Minutes for the Regional School Committee Meeting of April 12, 2011

Submitted by WestmorelandD on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 11:29am.

Meeting type:

Regional School Committee

Meeting date:

04/12/2011

Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee

Regular Meeting of Tuesday, April 12, 2011 – Amherst Town Hall

Rick Hood, Chair Maria Geryk, Superintendent

Rob Spence JoAnn Smith, Interim Director of Student Services

Deb Gould Beth Graham, Director of Curriculum and Instruction

Irv Rhodes Marta Guevara, Student Services Administrator

Kip Fonsh Mike Hayes, Middle School Principal

Katherine Appy Rob Detweiler, Director of Finance

Kathy Weilerstein Kathryn Mazur, Director of HR

Chair Hood convened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. He added two items to the agenda: Consideration and vote of the regional assessment method and selection of an additional member of the negotiating team due to the absence of Steve Rivkin. Mr. Hood welcomed new member, Katherine Appy, to the Committee. Mr. Hood also reviewed meeting norms for all members and those present.

Approval of Minutes

Mr. Rhodes made a motion to approve the minutes of March 29, 2011. Ms. Weilerstein seconded. The motion passed with 6 in favor, 1 abstention (Gould).

Announcements and Public Comment

· Ms. Gould announced an event in support of Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the Daffodil 5K Fun Run which will take place on May 1 at 11:30 a.m.

· Mr. Rhodes announced that he had the recent opportunity to meet with Minority Student Achievement Network students from ARHS. These students would like the opportunity to meet with the Regional School Committee at an upcoming meeting.

· Ms. Permenter addressed the Committee and spoke in favor of School Choice, stating that some families are being forced to move to other communities because of personal financial issues. She is concerned about families in poverty and their inability to have their children remain in their current school. She urged the Committee to support Choice at the Region and Amherst levels.

· Mr. Reynolds Winslow invited the community to nominate K-12 students who have made a positive difference in our schools and community. The nominations will culminate in a celebratory event and pot luck meal on May 12 from 12-2 pm at Mill River.

· Ms. Abby Jensen spoke about the trimester schedule at the high school level and urged the Committee to change to a semester schedule during upcoming union negotiations. Further, should no schedule change be made, she suggested that the high school faculty be required to explain to the public their rationale for maintaining a trimester schedule and how this schedule best serves students.

Superintendent Update

Ms. Geryk updated the Committee on several items:

· Backpacks Project and plans for repeating and expanding this effort for the FY12 year.

· Community Mapping, initiative which will be launched cooperatively with stakeholder groups in order to determine how best to address issues of equity with increasing interests and diminishing resources.

· Community Outreach Bus Proposal, which is considering a broad partnership to bring mobile access to families throughout the area.

· Race to Nowhere follow-up discussion occurred on April 11 in an ongoing effort to engage the community in conversations about how we wish to educate our students. Several school committee members commended these dialogues, encouraged more follow up, and suggested that the School Committee consider possible focused discussions at an upcoming meeting. Ms. Graham thanked the AEF and other community groups for their support of the presentation of Race to Nowhere.

Ms. Geryk also made several announcements, including the secondary chorus performances on WGBY, the upcoming Fifth Annual Latino Achievement Night on May 20 at the Middle School at 6:30 p.m., and the Volunteer Recognition Celebration, which will take place on May 23 from 4-5 p.m. Ms. Geryk also invited the three School Committee chairs to an upcoming “Tabletop” safety event which will simulate an actual emergency and will include the Amherst Police Department, UMass and State Police, and other emergency response agencies.

Regional Assessments

Mr. Spence made a motion as follows: To adopt a budget of $28,214,835 for the Fiscal Year 2012 for the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District and to assess member towns according to the Regional Agreement. These assessments will be as follows: Amherst—$13,506,166; Pelham—$1,171,256; Leverett—$1,238,608; and Shutesbury—$1,401,615. The total of these assessments is $17,317,645. Mr. Fonsh seconded. Mr. Rhodes asked Mr. Detweiler whether this motion is consistent with the assessments previously discussed. Mr. Detweiler confirmed this. The motion passed unanimously.

Response to Intervention

Jo Ann Smith and Beth Graham provided a review of the Response to Intervention program, including why this program is being utilized in our district. Ms. Smith said the program is an opportunity to guide us in a data driven way to improve student performance. She said that the State of Massachusetts is not yet mandating RTI, however many states do, and Massachusetts is currently looking into initiating such a system. Professional Development is ongoing with an initial training of 40 staff. (Ms. Luschen arrived at 7:42 pm) Ms. Graham said that the Common Core curriculum is what is expected to be taught and delivered to every student using formative assessments and is the collective responsibility of all staff working in concert. Ms. Graham described other strategies being used to support all learners. Ms. Smith said that she is hoping to secure funding to keep the momentum going, as ARRA funds expire this year. Ms. Appy thanked the presenters for the efforts to not permit children to experience failure prior to an intervention. She inquired about the impact on classroom teachers and the level of additional work in which this may result. Ms. Smith said that staff is highly committed to this work and they are also trying to achieve a balance. Staff realizes that RTI provides relevant data within 24 hours of the assessment and widely views this program as an asset to support learning. Mr. Hayes said that the Middle School will do the first assessment this spring, noting that MCAS results are received many months after the test administration, which is not particularly useful. Ms. Gould also thanked the presenters, but said she is struggling with understanding how it will work at the high school level. She asked that more information be provided at a future meeting. Ms. Luschen asked about the impact of RTI on ELE students. Ms. Smith explained that we are mandated to do SEI training for all staff, which is occurring at this time. Teachers are successfully developing this understanding and awareness. In the first round, the MELA-O assessment will determine how RTI impacts ELE students. Mr. Fonsh noted that student success at the elementary level is rooted in the K-3 grades. He asked what Leverett needs to do to get on board with this effort and wondered if RTI permits communication with PK parents in the absence of a universal preschool. He also asked how administrators know that teachers are using the data and using it well. Ms. Graham responded that teacher observation and instructional rounds is the best tool to ensure this.

