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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-03-07 School Committee Minutes `, l ,,, Town of Reading A, r t1: 1 Meeting Minutes s is a Board - Committee - Commission - Council: School Committee Date: 2016-03-07 Time: 7:00 PM Building: School - Memorial High Location: Superintendent Conference Room Address: 82 Oakland Road Session: Open Session Purpose: Open Session Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Chuck Robinson, Linda Snow Dockser, Gary Nihan, Julie Joyce Members - Not Present: Elaine Webb, Jeanne Borawski Others Present: Superintendent John Doherty, Assistant Superintendent Craig Martin, Director of Finance Martha Sybert, Director of Student Services Carolyn Wilson, Student Representative Alex Nazzaro, RTA President Chris Copeland, Chronicle Reporter Catherine Spinelli, Sara Burd, Coolidge Principal Sarah Marchant, District Data Coach Courtney Fogarty, RMHS Principal Adam Bakr, Rise Preschool Director Debbie Butts, RCASA Director Erica McNamara, Barrows Principal Heather Leonard Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Linda Engelson on behalf of the Chair Topics of Discussion: I. Call to Order Chair Robinson called the School Committee to order at 7:00 p.m. II. Recommended Procedure A. Public Input Chair Robinson asked for public input on items not on the agenda. There was none. B. Consent Agenda Mr. Robinson reviewed the consent agenda and asked if any members would like any items removed from the consent agenda. • Accept a Donation to RMHS Donations—Reading Girls Soccer Parents Association • Accept a Donation to Wood End—Anton's Cleaners Winter Coat Drive • Approval of Minutes—February 22, 2016 Page I 1 Dr. Snow Dockser moved, seconded by Mrs.Joyce, to approve the consent agenda. The motion carried 4-0. C. Reports Student Ms.Nazzaro reported on the following: • High School Drama production of"The Nerd" • Auditions for the Spring Play are coming up • The High School Robotics team will be hosting and participating in an upcoming competition in the field house • On March 19 the High School Science Team will compete in the State Science Olympiad at Framingham State • Parker Middle School will be presenting Lion King this weekend • There is a Jazz Festival after school tomorrow • Boys hockey still in the MIAA tournament • The National Latin Exam will be given on Wednesday • Captain's practices for spring sports have begun Liaisons Dr.Nihan commended Tom Zaya and the wrestling parents for hosting the MIAA all state wrestling tournament. It was an extremely well run event. Dr. Snow Dockser reported on the upcoming SEPAC meeting and the Human Relations Advisory Committee meeting. Mr. Robinson made a statement regarding concerns voiced in the community regarding the School Committee's interest in the override discussions. Mr. Robinson and the Superintendent met with Mr. LeLacheur and the Board of Selectmen chair to discuss these concerns. He pointed out that the School Committee is well aware of the concerns and discussions regarding a possible override. He has suggested that the School Committee hold a retreat to focus on override discussions. Assistant Superintendent Mr. Martin attended the Joshua Eaton School Spelling Bee and Family Math and Literacy Night that were well attended and a great time for everyone. Superintendent Dr. Doherty congratulated the Coolidge Science Team for their victory in the State Science Olympiad on Saturday. The team will travel to the University of Wisconsin to compete in the national tournament. Page 12 He congratulated the boys & girls hockey and boys basketball teams for qualifying for the MIAA tournament and wished boys hockey good luck in their upcoming game. RMHS will be hosting a State Jazz Festival Tuesday starting at 4:00 p.m. at RMHS. The RMHS Stage Band will perform at 6:00 p.m. and the Jazz Ensemble will perform at 8:30 p.m. Dr. Doherty updated the Committee on the status of the Parker Principal Search. A successful site visit and open microphone sessions were held and the next step is to go to visit the schools of the finalists. He hopes to appoint the next principal by March 15th. He next updated the Committee on the Birch Meadow search. The initial interviews were held today. The Superintendent will meet with the candidates the screening committee has moved forward and then the date for the site visit and open microphone sessions will be set. It is his hope to announce the next principal by the end of March/early April. Dr. Doherty thanked the Facilities Department for staying on top of the recent cold spell ensuring we only experienced minor issues with freeze ups. D. Old Business None E. New Business Addressing the Needs of All Students Chair Robinson turned the meeting over to Sara Burd who began the presentation. The presentation will be broken down into three areas: Systems, Practices and Data. Ms. Burd explained that we are using a process to create structures that address academic and social emotional needs of our students. These structures address the health and well-being of the whole child who is then ready to learn. Ms. Burd then gave a brief overview of the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). She described MTSS as a framework for enhancing adoption and implementation of a continuum of evidence-based interventions to achieve