Minutes for the Joint Regional and Union 26 School Committee Meeting of March 1, 2010

 

 

Farshid Hajir, Chair

Andy Churchill

Irv Rhodes

Catherine Sanderson

Kathleen Anderson

Steve Rivkin

Tracy Farnham

Debbie Gould

Hailey Andler, Student Representative

 

Kristin Luschen

 

Alberto Rodriguez, Superintendent

Marta Guevara, Interim ELE Director

Maria Geryk, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services

JoAnn Smith, Interim Special Education Director

Jerry Champagne, Information Systems Director

Ray Sharick, Fort River Principal

Mike Morris, Crocker Farm Principal

Susan Kennedy-Marx, Fort River Assistant Principal

Nick Yaffe, Marks Meadow Principal

Rena Moore, Pelham Principal

Mike Hayes, ARMS Senior Assistant Principal

Mark Jackson, ARHS/ARMS Principal

Annie Leonard, ARHS Assistant Principal

Press

Public

Debbie Westmoreland, Recorder

 

 

A. Call to Order—Mr. Hajir called the meeting to order at 7:31 p.m. and reviewed the agenda.

B. Approve Minutes—Ms. Sanderson made a motion to approve the amended minutes of February 2, 2010.  Mr. Rhodes seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

 

A. ARMS Principal Search—Dr. Rodriguez noted that 28 applications have been received for the Middle School Principal position. He reported that the interview committee will convene later this week and will include two School Committee members, four parents, four Middle School staff members, the Superintendent and the Human Resources Director. Dr. Rodriguez stated that he is currently reviewing the job description of the Curriculum Director and the position will be posted within the next couple of weeks.

B. CBAC Update—Dr. Rodriguez reported that the majority of the questions submitted by the CBAC have been answered and they were sent to the CBAC members today. The remaining questions will be sent by March 8^th. He noted that there have been some issues with scheduling the debriefing meeting with senior staff, and he will work to ensure it is scheduled as soon as possible.

C. Special Education Review Update—JoAnn Smith distributed and reviewed a memo outlining the progress that has been made on the Special Education Review. 

 

After the updates, Mr. Hajir opened the floor for School Committee questions. Mr. Rivkin asked how the district will compare with other districts since the Curriculum Director position has been downgraded from an Assistant Superintendent position, and the salary will be lower than that of a Principal. Dr. Rodriguez noted that the salary is still at the $90,000 to $100,000 range. Ms. Sanderson noted that she was on the interview committee last year that was unable to complete a hire for an Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum. She said that the applicant pool was not as robust as they would have hoped then, and expressed her hope that there will be a successful search this year. Mr. Hajir asked how parents can be involved in the Special Education review. Ms. Smith explained that he consulting group, PCG, has traditionally gathered data via the survey process. Mr. Hajir noted that some parents have a great deal of feedback to share and he requested that the survey include some area for open-ended feedback. Ms. Anderson stated that some students get into special education and cannot get out.     Dr. Rodriguez noted that he was interviewed extensively by the consultant and shared his concerns that the community’s perception is that children of color are disproportionally referred for Special Education and cannot exit the system once they are in. He specifically asked them to look into the validity of the perception and, if it is found to be valid, make recommendations about ways to correct the problem. Dr. Rodriguez reported that he has met multiple times with the RaDAR group and is working with them and Dr. Marta Guevara to develop a strategic plan. In addition, he is working with Dr. Laura Valdiviso from UMass regarding the literacy of staff in multi-cultural education. Ms. Gould asked for an update on when the committee can expect to receive the detailed budget with FTEs and the evaluation of per-pupil spending that was promised in February. Dr. Rodriguez reported that Mr. Detweiler and Ms. Mazur are working on the detailed budget and they are both working with Ms. Geryk on the per pupil spending evaluation.  Mr. Hajir asked if Dr. Rodriguez can give a firm date for delivery of these reports. Dr. Rodriguez noted that he would like to have both items available at the end of this week. Mr. Hajir noted that he received two letters from the public after the February 23^rd closing date for public feedback on the Superintendent evaluation. He asked if the Committee would like to extend the deadline to accept the public feedback that came in late. After discussion, Ms. Farnham made a motion that the School Committee accept any public feedback received up until today’s date (March 1, 2010). Ms. Gould seconded. The motion passed with Mr. Rivkin opposed.   

