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Minutes for the Pelham School Committee Meeting of August 11, 2011

Submitted by WestmorelandD on Thu, 10/06/2011 - 1:01pm.
Meeting type: 
Pelham School Committee
Meeting date: 
08/11/2011

 

Regular Meeting of Pelham School Committee
August 11, 2011
Community Room, Pelham Library
 
Present:
Kathy Weilerstein, Chair                                
Annemarie Foley 
Debbie Gould  
 
Maria Geryk, Superintendent
Rob Detweiler, Director of Finance and Operations
Lisa Dejarlais, Pelham Principal
Public 
                                                                       
1. Welcome                                            
A. Call to Order—Ms. Weilerstein called the meeting to 6:36 p.m. and reviewed the agenda.  
B. Approve Minutes—Ms. Gould made a motion to approve the minutes of May5, 2011. Ms. Foley seconded and the motion was unanimously approved. Ms. Gould then moved to approve the minutes of June 2, 2011. Ms. Foley seconded and the motion was unanimously approved.
 
2. Announcements and Public Comments                            
Ms. Weilerstein noted that the deadline for including information in the Town’s newsletter, The Pelham Slate, is August 22nd.  Ms. Dejarlais will submit an update for the Pelham School.
 
3. Policies                              
DOCUMENTS: Draft of Policies JICFB, BBBCA and BCB
A. BED: School Committee: Procedures for Meetings—Ms. Weilerstein noted that this policy should be deleted from the manual because all relevant parts are now included in separate policies. Ms. Foley made a motion to delete Policy BED. Ms. Gould seconded and the motion was unanimously approved.
 
B. JICFB: Anti-Bullying—Ms. Foley made a motion to approve policy JICFB: Anti-Bullying. Ms. Gould seconded and the motion was unanimously approved.
 
C. BBBCA: School Committee: Prolonged Absence of a Member—Ms. Gould made a motion to approve policy BBBCA: Prolonged Absence of a Member. Ms. Foley seconded and the motion was unanimously approved.
 
D. BCB: School Committee: Member Conflict of Interest—Ms. Foley made a motion to approve Policy BCB. Ms. Gould seconded and the motion was unanimously approved.
 
4. Principal’s Update                      
Ms. Dejarlais reported that the curtain has been ordered for the stage, and the cost was covered by the afterschool program and the PTO in a 50/50 split. She noted that the accordion doors will be removed, rather than replaced.  Ron Bohonowicz, Director of Facilities and Maintenance, and his crew will take care of the job at no cost.  The replacement cost would be $5,500. Ms. Dejarlais reported that Pelham School has five new staff members this year: Gabriel Richard-Harrington, Technology Teacher; Jen Zabek, PE Teacher; Emily Samuels, Music Teacher; Hillary Wilbur, Art Teacher; and Melissa Davis, Special Education Teacher. She noted that the building is in great shape for the opening of school.  
 
4. New and Continuing Business                 
A. School Survey Results
DOCUMENT: Survey Results Overview (emailed to School Committee members)
Ms. Dejarlais briefly reviewed the results of the Pelham School Survey. Ms. Gould expressed concern about the parent participation rate in the survey. Ms. Weilerstein suggested providing parents an opportunity to reply to the survey on curriculum night in order to increase the rate of return.  
 
B. Report on Paraprofessionals in the School
Ms. Dejarlais gave a brief overview regarding paraprofessionals at Pelham School. She noted that paraprofessionals are supervised by both general education and special education teachers, depending on their role, and they meet weekly with their supervising teachers. The role of paraprofessionals is to provide interventions for students. Paraprofessionals do participate in professional development to strengthen their skills, and the focus of Wednesday afternoon professional development is collaborative teaching, co-teaching and the inclusionary model, and the using interventions in the RTI Model. Ms. Weilerstein noted that she recognizes and values the work of paraprofessionals in the school. She said she would like to gain a greater understanding of their roles and responsibilities in the classroom and with individual students. Ms. Geryk noted that the School Committee can be provided updates on the number of paraprofessionals in each grade along with class size updates.  
  
8. Calendar                         
Items for upcoming meetings will include the School Improvement Plan, a regionalization update, a math update (if necessary) and an enrollment update. The next Pelham School Committee meeting is September 8th, and there will be a School Committee meeting on September 21, 2011 to discuss regionalization as the only agenda item. Ms. Geryk noted that the First Day Celebration is scheduled from 5:30-7:00 on September 1st on the Amherst Town Common. All members of the Pelham Community are invited to attend.
 
5. Adjournment            8:30 p.m.
Ms. Gould made a motion to adjourn at approximately 8:30 p.m. Ms. Foley seconded and the motion was unanimously approved.
 
Respectfully submitted,
Maria Geryk, Superintendent
Last updated October 13, 2011