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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-01-12 School Council - RMHS Minutes - Draft - RECEIVED TOWN CLERK READING, M4) DRAFT RMHS school council minutes for 1/12/2021, prepared by school council member Marianne Downing 2021 APR 21 PM 3: 21 PRESENT: principal Boynton, Michelle Greenwalt, Eileen Manning, Michelle Hopkinson, Ryan McGibbon, Marianne Downing,Connor Peterson,Trey Skehan,and I think Laurie Donahue(not sure) ABSENT: Ryan McGibbon PRELIMINARY REMARKS BEFORE OFFICIAL START OF MEETING • The meeting opened with some formalities going over whether TEAMS or Zoom would work best going forward with meetings,and,based on the difficulties in getting all school council members to be able to log onto TEAMS for this meeting on 1/12/2021 and subsequent, difficulties in screen sharing,the council agreed that future meetings may best be held again on Zoom the way the November 2020 and December 2020 meetings were held. • Kate said she would ensure that the future agendas sent to town hall would include the new Zoom links. • Kate also went over some formalities with how this and future school council meetings should be conducted, including that it needs to be more clear when the group is coming to a consensus on something by specifically asking each person in the group. • Member Marianne Downing mentioned that it is also helpful for members and the public if the agenda is more specific about decisions that are being made during that meeting. • Kate added that the minutes will be being sent to the town clerk and that public Zoom links need to be provided so that public can at least watch the meeting(though not necessarily directly participate in all discussions like with meeting that have public comment). DRAFT MINUTES COMMENTS • The first agenda item for the RMHS school council was to go over the draft school council minutes form the 12/8/2020 meeting,and the group together had a fair number of changes and follow up answers to those minutes. • First, in noting the attendance at the 12/8/2020 meeting, member Laurie Donahue was not present at that meeting,and it was unclear if Pooja Parsons was present. • Under the section,"proposed changes regarding GPA," in the 12/8 minutes: o Council members noted that certain bullet point information on the draft minutes actually was not resolved at that 12/8 meeting,but were resolved afterwards and should be labeled as such. o For example,the bullet point saying that the moving to UMass GPA calculation would be phased in to 3r°quarter this year for gr.9-11,the effective phase in of P quarter was not learned until after 12/8,when Kate consulted with Chuck Strout. o Also,the part about"eliminate the-0.3 penalty immediately for F"—appears to be something that likewise would be phased in starting in quarter 3 and not necessarily "immediate" and this was not determined finally until after the 12/8 meeting[KATE THESE RE MY NOTES PLEASE CORRECT IF I HAVE THIS WRONG) • Under the section,"proposed changes to Semester vs Year transcript," in the 12/8 minutes— Kate clarified that the bullet point labeled, "implemented this year or next pending Rediker system requirements," has now been resolved that it will be implemented NEXT year for current grades 9-11. • Under the section,"proposed changes to class rank and deciles;'in the 12/8 minutes,the bullet point stating"stop calculating and communicating decile and class rank"should be modified to note that,at least for this year,they are keeping valedictorian and salutatorian (thus, necessarily would have to calculate class rank). o Kate stated that she asked RMHS guidance about this and that they confirmed with some colleges that they are moving away from the process of using or computing class rank and deciles. NEXT SECTION OF HANDBOOK TO REVIEW—SECTION 0.CENTURY CLUB • Council member Trey Skehan explained that he believed Century Club was created around 10 years ago, by a former RMHS principal,Joe Finegan,to try and recognize the work of more students(i.e.,more than just the top 30 in senior class). • Century Club does not take into account class weighting in finding the"top 40 seniors","top 30 juniors, "etc. Further,Trey also noted that at the time Century Club first came into being,the high school had 5levels of classes. • Because of the changes in class levels and weighting,Trey and Kate feel that Century club is not really serving its purpose. • Everyone agreed that the sentence in the handbook indicating that Century Club takes into account effort grades, needs to be removed from handbook,since RMHS no longer issues grades for effort. o The language to be removed is the language stating,"or with more than two effort marks of 3 or 4" o In terms of language in the handbook Century Club description relating to"Incomplete" classes and its effect, Kate needs to get input from RMHS Head of Guidance, Lynna Williams,regarding input on how"Incomplete," is or has been handled in past with Century Club and if its handling and the language in handbook is consistent with the wording elsewhere in handbook that gives two weeks to get incomplete work done. • Century Club was impossible to implement during 2019-20 due to the spring grades being all pass/fail. • The council discussed various ways to recognize student achievement and this also led into discussions regarding valedictorian("val")and salutatorian("sal"). o Regarding class rank,val,sal,Trey and Kate discussed direction may be in future(after this year)to discontinue practice of picking a val&sal. o They cited examples in recent past where the top students in the class were separated by only hundredths and thousandths of points and whether any real difference in the students exists when it reaches that level—for example,does an A-vs an A,in one class freshman year, being the only difference between two students with otherwise exact same grades,really tell you who is ri1 and who is rig? o Trey said often one's standing in terms of being 41 and not#1 can depend on the particular group of kids you are with in a particular year and does not reflect that you are necessarily more academically skilled than the#2. o The council discussed whether other ways of honoring top achievers can still work,such as a group of valedictorians(done in other schools,for all students falling within a GPA range),or honors like colleges have like"Summa Cum Laude," 'Magna cum Laude;'etc., for everyone whose GPA falls into certain ranges,et. . • The council determined that Century Club can remain in place for this year but be revisited in the February meeting, after Kate gets aforementioned input from RMHS Head of Guidance, Lynna Williams. 0 NEXT HANDBOOK SECTION—SECTION N. SUMMER SCHOOL • In the summer school section,the council noted that there is reference to an F-. Given the change in the last meeting to get rid of F-,the council stated there needs to be a global handbook change to get rid of P. Thus,after changes,the sentence will read"Students whose average is 49%or lower will receive an "F"must repeat the course and are not eligible for summer school." • In addition, it was not fully clear to the council if a 49 or lower is a strictly enforced as a level for being not eligible for summer school,but 50 or better IS eligible. • The group suggested that we move the bullet relating to incomplete work(currently in school handbook at section N Summer School)to the grading section F. o This bullet currently reads,in section N, "All make-up work done during the summer vacation shall be subject to evaluation within two weeks after the fall opening of school" 0 The group proposed moving this bullet under the bullet in section F(after the table)that begins with,"Note on incomplete grades..." NEXT HANDBOOK SECTION—FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS • It appears that there is some outdated information in this section in terms of the way payments are to be made solely via check(e.g.,currently they are made through eSchools,and globally note that the rest of the handbook refers to FamilylD and/or Edline in various places. Edline is no longer in use in RPS; FamilylD may or may not still be in use along with eSchools. • Do we want to modify this passage to clarify/add that overdue fees for of any type can be paid electronically and how best should that be listed so that it would encompass current and future payment methods. • Kate needs to check with the Athletic Director, Food Services,and other Activities/Extracurricular directors to determine how to list and clarify these policies and how it is actually applied currently. Trey noted as an example,is it the current policy to prohibit kids from playing sports if they lost a textbook and have not paid for it?