 

Mr. Hajir noted that Dr. Rodriguez was unable to return from his vacation on February 23^rd as planned due to medical reasons and asked if he would like to make any statement about it. Dr. Rodriguez reported that his inability to return was based on his doctor’s advice to have the procedure he had scheduled in April immediately instead of waiting. However, some complications arose prior to the surgery that caused it to be cancelled so he was able to return to Amherst today and the procedure will take place in April. Dr. Rodriguez noted that he understands that criticism arose due to his advance request for sick time and that at least one School Committee member was upset. He noted that he would like to request guidance from the School Committee regarding whether he should ask for time in advance if he knows he will need time off for a medical procedure or whether he should call in sick on a daily basis. Ms. Gould stated that she agrees it is much better for the district to know in advance if Dr. Rodriguez knows he will need to be out. Dr. Rodriguez also noted that questions arose about why he needs to have his procedure in Florida instead of here in Massachusetts. He noted that his family is in Florida and will be taking care of him during his recovery period. Mr. Rhodes stated that he is stunned this conversation is taking place regarding the Superintendent’s health and well-being, which he believes should be out of bounds. He noted that the only issue with the memo Dr. Rodriguez submitted is that there was no explanation of why the days were scheduled in advance, which caused questions.   

 

A. FY11 Regional Budget: Scenarios for a Fourteen Block Schedule at ARHS—Mr. Jackson noted that Mr. Hajir contacted him this afternoon after the administration emailed the scenario document to tell him that there are new revenue assumptions they should have been working with. He stated that he was not aware of new assumptions and the scenarios were updated and resent based on the new information. Copies of the updated document were also distributed at the meeting. Mr. Churchill asked how this item ended up on the agenda and how the decision was made to ask staff to spend time working on it. Mr. Hajir explained that he received a request for this data from several School Committee members so it was added to the agenda as a part of the regular agenda planning meeting with Ms. Geryk, Acting Superintendent. Ms. Leonard reviewed the chart outlining what a schedule with 14-blocks of instruction would look like under the three revenue scenarios: 1) A 5% reduction to state aid with no override funds; 2) no reduction to state aid with no override funds, and; 3) no reduction to state aid with $950,000 in override funds. Ms. Sanderson asked why the idea of electives would not include classes that are traditionally academic. Ms. Leonard noted that some students will choose a second academic class as an elective and the option of academic doubles would be included in the process of scheduling. Ms. Gould stated that she has concerns that eliminating one study hall will make it more difficult for students to get the classes they want to take. Ms. Leonard confirmed that it will be more difficult in some situations. Mr. Rhodes asked why these scenarios have been developed at this late point in the budget process. Mr. Hajir reported that several members of the School Committee have asked what the impact would be if there were fewer required study halls, thus offering more instructional time. Mr. Rhodes expressed frustration that the School Committee did not have these materials at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting, as is their policy. He noted that his comments are not a reflection in any way on the staff, but on the School Committee. Mr. Churchill expressed concern that these scenarios put a lot of extra strain on a budget that has already been trimmed below the level the staff asked the School Committee to support. He asked for clarification of what the trade-offs would be under this scenario. Ms. Leonard explained that academic sections would have to be cut to support the addition of elective courses to cover the eliminated study hall requirement. Ms. Andler suggested expanding availability of the ALPs programs and the TA program, with an addition of 500 elective seats instead of 1,000 as is included in the scenarios. Ms. Leonard thanked Ms. Andler for bringing attention to these programs that are available to provide alternatives to the study halls. She noted that there are other ways in which the elective seats can be sliced. Mr. Rivkin stated that he believes our goal as a district should be no required study halls for our students. He noted that he views the trade-off of these scenarios as reduced teacher preparation time for increased student instruction time, and he believes this option has to be on the table. 

