HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-03-02 School Council - Wood End Elementary MinutesTown of Reading
Meeting Minutes
Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
School Council -Wood End Elementary
Date: 2015 -03 -02 Time: 3:15
Building: School - Wood End
Address: 85 Sunset Rock Lane
Location: Conference Room
Purpose: Monthly Meeting for March 2014 -2015 School Year
Attendees: Members - Present:
Joanne King,Lynda Michel, Fred VanMagness
Members - Not Present:
Keri DiNapoli Alayna Fustolo,Debbie Hattery
Others Present:
Lisa Norcross
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Lynda Michel
Topics of Discussion:
The fifth monthly meeting of the Wood End Elementary School was held in the conference
room of the Wood End Elementary School on March 2, 2015.
Call to order:
A quorum of members being present and the meeting having been convened at Wood End
School by Wood End Co- Chair, Joanne King, called the meeting to order at 3:15 and
proceeded with business.
Public comment:
Meetings for the Wood End School Council are open to members of the public and are
posted in accordance with the requirements of the state Open Meeting Law. Mrs. King
regularly advises parents in the Wood End community of upcoming School Council meetings
in her weekly newsletter, which is posted on Ed Line.
Lisa Norcross, Assistant Principal and Leadership Team Member, was in attendance at the
meeting to talk about the upcoming Spring Open House.
Review and Acceptance of Minutes:
Members reviewed draft minutes from the last meeting, which was held on January 5, 2015.
There being no discussion, Mrs. King moved that the minutes be accepted as drafted. Fred
VanMagness seconded the motion. The members then voted unanimously to approve the
minutes.
Vote: Minutes Accepted 3 -0 -0
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Old Business:
Parent Workshop - rescheduled and revised:
Leadership Team member, Ms. Norcross, updated the School Council on ideas from the
Wood End Leadership Team. The Leadership Team wanted to include more informational
opportunities for parents, but expressed that teachers didn't want to be pulled from their
classes on the night of the Spring Open House to host a workshop. The night is about the
students showing their parents around their school and highlighting their work.
A new idea was to have informational booths in lieu of parent workshops. The booths would
consist of:
• Leadership Team - Core values
• BOKS
• Bike safety
• WASH
• PTO
• Student Council
• School Council
The informational booths /table displays would be run by teachers and parents. Each booth
would have information for parents to "take away" with information describing what that
particular committee does and any volunteer opportunities associated with it. Booths would
be scattered on "Main Street" for parents to visit. Mrs. Michel had the thought to add a
"Parking Lot" for each booth if anyone had a question, but didn't have time to have it
answered.
The Spring Open House date is Tuesday, April 28th from 6:00 -7:30 PM. The night will also
include performances by the Wood End Chorus, student art work, and classroom visits.
Advertising would occur through multiple venues including emails, newsletters and a flyer to
be sent home. Mr. VanMagness will work on an advertising flyer and will send the working
document to the rest of the School Council members for review /revisions.
Following up from the Open House, parents who attended will be given a survey to provide
feedback for future workshop topics.
Mrs. Michel told of the experience she recently had at the World Cafe at Joshua Eaton. It
was a great way for parents and teachers to connect and discuss "hot topics" within the
school community. The World Cafe allowed time for parents and teachers to brain storm
ways to be more connected and remedy some challenging situations.
Budget FY 2016:
The School Council was provided with an update from the budget parents, Andrea Quirbach
and Brian O'Mara. They provided the School Council with an extensive summary of the
budget. The School Council thanks the budget parents for such in depth summaries!
Mrs. King went through the update with the Council. Council members realized that Dr.
Doherty was able to develop a budget that continues to move the district forward, but
unfortunately there are still many unfunded areas.
Some topics that had further discussion included:
• Offsets - money we get through grants to fund other costs (i.e. late bus, train)
• Special education offset: partnerships with other collaboratives
• District Literary and Math coaches: Focus on grades K -5 to start
• District technician /integration -grant money being used
• Special Ed Programs to be better aligned - restructuring MS /HS program supervisor -a
director will be hired for this position
• (2014 -15) 60K spent on behavior consult for SPED - more cost effective to hire a BCBA
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Decrease in regular education para educator hours for 2015 -16
There are three remaining budget meetings:
• Wednesday, March 11 (Finance Committee Meeting) 7:30 p.m., Town Hall
• Monday, April 27 and Thursday, April 30 (Town Meeting) - 7:30 p.m.
WASH Committee:
Birch Meadow Parent, Jennifer LeBovidge (jenniferlebovidgec@yahoo.com) is unable
to attend until May 4 th
Lisa Suglia, Wood End School Nurse, will also be at the May 4th meeting.
New Business:
School Council Openings:
There are three members with expiring terms and positions need to be filled:
• Teacher, Keri DiNapoli
• Parent, Fred VanMagness
• Parent, Debbie Hattery
Additionally, Mrs. King was just informed that Alana Fustolo, WASH Committee
Representative, will no longer be able to continue on the School Council, leaving a third
parent position open.
If anyone is interested in joining the School Council contact:
Joanne King Uoannekino0reading.k12.ma.us)
Adjournment
There being no further business, the School Council adjourned at 4:15 PM with plans to
meet again on Monday, April 6, 2015.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lynda Michel
Recording Secretary
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