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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-11-21 School Committee Minutesoeu _ Q Town of Reading } Meeting Minutes Board - Committee - Commission - Council: School Committee Date: 2016-11-21 Building: School - Memorial High Address: 82 Oakland Road Purpose: Attendees: Members - Present: 1 RFr:FIVEOCLE K �® 1011 JAN 30 P 1: 41 I Time: 7:00 PM Location: Superintendent Conference Room Session: Open Session Version: Final Jeanne Borawski, Chuck Robinson, Elaine Webb, Linda Snow Dockser, Gary Nihan Members - Not Present: Others Present: Superintendent John Doherty, Assistant Superintendent Craig Martin, Director of Finance Gail Dowd, Director of Student Services Carolyn Wilson, Student Representatives Alex Nazzaro & Mario Cutone, Al Sylvia, Reading Chronicle, RMHS Principal Adam Bakr, Director of Guidance Lynna Williams, Attorney Michael Joyce Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Linda Engelson on behalf of the Chair Topics of Discussion: I. Call to Order Chair Borawski called the School Committee to order at 7:00 p.m. II. Recommended Procedure A. Public Comment There was none. B. Consent Agenda Mr. Robinson asked the Committee if there were any consent agenda items that they would like removed. There were no requests. Mr. Robinson moved, seconded by Dr. Nihan, to approve the consent agenda as presented. The motion carried 5-0. - Minutes November 7, 2016 - Donations to RMHS — Ohlopyle Prints, Inc. C. Reports Page 1 1 Student Representative Mario Cutone reported that the football team will be playing in the Super Bowl and the shelter in place that happened at RMHS. Student Representative Alex Nazzaro reported that the RMHS Drama production of "The Wedding Singer" took place. It was a great show. There will be an Informal Recital at RMHS on December 5t', several chorus and band students auditioned at the Jr. Districts and the girls swim team captured the Division 2 state championship. Liaison's Report Mrs. Webb reported that on November 30'h RCASA will host a showing of the film "Breaking Points" in the Endslow PAC. There will be a film and a panel discussion. Mrs. Webb mentioned the Festival of Trees that is happening December 3 — 4 at Parker. Mr. Robinson commended the student athletes that spoke at the annual Football Luncheon that he, Dr. Dockser, Mrs. Borawski and the Superintendent attended. Dr. Snow Dockser followed up by saying it would be good to have a school committee representation at the RCASA event. The SEPAC will be hosting a presentation on November 30d. Lastly, she reported on the Art in the Sky project that happened at Killam. She thanked art teacher Amy Burgoyne and the Reading Education Foundation as well as local merchants. The next HRAC meeting will be on December 6t' at Town Hall. All are invited. Mrs. Borawski reminded the committee that there will be a Special Town Meeting on December 8h. She went on to commend and thank Dr. Doherty on the State of the Schools address at Town Meeting. She has received positive feedback from the community. Mrs. Webb also thanked Dr. Doherty and mentioned the recognition of the two MASS Academic Excellence Award recipients. Director of Student Services Mrs. Wilson reported on the recent POST Program celebration the she, Dr. Doherty, Adam Blaustein and Stephanie Leccese attended. The students prepared the meal and made all the arrangements. The space looks great and now has a full kitchen, recreation space and washer and dryer. The students are learning life skills in house. She next reported on the listening session relating to programs held at Joshua Eaton with Mr. Sprung and Team Chair Amy Benjamin. There is also a SEPAC meeting on Nov. 30''. Superintendent's Report Dr. Doherty shared that in spite of being a short month, there is a lot of great things happening in our schools on a regular basis. He said it is a tribute to our dedicated staff and students. Page 1 2 Dr. Doherty next reported on the recent shelter in place/canine search that was held at RMHS. This drill is conducted annually per school committee policy. He said that this event is a collaborative effort between the Reading Police Department, Middlesex Sheriff's Office and the school department. The Sheriff's Office provided 16 canines to conduct the search. Random classrooms were selected, Officer Muolo went into the classroom, informed the students what was going to happen and the students and teacher left their belongings and exited the classroom. Searches were also conducted in common areas as well as the parking lots. There were four alerts but no evidence of illegal substances. He thanked the high school administration, police and SRO Muolo. D. New Business Special Education Informational Presentation Attorney Michael Joyce provided a brief background. He has had the pleasure of working with the Reading Public Schools for the last 5 — 6 years and his firm has represented Reading for many years. His role is to advise on non -labor related matters including but not limited to civil rights issues, harassment and discipline. He went on to review IDEA and the development of IEPs. Districts must provide a free appropriate education for all students. IEPs are developed to provide special education services to allow students to make effective progress commensurate with their peers. They are developed annually and parents can accept them in full, partially or totally reject the IEP. If a parent rejects the IEP, the last accepted IEP will remain in effect. If a parent rejects the IEP the district is required to notify BSEA. Parents can file for a hearing before the BSEA. In many cases a mediation is held in hopes to come to a settlement. In most cases the matter is resolved prior to reaching a BSEA hearing. Most parents bring cases for legitimate merit. When discussing a settlement, the following factors are considered: the merits of each case, the review of evaluation, documentation and progress reports indicate that we have met our burden, were there any procedural errors or flaws, how is the student doing in the program — is it appropriate, and is an out of district placement warranted. It is generally in the best interest of both sides to settle because of the uncertainty of which way a ruling would go. Mr. Joyce provided