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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-12-12 School Committee Minutes Town of Reading Minutes F.tGL-' ttiED Meeting TOWN CLERK RE!,DING, MA. Board - Committee - Commission - Council: 2020 JAN 13 PM 2: 52 School Committee Date: 2019-12-12 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 (arrived at 6:18), Linda Snow Dockser, Jeanne Borawski, Tom Wise, Pat Calley 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, RMHS Principal Kate Boynton, Director of Guidance Lynna Williams, RMHS Assistant Principal Tom Zaya, Student Representative Maura Drummey Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Linda Engelson on behalf of the Chair Topics of Discussion: 1. Call to Order Vice Chair Borawski called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m.and reviewed the agenda. A. Public Input Mrs. Borawski called for public comment. There was none. B. Consent Agenda Mrs. Borawski asked if the committee wanted any items removed from the consent agenda. - Accept a Donation from the Coolidge Olympiad Parents Group - Accept a Donation of Books from Matt&Michele Sanphy - Accept a Donation from the Friends of Reading Soccer - Approval of Three RMHS Wrestling Team Trips - Approval of Minutes(October 17,23 &28,2019&November 6, 19) Dr. Doherty answered questions regarding the field trips. No items were removed. Page I 1 Dr.Dockser moved,seconded by Mr.Wise,to approve the consent aeenda. The motion carried 5-0. C. Reports Student Representative Student Representative Maum Drummey reported on the following high school events: • The annual girls flag football game. Jr,vs. Sr girls,the teams were coached by the varsity football players. It was a great community event. • RMHS pep rally-a great unifying event. Students recognized for accomplishments in all areas. • Annual Town Tree Lighting at which the marching band performed,and 30 students volunteered at the event • The DECA Club competed in their first competition today,5 students received medals and will move on to the state competition. This is the club's first year with 10 members. • RMHS Choral concert is tonight. D. New Business RMHS Guidance Presentation&Update Director of Guidance Lynna Williams began by saying that the next few days students that applied early action/early decision will be hearing from the schools. It is a stressful but exciting time for families. She went on to review college admissions data for the Class of 2019. The admissions criteria for colleges is trending to a more holistic approach, seeing the whole student and being test optional. She went on to discuss how the guidance department is helping students to put together a solid application packet. Mr.Robinson arrived at 6:18 p.m. Mrs.Williams shared information on SAT, PSAT and AP testing. This past fall the number of colleges visiting RMHS increased to 100. The College Fair has been moved to the spring and will include more career options. The move from the fall to spring will make the event accessible to more sophomores and juniors. There will be a Gap Year Fair in January. More juniors are taking AP classes and we now have a nice variety of offerings. The Guidance Department continues to meet with the seniors during flex block and ourjuniors have been working on their essays in the English classes. Committee members asked questions about college visitations,and SAT/ACT testing. Mrs. Williams shared that we do not track college visitations and she has not seen evidence that colleges/universities prefer the SAT over the ACT and vice versa. Mrs. Borawski asked that we publicize the schools that our kids are being accepted to and will be attending. Mrs. Williams shared that the Guidance Department website is being updated and she will add that information. Dr. Dockser asked who has access to AP offerings. Page 1 2 Mrs. Williams shared that special education students and METCO students are not taking AP classes at this point. Mrs. Boynton added that the high school is working on equity at RMHS. Mr. Wise asked how we were addressing anxiety/crisis. Mrs. Williams shared that the goal of her department is to get to know all students.There is personal counseling available,students can schedule appointments or drop in if they need to see someone immediately. The Guidance Department is partnered with the high school administrators and they meet weekly to share concerns and collaborate on action steps. Chair Robinson thanked Mrs. Williams for presenting. RMHS Update Mrs.Boynton updated the committee on late start. The Late Start Group met in November and plans to send a survey out to stakeholders after the break. Adjustments were made to the drop off and it seems to be running fairly smoothly now. Dr. Doherty added that the anticipated congestion around the Birch Meadow complex at drop off is not an issue and the change in the RISE drop off procedure is working well. High School Handbook The School Council has met to begin reviewing the high school handbook. She shared that this will be a slow process. The School Council has set a goal to have commentsledit suggestions for the first three sections of the handbook by January 7u. Mr. Wise left the meeting at 7:29 p.m. Portrait of the Graduate An invitation was sent out to the community to join the design team. They have the makings for a robust team and hope to have the final team set by the break. The design Team will begin meeting in early January and there will be a kick off event on January 151'with a community viewing of the film "Most Likely to Succeed"and will follow-up with staff on the January 176 PD day. Work will continue through the year and into the fall hoping to present to the School Committee approval in the fall of 2020. Update on the Emergency The fire in the boy's third floor bathroom is an active investigation. Communication was sent out to families and there was a full school meeting on Monday as well as a community meeting last night. Steps being taken include consistent taking of attendance, students must have passes and hallway monitoring. Mrs. Boynton hopes to hold another community wide event in the early part of the year. School Improvement Plan Review Mrs. Borawski thanked Dr.Doherty for including the School Improvement Plans for review. Approval 2020-21 School Calendar Mrs.Borowski moved,seconded by Mr.Parks to approve the 2020—21 School Calendar. Page 1 3 Dr. Doherty said the calendar has remained unchanged. Dr. Dockser wanted to be sure that the religious accommodations policy was followed for all religious holidays. The motion carried 5-0. First Readine of Policy BHE—SM Mrs.Borawski moved,seconded by