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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-11-30 Coolidge School Council MinutesA.W_ Coolidge School Council Meeting } November 30, 1,993 "llie meeting of the A.W. Coolidge School Council was called to order at 7:37.1"M by Al Lahood in. the school media center. Those present were. Al Lahood, Peter I-iichborn, Debbie Reinemann, Larry Chomsky, Roy Welsch, and Carol Perletz. Marge Pacino was absent. The minutes from. the November 16 council meeting were amended to include the copier as another central. office request in the last paragraph of the minutes. The minutes were then approved with this correction. -Debbie handed out "School Councils = An Anotated Guide" which was written by the Massachusettes Teachers' Association. This is another reference the council can use for understanding our roles. Larry Chomsky has produced a Coolidge handbook from the diskette Al gave him at the last meeting. This is the handbook the PAC asked to have made available to parents. Larry added a table of contents which brought the booklet to 1.6 pages, 8 1/2 by 11 with one side printed. Larry asked if we could condense the information and add the names of the staff: Another suggestion made was to add a map of the school. Al suggested making a few copies to give to a. PAC committee to have them, take on this project. Carol will make copies and talk to the PAC on December 7 about setting up a committee to carry the project through.. Larry received "National Excellence - A Case for Developing America's Talent." Roy and Carol asked for a copy of this report written by the United State Department of Education. The report concerns the education of gifted and talented children. in schools. During our brief discussion ofthe issue,!Al mentioned that Massachusetts w i 11 b e g i n a two year study of tracking in high schools. Al announced that the $1.000 grant for Missing Link was approved. Level I of this grant is a telecommunications program for Coolidge and Parker French classes. Level II is in- service workshops for the operating of network systems and telecommunications for teachers. $500 will go to each school, Coolidge and Parker, for these two levels. On. December 2, Laura Peterson, Mary Hichbom, Lou Adreani, and John Doherty will atend a Core Vanes workshop in Tewksbury. Al requested staff development funds to cover three substitutes for those attending the workshop. The dollar amount to support the substitutes is $150.00. Consensus was reached to use money from the professional development fund for this purpose. The council learned that the three areas of professional. development the faculty committees are looking into are: core values, inclusion, and technology. The School Council may want to add other areas of focus. It may be necessary to do a needs assessment at some time. Al exTlained that the faculty has professional development certificates and portfolios to cover the particular professional. development achievements they have attained. Parents on the council wanted to know who should pay for this professional. development since it is mandated by the state. Tuititon reimbursement for college and post-graduate courses is covered in the teacher contracts. Conventions, workshops, outside speakers coming in, workshops inside the school, and visits to other sites are all ways of obtaining the mandated professional development. F u n d s f r o m t h e s e activities are available via grants& Central & school budgets. it was acknowledged that middle school. teachers are required to be generalists as well. as specialists in subject areas, but that most professional( p 1 a n s ) development covers the generalist area. Teaching styles, learning styles, cooperative - learning, values teaching, and awareness of children's self-esteem, are some of the areas in which professional development has taken place. These are all areas emphasized by the state:department of education:: which has made strong recommendations in these areas. Al went over the Central Budget Requests that were submitted to the central office on November 30. Al also went over the Office Repair Account Requests, including a special letter and request for a new copier. Next, Al went over his budgeting process. He transfers numbers from the current year's budget and adds in what it takes to run the school. He then subtracts this from the amount allocated to Coolidge to see what is left. Next he takes the department requests which were developed by all. of the staff The requests are prioritized. At adds up all of the department requests and subtracts them from the budget to see what is left. If there is a deficeit, he calls the faculty together and asks that they look at the requests they've made and perhaps reprioritize them A discussion about the School Council's and School Committee's roles in budget preparation and approval ensued. This year the same process as was used in the past will be followed, and a budget will be presented to the School Committee. The council. asked about approaching the budget process by tying the department budget requ--sts to specific learning outcomes, to justify the requests. Before adjourning at 9:30 PM, At informed the council that the State Commissioner of Education would be visiting Coolidge on December 1. The next meeting of the council will be December 16 from 7:15 to 9:15 PM in the Coolidge media. center.