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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-04-09 School Committee Minutes �N OFR Town of Reading b Meeting Minutes T-<WE GE$.V ''TON C`RK ` d'63B+1H 044��'S R E A D 11i4 ;y "e`I A. Board - Committee - Commission - Council: 2016 MAY .1 5 PM 1: 27 School Committee Date: 2018-04-09 Time: 7:00 PM Building: School - Memorial High Location: Superintendent Conference Room Address: 82 Oakland Road Session: Open Session Purpose: Open Session Version: Final Attendees: Members - Present: Chuck Robinson, Sherri Vanden Akker, Jeanne Borawski, Linda Snow Dockser, and Elaine Webb Members - Not Present: Nick Boivin, Student Representatives Catie Coumounduros & Mario Cutone Others Present: Superintendent John Doherty, Director of Student Services Carolyn Wilson, RCASA Executive Director Erica McNamara, SRO Brian Lewis, Al Sylvia - Reading Chronicle Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Linda Engelson on behalf of the Chair Topics of Discussion: I. Call to Order Chair Robinson reviewed the agenda and called the meeting to order and reviewed the agenda. Accept a Donation Chair Robinson welcomed the Reading Education Foundation to the meeting. Treasurer Lori Foley said that the Reading Education Foundation will be presenting a donation in the amount of$60,029.92 to the Reading Public Schools to fund educational grants. This is the largest amount raised by REF to support the Reading Public Schools. This year's fundraisers included the Imagination Celebration, Festival of Trees and the Teacher Tributes. This year they have held Musical Bingo, which was a great success and a lot of fun, the annual Imagination Celebration is coming up on April 28th, which includes an on-line auction. The group will be selling flowers at the annual Artsfest and starting in April of each year, a donation to the REF Teacher&I Staff Tribute Program brings a small gift and special tribute card thanking the recipiet for their commitment to the educational experience of our children. Included on the card is your personal message. The Festival of Trees will once again happen in December. Grants Chair Nancy Dieselman shared there were 17 grant applications this year totaling $134,000 in requests. This year, REF is able to award and fund 11 grant proposals. Page 1 1 Ms. Foley said approximately $8,000 has been earmarked for professional development activities. Grant applications for the professional development activities is ongoing from now until December. Mr. Robinson asked about accountability, if there is an audit process/survey, to receive feedback from the recipients. The response was that the recipients must provide feedback 3 times a year. Mrs. Webb said she hears nothing but positive feedback from the teachers and directed the public to the REF website: Reading.EF.org. Dr. Snow Dockser thanked Christine Kelley for all the work she has done while on the Reading Education Foundation board. Mrs. Kelley will be stepping down from the board to become the next Assistant Superintendent of Learning and Teaching for the Reading Public Schools. Mrs. Webb moved, seconded by Mrs. Borawski,to accent the donation in the amount of$60,029.92 from the Reading Education Foundation. The motion carried 5-0. II. Recommended Procedure A. Public Comment Mr. Robinson stated that he is proud to see students here that are willing to present their stance on matters before the board. He cautioned the public that the School Committee cannot have an open discussion on individual employees other than the Superintendent. He then opened the floor to public input. Carla Nazzaro,parent, expressed concerns regarding the RMHS principal search process. She feels it is too late in the year to restart a principal search and asks that the current principal be retained in the position of interim principal. She also asked that the Committee convene in executive session to address this matter. RMHS senior and class officer Abby Bacci spoke in support of retaining Mr. Bakr as interim principal. She said the students feel there is instability in the high school leadership and a lack of transparency. Students do not have confidence in the administration. Mr. Bakr has the ability to make students feel valued and that their voices are being heard. RMHS student Zach Nazzaro echoed Ms. Bacci's sentiments saying he feels Mr. Bakr is able to connect with kids and make them feel they can have their voice heard. RMHS student Charles Wang also spoke on behalf of Mr. Bakr saying that Mr. Bakr is the principal RMHS needs. He relates to students on personal levels, is charismatic and approachable. The student body want Mr. Bakr to stay. Mr. Wang delivered a petition to the Chair. Parent Heather Soracco also supports Mr. Bakr staying on as interim principal and pointed out how student achievement/data has improved during his tenure. Page 1 2 Parent Vanessa Mulvey shared that Mr. Bakr is liked by students/parents and has made positive changes, built trust in student relationships and is a caring approachable leader. Chair Robinson thanked everyone for their input and called a brief recess at 7:34 p.m. The meeting was called back to order at 7:38 p.m. B. Old Business Part II Highlights of the 2017 