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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-10-17 School Committee Minutes Town of Reading e Meeting Minutes m EC`�1VED TOWN CLERK READING, MA. Board - Committee - Commission - Council: School Committee 213 DEC 19 AM 10; 05 Date: 2019-10-17 Time: 7:00 PM Building: School - Memorial High Location: School Library Address: 62 Oakland Road Session: Open Session Purpose: Open Session Version: Final 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 Principal Rick! Shankland, Eaton Principal LisaMarie Ippolito, Killam Principal Sarah Leveque, RMHS Principal Kate Boynton, Coolidge, Barrows Principal Beth Leavitt, Wood End Principal Joanne King, Director of Facilities Joe Huggins, Curriculum Coaches Heather Leonard &Allison Straker Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Linda Engelson on behalf of the Chair Topics of Discussion: I. Call to Order Chair Robinson called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.and reviewed the agenda. A. Public Input Mr. Robinson called for public comment. Sherilla Lestrade,Friends of Reading METCO, shared that the group is hosting a potluck dinner for families from both communities on November 2"d from 4—6 p.m. at the Greenwood Memorial United Methodists Church. The Friends of Reading METCO hope that events like this will help build and strengthen bonds between the Boston and Reading communities. B. Consent Agenda Mr. Robinson asked if the committee wanted any items removed from the consent agenda. Mr. Wise asked that the following consent agenda items be removed: - Approval of the Parker Middle School Quebec Field Trip - Approval of RMHS Skating Club Trip - Approval of RMHS Swiss Exchange Field Trip Page I 1 Approval of Minutes(September 26,2019) Mr.Wise reviewed the reasons for pulling the items from the consent agenda. He pointed out that the Parker Quebec field trip packet was complete with all items required by policy. He questioned why the Committee was approving the Skating Club trip.The answer was because it is an out of state trip.He pointed out a discrepancy in the cover memorandum and the field trip packet for the Swiss Exchange and wanted to confirm is was occurring in 2021 and finally he requested the link to the meeting video be included in the minutes. Dr. Snow Dockser asked if there is an avenue to offer financial assistance to students that wish to participate on any field trips. Mr. Parks pointed out that some of the travel companies offer financial assistance. Mrs.Borawski moved,seconded by Mr.Parks,to approve the Parker Middle School Quebec trip. The motion carried 5-0. Mrs.Borawski moved,seconded by Mr.Parks,to approve the RMHS Skatine Club trip as amended. The motion carried 5-0. Mrs.Borawski moved,seconded by Mr.Parks,to approve the RMHS Swiss Exchange trio as amended. The motion carried 5-0. Mrs.Borawski moved,seconded by Mr.Parks,to approve the open session minutes dated September 26,2019 as amended. The motion carried 5-0. Remaining Consent Agenda items: - Approval of RMHS French Exchange Field Trip - Approval of the Coolidge Middle School Quebec Field Trip - Accept a Donation from the Northeast STEM Network Mrs.Borawski moved,seconded by Mr.Wise,to approve the remainine consent agenda items. The motion carried 5-0. C. Reports Student Ms. Drummey reported on the following: Boys soccer and volleyball have qualified for the tournament Football has a big game vs. Winchester on Friday Girls swim is currently undefeated RMHS Drama will be presenting Chicago in early November The RMHS Environmental Club will be participating in UMASS Amherst's Envirothon in November The first RMHS High 5 was awarded to Julianna Ferreims Director of Student Services Dr. Srys reported that the Crossroads Program at RMHS is holding a sock drive throughout October. The physical therapists received a grant for sensory packs which have been distributed to the 5 elementary schools. The Student Services Department is streamlining and aligning the 504 process. They have created a 504 binder that includes resources for appropriate staff. The DESE will be visiting Reading as part of the Tiered Page 1 2 Focus Monitoring. We are in the process of updating policies and procedures. Dr. Stys and Assistant Director Allison Wright did a presentation on the differences between IEPs and 504s which was well received. The SEPAC held a meeting and elected a new board. The School Psychologist,who attended the meeting,and the BCBAs and Team Chairs have offered to do some training as have the BCBA and Team Chairs. Chief Financial Officer Mrs. Dowd updated the committee on the Extended Day waitlist. There are still 64 families remaining on the waitlist which they hope to address with the second round of bids for after school programs. Mrs.Dowd and the Town Procurement Officer are currently vetting the second round of proposals. Assistant Superintendent Mrs. Kelley reported on the Reading Fall Institute offering of Equity for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners workshop, in-house training on reading,math for the elementary teams,high school curriculum training and a new middle school PLC format with curriculum leads. She also reported that Mrs. Leonard applied for and received funding for STEM activities as part of STEM Week that is happening next week. Superintendent Dr. Doherty provided an enrollment update and reported on the attendance for staff and students over the recent Jewish holidays. Dr. Snow Dockser asked if the accommodation policy was followed and what steps were taken if it was not followed. Dr.Doherty suggested that any issues should be shared with the building principals. Liaisons Mr. Wise attended Senator Lewis' roundtable on the Student Opportunity Act and reported on the Financial Forum. Mrs. Borawski reported that the SEPAC had a good turnout at their meeting on Tuesday and elected a new board. She thanked Samh McLaughlin for her work running the SEPAC last year. Understanding Disabilities has an upcoming fundraiser at the Matters Cabin where families can have pet portraits taken. Dr. Snow Dockser reported on the following events and activities. • Ad Hoc meeting—invited the public to become involved • RCTV Annual Meeting on October 24'h at 6:00 p.m. • State of Hate workshop at the Library D. Old Business Elementary Space Plan Discussion Dr. Doherty began the presentation by saying that there was a brief presentation on the elementary space needs at the Financial Forum. Page 1 3 He began by reviewing