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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-10-07 School Committee Minutes1 OF qE O i Town of Reading Meeting Minutes O�sJ9. 1NKOA4�PA� Board - Committee - Commission - Council: School Committee Date: 2013 -10 -07 Time: 7:00 PM Building: School - Memorial High Address: 62 Oakland Road Purpose: Open Session Attendees: Members - Present: Karen Janowski Chuck Robinson Hal Croft Jeanne Borawski Lisa Gibbs Chris Caruso Location: Superintendent Conference Room John Doherty, Superintendent Mary DeLai, Assistant Superintendent Craig Martin, Assistant Superintendent Alison Elmer, Director of Student Services Conner Traugot, Student Representative Andrea Nastri, Student Representative Members - Not Present: Others Present: Kevin Higginbottom, RMHS Principal Lynna Williams, RMHS Director of Guidance Bob LeLacheur, Town Manager Frank Driscoll, Veterans Agent Thomas Ryan Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: John F. Doherty, Ed.D. Superintendent Topics of Discussion: I. Call to Order Chairperson Croft called the School Committee to order at 7:00 p.m. He reviewed the agenda and welcomed guests. Veterans Chair Presentation Chair Croft welcomed Veterans Agent Frank Driscoll and Town Manager Bob LeLacheur to the meeting. Mr. Driscoll turned the presentation over to Mr. LeLacheur. Mr. LeLacheur said that Mr. Driscoll recently approached him with the idea of the Veterans Chair. The group, Rolling Thunder, was piloting the idea throughout the Commonwealth and wanted Reading to be a part of this method of honoring service men and women. Mr. LeLacheur felt that it is important for our young people to understand the sacrifice the military personnel make serving our country. This chair honors the over 91,000 American soldiers that have made the ultimate sacrifice. Page 1 1 Mr. Driscoll thanked the School Committee for accepting this program. He also shared that Mr. Croft met with a group of high school students that are forming a Veterans Club. He was pleased to hear of the interest in the club. Mr. Croft thanked Mr. Driscoll for his tireless work on behalf of all Veterans in our community. II. Recommended Procedure A. Public Input (I) Mr. Croft asked for public input. Mr. Ryan read a brief statement and thanked the School Committee for their attention. Reports I) 1. Student Student Representative Andrea Nastri shared that Chorus will be holding a Karaoke fundraiser on Saturday and Drama will hold its annual Shocktoberfest event on October 26th. She also shared that A World of Difference training is being held for new members. She also pointed out that the high school bell system is out of order and makes passing between classes stressful. She also expressed concerns of the current procedure for study halls. Student Representative Traugot followed up on Ms. Nastri's comment on the study hall system and that discussion has taken place with the high school principal. He went on to thanked Dr. Doherty and Mr. Higginbottom for appointing the new National Honor Society advisors. The group has been working on activities for this school year. Several of our sports teams have been participating in fundraising events recognizing Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 2. Liaison Mrs. Janowski indicated that the Human Relations Advisory Committee met recently and discussed the Martin Luther King Holiday Celebration and the Arts Contest in the spring. This year's theme is "How Reading is a welcoming community to all ". 3. Director of Student Services Ms. Elmer said that the PAC held their first meeting and they are seeking nominations for officers. The next meeting is October 28 at which time officers will be elected. 4. Assistant Superintendent Page 1 2 5. Superintendent Dr. Doherty updated the School Committee on the enrollment numbers across the district. Our elementary class sizes are remaining fairly constant and within the suggested guidelines. The Superintendent said the first meeting of the Elementary Working Group will be this week. He feels the group is made up of members with diverse strengths. He hopes to have the group present their recommendations to the School Committee later this fall. Dr. Doherty shared that the ALICE presentation to the community went very well and was attended by approximately 75 people. Chair Croft thanked the students for their candor. B. Continued Business Second Reading and nd Approval of Revised Policy IHBG — Home Education Mr. Caruso began the second reading of Policy IHBG. Mrs. Gibbs moved, seconded by Mrs. Borawski, to waive the second reading. The motion carried 6 -0. Mr. Caruso, moved, seconded by Mr. Robinson, to approve the second reading and accept the revised Policy IHBG — Home Education. The motion carried 6 -0. C. New Business NEASC Presentation Dr. Doherty provided a background on NEASC. He believes that the organization has lost some of its value. The feeling among a group of districts is that NEASC is not making the necessary changes to account for the changes in curriculum and demands on teachers. They have written a letter outlining their concerns. We are currently entering the self -study phase of the accreditation process. This process is time consuming and expensive to complete. Our faculty and staff would have to put aside other initiatives to perform the self - study. Mr. Higginbottom echoed the Superintendent's sentiments. It would be detrimental to our students if the work our faculty and staff have been doing on DDM, MTSS, ALICE and other requirements have to be put aside to perform this self - study. Mrs. Williams spoke to 47 colleges and universities to inquire what the ramifications would be for a student applying to their school from an unaccredited high school. She reassured the School Committee that our students would not be at a disadvantage. Page 1 3 Dr. Doherty indicated the concerns with the NEASC process is picking up momentum. NEASC will be meeting with the districts that wrote the letter in the next few weeks. Dr. Doherty shared that Burlington Public Schools have withdrawn from NEASC and Newton Public Schools have decided