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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-09-26 School Committee Minutes ' FR O Town of Reading 5 60 Meeting Minutes c_ y' u NIA Board - committee - commission - council: Nil OCT 23 I'M 3 26 School Committee Date: 2019-09-26 Time: 7:00 PM Building: School - Memorial High Location: School Library Address: 62 Oakland Road Session: Open Session Purpose: Open Session Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Chuck Robinson, Linda Snow Dockser, Jeanne Borawski, Tom Wise, and John Parks Members - Not Present: Others Present: Superintendent John Doherty, Chief Financial Officer Gail Dowd, Assistant Superintendent Christine Kelley, Director of Student Services Jennifer Stys, Coolidge Principal Sarah Marchant, Parker Assistant Principal Brendan Norton, SRO Matt Vatcher Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Linda Engelson on behalf of the Chair Topics of Discussion: 1. Call to Order Chair Robinson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and reviewed the agenda. A. Public Inout Mr. Robinson called for public comment. There was none. B. Consent Agenda Mr. Robinson asked if the committee wanted any items removed from the consent agenda. Dr. Dockser asked that the September 12,2019 minutes be removed. - Accept a Donation from the Friends of Reading Field Hockey - Accept a Donation from the Reading Volleyball Parent Organization Mrs Borawski moved,seconded by Mr. Wise,to approve the consent agenda as amended. The motion carried 5-0. Dr. Dockser reviewed the revisions she would like made to the minutes. Mr. Tompkins indicated that facilities has done a greatjob maintaining our"school buildings and that all are physically safe and sound. This is a good lime for us to have planned the Enrollment Study because it can take 3-5 years to plan research and funding Page 1 1 for anew building project. 11 is likely that we will need to be considering anew project in 5-10 years, so having done the study now will help its be prepared". Dr. Doherty began his report by thanking those who had stepped up to run the disirict and commending their vital work running the district in his absence. Mrs. Borawski moved, seconded by Mr. Wise,to approve the September 12,2019 minutes as amended. The motion carried 5-0. Before moving onto New Business Chair Robinson wanted to publicly thank Elaine Webb for her 12 years of tireless work on behalf of the children of Reading. Mrs. Webb resigned from the School Committee effective September 16,2019. C. New Business 2019 Middle School YRBS Survev Results RCASA Director Erica McNamara reviewed the process. The YRBS Survey is administered every two years to middle and high school students.This year we partnered with eleven Middlesex League Schools and John Snow, Inc(data analysis). The only district that did not participate was Lexington. Lahey Health donated $50K to support the administration and analysis of data for the 2019 collection period. She shared that there is less comparative statewide data at the middle school level, so these results are being compared to the Middlesex League data. Ms. McNamara reviewed the results in areas of safety, negative stress, school stress, suicide, bullying, mental health treatment, harassment, bullying, physical fighting, weapons and dating violence. Electronic bullying incidents have doubled since the 2017 survey. The bullying rates tend to be higher at the middle school level because of the maturity level of the surveyed students. There has been a shift from face to face bullying to electronic forms of bullying. She next reviewed the results for vaping use, underage drinking, substance misuse and sexual behavior. The question was asked what the 4-month ban on the sale of vaping products will be. Ms. McNamara said it will make it harder to access but the kids will still be able to get the products whether it be illegally or travel to surrounding states. She also shared that there was a 4% increase in underage drinking since the 2017 survey. Students obtain alcohol through family members, directly or indirectly. Lastly, results regarding talking to parents about screen time, breakfast, physical activity, concussion, sleep,having a trusted adult in and out of school to talk to and perception of parental and peer disapproval regarding several behaviors were shared. School supports in place include school staff and policies that support healthy schools, social-emotional learning integration, school based and individual supports, health education in middle school, Youth Mental Health First Aid training for staff, Interface Referral Service for families and the Eliot Mobile Crisis Services for students. Next steps include a meeting of the District YRBS Data Committee to review the findings in detail, present to parents and the community and provide an opportunity for students to review and provide insight. Mrs. Borawski asked how the data is presented to the middle school students. Ms. McNamara shared at the high school level it is addressed in the health classes. Ideas are being explored regarding use of data at the middle school students. Page 1 2 Appointments to Collaboratives Dr. Doherty explained that this is an annual appointment that needs to be voted by the School Committee. NEC Appointment Mrs. Borawski moved,seconded by Mr.Parks,to appoint Superintendent John F. Doherty as the Reading Public Schools' representative to the Board of Directors of the Northshore Education Consortium for the 2019-2020 school year. The motion carried 5-0. SEEM Appointment Mrs.Borawski moved,seconded by Mr. Wise,to appoint Superintendent John F. Doherty as the Reading Public Schools' representative to the Board of Directors of the SEEM Collaborative for the 2019-2020 school year. The motion carried 5-0. Approval of the School Committee Informational Brochure Mrs Borawski moved seconded by Mr.Parks,to approve the School Committee Informational Brochure. The Committee made suggested edits to the brochure with that emails sent to the Committee are public records, layout and the addition of goals, policy and budget under School Committee's lob. Mr. Robinson tabled the motion and asked that suggestions be forward to him for inclusion in the next draft. School Committee Vacancy Mr. Robinson shared that we will need to notify the Select Board of the vacancy. The vacancy will need to be posted. There was discussion about possible dates for thejoint meeting with the Select Board to appoint a new member. Mrs.Borawski moved,seconded by Mr.Parks,to authorize the Chair to notify the Select Board Chair of the vacancv and ask that the position be posted. The motion passed 5-0. D. Old Business Superintendent's Evaluation Mrs. Borawski reviewed the process, goals and performance standards. She said the process began in May when the Superintendent provided the evaluation document. What we do is consistent with what School Committees across the Commonwealth do for the Superintendent's