Regular Meeting of the AMHERST School Committee

Tuesday, September 18, 2007, 7:00 p.m.

Middle School Library

 

Present:            Andy Churchill, Chair                              Jere Hochman, Superintendent

                        Elaine Brighty                                          Hwei-Ling Greeney, Select Board     

                        Kathleen Anderson                                  Paul Wiley, Crocker Farm Principal

                        Sonia Correa Pope                                  Nick Yaffe, Marks Meadow Principal

                        Chrystel Romero (arrived at 7:29)            Mark Prince, Wildwood Principal

                                                                                       Public

                                                                                       Press

                                                                                       Debbie Westmoreland, Recorder

                       

1.  Welcome                                                                                        7:08 p.m.

A. & B.  Call to Order/Agenda Review—Mr. Churchill called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. He then reviewed the agenda and welcomed everyone to the meeting.

C.   Minutes—Ms. Brighty made a motion to approve the minutes of August 13, 2007.  Ms. Anderson seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

2.  Announcements and Public Comments                                        7:10 p.m.

There were no announcements or public comments.

 

3.  Superintendent’s Update                                                              8:08 p.m.

Dr. Hochman reported that Governor Patrick is establishing a set of committees for the “Readiness Project” focusing on various aspects of education.  There is a committee on long-term funding and John Musante, Town of Amherst Finance Director, will be a member.  Dr. Hochman reported that engineers and architects from MSBA will be touring the Wildwood facility this week.  He then noted that Chartwells is hosting “We’re Eating Local Food” week next week and all of the schools will be participating.  Dr. Hochman reported that he just received an email that there will be a Four-Board meeting at 8:00 p.m. on Monday, September 24, for John Musante’s presentation on FY09 budget planning.  Dr. Hochman then distributed and reviewed a worksheet summarizing the FY07 budget reconciliation.

 

4.  Unfinished/Continuing Business                                                  8:22 p.m.

A.  District Organization Committee—Dr. Hochman reviewed the reasons the School Committee brainstormed at their August 2007 meeting for establishing a committee to research the current organization of the elementary district compared to other possible configurations.  He also reminded the School Committee of their thoughts on who should be involved in the research and the charge they proposed for the committee.  After very brief discussion, the committee reached consensus that the charge should stand as written at the August meeting.  Dr. Hochman suggested using Learning@arps and the elementary newsletters to recruit interested community members to serve on the committee.  School Committee members can also forward names of those they would like to be considered for the committee to Dr. Hochman.  The list of interested volunteers will be given to the School Committee for their consideration.  It was determined that the district will provide clerical support to serve as an administrative liaison to the district organization committee. 

 

5.  New Business                                                                                8:19 p.m. (C)/8:41 p.m. (A & B)

A.  Amherst Agreement—Dr. Hochman noted that he included in the agenda packet the entire agreement that the Town of Amherst has struck with the University of Massachusetts since it includes an agreement about Marks Meadow School.  The basic term of the agreement in relation to the schools is that if, in the future, the Town vacates the Marks Meadow school building, the Town and the University will negotiate a new agreement in which the University may reimburse the Town for a portion of the net costs of educating students living in University tax-exempt housing.  Mr. Churchill noted that this is a good accomplishment in reaching a Town-wide agreement with the University.

 

B.  Memorandum of Understanding between Amherst Police & District—Dr. Hochman noted that the Memorandum of Understanding has been in existence for years; however, he was not sure if the School Committee was aware of the agreement.  He wanted to bring it to their attention.  Ms. Anderson asked why the memorandum deals strictly with issues of drugs and alcohol.  Dr. Hochman stated that the district is required by state law to report some issues, and state law supersedes the memorandum. As a result, issues such as violence in schools would be reported as required under the law.   