Mr.Parks to accept the first readine of Policy BHE—SM Social Media. Mrs.Borawski suggested two revisions to the revised policy—the elimination of the sentence beginning "As such to the end of the paragraph"and to remove the word also from the second paragraph. The School Committee is only required to vote on the policy. Mrs.Borawski continued by suggesting some revisions to the procedures. Dr.Dockser has an issue with the whole section—Expectations of SC members using Social Media. Mr. Wise returned to the meeting at 8:05 p.m. The suggested revisions were reviewed. Mr. Wise feels the intent of the policy was correct. He also felt that#6 in the procedures section is important. Mr. Robinson suggested leaving some semblance of#6 in the procedures. The committee members discussed the pros and cons of having social media sites. Mrs. Borawski and Dr. Dockser are both uncomfortable with having Facebook&Twitter sites. Dr. Doherty pointed out that he sees this as a duplication of efforts,the information is currently being posted on the School Committee page and he offered to have Counsel provide an opinion on the subject of the committee having social media sites. Mr. Parks would like to have the Principal's newsletters posted on the district site and social media. The vote to accept the first reading carried 6-0. E. Old Business There were no agenda items. F. Reports Director of Student Services Dr. Stys reported that a representative from DESE presented on the Tiered Focused Monitoring at the SEPAC meeting.Representatives from DESE will be in district the first week of January. The SEPAC will hold a daytime meeting on February 26a at 10:30 a.m. in the Reading Public Library. The next SEPAC meeting will be January 146. Chief Financial Officer Page 1 4 Mrs.Dowd reported on the damage from the fire at the high school.The high school has cameras and they are operational; however,they do not cover all areas in the high school including bathrooms. There will be an update meeting next week on the security project to discuss next steps. Members of the administration will be attending a meeting held by the MA School Safety Initiative to discuss crisis plans. Assistant Superintendent Mrs.Kelley said we had a successful in-service day in November at the middle school level. We also held several opportunities for paraeducator training. The PD Committee will be sending out a survey to determine what PD opportunities the state would like to see. Mrs.Kelley attended several conferences and workshops recently. Superintendent Dr. Doherty shared that the first kindergarten deadline has passed. He pointed out that the Northshore Education Consortium's Annual report was in the packet and referred the committee to page 19 which spelled out the cost effectiveness of belonging to a collaborative. Liaisons Mr. Wise reported on the recent Select Board meeting. The board has been holding budget meetings. He commended Director of Facilities Joe Huggins on an informative energy conservation presentation. He also attended the SEPAC meeting and asked if the committee could consider supporting Understanding Disabilities during the budget deliberations. Mr. Robinson shared that he participated in the recent Police Chief Assessment process. There were 5 candidates and felt it was an interesting process. Former School Committee member Gary Nihan was the recipient of the Cliff Allen award at the RMHS Hall of Fame induction dinner. He also attended the annual Football Luncheon and was impressed how our student athletes presented themselves. Mrs. Borawski complimented the students of the Parker bands and choruses on their recent winter concerts. Dr. Snow Dockser shared that the RCASA Board is working on their reorganization. Work continues on the new organization of RCASA—the new name,structure and logo will be revealed soon to the Select Board and Town. MH First Aid Training has continued reaching at this point about 679 people in the district. It is required every year now for new teachers and they are continuing to certify new staff. Every person certified helps our district be more informed and sensitive to the mental health needs and manifestations of youth and adults. Wood End Therapeutic Support Team Sammy Salkins is working with a lot of students in diversion program helping them to deal with addiction issues. Page 1 5 They are putting together the YRBS data Team and a Peer Leader Group. Preliminary plans for the Pride Survey are underway. SBIRT at that time was almost done with Freshmen and Juniors were next in queue. Sammi had started training so that she can help with the SBIRT Process. Vaping prevention has been on-going in the Middle Schools. They are bringing High Schoolers with them to reach the middle schoolers. The addiction rates are frightening... RCTV is holding their holiday party this evening and they are transitioning to a new budget system. Dr. Dockser thanked RCTV for the multitude of opportunities they are providing to our students to be trained through classes at the high school and at RCTV which enable our students to staff the recording of community-wide programs which is a great opportunity for the students,as well as a vital service to our town. I also thanked RCTV for their dedication and service. Mrs.Calley reported on the Ad Hoc Committee meeting. The group has finalized its mission statement and are looking at having the committee established within a Town department. They have begun the planning for the annual MLK celebration. Mr. Parks updated the committee on the Recreation Committee. He referred to the softball field email and said the timeline is set and safety work has been completed. IL Routine Matters a. Bills and Payroll(A) Warrant 52018 10.31.19 $253,950.96 Warrant 52019 11.07.19 $364,296.82 Warrant 52020 11.14.19 $264,897.59 Warrant 52021 11.21.19 $219,362.94 Warrant S2022 1127 19 $84,526.72 Warrant 52023 12.05.19 $9,885.98 Warrant S2024 12.12.19 $253,340.57 Warrant P2008 10.18.19 $1,681,117.90 Warrant P2009 11.01.19 $1,796,124.74 Warrant P2010 11.15.19 $1,683,029.03 Warrant P2011 11.29.19 $1 703,575.24 Warrant P2012 12.13.19 $1,660430.03 b. Calendar III. Information/Correspondence Mrs.Borawski announced that she will not seek reelection to the School Committee. Dr. Dockser announced that she will not seek reelection to the School Committee. IV. Future Business V. Adjournment Adioum Page 1 6 Mrs.Borawski moved,seconded by Dr.Dockser,to adjourn. The motion carried 6- 0. The meeting adjourned at 9:37 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: haps://www.voutube com/watch?v=wsOXxFtV3cM&list=PLkibnMozKYxt6AcM02oLu PVC9Hw2OTARx 46�- o n F.Doherty, .D. Page 1 7