Enrollment Data

Mr. Hood described the enrollment data included in the packet. The purpose of this effort was to evaluate the validity of statements made that suggested many families were withdrawing from the district to attend private schools. Mr. Spence and Ms. Luschen questioned the data, as they believe more students may be in private schools than were reported. The data will be reviewed and resubmitted at an upcoming meeting.

School Choice

Dr. Guevara reviewed the administration’s request regarding School Choice in 2011-2012. The recommendation is that no choice seats be added at the Middle School unless the enrollment numbers come in lower than anticipated, eight additional seats be opened in grade nine, three seats in grade 10, two seats in grade 11, and two seats in grade 12. Mr. Rhodes expressed concern about whether opening eight seats in grade nine might lead to the need to hire additional staff as the class moves forward. Dr. Guevara noted that Assistant Principal Gromacki did a thorough analysis of the projections and believes this recommendation is sound. After further discussion, Mr. Spence moved that the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District will remain a school choice district for the 2011-2012 school year and will open eight seats in grade nine, three seats in grade 10, two seats in grade 11, and two seats in grade 12. Ms. Appy seconded. Mr. Rhodes asked if the vote needs to be changed to include the Middle School since the memo mentions that the district would like to reserve the possibility of opening seats there if the enrollment numbers come in lower than expected. Ms. Geryk clarified that the only legal requirement for school choice is that the School Committee vote on whether to participate in the program or not. Although the committee does not have to vote on the number of slots to open, she said past practice has been to ask for a vote on the number of slots. Ms. Geryk said the issue would be brought back before the School Committee before any slots would be opened at the Middle School. Mr. Hayes expressed concern that the timing would be difficult if it is determined in August that a few slots need to be opened at the Middle School, and it must be approved by the School Committee prior to doing so. After discussion, it was decided that the original motion should be changed to address this issue. Ms. Gould made a motion to amend the original motion by adding the following language: At the Middle School, if enrollment falls below 226 in grade seven or 225 in grade eight the difference between actual enrollment and those totals can be available for school choice. Mr. Rhodes seconded and the motion to amend was unanimously approved. The amended motion was then approved unanimously. The final approved motion reads: The Amherst-Pelham Regional School District will remain a school choice district for the 2011-2012 school year and will open eight seats in grade nine, three seats in grade 10, two seats in grade 11, and two seats in grade 12 and at the Middle School, if enrollment falls below 226 in grade seven or 225 in grade eight the difference between actual enrollment and those totals can be available for school choice.

School Calendar for 2011-2012

Ms. Geryk noted that the elementary schools will have two professional development days before the school year begins and the secondary will have one. As a result, the secondary schools will have one additional day at the end of the year. Mr. Spence made a motion to accept the calendar as presented. Ms. Gould seconded and the motion was unanimously approved.

Accept Gifts

Ms. Weilerstein moved to accept a gift of $200 from Shirley J. Musumeci for the Leo P. Vigneault Memorial Award. Mr. Spence seconded and the motion was approved unanimously.

School Committee Retreat

Mr. Hood briefly reviewed the proposed agenda for the School Committee retreat on June 14^th. Ms. Weilerstein noted that she believes it would be a good idea for the third Pelham School Committee member to participate in the retreat. Additionally, she would like to discuss ways in which decisions are made regarding when to have joint meetings of two or more of the School Committees. Brief discussion followed regarding this issue. Ms. Luschen noted that the agenda seems a little too crowded to cover all of the items. Mr. Rhodes noted that items three, four and six seem like enough to cover in one retreat. Brief discussion followed. Mr. Hood asked for feedback from Superintendent Geryk and the School Committee on what should be measured and what reports should be presented.

School Committee Planning

Sub-Committee Appointments

Mr. Hood noted that someone needs to be appointed to the Negotiations Subcommittee since Mr. Rivkin is unavailable to serve. Ms. Geryk noted that Ms. Foley and Mr. Rhodes are both currently serving and one more member is needed. Ms. Appy will review the scheduled meeting dates for the subcommittee and will serve if they work for her schedule.

School Committee Planning

Agenda Items: update on how science review is progressing; MSAN student presentation; Special Education action plan (presented in joint meeting); discipline report

Adjournment

Mr. Spence moved to adjourn at 9:45 p.m. and the motion was unanimously approved.

Respectfully Submitted,

Kathryn Mazur

Approved June 14, 2011

Last updated July 18, 2011