 

C.  FY07 Budget Vote—Dr. Hochman briefly reviewed the reason a vote is necessary, noting that the official FY07 budget amount approved at the Amherst Town Meeting was $45 more than that approved by the School Committee.  Ms. Brighty made a motion to establish the FY07 budget in the amount of $19,264,119.  Ms. Romero seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

6.  Reports                                                                                          7:24 p.m.

A.  Crocker Farm School Improvement Plan—Dr. Hochman noted that in order to devote adequate time to each School Improvement Plan, the decision was made with the principals to present the Crocker Farm plan tonight, the Marks Meadow plan at the October meeting and the Wildwood plan at the November meeting.  He noted that Wildwood is working to put together a climate survey of the school which will become a substantive piece of the plan.  Dr. Hochman noted that this is also a transition year because it will be first time that the schools are ready to blend their AYP/MCAS planning with their School Improvement Plan.  Dr. Hochman then introduced Paul Wiley, Crocker Farm Principal, who reported on the current status of the school improvement plan, which is in the last year of the three-year cycle.  Mr. Wiley distributed and reviewed a list of the six major goals included in the plan and the status of each, which include 1) coordinated literacy program; 2) math vocabulary development; 3) parent/guardian community partnership; 4) interdisciplinary/interethnic leadership team; 5) communication and outreach and 6) MCAS improvement plan.  Mr. Wiley spoke in particular about the Conversations program that was put into effect two years ago; efforts to increase home/school communications; and successful efforts to bring up student performance, which were implemented without “teaching to the test.”  He also spoke about Crocker Farms’ work on the Latino Student Achievement Initiative; responsiveness protocols; safety and security; the “every school” list; the Homeworks! program, which was in place in 2005-2006 and he hopes to bring back this year; mentoring; Leadership and Learning Community Initiatives; social justice; and the school improvement plan beyond 2007-2008.  Ms. Romero asked how the Homeworks! Program was funded in the past.  Mr. Wiley said it was funded through a small grant with people donating their time as well as some of the meals that were provided.  Mr. Churchill thanked Mr. Wiley for his presentation, noting that it is exciting to hear about the work and initiatives at Crocker Farm.  Since Mr. Wiley will be retiring at the end of this school year, Mr. Churchill asked him how he would advise the School Committee as they go forward with looking at the district organization.  Mr. Wiley stated that if we can give each child the optimum chance to do well in school, and we push them in that direction, we will be fine.  He said it does not matter how schools are configured if we do not do the work to help children achieve.  He stated that he sees poverty as an issue in this district that we need to pay attention to, but it is not a reason for lack of success.  It is; however, a reality that our children face.

 

 

7.  School Committee Planning                                                          7:11 p.m. (A1)/8:58 p.m.

A.  Sub-Committee Reports

1. Amherst School Committee Assignments

Mr. Churchill reviewed the list of Amherst Sub-Committee assignments: Audit Committee (Ms. Brighty); Comprehensive Planning Committee (Mr. Churchill and Ms. Anderson); District Organization Study Committee (Mr. Churchill and Ms. Romero); JCPC (Ms. Brighty and Ms. Anderson); Budget Coordinating Group (Mr. Churchill and Ms. Brighty); 250th Commemoration Committee (Ms. Anderson); ACTV Board Member (Ms. Anderson unless Mr. Morales continues)

 

2. “Buy Local” Effort Update

Mr. Churchill noted that he and Ms. Brighty attended a brainstorming meeting with members of the Select Board, the Town Manager, Town Meeting members and others interested in ways to increase “buy local” efforts.  He noted that buying locally will help maintain the health of our town economy.  At the Select Board’s direction, the Town Manager’s staff has researched town purchases that were made from businesses in the 01002 zip code during the last year to get a snapshot of current buying patterns.  Mr. Churchill reported on two ideas that are under consideration to support “buy local” efforts.  First is to find ways to work with Chamber members to make them more aware of the purchasing process of the town and schools so they can compete for business. A second idea is to ask the Chamber to help town departments make connections with local businesses that provide needed goods and services.  Ms. Greeney, Select Board, spoke to the School Committee about the effort, noting that she was not speaking as a Select Board member.  Ms. Greeney is attempting to schedule another meeting of the planning group to help determine next steps. 

 

B.  Calendar Review—WW open house, September 19

 

C.  Items for Upcoming Meetings—Marks Meadow School Improvement Plan; Update on District Organization Committee; Demonstration of Data Warehouse; Marks Meadow Portable

 

8.  Adjournment                                                                                  9:09 p.m.

Ms. Brighty made a motion to adjourn at 9:09 p.m.  Ms. Anderson seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

                                                                        Respectfully submitted,

                                                                        Debbie Westmoreland