HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-02-03 School Council - Wood End Elementary MinutesO
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School Council -Wood End Elementary
Date: 2014 -02 -03 Time: 3:10 PM
Building: School - Wood End Location: Conference Room
Address: 85 Sunset Rock Lane
Purpose: Regular Monthly Meeting
Attendees: Members - Present:
Joanne King, Maureen Fennessy, Kyra Johnson, Pooja Parsons, Frederick
Van Magness, Jr.
Members - Not Present:
Keri DiNapoli, Mia Gaska, Debbie Hattery
Others Present:
None
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Frederick Van Magness, Jr.
Topics of Discussion:
A meeting of the Wood End School Council was held on Monday, February 3, 2014 from
3:25 p.m. until 4:20 p.m. in the conference room of the Wood End Elementary School, 85
Sunset Rock Lane, Reading, Massachusetts.
CALL TO ORDER
Principal Joanne King called the meeting to order at 3:25 PM after waiting a few minutes for
several members to arrive late due to inclement weather.
A quorum of Council Members was present, and the meeting having been duly convened,
members were ready to proceed with business.
REVIEW AND ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES
Mrs. King asked members for any comments regarding minutes of the last School Council
meeting held on January 6, 2014. There being no discussion, Mrs. Parsons moved that the
minutes be accepted. Mrs. Fennessy seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the
minutes were accepted.
VOTE: - Minutes Accepted 5 -0 -0
NEW BUSINESS
Blue Ribbon Conference
Mrs. King updated members on the status of preparations for Wood End to host a site visit
of Blue Ribbon school conferees this spring.
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Staff from Wood End recently attended a meeting of the PTO and presented their findings
from attending a four -day conference of Blue Ribbon schools in Florida in December. The
conference was attended by over 500 educators from across the country.
In response to questions, staff indicated to parents that their overall assessment is that
Reading is ahead of many other schools in the area of curriculum development, but that we
still have work to do in addressing the social and emotional needs of students. This is an
important priority for Wood End this year. Wood End is in the process of implementing the
Mass. Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) program to assist in addressing student
social /emotional needs. MTSS uses a team -based approach to look at the student as a
whole and to assess /address all relevant needs comprehensively. The entire community will
be involved in the rollout and participation from all stakeholders is required to make the
program work. Mrs. King will be making a presentation to the School Council on the MTSS
implementation at our next meeting.
Mrs. King and Wood End staff are busy preparing the school for the site visit of Blue Ribbon
conferees. One of the key initiatives is to make the school easier to navigate. The DPW has
been contacted and they will be supplying the school with unused street signs, which can be
repainted and installed in the school as pathfinders to direct visitors. Work is also underway
for a "wall of fame" to display student accomplishments, and to have a good supply of
student work to display in coordination with Arts Week. Additional planning for the site visit
will involve students, parents and staff so we can showcase all of the good things happening
at Wood End with a business -as -usual attitude.
ALICE Training and Implementation
Wood End staff and students participated in a lockdown practice drill last Wednesday, and
according to feedback received, the drill was successful. Mrs. King posed as an "intruder" to
the school while staff led students through a "social story" to create a mock crisis situation.
Police were not present for the drill. Depending on their situation, some classrooms
evacuated the building while others chose to shelter in place. The evacuation only took a
couple of minutes to complete, and those who chose to shelter in place were secured
appropriately within classrooms. Afterwards, staff led discussions about the different choices
that were made and what alternative choices could have been made in similar situations.
Those who participated found the drill to be helpful. Additional practice sessions will follow
before the end of the school year. In addition, the Safety Committee is debriefing
participants and briefing the Superintendent as to their findings to make sure the process is
being implemented appropriately district -wide. Mrs. King asked the members for their
feedback and to please keep her informed if they receive information from parents or
students about the AHCE implementation.
2014 -2015 Budget
The School Committee is in the final stages of debating a budget for 2014 -2015, with a final
vote expected very soon. Mrs. King made booklets of budget information available to the
members for their review, and explained the status of budget deliberations.
The initial budget proposal recommended an increase of approximately 4.7% over funding
approved last year. Beyond that amount, staff were asked to identify an additional level of
needs on a priority basis. Generally, these priorities included the need for additional staff to
address student social /emotional development, as well as additional English Language
Learning support (right now there is only one ELL coordinator for all eight schools in the
district).
Administrative staff are currently in the process of responding in writing to a series of 75
questions which were referred to them. One of the issues under discussion is the fact that
Reading's per -pupil expenditure level is among the lowest in the state, and there are
questions about whether that level is appropriate to address student needs here or if it is
instead an indicator of fiscal responsibility in the appropriate operation of the schools.
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Mrs. King reminded members that Wood End has had two parents representing our school in
budget discussions: Ana Sancho and Andrea Quirbach. She said our parent representatives
have done a grcat job attending all of the budget meetings and referring information back
and forth to budget stakeholders.
As soon as the School Committee votes on a final budget, the budget will be referred to
FinComm for its review, and then presented to the Town for its approval.
Survey
Mrs. King told members that the state conducts a survey of professional staff once every
two years, and Wood End staff will be responding to the survey within the next week. The
survey asks staff about various administrative functions. At least fifty percent of staff needs
to participate in the survey in order to get results back, and individual responses are kept
anonymous. The results of the survey are communicated to the school and the district, and
responses are integrated into the School Improvement Plan as appropriate. The last round
of surveys identified professional development as an area that needs improvement, and
Mrs. King has been working to address this need as part of the School Improvement Plan
this year.
Mrs. King noted that there is no student /parent component to the survey, and she asked
members if they thought a separate parent survey would be appropriate. Members indicated
that they were open to the idea of a parent survey, particularly if it would enhance parent
involvement and communication, but that they generally believed parents were content with
the current level of communication with school staff. Mrs. Fennessy recommended that one
possibility could be to survey parents based on the implementation of the MTSS program.
Other Business
Mrs. King opened up the discussion to general comments from members. The ensuing
discussion centered around three topics:
• Members expressed concern that there are currently two student /parent fundraising
drives taking place, which is difficult for parents to manage at one time. They also
asked for clarification as to the logistics of one of the programs. Mrs. King is in the
process of clarifying how the programs are working.
• Preparations are currently underway for the annual Golf Tournament fundraiser,
which will be held in late May.
• Wood End's fourth grade class has been selected by the state to participate in a
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC)
Assessment in math this year, which is on top of already - scheduled MCAS testing.
The state is in charge of unilaterally selecting which students take the test statewide,
and they do not share results with the school.
Adjournment
There being no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 4:20 p.m. The School
Council will resume at their next meeting on March 3, 2014.
Respectfully submitted,
Frederick Van Magness, Jr.
Recording Secretary
February 5, 2014
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