to suspend their self - study. He is recommending that the Reading Public Schools also suspend the self - study. He has been asked to serve on a steering committee, comprised of area superintendents, to work with NEASC to revise the process. Ms. Williams added that the Board of Higher Education is aware of the concerns of many districts regarding this process. Dr. Doherty added that the Board will be following the situation. Mrs. Janowski thanked the Superintendent for taking this approach. Mr. Caruso asked if there were other accreditation services that we could be looking using. Mr. Higginbottom said there are six organizations around the country that accredit schools. NEASC accredits all levels of educational institutions which included colleges our students would be applying to for admission. Mrs. Williams shared information on the revised RMHS Profile which is included with all student transcripts sent to colleges and universities. She said it is important that the schools are able to see that Reading Memorial High School provides a diverse and extensive academic and extracurricular experience. Mr. Caruso moved, seconded by Mrs. Gibbs, to support the Superintendent's recommendation to suspend the NEASC Accreditation process as described in the Superintendent's memorandum. The motion carried 6 -0. District Determined Measures Presentation Dr. Doherty said as part of the Educator Evaluation process the district has been piloting District Determined Measures (DDM) to be used to assess our student's progress. He also recognized Mr. Martin for the work he is currently doing to move the district forward with the new math curriculum and alignment with the math and ELA frameworks. He then turned the presentation over to Mr. Martin. District Determined Measures are a district -wide set of student performance measures for each grade and subject that permit a comparison of student learning gains. These measures may include portfolios, approved commercial assessments and district - developed pre and post unit and course assessments, and capstone projects. Mr. Martin went on to review the implementation timeline. He just recently submitted a list of DDMs to the DESE that the district is piloting this year. The DESE required a minimum of 25 DDMs to be submitted this fall, Reading submitted over 90. The DDM's are being piloted at every grade level in every content area. Mr. Martin reviewed the development of the DDMs and the key considerations in the development. The DDM should provide an opportunity to engage teams and departments in collaborative and collegial work to identify together what is most important for our students to learn; how can we assess it fairly; and what do the Page 1 4 results tell us about our curriculum and instruction? In the development of the DDMs the teachers should ask themselves if the measure is aligned to content assessing what is most important for students to learn and be able to do and does it assess what they intend to teach. It is also important to be sure that the results inform them about curriculum, instruction, and practice. Is the measure providing the information about the students, helping to identify whether students are making desired progress, falling short, or excelling. As the teachers developed the DDMs for their students they had to take into account how effectively does the assessment measure growth; are there common administration and scoring protocols; how will the results correspond to "low, moderate, high" growth and are the measures comparable across schools /grades district -wide. Mr. Martin went on to explain the different approaches to measure student growth which include pre- test /post -test assessment, repeated measures design which would be done continually throughout the school year, holistic evaluation which is a portfolio approach and post -test only which would include MCAS as a one- time per year assessment. Mr. Martin also pointed out the collaboration is a key element in the success of the DDMs. Mrs. Gibbs appreciates the amount of work that goes into the development of the measures and feels it is a powerful use of data. Mr. Martin said that the DDMS are tools to look at all areas of student growth. Mr. Croft asked how the assessment would work for heterogeneous classes. Mr. Martin said that pre- assessment information is very important. Mrs. Borawski asked about the length of the DDMs. According to Mr. Martin the lengths can vary. The DDM can be unit based, course based and may change if it determined that the measure is not providing the data expected. Mrs. Janowski asked how we are assessing a student's passion for learning. Mr. Martin indicated there are different types of measures, such as a portfolio approach, when a student's progress can be made tracked versus a pass /fail type approach. A student's ability to know they are making strides will keep them eager to learn. Dr. Doherty added that all the work, identification & development of the DDMs is being done by the teachers in our district. III. Routine Matters a. Bills and Payroll (A) b. Approval of Minutes Mr. Caruso moved, seconded by Mr. Robinson, to approve the open session minutes dated September 23, 2013. The motion carried 6 -0. c. Bids and Donations Accept Donations Page 1 5 Mr. Caruso moved, seconded by Mr. Robinson, to accept the Reading Cooperative Bank donation to Reading Memorial High School to be used to support the quarterly Excellence Luncheons. The motion carried 6 -0. Calendar IV. Information V. Future Business VI. Adjournment The Chair declared that an executive session is necessary to protect the arbitration position of the body. Executive Session Mr. Caruso moved, seconded by Mr. Robinson to enter into Executive Session to discuss strategy with respect to litigation and not to return to open session. The roll call vote was 6 -0. Mrs. Gibbs, Mr. Caruso, Mr. Croft, Mr. Robinson, Mrs. Janowski and Mrs. Borawski. The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m. NOTE: The minutes reflect the order as stated in the posted meeting agenda not the order they occurred during the meeting. Jo F. Doherty, Ed.D. Page 1 6