academically and behaviorally important outcomes for all students. The goal is to establish tier one supports in all schools for all students. Once established tier two supports can be developed which would be specialized group systems for students with at-risk behaviors and finally tier three supports would be implemented which provide specialized individualized systems for students with high-risk behaviors. Systems currently in place to support all students at the tier one level include activities like Challenge Day and Open Circle as well as the development of the District Curriculum Accommodation Plan(DCAP) and trainings as part of the Youth Mental Health First Aid grant. Page 13 The district will never stop doing what already works, will only use evidence- based programs and strategies, will only implement the smallest change we can do to make the biggest impact and will never add something new unless we identify what we will stop doing to open up resources for the necessary work. Ms. Burd opened the floor to questions. Dr. Nihan asked what tier two supports would look like. Ms. Burd said there is a lot of small group and one-to-one work in the buildings. Tier two supports are determined by the examination of data. Dr.Nihan then followed up asking who would be providing the supports. There is not a need for specialists. Classroom teachers provide the supports. Dr. Nihan was happy to hear the phrases evidence based and to fidelity used during this presentation. He feels they are two very important guides. Dr. Snow Dockser appreciates that we are focused on the whole child and that we put the needs of the students first. Mr. Robinson asked is if it is realistic to think all teachers will be able to meet the needs of students at tier two and three. Ms. Burd said tier one supports have to be effective and sustainable before we move on. The next portion of the presentation reviewed practices. The first practice presented was the Youth Mental Health First Aid grant update. Erica McNamara began the presentation by reviewing the purpose of the grant which is advancing social and emotional wellness and resilience in education. The town received this 2-year$100,000 grant to train 584 adults to support detection and response to mental illness in children and youth. To date, 537 staff members have been trained with tools to support our students. The program teaches adults how to help an adolescent(age 12— 18)who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. The training session is 8 hours and does not teach people to diagnose or to provide treatment. This grant ends in September 2016 and Ms. McNamara is offering training session opportunities to the parents and community. The training feedback received has been very positive to date. Ms. Burd shared that Ms. McNamara has been asked to become a National Trainer but due to the demands in town she had to decline. Next up was Yoga4Classrooms presented by RISE Preschool Director Debbie Butts. She pointed out that even our preschoolers experience stress. This program introduces yoga and mindfulness activities to aid the youngest students in the district with tools to help them cope. Barrows Principal Heather Leonard presented information on the District Curriculum Accommodation Plan. This document is required by Massachusetts General Law and is designed to assist the regular classroom teacher in analyzing and accommodating diverse learning styles of all children in the regular classroom and in providing appropriate services and support within the regular education program. The DCAP is a great resource to support staff in identifying techniques/accommodations that can be provided to all students in the general education classroom. The DCAP can be utilized as a toolbox of ideas, a way to create common access points, and a reference guide for staff. The staff can work collaboratively using the strategies included in the DCAP to address their student's needs. Page 14 The DCAP is also a resource for parents, providing information around a wide range of supports that students can receive within the general education setting. The DCAP provides a range of accommodations and supports that can support identified needs of learners across grades, content areas, and lagging skills. It is an exciting tool for staff. Social emotional learning was the next practice to be presented. Coolidge Principal Sarah Marchant began by saying that all schools address the social emotional needs of our students by incorporating the developmental needs of the student at each level based on the social emotional framework. She reviewed the middle school model. She pointed out this model is effective in addressing the social emotional learning of the middle school aged child. The model emphasizes connections with adults, team structure, daily time for teachers to meet, built in supports and education and a schedule to support social emotional learning. Teachers are able to meet daily to discuss their students often times sharing strategies to address specific needs. Mrs. Marchant went on to share information about the recent Challenge Day event that all eighth grade students participated in. The Challenge Day activities align with the MTSS and are powerful experiences for all who participate. The experience creates a starting point for many conversations using a common experience