information on the changes coming to the public records request law. A recent SJC decision has determined that settlement records are public records and can be released with all identifiable information redacted. Reading has had 3 requests to date. Mrs. Webb asked if the district bears the cost of redacting the information. Mr. Joyce indicated that the district has ten business days to respond to a request many times providing an estimate for the cost of the information requested. This estimate is based on the rate of the lowest paid person capable of gathering the information. Once payment is received the district has 25 business days to provide the requested documents. Page 1 3 Mr. Joyce reviewed the changes in the new law which are significant. Districts will be required to appoint a Records Access Officer with no funding for this position. When new laws are enacted, Mr. Joyce works with the district to implement the necessary forms, documents and guidelines. Mrs. Borawski thanked Mr. Joyce for being at the meeting this evening. High School Initiatives and Guidance Update Mr. Bakr began the presentation updating the committee on the NEASC accreditation process. He said the process resumed in the fall with Department Heads and the Administrative team. He explained why we have returned to the NEASC Accreditation process. NEASC has made several changes to the process to make it more streamline and efficient for schools. They listened to the concerns of Massachusetts School leaders and made changes. Accreditation remains important to many colleges and universities and to parents and it is a good opportunity to publically celebrate and recognize the great work we do. Improvements to the accreditation process include flexibility for schools to determine who should be part of the self -study and in what capacity, encouraging recommendations based on Standards and use Indicators as guides rather than prescriptions to meet Standards and will allow for more compatibility with and integration of school and district priorities and state requirements. Mr. Bakr went on to review the timeline for the accreditation process. Year 1 - School Self -Assessment and Plan Development - RMHS has already begun the self-assessment process and development of the improvement plan. A NEASC survey will be given to students, parents and staff which will be reviewed by an inclusive committee established by the school. The school will provide a short narrative/bullets for each indicator with any evidence necessary to support its rating. This report is done in the online portal. Part of the self-assessment should be an evaluation of the school's capacity for continuous growth, the current growth plan and what types of ongoing assessment do we engage in. The school will identify areas that it needs to address to meet the minimum criteria for each standard and those that they want to focus on based on school and district priorities. The School Improvement Plan can be based upon those areas of need. The self-assessment must be voted on by the faculty. The school leadership team will create a plan and faculty members should have an opportunity to give input on the proposed plan. In Year 2 — 3 — Plan Review and Implementation: A collaborative conference will be set up to review the report and discuss the plan and includes a school tour and classroom visits as well as a discussion with the committee who developed the report and the plan. Once the conference takes place, the report and plan are submitted to the Committee on Public and Secondary Schools through the on-line portal. NEASC will review the report and the plan and will respond to the school with any additional questions or concerns and provides feedback as needed. The school will implement the plan and collect data and evidence and will write a summary report based on their progress in completing the plan and provides evidence to support its conclusions. This report is used as the basis of the team visit in Year 4. Page 14 Year 4 — Present results and Receive feedback — NEASC will visit the school and meet with stakeholder groups, shadow students, observe classes and review the documentation collected. The focus will be to observe learning and impacts or outcomes of the stated plan. The team gives several primary recommendations or big picture recommendations that are broader in scope and related to either Standards or elements of the school's plan. After the visit the school will receive a draft report within six weeks of the visit. The school will receive a decision on continued accreditation but if there are areas to remediate, it is given 1 year to do so before being placed on warning or probation. The school will develop a new/revised action plan based on the feedback from the visiting committee and the recommendations received, the plan is due to NEASC one year after the visit. The plan is reported on 2 years and 4 years after the new plan is submitted. Mr. Bakr reviewed the next steps which include meeting with the Burlington leadership team, with whom we are partnering, combining efforts with the new process, administering the survey and the development of the Self -Study Committee to determine the needs and write a school improvement plan. Dr. Nihan asked if the Standards were NEASC or national? Mr. Bakr said the Standards are determined by NEASC. Dr. Nihan asked what the perception was of the Standards. Mr. Bakr shared that they are based on balance, rigor and excellence and find a balance. Mr. Robinson stated that 2 years ago we put this process on hold and was wondering what the rush was to return. Mr. Bakr has fielded many questions from parents regarding the school's accreditation status and Mrs. Williams added that when speaking to colleges and universities they ask about accreditation. Dr. Doherty added that is always good practice to self -evaluate and with a relatively new administration and staff it is good to look at what is being done well and where improvement is needed. Flex Block Office Hours & School -Wide Survey Results Mr. Bakr said that the Marketing class put together a survey for students regarding flex block and office hours. Every Tuesday the school day begins at 8:00 a.m. allowing time for students to meet with teachers before the school day begins. The