HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-10-19 School Committee Minutesfq
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School Committee
Date: 2023-10-19 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:
Carla Nazzaro, Erin Gaffen, Tom Wise, Sarah McLaughlin and Charles
Robinson
Members - Not Present:
Shawn Brandt
Others Present:
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Sarah Hardy, Director of Finance and
Operations Dr. Derek Pinto, Superintendent Dr. Thomas Milaschewski and
Principal Mrs. Jessica Callanan
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Olivia Lejeune on behalf of the chairperson.
Topics of Discussion:
A. Call to Order— Mr. Wise called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. to review the agenda.
B. Public Comment
FOCUS On Excellence
1. Recognition of Class of 2024 National Merit Scholars — Interim High School Principal,
Mrs. Jessica Callanan, recognized the following students for being named National Merit
Commended students: Ruby R. Allen, Caylyn P. Heroux, Brendan Hoffman, Maureen
Manning, Vedant S. Narayan, William C. O'Connor, Lily A. Powell, and Hannah Wiggins
and Yiyang "Ian" Man who was named as a National Merit Semifinalist.
2.2023-2024 Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Certificate of
Academic Excellence — Dr. Milaschewski congratulated and recognized students Isabella
Ring and Mark Malley who are 2023-2024 recipients of the Massachusetts Association
of School Superintendents Certificate of Academic Excellence.
Consent Agenda
1. Friends of RMHS Cheer Donation
2. Friends of Reading Field Hockey Donation
3. Friends of Reading Football Donation (5)
4. Reading Parents Supporting Student Theatre Donation (3)
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Warrant Reports
1. 10-05-2023
2. 10-12-2023
Mrs. Gaffen motioned to approve the consent agenda, seconded by Mr. Robinson, the
vote passed 5-0.
Reports
1. Student— Interim High School Principal, Mrs. Jessica Callanan, reported on behalf of
student Emily Goodhue giving the following updates:
• Over 450 students took the PSAT. Mrs. Callanan gave a shout out to Director
of Counseling, Ms. Lynna Williams, for organizing the day of testing as it was
the first time conducted online.
Next week, RMHS will host several Historically Black Colleges and Universities
(HBCU) at the school and students will have the opportunity to attend a
panel discussion where they will hear from admissions counselors. Students
also have the opportunity to attend the HBCU College Fair at the Reggie
Lewis Center followed by a lunch at the METCO Headquarters.
We are excited to celebrate student athletes. The athletic teams are doing
well and these students are held to a high standard as participating in sports
is a privilege. Along with our athletic teams, we have 45 active clubs keeping
students involved.
• We are also excited about the expansion of Robockets, the dance team
debut, and the upcoming national honor society induction.
2. Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning— Dr. Hardy reported on the roll out
of the K-8 math coaches. These clearjob descriptions have set the coaches up for
success. Teachers are inviting coaches into their classrooms and we are tracking data
to be able to show how much the coaches expertise are being utilized by teachers.
We hope to continue to report good news on this initiative and share more at the
end of the school year.
3. Director of Finance & Operations — Dr. Pinto provided an update on the
collaboration between the food service department and METCO Program as we
celebrated Hispanic Heritage month with a cafeteria collaboration inviting a
Dominican Restaurant in to help prepare meals for our community to enjoy.
4. Superintendent— Dr. Milaschewski thanked our two Rocket Ambassadors who
joined us last week. We are excited to announce the return of Lego League and want
to give a big thanks to Director of Community Education, Mr. Chris Nelson and his
team for getting this back up and running. There will be more information provided
in the district newsletter tomorrow.
S. Liaison/Sub-Committee
a. Mr. Robinson —The Charter Review Committee held their first meeting and will
eventually come to this committee with recommendations. It will be a long
process and this committee will continue to be updated. SWEC also met to
discuss a potential dog park and pickieball as we prepare for Town Meeting.
SWEC has received responses to the RFI which the committee is pleased about
and continues to create discussion.
b. Mrs. Nazzaro —The Killam School Building Committee received request for
services and four bids from designers are under review.
