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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-01-07 School Council - Wood End Elementary Minutes orxrq Town of Reading Meeting Minutes ' Board - Committee - Commission - Council: 2114 JAN -7 PM 6: 14 School Council -Wood End Elementary Date: 2019-01-07 Time: 3:15 PM Building: School - Wood End Location: Conference Room Address: 85 Sunset Rock Lane Purpose: Monthly Meeting for 2018-19 Year Session: General Session Attendees: Members - Present: Ellen Committo, Andrea Freeman, Jessica Hester, Joanne King, Michelle Mini, Casey Moulton Members - Not Present: Jane Roberts Others Present: Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Michelle Mini Topics of Discussion: The fourth monthly meeting of the Wood End Elementary School Council was held in the Conference Room of the Wood End Elementary School on January 7, 2019. Call to order: A quorum of members being present, and the meeting having been duly convened at Wood End School by the Principal, Joanne King called the meeting to order at 3:20 p.m. and proceeded with business. Dr. King Introduced Andrea Freeman as a new Council member filling the role vacated by Tara Lewis. Public Comment: None Review and Acceptance of Minutes: Members reviewed draft minutes from the December 3' meeting. Dr. King provided clarification on class size in the minutes. Wood End Is not over the limit of 22 for K-2, however Grade 3 classes are at 25 students. School Committee guidelines recommended fewer than 28. Ellen Commito made a motion to approve minutes, seconded by Casey Moulton. Vote: Minutes Accepted 6-0-0 Old Business: Officer Scouten has not been able to attend a School Council meeting to discuss traffic concerns on neighboring streets during school pick-up and drop-off. However, Dr. King reached out to School Resource Officer Matthew Vatcher. He is currently monitoring the Page 1 1 drop-off times on Sunset Rock Lane and will talk with parents to enforce the traffic procedures near the school. This will be an ongoing effort and the situation will continue to be monitored, especially concerns with neighborhood parking and the island located on Sunset Rock - narrowness of circle and travel within the circle. Dr. King will continue to put out reminders to families. New Business: FY20 Budget Update: This week's Pathways newsletter from Dr. Doherty included information on the FY20 school budget of$46,467,348 representing an Increase of 3.6% over the FY19 budget. A significant amount of funds will be used to provide for the Increase in known out of district special education tuition and transportation expenses due to increased rates, and types of placements as well as curriculum updates in Social Studies to align with new Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. The overall technology budget will be reduced which will make it challenging to keep up with replacement of smartboards and projectors. An overview of the FY20 budget will take place at School Committee meeting on January 7'h. Each cost center will be presented individually at different school committee meetings. Public comment and a Q&A session is scheduled for January 24th. Class Size Update: There are a handful of families at Wood End who have registered for half-day kindergarten, so WE will likely provide an integrated kindergarten model (mixing full day and half day students). There will also likely be a change to RISE preschool start time because of the change to start time at the high school. Kindergarten placements will be finalized by February let. School Improvement Plan: Action steps for this year: 1. Grades K-2 were provided AMC kits for math activities to support foundational math skills. These activities need to be organized and involve some preparation, but we shouldn't need to do much in the way of copying, laminating, cutting, etc. 2. Teacher observation time will be provided for all teachers to observe colleagues in a variety of content instruction. Parent volunteers will cover classrooms and teachers will prepare activities that parents will be able to easily manage - not Smartboard lessons. The goal is to set up both teachers and parents for success. Target the two weeks after February vacation and another two weeks in May. Mrs. Commito suggested observations happen after MCAS and benchmark testing. Time will also be provided so teachers can discuss observations and ask questions. 3. Parent help to support lessons during library to build basic computer skills in preparation for the upcoming MCAS testing. Parent volunteers just need to have basic computer skills to be able to volunteer. Students in third grade will be required to type a one-page response. Student in 4'h and 5^ grade will complete a student risk survey at end of MCAS. Jessica Hester will touch base with Lisa Norcross about when she will be working with students on computer/keyboarding skills to coordinate dates for volunteers to support. 4. Dr. King will send out a draft of Information that was sent out last year for the "March Madness" observations. She will also talk to K-2 teachers to get an idea of observation time frame in February and May. Adjournment There being no further business, the School Council adjourned at 4:05 p.m. with plans to reconvene on February 4, 2019. Respectfully Submitted, Michelle Mini, Recording Secretary Page 1 2