Reading Youth Risk Behavior Survey Results Mrs. Webb wanted to share that Ms. McNamara recently did a presentation on vaping at Austin Prep attended by the secondary principals and SRO Lewis. Ms. McNamara is doing a great job educating the community. Ms. McNamara will be presenting results on safety, violence &bullying and health behaviors. She reviewed the data partner roles. We use Rothenback Research& Consulting for data cleaning and analysis. RCASA is responsible for the coordination, materials, development, comparisons, data targets and presentations. Reading administers the YRBS every 2 years and the comparison represents thousands of surveys. This year, several schools in the Middlesex League created a cohort for the administration of the YRBS Survey that was organized by JSI and funded by Lahey Health. Reading participated in the planning process however we had already collected 2017 data using our own survey tool earlier in the year. Middlesex League data for 7 districts was collected in May 2017. The towns included are Arlington, Burlington, Melrose, Stoneham, Wakefield, Winchester and Woburn. In 2019, Reading will participate in the league survey (if funding is provided) along with the original 7 districts and Belmont, Lexington, Watertown and Wilmington. High School Ms. McNamara shared the data collection process saying that protocols were implemented in obtaining permission from parents for student participation. All surveys and answer sheets are anonymous. The wellness teachers that participated in the data collection process signed confidentiality forms and are the ones that administered the surveys during physical education classes. The survey has 123 questions and students are told that the survey is voluntary and they can skip any question they were not comfortable answering. She went on to review selected findings of this year's data. Comparisons were made to the U.S., State, and Middlesex League findings. Ms. McNamara next reviewed questions dealing with safety. Responses reviewed were with respect to distracted driving (texting& emailing), drinking and driving(passenger and driver). The next area covered was violence &bullying. Student response to the question"were you electronically bullied in the last 12 months"was slightly higher than the Middlesex League and state average. The wording on this question had to be changed to reflect the ever-evolving changes in technology. Page 1 3 I ` She reviewed the bullying data and over the past 12 months there has been local declines in types of bullying. Students that responded that they got into a physical fight in the past 12 months was slightly lower than the state average. Responses to the questions on carrying weapons on at least one day in the last month were below the Middlesex League and state averages. The question did not specify what types of weapons other than not counting weapons carried for camping or fishing. Ms. McNamara went onto review the responses to health behaviors in the areas of dating violence & sexual assault, safety concerns going to and from school, sexual activity,physical activity and diet behaviors. When asked about health education, students responded to questions on being taught about HIV/AIDS prevention, alcohol and drug prevention, how to choose foods that will keep you healthy and how to eat a balanced, nutritious diet and bullying prevention in high school. The responses ranged from 77%to 88%that they had been taught about these four topics. Middle School The same process and procedures are used for the middle school survey. The middle school survey has fewer questions than the high school survey. Areas reviewed included bike & auto safety, bullying & fighting,physical activity and diet(body image). In the area of bullying & fighting the numbers were higher than the high school. Ms. McNamara pointed out that this is a developmental issue. Superintendent Doherty added that there was no Advisory in the middle schools at the time of this survey and feels the results may have been different. In Massachusetts, sixteen percent of middle school students who have been on a date reported having had their activities monitored by someone they were dating. This is an area to watch and this question may appear on a future survey. When asked about health education, students responded to questions on being taught about HIV/AIDS prevention, alcohol and drug prevention and bullying prevention in middle school. The responses ranged from 17% to 82%that they had been taught about these three topics. The middle school health curriculum started in the 2017-18 school year, after the YRBS survey was administered. There is more health education in middle school now. Other The majority of middle and high school students exhibit healthy behaviors (chose a safe ride, safe driver, no weapon carrying, no threatening behaviors, healthy dietary behaviors and physical activity). PRIDE Survey Ms. McNamara reviewed health related projects. She gave a brief overview of the SBIRT screening which is given to grades 9 & 11 by our nurses at the high school. Game Change, grant funded from the Patriots Anti-Violence Partnership, began this spring focusing on dating violence. 