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c. Mrs. McLaughlin —The RCN Board had a meeting and the group plans to meet
with Dr. Pinto to create a plan going forward as budget season unfolds to discuss
teaching, materials, etc.
d. Mrs. Gaffen —SEPAL held their first business meeting of the school year and
elected a new board. Thank you to outgoing Board member Maria Morgan for
her dedication to SEPAC. PAIR helped welcome the new Town Director for Equity
and Social Justice, Mr. Albert Pless.
e. Mr.Wise—The Student Advisory Committee met and will continue to try to
meet every other month per MGL. At the Finance Committee meeting they
voted on a 4% number for the operating budget perspective.
E. New Business
1. ARC K-2 Implementation Deep Dive Including Hill for Literary Training.
Dr. Hardy and Humanities Curriculum Coordinator, Ms. Erin Burchill, provided an overview
of the ARC K-2 implementation plan. Dr. Hardy and Ms. Burchill will return in December
to present to the committee on the early literacy screening and literacy intervention plan.
To start, the process for adopting a new curricular resource was reviewed. Currently,
grades K-2 are in the implementation phase while grades 3-5 are in the implement and
monitor phase. Year one for grades K-2 is focused on targeted professional development,
communication with families and community, ongoing monitoring of curriculum
implementation, and responsive adjustment of implementation supports.
Targeted professional development means ARC coaches are visiting schools to provide 10
coaching visits per school which means 30 days of training/coaching with building leaders,
collaborative workshops on Fridays and in service days, and participating in a network
with school leaders in other districts utilizing ARC Core. The district is partnering with The
Hill for Literacy for additional professional development opportunities.
The ARC Core Implementation Team is available to support and monitor implementation
while also focusing on communication and feedback. Building leaders are collaborating on
communication plans with families and the community. Principals have discussed their
communication structures and meet once a month with the learning and teaching team.
In years one and two, ongoing monitoring of curriculum implementation will continue and
adjustments are made to supports based on patterns and trends emerging from ongoing
monitoring.
As for early observations, we are into the first seven weeks of school and seeing a 98%
IRLA completion rate. It is positive to see strong routines and structures in place, grades 3-
5 are continuing to build on instructional practices, and K-2 has jumped right in and is
managing learning a new framework for instruction and assessment. The teachers have
been phenomenal and are providing great feedback. Other districts are getting a push
from their teachers to make this shift as there is growing interest and awareness.
2. FY23 End -of -Year Financial Update including Budget Transfer Vote (if necessary)
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Dr. Pinto provided an update on the end -of -year financial update. In the packet, three
reports have been provided. Overall, the School Department met all financial obligations
for FY23. We are seeing favorable trends with regard to free cash and returned $102,002
to the town's free cash reserve.
Dr. Pinto provided a Special Education Reserve Fund report which is a requirement that
came out of the revised DBDA policy and is meant to provide for unanticipated or
unbudgeted costs. This report shows $175,000 has been transferred to the Special
Education Reserve Fund.
Mr. Wise pointed out the difference between required net school spend and actual school
spend and the difference we are seeing in this report which leads to a significant
difference between the minimum and maximums spends.
Mrs. Gaffen motioned to transfer $204,290 from regular day and transfer $187,272 to
special education, $14,900 to administration and $3,900 to athletics, seconded by Mrs.
Nazzaro, and the vote passed 5-0.
G. Executive Session
Ms. Gaffen motioned to adjourn to Executive Session and not return to open session to
discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining on the bargaining position of the public
body (Reading Teachers Association, Reading Paraeducators Association, and Reading
Administrative Secretaries Association) as the chair declares an open meeting will have a
detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the Reading School Committee, seconded by
Mrs. McLaughlin.
Roll Call Vote— Roll Call Vote to adjourn to Executive Session, Mr. Robinson —yes, Mrs. Nazzaro
—yes, Mrs. McLaughlin —yes, Mrs. Gaffen —yes, and Mr. Wise — yes. The vote passed 5-0.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4Hk7ok*A7Y
Meeting Adjourned from regular session at approximately 8:33pm
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