B. 2010-2011 School Calendar Discussion—Mr. Hajir reviewed the feedback that has been received from the public regarding the 2010-2011 school calendar drafts. Ms. Anderson pointed out that some members of the community support the August start date because they have difficulty affording child care. Mr. Rivkin asked if consideration has been given to closing school on certain religious holidays due to the high absentee rate among students and staff. Dr. Rodriguez noted that he has directed staff to research the absence patterns on these types of days so an informed decision can be made about the potential benefits of closing on certain days.   After brief discussion, Ms. Sanderson made a motion to approve the September start calendar, with the March curriculum day moved to March 18 and the half-day at the Middle and High Schools for exams moved to March 17. Mr. Rivkin seconded and the motion passed with Ms. Anderson abstaining.

 

A. Capital Planning Memo—Ms. Gould explained that this is a request to incorporate a capital planning process in the annual budgeting process for the Regional School District. She outlined the benefits of implementing a capital plan policy for the district, noting that the intent is to develop a prioritized capital list for FY11. Mr. Rhodes expressed concern that the full committee is being asked to vote on this policy document after seeing it for the first time tonight. He stated that the Region has never had a capital plan and this is a very important policy. After discussion, Mr. Hajir made a motion to adopt the document as written for use in the FY11 budget planning and pass it through the policy subcommittee for adoption as a formal policy. Ms. Sanderson seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

B. Student Advisory Committee—Mr. Hajir welcomed Hannah Stevens, faculty coordinator, and Josh Wilson from the Student Advisory Committee, as well as Hailey Andler, Student Advisory Committee Chair and student representative to the Regional School Committee. Mr. Hajir noted that he proposes that the Regional School Committee meet with the Student Advisory Committee for 5 to 10 minutes at their meeting every month and that the chair meet with them more often. Ms. Anderson asked for clarification of what the Student Advisory Committee does. Ms. Andler noted that the goal of the six-student committee and 30 student member council will be to work as a liaison between the students and the Regional School Committee to increase communication, express student opinion, and plan an all-school forum on March 22^nd. Ms. Anderson asked how the members were chosen. Ms. Stevens explained that Massachusetts General Law says there must be five elected members; however, since 30 applications were received, she appointed seven students to the Advisory Committee and the counsel was created to give the 23 remaining students a way to help with the forums.  Mr. Rhodes stated that he would like for the Student Advisory Committee to be given an orientation session to familiarize the students with the workings of the School Committee. Mr. Hajir noted that the School Committee Chair and the Superintendent are responsible for offering this training to Ms. Andler, but it can be expanded to include the full Student Advisory Committee. Dr. Rodriguez noted that it will be important for the Student Advisory Committee not only to share information from the School Committee with students, but to also share the student perspective with the School Committee. Ms. Anderson expressed concern about the lack of diversity in the Student Advisory group, noting that she fears it will not be able to communicate in a way that will be representative cross-culturally.

C. Items and Timelines for Future Meetings—Mr. Hajir noted that upcoming agenda items include a report on per pupil expenditures and the exit report from Dr. Guevara. He asked if the School Committee still wants a report detailing the various practices used for challenge exercises and extensions as was requested earlier in the year.   Mr. Churchill stated that he believes the School Committee needs to make a decision about its priorities, noting that he believes it is problematic to set 18 goals at the beginning of the school year and then add additional things rather than revisiting the progress on those goals. Ms. Anderson asked for data on the adults reporting students for suspension or detention.  Mr. Rivkin stated that he believes the issue of extensions, at least in math, needs to be on the table for this year because there has been concern about this issue.  Ms. Sanderson stated that she believes the 18 goals are end-point goals for June, and she believes the issue of extensions impacts those goals. Mr. Churchill stated that he believes the board needs to be voting as a whole and asking for agenda items that the majority of the board want rather than those requested by individual members. Mr. Hajir noted that he believes that after Dr. Beers’ report next week he will take a motion to have extensions on the agenda. 

 

 

Mr. Hajir appointed Tracy Farnham and Catherine Sanderson to the Middle School Principal search committee. There was no dissent from the committee.

 

Mr. Hajir announced that the School Committee will be going into Executive Session for the purpose of contract negotiations, with no intention to return to open session. By roll call vote, the committee entered Executive Session at 9:59 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Debbie Westmoreland