and common language. Teachers and staff can refer back to the experience/language during further teaching, as new challenges arise. The objectives of Challenge Day are to increase awareness, empathy and understanding,respect amongst the community members, increase one's ability to communicate and express oneself, increase feelings of self-confidence and self- worth, celebrate differences and individuality and reinforce and embed messages of Challenge Day throughout the curriculum and supports. As a result staff can use observational data, including continued feelings and application of kindness, empathy, and respect to measure the success. Based on the results of a student survey, Challenge Day had a powerful and positive impact on the students who participated. The floor was opened to questions on the systems portion of the presentation. Dr. Nihan asked about the DCAP. Mrs. Leonard explained that not all kids are the same and this document can be used as a source that teachers can use to find new strategies in addressing the needs of all students. Dr.Nihan asked if it would be possible to survey the students that participated in the Challenge Day activities to determine if the impact continues to influence them. Mrs. Joyce participated in Challenge Day and found it to be a truly positive experience. Dr. Snow Dockser feels Challenge Day is a catalyst for positive change. Chair Robinson called a brief recess at 8:34 p.m. The meeting was called back to order at 8:41 p.m. Page t5 Sara Burd introduced District Data Coach Courtney Fogarty. Ms. Fogarty provided a brief background of her experience. Dr. Doherty reminded the Committee that they approved this position earlier in the year to be funded out of the Grant. Ms. Burd explained that the collection, use and analysis of data aligns with District Improvement Goal#3 which states that the District Leadership Team will successfully implement the MTSS at each school as measured by a decrease in the following data points: Tardiness, office discipline referrals,number of students who have 10 or more absences in a school year, and the achievement gap between the high needs subgroup and the aggregate subgroup on standardized assessments and Common Measures. The use of data is two-fold; collection and using data for evaluation and collecting and using data for problem solving. She went on to share some common measures related to social and emotional learning in Reading which include District MCAS/PARCC SPG data for math and literacy, tardiness, office discipline referrals, tiered fidelity instrument to gauge progress in MTSS implementation and district capacity assessment. Some performance indicators required by the grant include the number and percentage of schools that report an annual decrease in office disciplinary referrals, an annual improvement in attendance, an annual decrease in suspensions and expulsions including those related to possession or use of drugs and or alcohol and the number and percentage of schools annually that are implementing the multi-tiered behavioral framework with fidelity. Ms. Fogarty reviewed data that she has started to collect and analyze. She pointed out that 5 out of our 9 buildings have reached 70%progress in Tier 1 as indicated by the Total Fidelity Index. Moving to Tier 2 will not begin until a building has reached 70% in Tier 1. She went onto review universal screeners which are a brief assessment given to all students to create a behavioral (or academic) baseline. This is the first of several steps in identifying students who are at risk socially, emotionally or academically. This assessment measures both internal and external factors. Ms. McNamara shared data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey indicating that an increasing percentage of students feel they have one trusted adult in the school or community they can talk to. Ms. Fogarty reviewed Office Discipline Referrals. By tracking and recording these instances data can be gathered to identify trends and develop strategies to reduce the number of referrals. Mr. Bakr spoke about the Senior Privileges Program at the high school. This program was started this year to counteract the recent spike in tardy seniors. Seniors must meet certain requirements to be eligible for this program. The data shows that senior tardies have decreased from last year. Mr. Bakr also shared that the high school staff is focused on academics with a common curriculum and common interventions. Page 16 Mr.Nihan asked about a rotating schedule. Mr. Bakr said the staff was looking at this option in their PLC's and there have been conversations with students. Dr. Doherty said that this is a small snapshot of activities that have been ongoing in the district. These have been a complete team effort and the district is starting to see positive results. The Chair thanked the group for presenting this information. III. Routine Matters a. Bills and Payroll(A) Warrant S1635 2.25.16 $122,716.59 Warrant 51636 3.3.16 $275,818.11 Warrant P1617 2.21.16 $1,456,524.44 b. Calendar IV.Information V. Future Business VI.Adjournment Mrs. Joyce moved, seconded by Dr. Nihan to adjourn. The motion carried 4- 0. The meeting adjourned at 9:25 p.m. NOTE: The minutes reflect the order as stated in the posted meeting agenda not the order they occurred during the meeting. Jo i . Doherty,"d.D. Page 17