff.
Others Present: Dr. Bernard Creeden, Trudy Dooner, Kerry Kaplon, Sharon Lyons, Michelle Costa, Heidi Fox, Sarah O’Leary, Amy Markos, Lyndsay Lantz, Debbie Hale, Nancy Swan, Karen Dow, Kathy Curran and Dawn Cobak.
Absent: Jeff Evaul
The meeting was called to order at 7:33 p.m. by J. Cunniff.
A. ROUTINES:
1. Remarks from the Public: None
2. Reports from Other Committees: J. Cunniff stated that the Playground Committee raised $16,000 from the recent Walk-a-Thon.
The Tri-Town Union Committee will meet on June 9th at Proctor School at 7:30 pm. There will be a meeting of the Regionalization Committee prior to that meeting at 6:30pm, also at the Proctor School.
3. Reports of the Building Principals: Reports from T. Dooner and K. Kaplon were distributed in the packet and reviewed at the meeting.
4. Report of the Director of Special Education: Sharon Lyons was present to review her report, which was included in the packet. S. Lyons reviewed the Special Education Programs as well as planning needs for FY2010. The Summer Programs, for roughly 200 children, will be held solely in Topsfield this year (previously a few children attended a YMCA program in Beverly). S. Lyons reported that the Town is now fully compliant with the DESE after the Coordinated Program Review. S. Lyons reviewed ARRA/IDEA funding, as well as what a portion of the money will be put towards.
S. Lyons presented an issue to the Committee involving a student from out of district, who would like to attend one of the Language Learning Centers in Topsfield. S. Lyons has received a referral packet from the city in which this child resides. S. Lyons felt that this student would be a good fit into the LLC and recommended that the committee approve this student’s acceptance.
Motion by S. Archer to approve the acceptance of the out of district student into the LLC. Second by R. Brockelman. Motion carried 4-0-0.
Motion by R. Brockelman to communicate to the other district that the tuition will be set in the range of $24,500 - $29,500 subject to further number crunching and the number of students attending the program. Second by S. Archer. Motion carried 4-0-0.
5. Report of the Superintendent
• Regionalization Study Update: There will be a meeting of the Regionalization Committee on June 9, at 6:30pm at the Proctor School Library.
• Tentative Teaching Assignments 2009-2010: Dr. Creeden reviewed the list of tentative teacher assignments, which was included in the packet. Dr. Creeden reviewed the list of staff who will not be returning due to reductions in force due to the Fy2010 budget.
• Grade 6 Social Studies Materials: Lindsay Lanty, Debbie Hale and Amy Hinckley were present to review the proposed Grade 6 Social Studies materials. These teachers, along with the Dir. Of Curriculum have been researching curriculum over the past year and have determined that Exploring our World, by Glencoe/McGraw-Hill would be the best curriculum for Topsfield.
Motion by S. Archer to approve the 6th Grade Social Studies Adoption as presented. Second by R. Brockelman. Motion carried 4-0-0.
NEW BUSINESS
1. School Improvement Plan Presentations: T. Dooner presented the School Improvement Plan for Steward School, and focused on new items such as Response to Intervention, multi-age classrooms, diversity, Green Awareness, more information on the Steward School website, Blackboard Connect and shared expertise. K. Kaplon presented the School Improvement Plan for Proctor School and focused as well on RTI, establishment of a district wide assessment calendar, Grade 6 social studies curriculum best practices, monitoring internet social sites, professional development, kinesthetic science instruction, DARE, communication regarding student health needs and continued evaluation of the five person custodial model.
2. Student Parent Handbook RY 2009-2010: K. Kaplon will update the current handbook, which was distributed in the packet. Committee members were urged to send any comments, changes, etc. to K. Kaplon via e-mail for discussion at the next meeting. Committee members would like to see policies regarding cyber-bullying and bus monitoring for bullying.
3. FY 2009 Budget Closeout: S. Greenberg reviewed the Budget close-Out memo for FY2009. At this time, the budget projection ends in a surplus of just over $100,000. Due to the funds needing to be depleted by July 1, S. Greenberg recommended to the Committee that they grant Dr. Creeden discretion to manage the disbursement of the funds. Any spending of the surplus funds would be in conjunction with the wishes of the School Committee. Dr. Creeden will be meeting with the building principals to discuss how to move forward with the surplus funding. A portion of the money can be used to pre-pay special education tuition for Fy2010 or to purchase supplies for schools, such as paper.
Motion by R. Brockelman to authorize Dr. Creeden and S. Greenberg to present the School Committee with priorities for spending and purchasing minus money previously committed to the Town. Second by S. Archer. Motion carried 4-0-0.
• Status of Instrumental Music: A memo was distributed in the packet regarding Band and General Music Staffing for 2009-2010. Parents will be informed of the new cost of instrumental music lessons.
• Status of FY2010 State Budget: Dr. Creeden stated that local aid figures are still unknown, yet more information should be forthcoming in the near future.
• Status of ARRA 2009 Stimulus Fund Grants: See Sharon Lyons report for more details.
4. Correspondence: Dr. Creeden had received an invitation for the Topsfield School Committee to attend the Masconomet graduation ceremony.
5. Other: Dr. Creeden briefly reviewed the status of the H1N1 virus in the Town. At this time, there has been no reason to consider closing school. Parents have received information in the backpacks as to signs to look for, as well as instructions for keeping infected children home.
D. CONSENT AGENDA:
1. Bills and Payrolls:
Motion by R. Brockelman to approve the following as read by J. Cunniff:
BW FY09-60 403B dated 05/27/2009 $ 9,580.00
BW FY09-65 dated 06/01/2009 $ 5,886.41
BW FY09-66 dated 06/01/2009 $ 53,779.60
BW FY09-67 dated 06/01/2009 $ 1,559.33
BW FY09-68 dated 06/01/2009 $ 2,411.05
BW FY09-69 dated 06/01/2009 $ 28,257.53
BW FY09-70 dated 06/01/2009 $ 7,027.60
Payroll 24&21&19 dated 06/04/2009 $225,975.91
Second by S. Archer. Motion carried 4-0-0.
F. ADJOURNMENT – Motion to adjourn at 10:18 pm by R. Luc. All were in favor and the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dawn Cobak
Recording Secretary
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