evaluation. Each member completes an evaluation and a designee compiles the information and creates the summative document. The evaluation documents will be posted on the website. This has been an unusual cycle, Mrs. Webb who was on the Committee in May, has done an evaluation. Mr. Parks opted not to complete an evaluation because of his newness to the Committee. Dr. Doherty's overall rating for the 2018-19 Summative Evaluation was proficient. Page 13 Professional Practice Standard#1 —Instructional Leadership The Committee rated the Superintendent proficient in this category. They are pleased with his leadership in social emotional learning, use of data to inform decisions, implementation of Curriculum Coordinators,development and implementation of curriculum guides, the variety of assessments used, the review and improvement of the Bridge Program, use of the workshop model at the elementary level and a successful NEASC process at the high school. Professional Practice Standard 412—Management and Operations The Superintendent attained a proficient rating in this standard. The Committee commends the commitment to an inclusive, respectful culture in all of our schools, exemplary work done to address the safety, health,emotional, and social needs of students, successful negotiation of all collective bargaining agreements,the ability to hire and manage a strong central office leadership team and building principals,a positive and effective reorganization of central office staff and a strong collaborative working relationship with municipal counterparts. Professional Practice Standard#3—Family and Community Engagement The overall rating for this standard was proficient.The Committee was pleased with the on-going communication via weekly newsletters and blogs, a high level of availability to the public through office hours and willingness to meet and a comprehensive response to the challenging problem of hateful graffiti in our schools. Moving forward they would like to see methods to better engage the public in changes before they are in the implementation phase, in order to work through potential coneems and to build public support. Professional Practice Standard 4—Professional Culture Dr. Doherty earned a proficient rating in this category. The Superintendent is clearly committed to creating a professional culture in the Reading Public Schools. Commitment to high standards,continuous learning, and creating a shared vision are considered to be exemplary. The Committee would like to see a focus on conflict management in the coming year. Dr. Doherty thanked the Committee. He understands that this is a very time-consuming process and was taken seriously by the members of the Committee. He shared that many contribute to the success of the district and the evaluation is reflective of the work done by the Central Office Administrators, Directors and Principals. Mrs.Borawski moved,seconded by Mr.Parks,to approve the Superintendent's End-of-Cvcle Summative Evaluation Report for the 2018-19 school year. The motion carried 5-0. F.. Reports Liaisons Dr. Snow Dockser reported on the following events and activities. • RCASA held its annual meeting and film showing on September 25"'at the Jordan's IMAX Theater. 'There was a good turnout for the film and discussion Page 1 4 with Chris Herren. The film will be shown for the high school community on March t8'". Ms. McNamara said that anyone 12 and over is welcome to attend. Mrs. Borawski reported that the next SEPAC meeting will be held on October I St". Mr. Wise updated the Committee on the Select Board meeting. The status of HRAC was discussed. The group is looking for volunteers. A Community Arts Fest will be held on the Town Common on October 5", and discussion on the New Crossing Road Access and the RMLD Arts Center was held. Mr. Wise attended the showing of Angst at Parker today. The movie addresses anxiety in youth and teens. Director of Student Services Dr. Stys reported on disproportionality identified by race and ethnicity findings from IDEA. She is pleased to report that there is no disproportionality in Reading. Our student supports are in line with the needs of our students. Chief Financial Officer Mrs. Dowd reported that the Town has closed the FYI budget. The surplus returned by the schools was approximately $200,000 which was in line with what has been reported over the course of the fiscal year. She also reported, with the help of Sharon Stewart,we have been able to prepay$475,000 in out-of-district tuitions. We were also able to purchase a good deal of technology equipment for the district. Lastly,we have hired a School Nutrition Director who will begin on October 16th. New Director Danielle Collins will also oversee the Wakefield Public Schools Food Service department. Assistant Superintendent Mrs. Kelley reported that the MCAS data has been released and she will present on the MCAS results at the meeting on October 17"'. Our Data Coach has been meeting with the Principals to discuss the scores/data. Behavioral Coach Lauren Sabella spearheaded the effort to bring the film Angst to our middle schools. Today and tomorrow she is training newer elementary teachers on Open Circle. She has become a trainer in the program. Superintendent Dr. Doherty reported on the Student Opportunity Act that is currently before the House and Senate. He believes this bill is on the fast track to be passed by the end of the year. There could be an increase in funding based on the number of law-income students, it will benefit all areas of Special Education, there could be a 75%reimbursement in Circuit Breaker in FY21 and that could be additional funding for Special Education transportation over a 4 year period. Senator Lewis will be holding a Roundtable on October 2"d at Stoneham Middle School at 7:00 p.m. to discuss the 21"Century Education Trust Fund. Page 1 5 it. Routine Matters a. Bills and Payroll(A) Warrant 52012 9.19.19 $180,708.67 Warraut 52013 9.26.19 $371,308.17 b. Calendar Ill. Information/Correspondence IV. Future Business Mr. Robinson would like to see discussion on a Policy Sub-Committee at an upcoming meeting. Mr. Wise would like to have the following on a future agenda: • RCASA Letter • High School Handbook Update • RMHS School Council Update • School Improvement Plans • Kindergarten Placement Policy-Guidelines Dr. Dockser would like to have the brochure on a future agenda. Mr. Parks asked for an update on athletic start times. Dr. Doherty said that there will be a high school update at the November 7'h meeting which will include that information. V. Adiournment Adioum Mrs.Borawski moved,seconded by Mr.Parks,to adjourn. The motion carried 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m. NOTE: The minutes reflect the order as stated in the posted meeting agenda not the order they occurred during the meeting. Link to meeting video: httos://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm7Y55Ufzn8 Jo . Doherty, Ed. . Page 1 6