the timeline saying that Gienapp Associates was hired to conduct an elementary enrollment and space study. Gienapp Associates subcontracted NESDEC to do the enrollment study. Gienapp was also asked to look at the current space needs at Birch Meadow for the 2020-21 school year. It has been determined that we will need at least 2 possibly 3 additional classrooms for Birch Meadow students in 2020-21. Gienapp Associates will give a full presentation at a future School Committee meeting. Tonight's discussion is to address the short-tens solution. The following factors are driving the space needs at Birch Meadow which include an increase in Grade K—2 enrollment since the 2017-18 school year as well as programmatic changes. We have continued to see an increase in students enrolled in the Compass Program. We anticipate the need for 3 classrooms for the Compass Program in the 2020-21 school year. Dr.Doherty reviewed the possible solutions to the space crunch ranging from internal construction options at Birch Meadow and Wood End,utilizing three classrooms in the Field House and bringing modulars to Birch Meadow or a combination of all three. He pointed out that there are already utility hook-ups at Birch Meadow from the previous modular classrooms. He went on to say that the recommendation would be to install 2 modular classrooms and build out one classroom at Wood End. Funding in the amount of$750,000 would come out of free cash and would have to be requested at the Town Meeting. There was discussion regarding reducing the number of full day kindergarten classrooms, returning to a lottery system and outplacement of students in programs. Mrs.Borawski moved,seconded by Mr.Parks,to request funding in the amount of $750,000 at the November Town Meeting to address the elementary space needs as outlined in the Superintendent's memorandum dated October 17.2019. The committee asked clarifying questions and Mrs. Borawski reread the motion. The motion carried 5-0. E. New Business Middle School Math/Social Studies Update Math District Curriculum Coach Heather Leonard updated the committee on the middle school math program. She began by sharing that the previous curriculum was phased out by Pearson,so we had an opportunity to reexamine alignments to the 2017 MA Curriculum Frameworks with new curriculum tools. The cuff iculum and content of the Mathematics courses remain the same—the curriculum tools are the focus of the pilot. The seventh and eighth grade teachers are piloting two different curriculum tools using a unit-based pilot structure. In December 2018 the middle school mathematics PLC shared the priorities and needs and provided feedback for the curriculum pilot process. From January—May 2019 the curriculum subcommittee built a rubric,determined a timeline, utilized the rubric to analyze curriculum tools and proposed a curriculum tool based on analysis. The curriculum council met with publishers of both tools. The pilot was implemented for the start of the school year. Data will be collected and analyzed to recommend the curriculum tool and the procurement process. Social Studies Page 14 District Curriculum Coach Allison Straker began by sharing what has changed in the 2018 History&Social Studies Framework. She said the biggest change has occurted with the introduction of Civics in grade 8. The PLCs have been working on unpacking the 2019 Framework and discussing scope and sequence possibilities. They have created a rubric for possible materials.We have been able to participate in cross training networking and collaboration with several north shore districts and DESE. Over the course of the year we applied for a grant,and received,from DESE to support curriculum revision,interviewed consultants to support revisions,had representatives from resource companies present their product and finalized a scope and sequence for curriculum guides and resources. Curriculum materials were purchased for grades 6& 8 and the staff worked over the summer to plan out lessons. There are scheduled PD opportunities with the vendor, staff collaborations and meetings with the Curriculum Leads to share expectations and ideas. Marianne Downing, Heather Drive said that the digibooks are tedious to access and would like to see students have access to tangible textbooks. MCAS Presentation Assistant Superintendent Chris Kelley provided an overview of the 2019 MCAS results saying that overall the news was very good for Reading. She reviewed the accountability report. This report looks at achievement,student growth,high school completion, progress towards English proficiency,chronic absenteeism and advanced coursework completion. A student growth rate of 50% is viewed as good by the DESE. She added that our principals have been doing a greatjob addressing the absentee rates in the schools. Mrs. Kelley reviewed the changes this year,highlights in Grades 3-8 and RMHS highlights. She reviewed information by grade level and test,comparing to state and previous years. Our Data Coach and the principals are collaborating around the information gleaned from the data sets; looking at grade level and cohort trends and exploring information including question type,annual trends,results across standards and content School based teams are using the MCAS results in concert with district and school-based data to inform practices in curriculum, instruction and support of individual students. Mr. Wise is concerned that the middle schools are on divergent paths with vast differences that are rather severe. Mrs. Kelley said the team is looking into this doing a deep analysis. Parent Caitlin Koehler,Lindsay Lane,was concerned that the Wood End Grade 4 reading scores went down and hoped to have resources to address this concern directed there. II. Routine Matters a. Bills and Payroll(A) Warrant 52014 10.03.19 $225,439.29 Warrant 52015 10.10.19 $182,992.57 Warrant 52016 10.17.19 $36,287.80 Warrant P2005 9.06.19 $1,547,989.19 Warrant P2006 9.15.19 $1,661,765.40 Warrant P2007 9.29.19 $1,699,992.62 Page 1 5 b. Calendar III. Information/Correspondence Mr. Wise asked that the committee support the concerns addressed in an email received regarding the softball field lights. IV. Future Business V. Adioumment Adiourn Mr.Parks moved,seconded by Mrs.Borawski,to adiourn. The motion carried 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 10:40 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?t—l5 eT9ndwbx0&list=PLk ibnMpzKYxt6AcM02oLuP V C9Hw20TBARx&index-2&t=0s 1i J h F. DohertyQEd.D. Page 1 6