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School Council -Reading Memorial High
Date: 2023-08-30 Time: 4:00 PM
Building: School - Memorial High Location: School Library
Address: 62 Oakland Road Session: Open Session
Purpose: School Council Meeting Version: Draft
Attendees: Members - Present:
Principal Callanan, Eileen Manning, Marianne Downing, Christine Lusk, Pooja
Mandon Parsons (via zoom), Sherilla Lestrade, Jessica Ayer, Antonio
Deserio, Dante DiSerio, Bridget Patterson, Daija Forero, Jennifer Baskin (via
Zoom), Laurie Donahue (via zoom)
Members - Not Present:
Eli Brown, Haden Davis, Cole Grant, Christine Lusk
Others Present:
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Marianne Downing
Topics of Discussion:
Meeting was called to order by Principal Callanan at 4:00 PM. The meeting started with
introductions followed by an overview of proposed changes to RMHS handbook.
Principal Callanan handed out copies of draft documents containing a bulleted list of
proposed changes to RMHS handbook, including areas for potential questions, along with a
copy of the RMHS handbook. She indicated that the Reading School Committee would be
voting on the RMHS handbook at their 9/7/2023 meeting.
The group went point by point through the proposed changes to the RMHS handbook that
Principal Callanan had provided.
Regarding the topic of Century Club - the group discussed - should we delete? Parent
members of the group explained how Century Club worked in the past, that was a purely
academic honor based on unweighted GPA. A teacher also noted that because Century Club
was based on unweighted GPA, students were not penalized if they were not enrolled in
honors and higher-level classes (which offer more weighting and thus raise weighted GPA),
that it was based on a student doing well in the highest -level classes they are personally
capable of accessing. The teacher said, this award was more equitable for students with
disabilities who might not ever be able to enroll in advanced classes that offer more
weighting.
Principal Callanan responded that, the RMHS handbook will keep Century Club for now, but
that RMHS School Council should table the topic for future discussions. She observed that it
might be useful to get input from counseling department head Lynna Williams.
The council discussed proposed changes to the language regarding selection of graduation
speakers and criteria for valedictorian ("val") and salutatorian ("sal"). The proposed
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language changes included not "requiring" either val or sale to speak and leaving open the
option for other school speakers. One student noted that "kids want to hear from other
kids" at graduation and not from all the adult speakers. The council agreed on more
precision on GPA to one hundredth of a point for val and sal.
The council discussed proposed changes in National Honor Society (NHS) criteria for
volunteer hours. Principal Callanan said that the volunteer hour requirements are not
standardized from school to school and that they can be onerous for kids who have to work,
who do sports, etc. The exact change in volunteer hours that would be put in is not yet
known, so the council discussed how to change handbook wording to reflect that the NHS
standards for service hours are going to be revisited and changed.
The council addressed proposed changes to the RMHS handbook policy and wording on the
senior exam exemption. A parent asked, should the exemption be for end of 3'd quarter or
end of *4 quarter and what should the exemption be. Principal Calianan and several
teachers explained that the goal is to try and keep seniors engaged in all four quarters of
senior year. The senior exam exemption applies mostly to seniors who are not on
internships. For kids who are taking AP classes, usually there is no final, because the AP
exam in May serves as the final. Thus, the number of seniors actually taking finals often is
small. Principal Callanan said in her view the grade standard to be used (a minimum "B" in
the class) to determine if seniors take a final, should be based on entire year's grades and
not just the previous quarter. The council agreed that the RMHS handbook language should
be changed to allow seniors to be exempt for finals if the seniors have a cumulative "B"
average in all 4 quarters.
The council went over the rest of the proposed changes, many of which related to obsolete
and/or outdated dates, links, references, etc.
The council reviewed proposed changes to language around suspensions. Principal Callanan
explained that state laws have changed regarding suspensions, to discourage and/or push
back suspensions as a punishment as much as possible, and that we have to fix our
handbook to match the law. She noted that we need to be consistent with the district
handbook and need to follow Mass General Laws Ch 72 §37H, 37 1/211. Thus, in RMHS
handbook, Principal Callanan proposes changing "suspension" to be "other consequences" in
many instances. Principal Callanan also explained that the current RMHS Code of Conduct
should be replaced with a new Code of Conduct that the new Reading Public Schools legal
counsel has provided.
A parent asked, is senior privilege in the RMHS handbook, because it is a big topic of
discussion with current students. The council discussed the origins of and reason for senior
privilege. One teacher explained that aspects of senior privilege that are now happening,
like senior students able to leave during any study period or at lunch, came from the
pandemic where there was a need to minimize the number of students in the building.
Principal Callanan explained that now, seniors can apply for senior privilege for first period
study and last period study only, but that RMHS is still working this out.
The council reviewed the rest of the proposed changes, and the council decided how best to
approve them so that Principal Callahan can put them in redline form and final form for
school committee approval. Teacher Jennifer Baskin moved for RMHS school council to
approve the list of proposed changes and to approve Principal Callahan doing a redline
markup of the RMHS handbook to fully implement the changes the school council approved.
Laurie Donahue seconded the motion. The RMHS school council members present in person
and on the zoom, by show of hands, approved the motion. Principal Callahan explained
that the school committee packet will be available before the school committee meeting, so
school council members would have ability to verify that the markups and actual changes
she puts in reflect what school council agreed on today.
The council finished by discussing what would be the best possible times in future to meet.
Although students did not all like 4pm, Principal Callanan said they could participate the
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best they could and attend via Zoom. One teacher said Wednesdays were the only day that
worked for her. Principal Callanan said that she would look into future dates for meetings
School Council adjourned approximately 5:10 pm.
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