building is open at 7:15 a.m. and students can meet with teachers beginning at 7:30 p.m. Thursday is used for the Flex Block time. This time allows the guidance counselors to meet with their students, deliver curriculum, enrichment and get extra help. It is also a chance for the school to do different things. Mr. Bakr reviewed the survey results that show that 94% of the students that responded would like flex block every day or once a week. A majority of students also find flex block extremely helpful. There is no flex block on early Page 1 5 release weeks and there were concerns regarding the shorter class time but it has been determined that there is little or no effect. Students also find the office hour time extremely helpful. When asked how they typically used the office hour time students responded that they are able to sleep a little longer, complete homework, get extra help and make up tests and quizzes. When asked what could be done to improve flex block students responded that they should have it more often, open the cafeteria, easier access to the library and computers and printers and access to the fitness center and gym. Mr. Bakr shared that they are looking at the flex block as a Tier 2 intervention. The administration is also looking at ways to find and effectively use spaces. During flex block when the Guidance Counselors are working with the students, especially the seniors, they are using the library and computer labs to assist in the college application process. He added that the fitness center is open and available for the students and teachers are offering enrichment opportunities during this time. Mrs. Webb felt this initiative is similar to the middle school model. Mr. Bakr agreed saying it is important to provide time for teachers to connect with their classes. RMHS College Admissions and New Initiatives Mrs. Williams began her presentation saying the data being used is for the Class of 2016. Every graduating class is different. The Class of 2016 are attending 116 different colleges, 76% stayed in New England and 56% are attending their first choice school. 83% are attending 4 -year schools, 11% attend 2 -year schools, 1% attend Prep/Technical schools and .3% have entered the armed forces. The percentage of students attending 4 -year schools is slightly down from the previous year. Mrs. Williams meets with the Middlesex League Guidance Directors and many districts have seen a decrease in the number of students attending 4 -year schools. A number of factors including anxiety, hospitalizations and students struggling contribute to this decrease. We do have students that are struggling that are doing great things. In some cases, a gap year makes sense. Mr. Robinson said that money is also a big factor. Mrs. Williams agreed that it is huge piece. Mrs. Williams reviewed college admission criteria, test scores and advanced placement participation. The data shows consistency in the schools our students are applying to and there were many disappointments in the Middlesex League in schools that they did not get into. In conversation with many college, applications are up so schools can be more selective and our students are competing with students from this area with similar strengths. Mrs. Borawski asked if it would be beneficial for our students to apply to school outside of New England and New York. Mrs. Williams said it would be because they would not be competing with their peers. Page 1 6 When reviewing the admissions criteria, she said that each school is different and Naviance is a great tool for students and parents to use to determine what the focus of the schools they are interested in might be. Mrs. Williams said that the addition of the flex block has been a very positive step allowing the Guidance Counselors to have more contact with their students The department has restructured their developmental guidance curriculum. Every year students will have a minimum of 4-5 sessions with their counselors in groups and individually. Their collaborative PLC is looking at standardized test scores and college admissions data among districts, counselors will meet with each student to discuss course selection and will be focusing attention on visiting more colleges, increasing contact with college reps at the college fair and in-house college visits. Mrs. Borawski thanked Mr. Bakr and Mrs. Williams for sharing this information. FYI 7 Quarterly Budget Update Mrs. Dowd reviewed the FYI budget. She said that the remaining unencumbered balance of $397,209 is reasonable for this time of year. Mrs. Dowd reviewed each cost center. The Administration and School Building Maintenance cost centers are forecasted to have a surplus mainly due to staff turnover. The balances will continue to be monitored throughout the year. The District -wide cost center is currently forecasted to have a deficit balance of $18,767 as a result of recurring network subscriptions and infrastructure improvements put in place over the course of last year. She is asking the committee to authorize a transfer of funds to cover this deficit. The committee asked clarifying questions. Mr. Robinson moved, seconded by Dr. Nihan, to authorize the transfer of $22,000 from the Regular Day Cost Center to the District Wide Programs Cost Center. The motion carried 5-0. Surplus Equipment Mrs. Dowd reviewed the list of surplus equipment. Mr. Robinson moved, seconded by Mrs. Webb, to declare the listed furniture as surplus and to authorize the disposal as required by MGL Chapter 30B. Mrs. Webb asked if the disposal costs would come out of the general fund. Mrs. Dowd said there will be a slight cost to remove the items and Town Hall is interested in some of the items therefore, they will remove it. The motion carried 5-0. E. Old Business III. Routine Matters Page 17 a. Bills and Payroll (A) Warrant S 1720 11.10.16 $129,133.16 Warrant S 1721 11.17.16 $108,918.83 Warrant P1711 11.18.16 $1,534,617.98 b. Calendar IV. Information V. Future Business VI. Adjournment Adjourn Mr. Robinson moved, seconded by Dr. Nihan, to adiourn. The motion carried 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m. NOTE: The minutes reflect the order as stated in the posted meeting agenda not the order they occurred during the meeting. N4PL, - J�j F. Nohe, Ed.D. Page 1 8