Minutes for the Amherst School Committee Meeting of January 31, 2011 (DRAFT)

 

Irv Rhodes, Chair                                             Maria Geryk, Interim Superintendent

Rick Hood                                                       Beth Graham, Dir. of Curr., Instruction and Assessment

Steve Rivkin                                                     Rob Detweiler, Director of Finance and Operations

Catherine Sanderson (arrived @ 6:38 p.m.)      Jerry Champagne, Information Systems Director

                                                                        Kathy Mazur, Human Resources Director

JoAnn Smith, Interim Student Services Director

Absent:                                                           Mike Morris, Crocker Farm Principal

Rob Spence                                                     Nick Yaffe, Wildwood Principal

                                                                        Karen Lowe, Fort River Interim Assistant Principal

                                                                        Brent Nielson, Fort River Administrative Intern

                                                                        Joan Zukas, Fort River Teacher

                                                                        Polly Wagner, Math Coach

Press

Public

Debbie Westmoreland, Recorder

 

A. Call to Order—Mr. Rhodes called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. and reviewed the agenda.

B.   Approval of Minutes—Mr. Hood made a motion to approve the minutes of the joint meeting with Pelham on September 28 and the Amherst School Committees meeting on September 28 and December 21, 2010. Mr. Rivkin seconded and the motion was unanimously approved. 

 

Jean Fay, APEA Paraprofessional Unit Chair, made a statement in response to School Committee member comments based on former Superintendent Rodriguez’s assertion that the Amherst School District is “paraprofessional heavy.” She stated that paraprofessionals are not numbers on a paper, but individuals dedicated to working with the neediest students. Ms. Fay asked that the committee be mindful of Amherst’s dedication to student justice and not balance the budget on the backs of some of the lowest paid staff members.  Mr. Hood made a comment regarding the recent article published in the local newspaper regarding the Amherst Spanish program. He said that the Amherst School Committee does not have a policy subcommittee, as far as he knows, and may need one so there will be minutes available for meetings such as the one mentioned in the article. Mr. Hood also commented regarding the statement in the article that the administration decided to move forward in opposition to Sean Smith’s recommendation that 45 minutes per week is not enough time for language instruction. He said his recollection is that 45 minutes was the best that could be done so the decision was made to move forward based on that constraint. Mr. Rivkin stated that there is an Amherst policy subcommittee and he and Ms. Sanderson are members of it. He said that Mr. Smith made it abundantly clear that a minimum of one hour is needed for a world language program to be succesful.

 

Ms. Geryk noted that Jean Fay, Amherst paraprofessional, has just been named Massachusetts Education Support Professional of the Year and offered her congratulations to Ms. Fay on this outstanding achievement. 

 

 

Mr. Rhodes commended Mr. Detweiler and the administration on the new, comprehensive budget binder, noting that it is a major milestone in the way the document is presented. Ms. Geryk made a background statement outlining cost cutting measures that have been made in the past four years, current and ongoing initiatives, and the process being followed in developing the FY12 proposed budget.    She noted that members of the district faculty and staff will speak briefly about various essential educational initiatives that are currently underway and are informing the budget as planning progresses. Beth. Graham and Karen. Lowe spoke regarding the development of Professional Learning Communities in schools. Ms. Graham provided background information about the importance of Professional Learning Communities, noting that it should be considered the vehicle that is driving instruction in our district. Ms. Lowe then described the way in which the teacher collaboration of Professional Learning Communities is done at Fort River. Mike Morris and Joan Zukas made a brief presentation regarding inclusion and the co-teaching instructional model. Ms. Zukas described the benefits and challenges of inclusion and co-teaching, and Mr. Morris outlined various models used in co-teaching. Rachmana Santorelli and Polly Wagner spoke briefly regarding the workshop model approach to teaching. Ms. Santorelli explained the concept of the reading-writing workshop model, and Ms. Wagner outlined the learning lab model in mathematics. Nick Yaffe noted that this is exciting work that represents a seismic shift in the way we do school in Amherst, noting that he hopes the work can continue even in difficult budgetary times. JoAnn Smith gave a brief presentation regarding the Response to Intervention (RTI) model that is being formalized in the district. Mr. Morris and Derek Shea gave an update on the SW-PBIS model and how it is being implemented at Crocker Farm. After the background presentations, Mr. Detweiler noted that we are moving into a much broader approach to budgeting that looks at not just the numbers, but at what they support in the educational enterprise. He then reviewed the financial portion of the budget document, noting that transportation, health insurance and retiree insurance are the areas with the highest percentage increase in the FY12 budget.  Mr. Detweiler noted that a $490,000 cut to level services is required if there is a 0% cut to Chapter 70 funding as the Governor is projecting. Mr. Rhodes requested that when the detailed adds and cuts are presented, a budgetary figure be attached to the new programs mentioned tonight in order to help the School Committee understand the trade-offs that will be required. Mr. Rivkin asked for clarification of the meaning of “level services” since many of the salary lines reflect changes from FY11 to FY12 that make it appear that significant work has been done in determining where changes will occur. Mr. Detweiler explained that the salary figures in the FY12 column reflect what is actually happening in the schools after the closing of Marks Meadow and redistricting. Staff members’ salaries have now been moved to the appropriate salary line to reflect where they are currently teaching, but no increases or cuts have been made for FY12. Mr. Rivkin noted that it is important to list the grades of teachers in the appendix and to include a grade/school enrollment summary. Ms. Sanderson asked if a grade/school enrollment projection is available. Ms. Geryk noted that Ms. Mazur has an update to share with the School Committee; however, Ms. Geryk is not ready to make the projections public because she does not want staff members to worry about their positions being cut until the adds and cuts are finalized. Ms. Mazur distributed the projections to the School Committee only, with the understanding that the information is confidential at this time. Ms. Mazur reported that two factors that may impact planning are the completion of Orchard Valley housing in the Crocker Farm enrollment area, which may increase enrollments, and the uncertainty of kindergarten enrollments. Mr. Rivkin noted that it is striking that for the first time this year the majority of kindergarten students are eligible for free/reduced lunch. He noted that a nuanced presentation regarding these demographic changes should be made at Town Meeting. Mr. Rivkin said he is also interested in seeing how the various reports from outside consultants are influencing budgetary decisions for FY12. Mr. Rhodes noted that the administration needs to provide the data necessary to make the budgetary arguments needed at Town Meeting. He said he looks forward to the next round with specific add/cut details.  

Ms. Sanderson made a motion to accept donations of $1,908.25 from the Crocker Farm PGO for library books; $100 from John & Kristen Nigriny, $20 from Jaime Davila and Isolda Ortega-Bustamante, $50 from Kathleen McGovern and Michael Floquet, $7 from Yeshi and Dolkar Gyaltsen, and $17.99 from Peter and Rebekah Demling for the Crocker Farm library; and $110.75 from Cecilia Shea for the Intensive Learning Center. Mr. Rivkin seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

 

B. Items for Future Agendas—Mr. Rhodes noted that budget needs to be the focus of upcoming meetings in the near future.

 

Mr. Rivkin made a motion to adjourn at 8:03 p.m. Mr. Hood seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Debbie Westmoreland