42 students applied to participate with 26 Page 1 4 chosen. The students were trained and are working on a dating violence policy. They meet with Coach Fiore, Mr. Zaya, SRO Lewis and Ms. McNamara every other week. PRIDE surveys will be given to all Grade 6— 12 students, PreK— 12 staff and K- 12 families. This survey is being funded out of the School Transformation grant and will be a complement on the even years to the YRBS survey. Parents can view the survey online with questions focused on the learning environment. Data will be used as a starting point for discussion. Recent school prevention events held by RCASA include vaping prevention and the Alex's Story. Students in grades 11 & 12 had the opportunity to view a unique presentation from Plymouth State University's TIGER Program on the issue of opioid awareness. Students learned about the impact of substance abuse and had the opportunity to ask questions. On May 9th there will be a film screening of"All of ME", a documentary film on eating disorders. This event is being coordinated by Coolidge Health Educator Jen White. Chair Robinson thanked Ms. McNamara for sharing this information tonight. C. Consent A eg nda Mrs. Webb asked if the committee wanted any items removed from the consent agenda. Mrs. Borawski asked that the March 5, 2018 minutes be removed. Consent A enda Accept a Donation to the Birch Meadow School Accept Donations from RMHS PSST J Accept a Donation from the NE Patriots Charitable Foundation Accept a Donation from RMHS BPO &VOICE Approval of Minutes (March 5, 2018) Mrs. Webb moved, seconded by Mrs. Borawski, to approve the consent astenda excluding the March 5, 2018 minutes. The motion carried 5-0. Mrs. Borawski asked that the word proposal be added to the last paragraph on the first page. Resident Alicia Williams would also like statements she made regarding the Lexia program reflected in the minutes. Chair Robinson tabled the vote on the March 5, 2018 minutes. D. New Business Town Meeting Preparation—Digital Curriculum Proposal Superintendent Doherty reviewed the proposed Warrant Article which would authorize the Superintendent of Schools, or a designee to enter into a contract or Page 1 5 contracts for Digital Curriculum for a term in excess of three years but not to exceed six years. In doing so we are able to increase our buying power. Mrs. Webb moved, seconded by Mrs. Borawski, to support Town Meeting Article 13 to allow the Superintendent, or designee,to enter into leases for digital curriculum for up to six-years in length. Dr. Vanden Akker asked if the wording had been reviewed by legal counsel. Dr. Doherty said it had and it is a similar process when the Town went to a 10-year contract for rubbish collection. The motion carried 5-0. Last Day of School Dr. Doherty recommended that June 201h be the last day of school. He also said that we are in a lot better shape than many communities. Mrs. Webb moved, seconded by Dr. Snow Dockser, to approve the recommendation that June 20,2018 be the last day of school. The motion carried 5-0. E. Reports Liaison Mrs. Webb reported on the passing of the override and letters sent by the School Committee and Town Manager and Superintendent thanking the community for their support. Dr. Snow Dockser thanked Mrs. Dowd, Mr. Martin, Dr. Doherty for educating the community on the impact of the override. She also thanked those involved with the Yes for Reading Committee. She next reported on the recent SEPAC meeting at which Understanding Disabilities presented. There will be a short business meeting followed by a presentation by BCBA Lisa Studer on April 10. Dr. Snow Dockser volunteered to attend the annual Day on the Hill on behalf of the committee. Mrs. Webb would like to include a Foundation Budget review as part of an upcoming meeting. Director of Student Services Mrs. Wilson reminded the community of the upcoming presentation"Decoding Dyslexia" on April 25th in the high school library. She also mentioned a presentation on Executive Functioning by Sara Ward that was sponsored by the Reading/Stoneham SEPAC. Page 1 6 Mrs. Wilson will present a Special Education Update at the May 21"meeting. Superintendent Superintendent Doherty mentioned the annual Artsfest that begins tomorrow night. There will be student performances and artwork displays along Main Street. He updated the committee on the RMHS principal search which is now in progress. April 13th is the application deadline and currently there are 17 applicants. He hopes to interview candidates after April vacation and have the search completed by early May. The Search Committee will remain the same with the addition of SRO Brian Lewis. III. Routine Matters a. Bills and Payroll (A) Warrant S1838 3.22.18 $172,550.81 Warrant S1839 3.29.18 $137,408.65 Warrant S 1840 4.05.18 $179,396.59 Warrant P1817 2.23.18 $1,627,148.02 Warrant P 1819 3.5.18 $1,477,713.82 b. Calendar IV.Information/Correspondence V. Future Business VI.Adjournment Adjourn Dr. Vanden Akker moved, seconded by Mrs. Borawski, to adiourn. The motion carried 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:18 p.m. NOTE: The minutes reflect the order as stated in the posted meeting agenda not the order they occurred during the meeting. *NI *,— JF. Doherty, Ed.D. S erintendent of Schools Page 1 7